Abstract
This study investigates the effect of community identification in building brand loyalty (attitudinal and behavioural) and a personal brand via social networks. The proposed model explained the main community identification antecedents and how identification can lead to enhanced company and consumer performance. This study adopts the theoretical lens of uses and gratifications theory and identifies three motivational drivers of community identification: relationship-oriented motives, self-oriented motives and brand content-oriented motives. The data were analysed with a structural equation modelling method based on a convenience sample collected through a survey. This study extends the body of knowledge about the outcomes from an active social media usage, based on a UGT perspective. It relates community identification and its drivers to loyalty. Besides, it links community identification with personal branding, which is considered as a vital outcome expected by social media users. The findings suggested that self-oriented motives represented a key driver for taking part in an online community. In addition, community identification represents to be an important antecedent to build attitudinal loyalty rather than behavioural loyalty. Consequently, community identification was also found to be a significant driver for building a user’s personal brand.
Highlights
In 2019, 72.4% of the worldwide online population had accessed social networks, up from 69.6% in 2016 (Statista 2020)
What the present study aims at exploring is to investigate whether the gratification deriving from social interaction and the relationship with other members differs from the one obtained via the relationship users have with a brand, and to understand how the two relationships contribute in building the identification users have with the brand community
To select the criteria to collect the data, this study took into account previous studies that pointed out that on the one hand, social media is perceived as a personalized medium of communication but is at the same time as international as any other previous medium (Okazaki and Taylor 2013; Zhang and Vos 2014)
Summary
In 2019, 72.4% of the worldwide online population had accessed social networks, up from 69.6% in 2016 (Statista 2020). This increase justifies the constantly growing attention given to virtual communities that integrate people. The relationships between virtual communities’ members and brands, and the consequent community identification, are still confusing to companies and have become a major issue for brand research It is important for brand studies to explain one of the most important motivations for joining online communities, supporting the thesis that consumers who are affiliated with a group tend to be less radical in rejecting brands than are individuals who are independent from a social group (Escalas and Bettman 2005).
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