Visual Storytelling on Instagram: Understanding Audience Emotion in Shaping Employer Brand Identity- IBM

This research investigates the impact of visual storytelling on Instagram and how it shapes IBM's employer brand identity with regard to audience sentiment. In assessing Instagram posts, the work analyzes significant themes of an Organizations's Work Culture,leadership and personal Development and corporate social responsibility. Audience responses were classed using emotion analysis to determine the impact branding content perceivably has on the audience. The findings indicate that storytelling with employees, particularly through testimonials, elicits strong positive emotional responses such as happiness and trust. Conversely, some leadership and CSR portrayal elicited unfavorable sentiments toward the brand suggesting that they are more disengaged and inauthentic than they need to be. The study proposes increasing the visibility of leaders through more candid and behind-the-scenes featuring them and adjusting CSR narratives to make them less passive and more emotionally appealing. These insights enhance understanding of how social media strategically utilized content tailoring and emotional appeal can deepen employer branding initiatives.