Customer Brand Engagement Research Articles

Customer brand engagement behaviors: the role of cognitive values, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and self-brand connection

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of perceived enjoyment, benefits, involvement, and self-brand connection on consumers’ attitudes toward CBEBs based on TPB theory. Data were collected by a face-to-face survey instrument in Turkey from 594 smartphone owners who actively participated in brand engagement activities. Structural equation modeling and Hayes Process macro analyses were used to examine the research hypothesis. Findings showed perceived enjoyment is the most important stimuli to increase positive attitudes toward consumer engagement behaviors. In particular, self-brand connection plays a vital role in this mechanism and indirectly influences attitudes via enhancing involvement, perceived enjoyment, and benefit.

The importance of content marketing for achieving customer brand engagement

In the last decade, with the development of information and communication technologies, content marketing has become one of the leading marketing techniques in marketing communication, which seeks to create a relationship with customers by creating and sharing interesting content. Activities related to content marketing are theoretically synthesized in different ways, but regardless of the chosen way of their theoretical definition, they should intuitively lead to building customer brand engagement. Customer brand engagement is characterized by different cognitive, emotional and behavioral brand-related responses caused by specific brand interactions. In the modern economy, where it is very difficult to attract and retain the attention of customers, building creative, consistent and accurate content is becoming one of the basic challenges for gaining customer engagement. The research subject focuses on the growing popularity of content marketing and customer brand engagement, and systematizes the existing findings on the importance of the effects that content marketing has on customer brand engagement. Therefore, the main goal is to review the literature on existing knowledge about customer brand engagement and content marketing, which is most often shared through social media, and critically analyze the findings of researchers and practitioners on the relationship between content marketing and customer brand engagement.

The effects of influencer marketing on overall brand equity through brand awareness and customer brand engagement

This paper focuses on five-star hotels in Jordan to investigate the impact of influencer marketing on overall brand equity. The mediating role played by brand awareness and customer brand engagement between influencer marketing and overall brand equity is tested. The survey method is employed to conduct this research, and data is collected from 300 respondents. The proposed hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that influencer marketing directly influenced overall brand equity, brand awareness and customer brand engagement partially mediate the relationship between influencer marketing and overall brand equity.

A Study of Customer Brand Engagement for Materialistic Groups

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how co-design activities affect consumer psychological factors, such as self-brand connection, and thus consumer-brand engagement, and to investigate the applicability of this mechanism to populations with different degrees of materialism. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a questionnaire to construct a "co-design" scenario and a materialism scale to investigate the personal characteristics of the participants, and a scenario in which consumers participated in the co-design of an apparel brand to investigate their perceived self-brand connection and customer brand engagement. Findings: Co-design activities are effective in increasing consumers' brand engagement with the brand, in which the self-brand connection plays a partially mediating role and the individual consumer's level of materialism plays a negative moderating role. Research implications: The impact of co-creation on customer psychological factors and the boundary conditions of this process should be further investigated. The results of this study will provide a reference for companies to determine whether they should engage in "value co-creation" activities with their target groups. Originality/value innovation: Current research emphasizes the importance of adopting a psychological perspective on engagement and analyzing the scope of this mechanism of action in terms of consumer characteristics.

Customer brand engagement in emerging businesses: antecedents and consequences

Customer brand engagement in emerging businesses: antecedents and consequences

Impact of quality of AR apps on customer brand engagement, word-of-mouth and purchase intention: moderating role of perceived brand value

Impact of quality of AR apps on customer brand engagement, word-of-mouth and purchase intention: moderating role of perceived brand value

The role of brand interactivity and involvement in driving social media consumer brand engagement and brand loyalty: the mediating effect of brand trust

PurposeThis study explores central questions related to the connections between brand interactivity and involvement on brand-related outcomes (brand trust and loyalty) through understanding the role played by customer brand engagement (CBE) through social media platforms.Design/methodology/approachUsing an online survey, the data for this study were collected from 353 participants who follow Royal Jordanian Airlines on their Facebook page. A cross-sectional research approach was implemented using a partial least squares path modeling approach.FindingsThe study finds that perceived brand interactivity and involvement are positively associated with social media CBE. The authors also find that social media CBE is positively related to brand trust and that brand trust is positively associated with brand loyalty. Consequently, the authors observe that social media CBE is positively related to brand loyalty.Originality/valueThis study investigates the impact of perceived brand interactivity and involvement on social media CBE while accounting for the mediating role of brand trust through which social media CBE influences brand loyalty of airline brands in the Jordanian context. Finally, the findings have noteworthy theoretical and managerial implications.

Customer Brand Engagement through Chatbots on Bank Websites– Examining the Antecedents and Consequences

ABSTRACT Chatbots are virtual conversation agents that offer innovative features to connect with customers and thus offer a promising avenue to engage customers. Currently many private and nationalized banks are deploying chatbots for connecting and communicating with customers. This technology is expected to dominate the banking sector in the future by improving customer service. However, the success of banking chatbots will be effective when customers are satisfied with the chatbots and engage in using them. To probe in to the question, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer brand engagement in using banking chatbots, with the lens of diffusion of innovation theory. The antecedents include interactivity, time convenience, compatibility, complexity, observability, and trialability. The consequences are satisfaction with the brand experience and customer brand usage intention. The theorized model has been validated with 470 Indian banking chatbot customers usable responses. The results suggest that trialability, compatibility, and interactivity positively influence customer brand engagement through a chatbot, thereby influencing satisfaction with the brand experience and customer brand usage intention. The paper presents theoretical and managerial implications which enable banks to strengthen customer engagement, satisfaction and brand usage intention through chatbots.

Augmented Reality-Enabled Instagram Game Filters: Key to Engaging Customers

The gamification concept is rapidly grabbing attention of different sectors in the current competitive business ecosystem. Companies are amalgamating game elements to enrich customer enhancement. However, empirical studies incorporating Augmented Reality (AR) elements in the same are lacking. Therefore, main objective of this research is to inspect elements of AR, impacting the customer brand engagement in game filters of Instagram. Drawing on S-D Logic the authors aim to explore the impact of gameful experience on creating customer engagement. The capability of Customer Brand Engagement (CBE) to influence Brand Satisfaction (BS) and Brand loyalty (BL) is also explored in the study. Convenient sampling method was adopted to gather 458 responses from Gen Z in India. Responses were gathered using self-administered questionnaire. Findings of the study expand CBE literature to a new technology and refines knowledge of relationship between AR and preexisting CBE dimensions (affective, cognitive and activation), leading to BS and BL. This study has some implications for managerial decision making in creating resilient and long-term relations with customers.

Interactive app-based services: Recovery evaluations and the mediating role of satisfaction in the relationship between customer-brand engagement and electronic word of mouth

Based on the theory of co-creation and resource-based theory, this study examines the differential impact of varying levels of customer participation in service recovery (firm, customer, and joint) on recovery satisfaction, customer-brand engagement (CBE), and electronic-word of mouth (e-WoM). Besides, using social exchange theory, this study examines the mediating role of consumers’ recovery satisfaction in the relationship between the types of service recovery and electronic word of mouth (e-WoM). The data to accomplish the research objectives was collected from 495 customers of interactive food delivery apps in India. The experimental design was used to collect the data. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and PROCESS macro techniques were used to test the hypotheses. The findings suggest that joint recovery results in better recovery evaluations such as CBE, recovery satisfaction, and e-WoM. Also, recovery satisfaction mediated the relationship between CBE and e-WoM. These findings provide empirical evidence for the linkages among the theory of co-creation, resource-based theory, and social exchange theory. The marketers of interactive food delivery apps may use these findings to ascertain which recovery type they should emphasize to improve recovery satisfaction. Moreover, they are encouraged to take steps for improving recovery satisfaction as CBE affects e-WoM through recovery satisfaction.

Which review can make you engage? The effect of reviewer-reader similarity on consumer brand engagement

Online reviews facilitate customer brand engagement, but few studies have explored this problem from the perspective of interpersonal attraction and its psychological mechanisms in the social commerce context. This paper aims to investigate the effect of reviewer-reader similarity (including external and internal similarity) in online reviews on customer brand engagement in the social commerce context. Drawing upon the social categorization theory, a conceptual framework was developed and tested empirically. Data collected from a sample of Chinese consumers with the shopping experience on social commerce websites (N=392) was analyzed using Partial Least Square (PLS). Findings reveal that both external and internal similarities are indirectly influenced consumer brand engagement, and mediated by consumers' perceived value and congruence transferred through this process. The impact of external similarity on customer brand engagement was greater through consumers' perceived value, whereas the influence of internal similarity was stronger through consumers' self-brand congruence.

Social Media User-Influencer Congruity

This paper explores and inspects the effect of user-influencer congruence on social media platforms para-social relationships and consumer brand engagement (COBRA). In addition, the paper inspects the influence of para-social relationships on consumers brand in addition to the influence of social media platform type in moderating the effect of personality on para-social relationships and COBRA. A conceptual framework is developed to demonstrate the proposed relationships. Data was collected using online questionnaires, with 180 valid responses. The results suggest that user-influencer personality congruence is a salient predictor of para-social relationships and COBRA and that para-social relationship(s) have a substantial impact on customer brand engagement. Nevertheless, the results also indicated that social media platform type do not influence the relationship between congruity and para-social relationships or COBRA.

Customer engagement in online service brand communities

PurposeOnline service brand communities (OBCs) are an essential services marketing channel and relationship marketing tool, in which social capital (SC) is a critical success factor. Underpinned in social identity and social exchange theories, this paper aims to explore the effects of SC on customer brand engagement (CBE), considering the roles of collective psychological ownership (CPO), customer citizenship behaviour (CCB) and perceived community support (PCS).Design/methodology/approachThe research model was tested using survey data from 256 participants; 137 from the Xiaomi Community and 119 from the Huawei Fan Club. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling analysis was used.FindingsSC drives CBE. CPO and CCB are important mediators, whilst PCS is an important moderator.Practical implicationsBrand marketers need to foster SC in OBCs to achieve the maximum level of customer engagement. The authors provide recommendations as to how to build structural, relational and cognitive SC, as well as CPO, CCB and PCS. In short, brand marketers need to foster an interactive, empowering and supportive environment.Originality/valueThe authors further service research around the humanisation of technology. Specifically, OBCs are social spaces for brands and customers, and a key enabler of relationship marketing principles, such as CBE. The authors test the roles of structural, cognitive and relational SC in engagement in OBCs, through CPO and CCB. This holistic picture of engagement in OBCs is an important foundation for future service research.

Unraveling the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands

This study unravels the dynamic and contingency mechanism between service experience and customer engagement with luxury hotel brands by investigating a multi-step model linking these two variables, in which emotional attachment and relational quality constructs (i.e., brand satisfaction, brand trust, and brand commitment) act as a bridge, while customer involvement acts as a moderator. Based on a self-administered survey dataset of 249 international tourists who are customers of luxury hotel brands, partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that all proposed hypotheses are supported. As such, this study discovers and clarifies the nature and dynamic mechanism underpinning the co-creation and reciprocation process of customer engagement with luxury hotels. In particular, the positive service experience is found to contribute to customer engagement via emotional attachment and relational marketing. Furthermore, the moderating role of customer involvement in the luxury hotel setting is confirmed. • Unravel the mediating roles of emotional attachment, relational quality on the service experience-customer engagement nexus. • Investigate the moderating/contingency role of customer involvement on the formation of customer brand engagement. • Propose a multi-step process of value co-creation and reciprocation between customers and luxury hotel brands. • Provide suggestions to win over customers’ hearts and minds, achieving desired outcomes of customer brand engagement.

The moderating role of age on social media marketing activities and customer brand engagement on Instagram social network

PurposeIn the context of fashion brands on Instagram platform, this study aims to investigate the impact of age on the relationships between informative, interactive and trendy social media marketing (SMM) activities, customer brand engagement (CBE) and brand loyalty.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative method was used to collect and analyses the data and to test the conceptual model. In total, 241 usable questionnaires were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling and multi-group moderation analysis.FindingsThe results of this study demonstrate that informativeness of SMM activities relates positively and significantly to CBE in all age groups. However, the strength and the significance of interactive and trendy social media activities differ between age groups.Research limitations/implicationsThis study used only two age groups of college students to answer the research questions. Despite that tech-savvy millennials and generation Z are highly engaged in social media environment, the results may not be representative of the entire population and the findings may be cautiously generalized to other platform types or product categories.Originality/valueBy offering a new understanding of perceived SMM in different age groups on Instagram platform, this study contributes to the literature by identifying the types of social media activities that engage different age groups on social media networks.

Micro-learning Platforms Brand Awareness Using Socialmedia Marketing and Customer Brand Engagement

This study aims to analyse the impact of Social Media Marketing in Customer Brand Engagement and Brand Awareness micro-learning platforms. The sample consisted of 220 students from micro-learning platforms using social media in the educational institutions. Because social-media marketing and customer brand- engagement are second-order reflexive constructions, the two-stage approach of hierarchical models with mode-A was adopted. The results reveal that social media marketing influences both the building of customer brand engagement and brand awareness among students on micro-learning platforms. Furthermore, it was shown that customer brand engagement is an important mediator between social media marketing and brand awareness. Social-media marketing activities carried out by micro-learning platforms contribute to the generation of customer brand-engagement and brand awareness of these institutions. Furthermore, the results show that, although social-media marketing helps to generate brand-awareness, it is through customer brand-engagement that social-media marketing is most effective in generating brand-awareness. For micro-learning platforms, the results allow them to understand the importance of customer brand-engagement when using social-media marketing to generate brand-awareness.

Gamification and customer experience: the mediating role of brand engagement in online grocery retailing

Purpose In recent years, the concept of gamification is one of the fastest-growing trends in the field of marketing to persuade, motivate and manipulate customer behavior. The application of gamification has become a priority for marketers as a new way of exploiting customers. Despite the increasing use of gamification mechanisms in marketing activities, there remain limitations. Although there is extensive literature in the field of customer experience and gamification, few studies have empirically examined how gamification influences customer experience by considering the mediating role of brand engagement in the online retailing context. Design/methodology/approach To obtain this aim, a cross-sectional survey was used. The statistical population was customers of online grocery retailers. The convenience sampling technique was used as a sampling technique. Out of 402 received questionnaires, 384 were selected for analysis. Structural equation modeling approach was applied to test the research hypotheses using AMOS 24 and SPSS 22 software. Findings The results indicated that all research hypotheses were supported. Gamification has a significant and positive impact on customer experience, gamification has a positive and significant effect on user customer brand engagement and customer brand engagement has a positive and significant impact on customer experience. Also, it revealed that customer brand engagement mediates between gamification and customer experience. Originality/value A review of the digital marketing literature reveals that there are few empirical studies, which adequately examined significant effective factors of customer experience in online grocery retailing; despite, the majority of researchers consider customer experience as the most important concept in digital marketing. The main contribution of this study is to examine the role of gamification on customer experience through the mediating role of customer engagement in the online grocery context. It adds value to the digital marketing and online retailing literature by providing new insight about determinants of customer experience in online grocery.

The role of customer brand engagement in the use of Instagram as a “shop window” for fashion-industry social commerce

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze how fashion consumers behave when they make purchases using social media platforms – specifically, Instagram. In particular, the work examines the role played by consumer–brand involvement and self–brand connection (SBC) as predictors of customer brand engagement (CBE).Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, social commerce-adoption is modeled, using three variables: customer engagement, SBC and fashion-consumer brand-involvement. Using a personal online survey, data on social media users classified as millennials and Generation Z were collected. The model is analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsConsumer involvement in fashion has a positive effect on cognitive processing and activation, but not on affection. SBC has a positive effect on all three analyzed dimensions. Finally, gender is found to exert a moderating effect on the relationship between the “CBE activation” dimension and brand loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced the responses. Other limitations and potential lines of research for the future are presented at the end of the paper.Practical implicationsSome of the results of this study can directly inform the social media strategies of fashion companies that use Instagram as a channel of communication with their customers. They can also contribute to incentivizing co-created content and increasing consumption among both men and women.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to addressing the scarcity of studies dealing with CBE and social commerce in the fashion sector and, in particular, fashion-consumer behavior on social media (specifically, Instagram).

How Green Trust, Consumer Brand Engagement and Green Word-of-Mouth Mediate Purchasing Intentions

An increasing interest in environmental problems around the world has significantly expanded the demand for green goods, transforming green marketing into an effective tool for businesses to achieve competitive advantage. Yet, as more firms become aware of this strategic advantage, greenwashing activities can also flourish, and customers grow more cautious about green efforts by firms. The present research examines how greenwashing expectations of customers affect their green buying decisions by studying how green trust, consumer brand engagement and green word-of-mouth mediate this relationship. A total of 302 subjects participated in a survey to study greenwashing effects using a high involvement green ad and a low involvement green ad. Results were analyzed using a PLS-SEM approach. The findings show that the greenwashing expectations of customers have no direct effect on green purchase decisions, but that green trust and green word-of-mouth mediate this relationship. Likewise, greenwashing perception significantly affects customer brand engagement indirectly through green trust and there is a full mediation between greenwashing perception and green purchasing intention through green trust, customer brand engagement and green word of mouth. Therefore, the study shows that having a low perception of greenwashing is not enough to increase purchases. For that to occur, companies need to ensure that WOM communicates such efforts and that consumers trust these green initiatives.

Transforming customer brand engagement to co-creation value through participation energy and effort

Transforming customer brand engagement to co-creation value through participation energy and effort