Consumer engagement in online brand communities: a solicitation of congruity theory

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to study the influence of self-brand image congruity and value congruity on consumer engagement in online brand communities (OBCs); second to test whether gender moderates this effect; and third, it also examines the role of consumer engagement as a driver of brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach Using an online questionnaire, 443 responses were collected from consumers who are members of at least one OBC on Facebook. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The results revealed that both self-brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect consumer engagement. A positive effect of consumer engagement on brand loyalty was also attained. Third, the results revealed that gender did not moderate the examined relationships. Practical implications This research integrates and broadens existing explanations of different congruity effects on consumer engagement. This study thus suggests the value of developing their OBCs to exhibit congruence with customers’ self-image and value, which in turn, will contribute to the development of brand loyalty. Originality/value This research applies congruity theory to examine the impact of self-brand image- and value congruity on consumer engagement in OBCs. Through the establishment of this novel theoretical link, this study furthers insight into the domain of social media marketing.

Promoting customer brand engagement and brand loyalty through customer brand identification and value congruity

“…Researchers have proposed VC as a key notion to maintain and develop long-standing customer relationships towards the brand/provider (Islam et al, 2017;Lee and Jeong, 2014). Values can effect significantly on customer activities or actions, and perform as key linking factors between consumers and brands/hotels (Tuskej et al, 2013).…”

“…Values can effect significantly on customer activities or actions, and perform as key linking factors between consumers and brands/hotels (Tuskej et al, 2013). Customers likely to interact with hotel brands which facilitate them to realise their self-beliefs and self-values as more engaging as such a match legitimises and empowers their sense of self (Islam et al, 2017;Tuskej et al, 2013). As discussed in SAT (Byrne et al, 1967), the role of VC (Zhang and Bloemer, 2011) envisages that consumers are expected more to have increased hotel brand commitment and attitudes towards the brand (hotel) when they recognise VC between themselves and brand/hotel.…”

“…There exists a call to develop and test models, which explore the association among customerbrand engagement and other pertinent concepts within nomological networks (Islam et al, 2017;Rather and Shakir, 2018;Marketing Science Institute, 2016). In particular, the influence of customer-brand engagement on loyalty suggests a key confirmation of engagement's accurate marketing influence (Islam et al, 2017). Brand loyalty represents a customer's positive attitude towards a brand or offering, in addition to repeat buying behaviour (Liu et al, 2012;Rather, 2017Rather, , 2018.…”

“…Second, scholars highlighted the importance to further investigate the role of consumer's identification and affective brand commitment (ABC) on brand loyalty (Rather, 2017;Tuskej et al, 2013). Third, understudied relationships between value congruence and consumer identification (Elbedweihy et al, 2016) and value congruity (VC) and customer-brand engagement (Islam et al, 2017) has emerged as a main issue in promoting hotel brand.…”

The effect of greenwashing on online consumer engagement: A comparative study in France, Germany, Turkey, and the United Kingdom

“…Therefore marketers need an in‐depth insight into consumer motivations to increase consumer engagement on brand pages. In this context, both self‐brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect OCE (Islam, Rahman, & Hollebeek, ).…”