Managing brands and customer engagement in online brand communities (original) (raw)
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Journal of Product & Brand Management, 2019
Purpose-The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of customer brand engagement (CBE) by proposing and empirically testing a model of antecedents and consequences of CBE for user-initiated online brand communities (OBCs). Design/methodology/approach-The model is tested using a sample of 584 participants in two relevant OBCs created and managed by brand fans. Specifically, data were collected from two communities in the photography products category: Nikonistas and Canonistas. Findings-The results indicate that community and brand identification positively and significantly influence CBE. Furthermore, the supporting role of OBCs' moderators facilitates CBE and moderates the influence of community identification on CBE. Regarding the outcomes of CBE, the results show that higher levels of engagement are positively, directly and significantly associated with favorable intentions towards the brand and the community. These effects are then mediated by brand affective commitment. Research limitations/implications-The study has been conducted in two Spanish OBCs of two specific high-involvement products category: it is cross-sectional and focuses on a limited number of antecedents and consequences. Practical implications-Evidence from this research supports and emphasizes the potential that these platforms have for brand management such that firms' resources could be best allocated on those elements that lead to superior CBE. Originality/value-The study endorses the role of CBE in fostering brand and community-related favorable outcomes in the context of userinitiated OBCs. It shed lights on the potential that these online platforms have for brands and on the role that brand management should play in digital contexts that are outside the direct control of the company.
The Role of Online Brand Community Engagement on the Consumer–Brand Relationship
Sustainability, 2021
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of online brand community (OBC) engagement on strategic aspects for the brand supporting the community. A total of 628 valid responses were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The authors tested the proposed model using structural equation modeling. The results show that OBC engagement directly favors participation in the community, willingness to co-create with the brand, and positive sord-of-mouth (WOM); it also has an indirect positive influence on brand loyalty. At the same time, OBC engagement is directly influenced by OBC identification and, through this, indirectly influenced by brand identification. Likewise, brand trust directly influences brand co-creation, loyalty, and positive WOM. However, OBC participation has been shown to have no significant effect on brand co-creation and positive WOM.
Consumer engagement in an online brand community
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 2017
This research aims to explain members' online brand community (OBC) engagement and participation based on their relationships with other members and with the community sponsor. It proposes a conceptual model integrating variables that have been studied in previous research on brand trust, OBC identification, and satisfaction, and others that have received little or no research attention, including the OBC sponsor's opportunism, sponsor's control, and OBC experience, with OBC engagement playing a key role. The conceptual model has been tested by applying structural equation modelling to a database of 628 consumers belonging to over 260 different online brand communities OBC from diverse economic sectors: for example, brands involving sports (Adidas and Nike), fashion (Mango, Stradivarius and Zara) and technology (Apple, Samsung and Sony). In general, the authors conclude the importance of engagement in explaining a member's involvement in a community, and the important role played by antecedents such as online brand community experience and trust, not only directly but also indirectly via identification with the community. The results confirm the influence of engagement upon a member's participation in a community. Our study supports this direction of the relationship over the reverseparticipation engagementas suggested by other previous works. With regard to the antecedents of trust in the online brand community, it has been concluded that using the community for mainly commercial purposes has a negative effect.
Consumer Engagement in an Online Brand Community: Development and Validation of a Scale
2015
This research aims to explain members' online brand community (OBC) engagement and participation based on their relationships with other members and with the community sponsor. It proposes a conceptual model integrating variables that have been studied in previous research on brand trust, OBC identification, and satisfaction, and others that have received little or no research attention, including the OBC sponsor's opportunism, sponsor's control, and OBC experience, with OBC engagement playing a key role. The conceptual model has been tested by applying structural equation modelling to a database of 628 consumers belonging to over 260 different online brand communities OBC from diverse economic sectors: for example, brands involving sports (Adidas and Nike), fashion (Mango, Stradivarius and Zara) and technology (Apple, Samsung and Sony). In general, the authors conclude the importance of engagement in explaining a member's involvement in a community, and the important role played by antecedents such as online brand community experience and trust, not only directly but also indirectly via identification with the community. The results confirm the influence of engagement upon a member's participation in a community. Our study supports this direction of the relationship over the reverseparticipation engagementas suggested by other previous works. With regard to the antecedents of trust in the online brand community, it has been concluded that using the community for mainly commercial purposes has a negative effect.
Customer Engagement in Online Brand Communities (OBCs): A bibliometric analysis
2022
With the advancement in technology and convenience of social media, the customers and marketers' adoption and use of online brand communities have extensively increased. Customer engagement in social media brand communities has become an emerging research topic in the marketing area that has recently brought attention to researchers. The present study conducted bibliometric analysis to evaluate the current level of research has been conducted on the concept of customer engagement in online brand communities. The study has extracted the data from the Scopus database. The study identified 174 relevant research papers, and data was analysed with the help of a bibliometric tool called Bibliometrix. The study has presented significant findings and given some future research directions.
The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 2018
Social media has established a new dynamic in marketing, enabling customers to engage with brands in a variety of ways. This article aims to develop a comprehensive model of drivers, outcomes, and moderators of customer brand engagement (CBE) on virtual brand communities in social media. Based on a survey of 799 customers, findings identify involvement, interactivity, and flow experience as key drivers of CBE, and satisfaction, trust, word-of-mouth referrals, and commitment as associated outcomes, with identification and trust in the brand community acting as moderators. This study provides new insights about the CBE process, offering valuable suggestions to brand managers.
Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis
Journal of Business Research, 2013
Despite the extensive use of the term "engagement" in the context of brand communities, the theoretical meaning and foundations underlying this term remain underexplored in the literature to-date. Drawing on a literature review, this study adopts netnographic methodology to explore the nature and scope of consumer engagement in an online brand community environment. The study reveals the complex multidimensional and dynamic nature of consumer engagement, which may emerge at different levels of intensity over time, thus reflecting distinct engagement states. Further, the consumer engagement process comprises a range of sub-processes reflecting consumers' interactive experience within online brand communities, and value co-creation among community participants. Engaged consumers exhibit enhanced consumer loyalty, satisfaction, empowerment, connection, emotional bonding, trust and commitment. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for practice and further research.
Online brand community engagement: Scale development and validation
Journal of Business Research, 2015
In a quest for connecting with customers, the world's largest brands have gone online to develop communities to interact with consumers. Despite widespread adoption less is known about what motivates consumers to continually interact in these communities. Across six studies, we develop and test a typology of online brand community engagement (i.e., the compelling intrinsic motivations to continue interacting with an online brand community). We identify 11 independent motivations and test the scale's predictive power for participation in an online brand community. This study provides a much needed refinement to the disparate conceptualizations and operationalizations of engagement in the literature. As a result, academic researchers can now rely on a diverse set of motivational measures that best fit the context of their research, adding to the versatility of future research studies. The results provide managers with new insight in the motivations for and impact of interacting in online brand communities.
Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 2017
The study advances conceptualization and dimensionality of consumer engagement and validate antecedents and outcomes in the context of social media. The data collected from active members of online brand communities, unveiled that consumers engage with brands and other consumers with brand communities. The study conducted exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression modelling to validate construct and test proposed hypotheses. Findings of the study exhibit that brand satisfaction, brand identification yield significant relationship with consumer engagement while brand trust turns out to be insignificant. Furthermore, consumer engagement significantly mediates the relationship between brand identification, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. The study asserts that parsimonious conceptualization of consumer engagement consists of three dimensions: cognitive, affective and behavioral. Contributions of the study are two folds; first, endorse consumer engagement conceptualization and secondly, answer to call for empirical testing of Online Brand Community Engagement Framework.
"Consumer Engagement in Online Brand Communities: A Solicitation of Congruity Theory"
Internet Research, 2018
The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of self-brand image congruity and value congruity on consumer engagement in online brand communities (OBCs). A secondary purpose of this paper is to test whether gender moderates this relationship. Third, this study also examines the role of consumer engagement as a driver of brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach-Using an online questionnaire, 443 responses were collected from consumers who are members of at least one OBC on Facebook. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings-The results revealed that both self-brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect consumer engagement. A positive effect of consumer engagement on brand loyalty was also observed. Third, the results revealed that gender did not moderate the examined relationships. Practical implications-This research integrates and broadens existing explanations of different congruity effects on consumer engagement. This study thus suggests the value of developing their online brand communities to exhibit congruence with customers' self-image and value, which in turn, will contribute to the development of brand loyalty. Originality/value-This research applies congruity theory to examine the impact of self-brand image-and value congruity on consumer engagement in online brand communities. Through the establishment of this novel theoretical link, this study furthers insight into the domain of social media marketing.