Digital identity: leverage innovation for brands ?

The spread of the Internet and the simultaneous development of Web 2.0 together with the advent of digital social networks (DSN) have led to the emergence of a digital presence for internet users: digital identity (DI). Consisting of a superposition of identities born from personal, declarative and behavioral data, this new form of identity is characterized by various highly patterns of self-expression on the DSN and in particular on Facebook. Simultaneously, the emancipation of the individual from traditional social frameworks leads that individual to construct  and re-shape his or her identity which is now seen as a process of identity construction (IC) based on a search for benchmarks and relationships.

These new identity issues lead to a modification in the relationship between IC and consumption. Indeed, this modification appears to have a major effect on IC through the self-image (or images) consumers are able to project. These changes are forcing companies to rethink the branding strategies they laid down back in the 50s. These strategies, focusing on the quest for consumer's attention, endeavor to set up personalized rapports and create content that generates interaction with their targets. To this end, through its characteristics and in all its forms, DI could very well open the path to new ways of brand presence being taken into account. In the light of three theoretical proposals, DI is considered as being central to brand innovation perspectives; qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected from young adults resulted in three theoretical contributions related to the IC modes of the contemporary individual and to three managerial input on the development of new strategies for communication on the Internet.