Do value cocreation and engagement drive brand evangelism?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Harrigan ◽  
Sanjit K. Roy ◽  
Tom Chen

PurposeDrawing on service logic, the authors investigate how value cocreation leads to evangelical brand-related behaviors (brand defense and brand advocacy). The authors analyze the interplay between value cocreation and customer brand engagement on social media in driving these outcomes. The authors also consider the role of brand love in eliciting evangelical brand-related behaviors.Design/methodology/approachRespondents recruited through Amazon MTurk were surveyed on social media use in tourism-related decisions. The total useable sample size was 397. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the research model.FindingsValue cocreation and customer brand engagement are drivers of evangelical brand-related behaviors, emphasizing the importance of these two in marketing and how they drive behavioral outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsService logic highlights the significance of value cocreation which, through customer brand engagement and love, leads to brand defense and advocacy. This explains the mediation in our model, where marketers must undertake efforts to support customer brand engagement and brand love.Practical implicationsValue is created by the user for the user through their experiences over time. Brands are owned by customers, and their defense and advocacy of them must be earned. Marketers facilitate customer value creation by providing the resources to cocreate value and love the brand.Originality/valueMost studies investigate value cocreation from an in-role and/or extra-role perspective as to how it benefits firms. Through service logic, the authors illustrate how it leads to evangelical brand-related behaviors.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trang P. Tran ◽  
Adrienne Muldrow ◽  
Khanh Ngoc Bich Ho

Purpose This paper aims to test a theory-driven model reflecting the effects of perceived personalization on consumer–brand relationships on social media. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model is empirically tested through two studies using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Other techniques, such as common method bias, multigroup comparison, mediation analysis and model fit comparison, are also used to give more insights into the analytical process. Findings Data from two studies show that perceived personalization is positively related to brand-related outcomes including brand self-expressiveness, consumer–brand engagement and brand connection. While consumer–brand engagement and brand connection are positively related to brand love, brand self-expressiveness is not. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to the advertising and brand management literature by shedding light on a better understanding of the impact of personalization in the digital world. Practical implications Management could learn important lessons from personalization. If a strategy of promoting personalized ads is implemented successfully, those ads could change customer perceptions of brands which ultimately strengthens brand love. Originality/value This research provides an empirical model that helps marketers better understand the factors affecting brand love with personalized ads on social media.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Fernandes ◽  
Inês Inverneiro

Purpose Exerting a peculiar fascination on both managers and academics, Millennials can be distinguished from other cohorts by their intense exposure to the internet and heavy use of social media, which, in turn, affect their identity formation, brand engagement, loyalty and purchase behaviour. Yet, uncertainties regarding online engagement and the real benefits brands can reap from Millennials’ avid use of social media remain. Therefore, by developing a holistic model of drivers and outcomes, this study aims to understand how Millennials engage with their most loved, self-expressive brands across social media platforms and its impact on loyalty-related intentions. Design/methodology/approach Data was gathered using a self-administered survey, answered by 343 millennial generation social media users and based on self-selected self-expressive, loved brands. Considering brand loyalty as a key outcome, a holistic model was developed and tested using partial least squares-structural equation modelling, emphasizing not only the role of social media engagement but also including brand love, experience and identification as direct and indirect antecedents. Findings Findings suggest a disconnection between online and offline brand relationships: though Millennials love and are very loyal to their favourite brands, they are not actively engaged in social media, which helps to explain the non-significant effect of engagement on brand loyalty. Moreover, together with brand identification, brand experience was found to play a major role in developing brand love, which, in turn, is positively related to engagement and loyalty. Originality/value Theoretically, this study contributes to bridging a gap in the literature, as research on engagement, its drivers and outcomes is scant and there is no robust evidence about its impact on brand loyalty, particularly among Millennials. Moreover, research on disengaged consumers who exhibit limited willingness to engage is still scant. Managerially, this study provides insights for brand managers wishing to successfully engage and build relationships with Millennials and to identify key routes to Millennials’ loyalty.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Peco-Torres ◽  
Ana I. Polo-Peña ◽  
Dolores M. Frías-Jamilena

Purpose This study aims to analyze the effect of the use of social media on the perception of brand personality and to identify its effect on customer brand engagement. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an exploratory approach, adapting Aaker's brand personality scale (1997) to the context of cultural tourism before carrying out a quantitative study resorting to a structural equation modeling to obtain empirical evidence to identify these relationships. Findings The findings reveal that the use of social media has a positive effect on the perception of brand personality and that brand personality, likewise, has a positive effect on customer brand engagement. Research limitations/implications This study indicates that transmission of an attractive brand personality according to the desires of the public, combined with dissemination through social media, is a valid strategy to improve customer brand engagement. Originality/value This study represents an advance in the specialized literature on the value that consumers place on information transmitted through social media. Specifically, it sheds light on how the transmission of brand personality through social media affects customer brand engagement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-32
Author(s):  
Kanyawee Pornsrimate ◽  
Anon Khamwon

Undoubtedly, in the modern age of digitalization, Millennials, who are considered digital natives, have become a massive target market for salespersons. Changes in the way Millennials think accompanied by an explosion of social media have led to an increased focus on social media influencer marketing in the company sector. To help establish a new marketing paradigm that accounts for these changes, this research aims to conceptualize and investigate the process of building consumer-brand relationships with Millennial consumers through social media micro-influencers. Findings based on structural equation modeling revealed that four core characteristics of social media micro-influencers (i.e., authenticity, the meaning of the influencer, specific content, and secret sharing) were a significant antecedent of brand engagement and brand love, which, in turn, mediated the pathway from social media micro-influencer characteristics to brand evangelism. Understanding what social media micro-influencers mean to Millennials offers the promise of improving brand evangelism through more precise market analysis and market strategy. In the discussion, the paper introduces a three-stage building method towards brand evangelism through social media micro-influencer, including: (1) the stage of selecting influencers; (2) the stage of constructing intense emotional responses to the brand (brand engagement and brand love); and ultimately (3) the stage of becoming a brand evangelist. Lastly, limitations and future directions were discussed.


Kybernetes ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 1801-1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raed Salah Algharabat

Purpose This research aims to investigate the link between social media marketing (SMM) activities and brand love. It further investigates the mediating impact of self-expressive brands (inner and social) between the relationships of SMM activities and brand love, which in turn impact brand loyalty. Using the context provided by Facebook, the author contributes in three ways to the nascent marketing literature: by linking SMM activates with brand love, by investigating the mediating impact of self-expressive brands between SMM activities and brand love and by investigating the impact of brand love on brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 400 followers of Facebook pages, data were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings The findings reveal that SMM activities positively affect self-expressive brands (inner and social), which in turn impact brand love. The author also finds that brand love positively affects brand loyalty. The author further finds that self-expressive brand (inner) fully mediates the relationship between SMM activities and brand love, whereas self-expressive brand (social) partially mediates this relationship. Originality/value Previous researchers neither have the chance to link SMM activities with brand love nor to explain its role as an antecedent to self-expressive brand. Therefore, the author contributes to nascent literature by linking and investigating the mediating impact of self-expressive brands between the relationships of SMM activities and brand love which in turn impact brand loyalty.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Hazzam*

Purpose In 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/approach A 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. Findings The 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/implications This 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/value By 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.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngtae Choi ◽  
Michael W. Kroff ◽  
Junga Kim

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how brands’ social media activities (credible content delivery, co-creation and responsiveness) impact brand advocacy. The paper also examines the influence of brand advocacy on purchase intentions of brand advocates and the moderating effect of the amount of time spent on Facebook on the relationship between brand advocacy and purchase intentions. Finally, the moderating effect of brand type (goods vs services) on the relationship between brands’ activities and brand advocacy is explored. Design/methodology/approach US adults who use Facebook as their primary social media platform participated in a survey via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The three brand activities are positively related to users’ advocacy of brands toward other users. Brand advocacy also positively influences purchase intentions of brand advocates. The amount of time spent on Facebook moderates the relationship between brand advocacy and purchase intentions. The brand type moderates the relationship between co-creation and brand advocacy. Originality/value This study differs from the existing research, which has typically used a user-oriented perspective (e.g. impact of user motivations) to explain brand advocacy and has not considered the outcome of brand advocacy on the brand advocates’ purchase intentions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Wallace ◽  
Isabel Buil ◽  
Leslie de Chernatony

Purpose Brand “Likes” on Facebook facilitate self-expression, forming part of consumers’ virtual selves. Yet, consumers’ brand “Likes” may bear little resemblance to their material realities. This paper aims to test similarities of brand image with self-image for Facebook “Likes” to determine whether self-congruence with a “Liked” brand leads to positive offline brand outcomes. It also investigates whether consumers’ perceptions about their Facebook social relations influence self-congruent brand “Likes”. Design/methodology/approach A large-scale survey was conducted of regular Facebook users who “Liked” brands. Data from 438 respondents was analysed and hypotheses tested using structural equation modeling. Findings Empirical results show that the perceived self-congruence with a “Liked” brand increases with social tie strength. Perceived social tie strength is informed by perceived attitude homophily. When the perceived self-congruence with a “Liked” brand is higher, brand love and word of mouth (WOM) are enhanced. Consumers also have greater brand loyalty and offer more WOM when brands are loved. Research limitations/implications Findings demonstrate the influence of consumers’ cognitive network on “Likes” and brand outcomes. Further replication would enhance generalisability. Future research should use a wider sample and investigate other variables. Practical implications Findings support managers seeking to grow and analyse Facebook “Likes” by providing insights into brand loyalty, brand love and WOM for “Liked” brands. Originality/value The paper addresses the dearth of research exploring how consumers’ perceptions of their Facebook network influence their online brand behaviour and how perceived self-congruence with a “Liked” brand relates to brand outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mazzini Muda ◽  
Muhammad Iskandar Hamzah

PurposeIn spite of the increasing organic and interactive marketing activities over social media, a general understanding of the source credibility of voluntary user-generated content (UGC) is still limited. In line with the social identity theory, this paper examines the effects of consumers' perceived source credibility of UGC in YouTube videos on their attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, source homophily theory is included to predict the antecedent of source credibility.Design/methodology/approachThree hundred and seventy two Generation Y respondents were interviewed using snowball sampling. Data were analyzed with component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsFindings confirmed that perceived source credibility indirectly affects purchase intention (PI) and electronic word-of-mouth via attitude toward UGC. Besides, perceived source credibility mediates the effect of perceived source homophily on attitude toward UGC.Practical implicationsSince today's consumers have begun to trust and rely more on UGC than company-generated content on social media when making purchase decisions, companies may reconsider democratizing certain aspects of their branding strategies. Firms may fine-tune their marketing communication budgets – not only just by sponsoring public figures and celebrities but also by nurturing coproductive engagements with independent content creators who are ordinary consumers. Endowed with their imposing credibility, these micro-influencers and prosumers have high potentials to be uplifted to brand ambassadors.Originality/valueWhile consumers' purchase outcome can be measured easily using metrics and analytics, the roles of source homophily in stages leading up to the purchase is still elusive. Drawing on the rich theoretical basis of source homophily may help researchers to understand not only how credibility and attitude are related to PI but also how this nexus generates positive word of mouth among UGC followers within the social media circles.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Yin ◽  
Yujing Zhou ◽  
Peiyu He ◽  
Meng Tu

PurposeThis research takes the transfer behavior of users from Tencent QQ to WeChat as an example to discuss the wider transfer behavior of social media users on the Internet.Design/methodology/approachThis paper collects data through a combination of offline interviews and online questionnaire surveys, and utilizes data analysis tools to construct structural equation modeling (SEM). Using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) Statistics 22.0 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 22.0 software with SEM, this study was carried out to provide reasonable statistical support for relevant proposed hypotheses based on 368 effective samples acquired through the questionnaire.FindingsThe findings of this study show that subjective norm, transfer experience, social communication, and knowledge acquisition all have significant associations with transfer intention and switching behavior. To be specific, transfer intention exerts a positive association on switching behavior; function setting, privacy protection and personal innovation have a favorable association with transfer intention; transfer cost has a significantly negative relationship with transfer intention and switching behavior; function setting has no important relationship on switching behavior.Originality/valueThe research results provide a reference for improving the viscosity and loyalty of social media users in the new era and resolving the problem of user churn.


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