Consumers’ Motivations for Lurking and Posting in Brand Communities on Social Networking Sites

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of user engagement in the context of online brand communities. A research model is proposed to explain how brand loyalty is developed through user engagement. Design/methodology/approach – The research model was empirically tested with an online survey study of 185 current Facebook users. Findings – Results revealed that user engagement influenced brand loyalty both directly and indirectly through online community commitment. Users tend to focus on the benefits (rather than the costs) derived from the usage when they engage in an online brand community. Research limitations/implications – The selection of respondents is bound to the Hong Kong area, while Facebook members are globally distributed. In addition, this study involved a cross-sectional design instead of investigating the development of brand loyalty from a long-term perspective. Practical implications – The results inform e-marketers the importance of user engagement behaviors for building brand loyalty through online communities. Strategies that encourage members to engage in online brand communities on social networking sites such as Facebook are also provided. Originality/value – The concept of user engagement in online brand communities is still poorly understood, underscoring the need for theoretically based research of user engagement. This paper enriches the knowledge in the area of brand engagement by presenting a research model that introduces the concept of user engagement in social media research and empirically examines its role in building brand loyalty in online brand communities.

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Managing Non-Organic Virtual Brand Communities in Social Networking Sites

International Journal of E-Business Research ◽

10.4018/ijebr.2015100104 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 47-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Zohreh Dehdashti Shahrokh ◽

Mohammad Mehdi Poursaeed

Keyword(s):

Social Networking ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Brand Management ◽

Top Down ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Brand Communities ◽

The Third ◽

Marketing Methods ◽

Marketing Messages

Social networking is creating a type of developed market. They act in opposition to top-down marketing methods and traditional company-based branding. More importantly, they give customers more value for the knowledge and experience exchanged compared to advertising by companies and one-way marketing messages. Businesses must inform themselves and choose strategies to manage their virtual brand communities (VBCs). Without a clear plan and model for brand management in cyberspace, marketing will have little effect. The present study provides a conceptual framework for managing non-organic VBCs. The first part of the model includes factors affecting engagement. The second part reveals the outcomes of engaging at the VBC level and the third part provides the outcomes of engagement at the business level.

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Enhancing brand loyalty through online brand communities: the role of community benefits

Journal of Product & Brand Management ◽

10.1108/jpbm-08-2020-3027 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Travis K. Huang ◽

Yi-Ting Wang ◽

Kuan-Yu Lin

Keyword(s):

Social Influence ◽

Social Networking ◽

Brand Loyalty ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Special Treatment ◽

Community Satisfaction ◽

Content Type ◽

Brand Communities ◽

Community Benefits ◽

Perceived Interactivity

Purpose This study aims to examine members’ perceptions of interactivity in brand communities on social networking sites in the Super Basketball League (SBL) context in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 332 followers of the SBL teams’ Facebook pages on their perceptions of brand communities. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships in the research model. Findings The results suggest significant relationships between perceived interactivity and community benefits, including special treatment, social influence, sense of membership and the notion that community satisfaction has a strong and positive effect on brand loyalty. Both social influence and a sense of membership positively affect community satisfaction. However, special treatment negatively affects community satisfaction. Perceived interactivity positively affects a sense of membership and social influence, which, in turn, positively affect community satisfaction. Originality/value This study examines the effects of members’ perceived interactivity and community benefits. The results significantly advance the understanding of the antecedents of members’ loyalty to specific brands. The study offers insights into practical ways of improving community satisfaction and brand loyalty by running brand communities on social networking sites. The findings also augment the theory of brand management.

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Comparing Web 2.0 Applications as Marketing Tools

Marketing and Consumer Behavior ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-7357-1.ch039 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 872-893

Author(s):

Erkan Akar ◽

Mete Karayel

Keyword(s):

Product Development ◽

Web 2.0 ◽

Social Networking ◽

Search Engine ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Social Bookmarking ◽

Brand Communities ◽

Search Engine Marketing ◽

The Web

This study aims to evaluate and compare the Web 2.0 applications as marketing tools. In this context, blogs, micro-blogs, collaborative projects (wikis and social bookmarking), content communities, social networking sites, and virtual worlds have been examined. Eventually, it can be expected that blogs will provide more transparent feedback; micro-blogs will provide instant feedback; wikis will make the cooperative efforts of product development easier; social bookmarking will enable search-engine marketing; content communities will enable easy product training; social networking sites will create brand communities; and virtual worlds will provide new places to interact more effectively. All of these tools can come into prominence in the context of marketing.

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Comparing Web 2.0 Applications as Marketing Tools

Organizations and Social Networking - Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4026-9.ch009 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 175-196

Author(s):

Erkan Akar ◽

Mete Karayel

Keyword(s):

Product Development ◽

Web 2.0 ◽

Social Networking ◽

Search Engine ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Social Bookmarking ◽

Brand Communities ◽

Search Engine Marketing ◽

The Web

This study aims to evaluate and compare the Web 2.0 applications as marketing tools. In this context, blogs, micro-blogs, collaborative projects (wikis and social bookmarking), content communities, social networking sites, and virtual worlds have been examined. Eventually, it can be expected that blogs will provide more transparent feedback; micro-blogs will provide instant feedback; wikis will make the cooperative efforts of product development easier; social bookmarking will enable search-engine marketing; content communities will enable easy product training; social networking sites will create brand communities; and virtual worlds will provide new places to interact more effectively. All of these tools can come into prominence in the context of marketing.

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Consumers' acceptance and diffusion of word-of-mouth in social brand community: the moderating effect of self-monitoring

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management ◽

10.1108/jfmm-02-2019-0030 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Hanna Lee ◽

Sun-Jin Hwang

Keyword(s):

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Word Of Mouth ◽

Brand Community ◽

Self Monitoring ◽

Content Type ◽

Brand Communities ◽

Online Brand Communities ◽

Key Factor ◽

And Diffusion

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the different word-of-mouth (WOM) acceptance and diffusion in social brand communities according to the level of self-monitoring.Design/methodology/approachA web-based experimental design was used. The design consisted of three-mixed design of 2 (type of social networking sites) × 2 (type of online brand communities) × 2 (self-monitoring). ANOVA analysis was conducted.FindingsFindings indicate that the differences in acceptance and diffusion of WOM according to online brand community type, and there was a significant three-way interaction effect. Specifically, people who have high propensity to self-monitor showed greater WOM acceptance in a consumer-driven community in either type of social networking sites while people who have low propensity to self-monitor showed greater WOM diffusion in a consumer-driven community only in interest-based social networking sites.Practical implicationsAn important implication is that the social networking sites where brand communities can be placed should be chosen with the full consideration of different desires consumers have in terms of their level of self-monitoring to increase WOM effects.Originality/valueThis paper proposes the self-monitoring tendency as the key factor that predicts WOM effects with revealing the optimal combination of types of social networking sites and online brand communities that is most preferable for consumers with different self-monitoring level.

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