Why people use online social media brand communities

Abstract

The success and survival of any form of online community relies on the presence and active participation of its users. Hence, ensuring active user participation and retaining existing users is a key concern of the moderators of online communities. To address these challenges, the present study investigates the epistemic, emotional, and social values that influence users' intention to continue using an online social media brand community. Moreover, the study also investigates the differences in the influence of the investigated constructs and users' various activity levels. Design/methodology/approach The study utilized the consumption value theory framework for testing the relationship between different measures. An empirical analysis of the consumption values of 577 users in an online social media brand community was accomplished using structural equation modelling. Findings The study findings revealed that emotional and social values exert partial influence in predicting users' intention to continue using online social media brand communities. In particular, social enhancement and playfulness predict users' continuation intentions. Moreover, the results show that the influence of the investigated constructs (except playfulness) is consistent across users with various activity levels in online social media brand communities. Research limitations/implications These findings pave the way for further theoretical and practical considerations of the role of consumption values in resolving challenges of user participation and retention. However, there are still some open gaps concerning the generalizability of the findings as well as other factors that could Page 1 of 34 Online Information Review 2 potentially influence the user intentions. Future studies should validate our findings by recruiting diverse users in terms of their age and cultural background. Practical implications The study findings are of special relevance for the service operators interested in practicing usercentric innovation. Moreover, the findings can help online social media brand community managers to kick start user-centric innovation activities in their community. Originality/value The study provides a novel perspective on the challenges of assessing users' consumption behavior. The perceived values have been conceptualized using the constructs of social influence, problem solving, playfulness, social enhancement, and social interaction.

Examining Drivers of Brand Community Engagement: The Moderation of Product, Brand and Consumer Characteristics

“…Since OBCs are voluntary groups, they usually suffer from insufficient participation member base and high turnover [12,27]. Without enough members, an OBC will fail [12,22,28,29]. Second, community engagement may alter consumers' behaviors in favor of brands.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to investigate the impacts of product, brand and consumer characteristics on consumers' community engagement. It advances our understanding of the drivers of brand community engagement [16,22,25,26].…”

“…Actually, despite the knowledge of psychological motivations of brand community engagement, managers know less about how their product/brand characteristics and consumer characteristics may influence consumers' engagement. Considering this research gap, Wirtz et al [21] and Kaur et al [22] called for empirical studies on the relationships between brand/product, personal factors and OBC engagement. Unfortunately, little empirical studies arise to date, as Thompson et al [23] stated that "to date, the impact of product characteristics has gone largely unexamined within the brand community literature" (p. 292).…”

“…Based on this idea, we argue that product, brand and consumer characteristics may affect community engagement because they could influence consumers' gratification and consumers attach unequal importance to various dimensions of gratification in terms of different products and brands when engaging with the brand community [24]. Drawing from the framework of Wirtz et al [21] and Kaur et al [22], we examine three important product, brand, and consumer characteristics, i.e., product complexity, brand symbolism, and extraversion. The authors collected 462 questionnaires from a wide range of brand communities to test hypotheses.…”

Exploration of the Efficiency of Green Design in Information Technology Industry Based on Data Envelopment Analysis

“…Barbaro & Pickett (2016) believed that when the eco-design specifications were clearly defined in the regulations, it usually included six stages of the product life cycle: raw material use or selection, manufacturing, packaging, transportation, sales, assembly, repair, use, and disposal. Kaur(2018) pointed out that the importance of the connection between environmental performance assessment and environmental goals. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) skills could be used to clarify the causal relationship between corporate strategic goals and four dimensions to create corporate competitive advantages.…”