Sociological Cultural Studies

Sociological Cultural Studies

The Development Of The Personal Brand Of Young Users According To The Five Dimensions Of Brand Personality On The Instagram Platform

Document Type : .

Author
somayeh Tajik Esmaeili
Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, Tehran East Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
10.30465/scs.2025.51090.2970
Abstract
Introduction
Today, personal influence is more effective than ever, and the essence of branding is to create distinction and difference. According to experts, personal branding is more than just the power to influence communication, and its impact on presenting an image of a person is very important(Aghazadeh, 1397:3). The Instagram platform is one of the best platforms for building and developing a personal brand. Before the advent of social networks, personal branding was primarily associated with celebrities and senior executives who became branded and famous through media and billboard advertisements. But today, with the growth, development, and advancement of communication technologies, especially social networks such as Instagram, the importance of personal and professional branding has spread to lower job positions and positions, and has also been drawn to young people who are at the beginning of their careers(Hadshian, Dastgheyeb and Rasekh, 1403:5). Activity and activism on Instagram has found a special place in today's life, especially among young people, as an inseparable part of their lives, and people can easily, quickly, and effectively build their personal brand and introduce it to others. It can be said that one of the most important goals of users, especially young users, for using Instagram is to build, introduce, and develop their personal brand. Therefore, the present study was designed and implemented with the aim of identifying and explaining how young users develop their personal brand on the Instagram platform, and the main research question is to answer the question: How do young people in Tehran use Instagram to develop their personal brand by separating the five dimensions of brand personality?



Materials & Methods
The present study is a quantitative, applied study in terms of purpose, conducted using a descriptive method, using a survey technique and a questionnaire as a measurement tool. The statistical population of the study includes all young citizens living in Tehran in 1403 who are Instagram users, and the sample size is 384 people, referring to the Morgan table. The data collection method is field and specifically survey. The measurement tool is a questionnaire that was implemented in the form of Google Form. The sampling method is multi-stage cluster sampling. To measure the amount and type of Instagram use for personal brand development, divided into five dimensions of brand personality among the young users studied, the Alipour and Tajik-Esmaili (2019) questionnaire was used. The validity of the questionnaire was measured and confirmed using the face validity method, and its reliability coefficient was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha in the questionnaire with a coefficient of 0.81.

Discussion & Result
The results showed that among the young users studied in Tehran, in using Instagram to develop the honesty dimension of personal branding, the highest and best situation was related to acting honestly in posts and stories, with an average of 4.43 on a measurement scale of 1 to 5. According to the results, the overall status of using Instagram to develop the honesty dimension of personal branding among the young users studied was stated to be above average, with an average of 3.69.. In the context of using Instagram to develop the emotional dimension of personal branding, the results of the study showed that the highest and best situation was related to the desire of young users to present themselves as a spirited and strong person through the posts and stories they post on Instagram, which achieved an average of 3.63. The results also showed that the highest status in the personal brand competency dimension of the studied users is related to the users' desire to present themselves as a trustworthy person through the posts and stories they post on Instagram, which is a favorable status with an average of 3.73. The results of the study on users' use of Instagram to develop the perfection dimension of their personal brand showed that the highest status was related to the desire to show a confident personality through the posts and stories they post on Instagram, which had the best status with an average of 3.47. The results also showed that in developing the toughness dimension of users' personal brand through Instagram, the highest status was related to young users' willingness to present themselves as a positive person through the posts and stories they post on Instagram, which achieved an average of 3.53.

Conclusion
There is no funding support.
Author’s contribution Study conception and design: Tajik Esmaeili.
Data collection: Tajik Esmaeili.
Data analysis and interpretation: Tajik Esmaeili.
Drafting of manuscript: Tajik Esmaeili.
Critical revision: Tajik Esmaeili
Conflict of interest:Author declared no conflict of interest .
Acknowledgments: I would like to thank all the people who supported me in conducting this study with their valuable comments
Keywords
personal brand
dimensions of brand personality
young users
Instagram platform
Tehran city
Subjects
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Sociological Cultural Studies
Volume 17, Issue 3 - Serial Number 61
Autumn 2026
Autumn 2026
Pages 153-190

  • Receive Date 30 January 2025
  • Revise Date 12 April 2025
  • Accept Date 12 April 2025
  • Publish Date 22 November 2026