The Role of Online Brand Community Engagement on the Consumer–Brand Relationship

Francisco J Martínez-López,J Andres Coca-Stefaniak,Rafael Anaya-Sánchez,Rocío Aguilar-Illescas,Irene Esteban-Millat,Sebastián Molinillo

doi:10.3390/su13073679

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of online brand community (OBC) engagement on strategic aspects for the brand supporting the community. A total of 628 valid responses were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The authors tested the proposed model using structural equation modeling. The results show that OBC engagement directly favors participation in the community, willingness to co-create with the brand, and positive sord-of-mouth (WOM); it also has an indirect positive influence on brand loyalty. At the same time, OBC engagement is directly influenced by OBC identification and, through this, indirectly influenced by brand identification. Likewise, brand trust directly influences brand co-creation, loyalty, and positive WOM. However, OBC participation has been shown to have no significant effect on brand co-creation and positive WOM.

Highlights

IntroductionIdentification with the online brand community (OBC) is defined as the comparison users make between their own identity and that of the community [25]
The willingness of community members to co-create with the brand, their brand loyalty, and their tendency to provide positive WOM are partly determined by their engagement with the online brand community; this is an important finding because it integrates and demonstrates the joint effects of these variables
This study has shown the importance of engagement in understanding both participation in an online brand community (OBC) and the results in terms of the strategic aspects of the brand

Summary

Introduction

Identification with the OBC is defined as the comparison users make between their own identity and that of the community [25]. It reflects the strength of the relationship between the consumer and the community [26]. This identification process has been analyzed in various studies [26,27] mainly using the social identity theory approach. This theory defines identification as an individual’s perception of real or symbolic belonging to a specific group [28]. A consumer’s identity is projected through the brands they consume [30,31], so their brand identification will be greater when the brand image more closely matches their own self-concept [32]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion