How to Make Loyal Fans in Virtual Communities: Evidence from the Facebook Fan Pages of Smartphones

Li-Chun Hsu

doi:10.4067/s0718-18762019000300110

Abstract

This study targeted community members who have purchased smartphone and have joined the official brand fan pages of the smartphone brands for at least six months. A total of 681 valid samples were collected. Structural equation modeling was employed to conduct path analyses, and the results show that the 7 hypothetical paths proposed in this study are supported by the theoretical model, which exhibited desirable goodness of fit. In the mediation effect, brand passions partially mediate exogenous factors and brand loyalty. This study is aimed at increasing understanding of how a firm that possesses a cluster of fans who actively protect its brand maintain a strong brand relationship with its brand fans through brand community.

Highlights

According to the Statista [129], a Taiwan-based think tank on information and communication technology, the number of online users worldwide was approximately 2 billion and, if it continues to grow, will have reached 2.62 billion by 2018
The study examined brand uniqueness and hedonic products on the basis of the relationship between brand self-expression and uniqueness and elucidated brand loyalty by redefining brand passion and assessing it quantitatively. It differed from previous studies because of the following reasons: (a) analyzing brand self-expression, brand uniqueness, and hedonic products to address the lack of conclusive evidence from brand community research; and (b) identifying factors of greater discriminatory power in consumer decision-making on brands, dividing brand loyalty into brand purchase intention brand advocacy, and brand equity, This study analyzed the mediating effects of factors in brand passion on the antecedents and outcome variables in the study model
The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the measurement model was based on the criteria for convergent validity analysis [13], the evaluation criteria for CFA [16], and the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) recommended by Gefen et al

Summary

Introduction

According to the Statista [129], a Taiwan-based think tank on information and communication technology, the number of online users worldwide was approximately 2 billion and, if it continues to grow, will have reached 2.62 billion by 2018. In 2012 and 2013, eMarketer (a market research firm) surveyed branded firms about the social media platforms they use and determined that 90% of them conducted marketing activities on Facebook. The function of online social networks (OSN) has evolved in the past few years, resulting in new opportunities for marketers to generate brand awareness among consumers [21], [69]. Branded firms, such as Starbucks, HTC, ASUS, and Mini Cooper, have created fan groups on Facebook to launch marketing campaigns and maintain long-lasting consumer-brand relationships with their fans

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Conclusion