Exploring customer brand engagement: definition and themes (original) (raw)
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Issues in defining and placing consumer brand engagement
Italian Journal of Marketing
The paper aims to identify the current positioning of consumer brand engagement (CBE) in marketing literature, thus filling a gap and contributing to a richer overview of the concept. Numerous research topics currently overlap in the marketing literature as brand theory has not been systemised precisely, especially with regard to consumer feeling towards brands and consumers’ active role in creating brand equity. The methodology adopted for this empirical research is qualitative, and the research question is the following: what is the current positioning of CBE in marketing theory? To find the answer, three empirical studies were performed. The first, Study 1, involved eight scholars—the key informants—specialising in the topic. In Study 2, 64 academic articles focusing on CBE were analysed. By comparing the two, it was possible to identify some counterintuitive problems and pitfalls impeding the definitive affirmation of CBE in marketing literature. Lastly, in Study 3, six Italian ...
Revisiting the consumer brand engagement concept
Journal of Business Research, 2020
Marketing researchers and practitioners almost unanimously agree that consumer engagement has major economic and social benefits. Many published works have attempted to conceptualize, develop, and validate measures of consumer engagement. One seminal study (Hollebeek, Glynn, & Brodie, 2014) developed a scale for consumer brand engagement (CBE) within the context of social media and has since become one of the most cited and employed measures of engagement. The purpose of the current study is to reinvestigate the validity of the CBE scale. We integrate views from marketing research and practice to introduce a new conceptualization of engagement. Examining the CBE scale through the lens of our new conceptualization, we find that, although reliable and valid as an instrument, it does not truly capture the engagement concept. Finally, we introduce and validate a new instrument that more comprehensively captures the engagement concept.
Consumer Brand Engagement in Social Media: Conceptualization, Scale Development and Validation
Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2014
In the last three decades, an influential research stream has emerged which highlights the dynamics of focal consumer/brand relationships. Specifically, 10 more recently the 'consumer brand engagement' (CBE) concept has been postulated to more comprehensively reflect the nature of consumers' particular 11 interactive brand relationships, relative to traditional concepts, including 'involvement.' However, despite the growing scholarly interest regarding the 12 undertaking of marketing research addressing 'engagement,' studies have been predominantly exploratory in nature, thus generating a lack of empirical 13 research in this area to date. By developing and validating a CBE scale in specific social media settings, we address this identified literature gap. Specifically, 14 we conceptualize CBE as a consumer's positively valenced brand-related cognitive, emotional and behavioral activity during or related to focal consumer/ 15 brand interactions. We derive three CBE dimensions, including cognitive processing, affection, and activation. Within three different social media contexts, 16 we employ exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to develop a reliable, 10-item CBE scale, which we proceed to validate within a nomological net of 17 conceptual relationships and a rival model. The findings suggest that while consumer brand 'involvement' acts as a CBE antecedent, consumer 'self-brand 18 connection' and 'brand usage intent' represent key CBE consequences, thus providing a platform for further research in this emerging area. We conclude 19 with an overview of key managerial and scholarly implications arising from this research. 20 22 23 42 itly, including in specific social media settings (Bolton and 43 Saxena-Iyer 2009; Malthouse and Hofacker 2010). 44 Within this broader context, the consumer 'engagement' 45 concept, which more explicitly accounts for consumers' interactive 46 brand-related dynamics (Brodie et al. 2011), is gaining traction in 47 the literature (Calder, Malthouse, and Schaedel 2009; van Doorn et 48 al. 2010); thus fitting within the broader theoretical perspectives of 49 consumer culture theory (Arnould and Thompson 2005), the 50 service-dominant logic (Karpen, Bove, and Lukas 2012; Vargo 51 and Lusch 2004, 2008), and relationship marketing (Vivek, Beatty, 52 and Morgan 2012). Brodie et al. (2011) define 'customer 53 engagement' as "a psychological state that occurs by virtue of 54
Jurnal Pengurusan
Using the extended Resource Investment Model, this study investigated the effect of customerbrand investments in building a strong customer engagement. Data were collected from a sample of 200 mobile phone customers using self-administered questionnaire, and analyzed through the utilization of multiple linear regressions analysis. The findings revealed that investments in customer and brand relationship significantly induce the customer to be engaged to a brand. Besides, the findings indicated that customer investment partially mediates the relationship between perceived brand investment and customer engagement. This study is one of the first to test the applicability of resource investment model in the context of customer-brand relationship. It concentrated on customers' perception of their relationships with mobile phone brand in the Malaysia's context. Accordingly, this study provides useful insight for companies in developing a strong customer-brand relationship; and consequently to sustain their competitiveness.
Enhancing Customer Relationships with Retail Service Brands: The Role of Customer Engagement
Purpose – The concept of customer engagement has emerged as an important indicator of customer- brand relationship strength. However, limited research exists to provide insight into how customer engagement enhances the effectiveness of building such a relationship in retail services. This study extends the current understanding of customer engagement through examination of its role in the development of customer-brand relationship quality. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypotheses contained in the proposed conceptual model, we used a quantitative method that included a survey questionnaire to measure customers’ perceptions with respect to the constructs of interest. Specifically, two studies were conducted in Australia. Study 1 was intended to empirically test the theoretical relationships among the constructs, while Study 2 aimed to replicate the proposed model with a different sample to enhance external validity. Findings – In two separate studies, the results of a structural model show that the emerging concept of customer engagement plays a significant role in building customer-brand relationship quality and, subsequently, customer loyalty toward the retail brand. Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on retail store brands only and used a cross-sectional design, which does not involve examination of cause and effect relationships. Practical implications – From a practical point of view, the findings suggest that marketers should actively embrace strategies to foster customer engagement to enhance brand relationship quality, and ultimately, forming a loyal customer-brand relationship. Originality/value – The study makes an original contribution to the retail services literature by empirically demonstrating the relevance of customer engagement in both customer relationship management as well as brand management.
Brand Activation in Driving Customer Engagement: Theoretical and Practice Review
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT, 2020
Brand Activation claimed to be a promotional tool use by organizations in order to induce their customers towards the brand. Literature evidence proves brand activation as an experiential learning technique compels customers to retain brand related information within the minds. The inconclusive literature on brand activation provides the platform further to investigate the area of brand activation with customer driven concepts. The review enlighten the avenues of brand activation in advance, customer engagement use as the outcome variable with brand activation as the predictor variable. The study adopted the literature and case review as the methodology. The review identified that brand activation is as a manipulative factor on customer engagement, and customer loyalty is the final result of it.
Understanding what drives consumers to invest time, money, and effort in a brand is key in developing successful marketing strategies. Defined as the tendency to incorporate brands into the consumer's self-concept, brand engagement is one construct used to understand such drive. This paper explores the concept of brand engagement through the lens of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and McClelland's theory of needs. The analysis is organized in four sections. First, it provides a summary of the two fundamental theories, their development and key concepts. Secondly, it identifies key findings in previous brand engagement research involving motivation theories. The third segment outlines the strengths and weaknesses in research about brand engagement as a function of motivation. The paper ends with a brief overview and implications for marketers with directions for future research.
The Key Qualities of a Strong Customer Engagement in the Customer-Brand Relationship Context
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2016
A strong customer-brand engagement has become the basis in achieving sustained competitiveness and survival. To excel at engaging customers, marketing practitioners heightened the critical need of having a clear definition and understanding of the key qualities of a strong customer engagement. Due to a lack of empirical research, the nature of customer engagement has remained rather vague. Thus, the aim of this study is to bridge this gap by determining the qualities of engaged customers with respect to cognitive, emotional, behavioural and overall engagement. A sample of 600 mobile phone users were surveyed, but only 539 responses were usable. Data were analysed using descriptive analysis. The findings show that customer engagement towards the brand is relatively moderate. Comparing the engagement dimensions, customers are engaged most by behavioural drivers, followed by emotional and cognitive drivers. Moreover, customer behavioural and emotional engagements outperform the overall engagement. This paper is an important contribution to marketing literature, particularly on customer-brand engagement and provides useful managerial insights for marketing practitioners. However, having in mind only one brand and limited choice of the sample, there is a need for replication using other brands with a more extensive sample.
Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 2009
Customer-brand relationships do not just exist, they develop over time and through multiple service experiences, yet the literature typically discusses customer-brand relationships as being a largely static phenomenon. Very limited attention has been given over to the service evaluation processes of customers who are new to a service brand, as compared to customers who are experienced with the service brand. Research additionally continues to rely on the historically dominant customer satisfaction paradigm as the most effective method with which to evaluate service experiences at the expense of other relational mediators such as involvement, calculative commitment, affective commitment, and trust. This limits the extent to which a more complete and dynamic understanding of the nature of customer-brand relationships and the processes by which engagement with the brand and ultimately loyalty to the brand may be fostered for customers in different consumption stages. A phenomenological investigation into the process of customer engagement, as revealed through customers' restaurant dining experiences, is presented to examine these issues. The data for this study was provided by five focus groups and nine in-depth interviews. The results of the study indicate that the role of relational mediators differs across new and repeat purchase segments of customers. These findings have important implications for the management of customer-brand relationships amongst different customer segments and for the development of operational strategies to improve service provision within the restaurant industry.