An empirical study of brand microblog users’ unfollowing motivations: The perspective of push-pull-mooring model

Abstract

Brand microblogs (BMs) have been increasingly utilized by companies to facilitate communication and foster deeper relationships with their customers. In addition to attracting new followers, retaining existing followers is equally, if not more, important to the success of BM operators. Drawing upon the migration theory, this study develops a push-pull-mooring (PPM) model of BM unfollowing motivations to enhance our understanding of the significant antecedents that promote BM users’ unfollowing intention. The study empirically investigates the three categories of antecedents of the BM unfollowing intention: push (dissatisfaction with information quality, dissatisfaction with service quality, and person brand unfit), pull (alternative attractiveness), and mooring (perceived unfollowing costs) effects. The results suggest that the three groups of unfollowing motivations display varying degrees of influence on BM users’ unfollowing intention. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings of this study are also discussed.