Abstract
Purpose Customer identification leads to behaviors that are beneficial for firms. This paper aims to analyze the effect of firm identification and community identification on content creation, which indirectly may affect offline word of mouth and online word of mouth. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a research model that is tested using data from 491 users of online travel agencies. To do so, partial least squares method is used. Findings The results show a positive relationship between firm identification and community identification. Moreover, both variables exert a positive effect on content creation. Furthermore, content creation positively influences offline and online word of mouth. This influence is moderated by self-enhancement in the case of online word of mouth. Practical implications Firm managers must enhance customer identification, as it can turn in behaviors that are beneficial for the company. Moreover, firms that own online communities must apply segmentation strategies based on identification and self-enhancement to encourage positive behaviors from customers. Originality/value This research tests the relationship between firm identification and community identification. Additionally, this study jointly analyzes the impact of these variables on several beneficial behaviors.
Highlights
Customer identification refers to the sense of belongingness to a group (Ashforth and Mael, 1989)
Our research proposes that the relationships between content creation, WOM and eWOM could be influenced by self-enhancement, that is, customers’ need of positive recognition (Hennig-Thurau et al, 2004)
5.1 Measures validation We used partial least square (PLS) method to estimate our model because it is especially useful in situations with low theoretical information, or when the phenomenon under research is relatively new (Roldan and Sanchez-Franco, 2012), as it is in our case
Summary
Customer identification refers to the sense of belongingness to a group (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). It positively affects firms, as it provokes valuable customer behaviors (Casalo et al, 2010). Firm managers should try to enhance customer identification. Because of the benefits obtained from being part of the group, the individuals develop a moral responsibility that makes them help other members of the group (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). Focusing on the relationship with a company, when customers obtain several benefits from the company, they develop a commitment to the firm, which in turn motivates positive customer behaviors (Sääksjärvi et al, 2007). Because of these benefits, customers try to maintain a long-term relationship by performing positive behaviors for the firm
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