Enhancing brand trustworthiness, relationships, congruence and positioning through social media marketing in the FMCG sector

The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Sector (FMCG) is the fourth largest sector in the Indian economy, with Food and Beverages constituting 19%, healthcare constituting 31%, and Household and Personal Care constituting 50%. The key growth drivers for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods market are growing awareness among consumers, a more digitally literate population, greater disposable income, greater access to information pertaining to product comparisons and purchase opportunities in the e-commerce era, and changing lifestyles. As consumers pass through Instagram, Facebook, X, and various other social networks, brand communities, and blogs, marketers can see an interesting opportunity to benefit from virtual conversations. These virtual conversations have the ability to impact various aspects of the marketing realm and a detailed investigation on this would be meaningful. This manuscript uses the multiple-case method to investigate the impact of social media on various marketing aspects like brand trustworthiness, brand relationships, congruence and positioning. For this purpose, distinct research questions have been evolved and an examination of the social media presence of four brands – Amazon, Amul ((Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation), Nivea and Hindustan Unilever Ltd has been carried out. Subsequently, the authors conclude that marketers can leverage their social media presence to enhance brand trustworthiness, brand relationships, congruence and positioning.