Title: Creating value for customers through engagement and participation in brand communities

Authors: Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro; Ana Regina Pires; Hans Ruediger Kaufmann

Addresses: Marketing, Operations and General Management Department, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, (ISCTE-IUL) and Business Research Unit (BRU/UNIDE), Av. Forças Armadas 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal ' Department of Economy, Management and Industrial Engineering, Campus of Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal ' School of Business, University of Nicosia, 46, Makedonitissas Ave, 1700 Nicosia, Cyprus

Abstract: The phenomenon of be engaged and participate in brand communities is not yet well-known. This study carries out a systematic literature review to get the major construct that could explain the mentioned phenomenon and the consequences to the brand. Therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute for a better understanding of antecedents and impacts of engagement and participation in brand communities. Data was collected using an online survey. The link of the questionnaire was sent through the community websites to all registered members of brand communities in study. The findings reveal that brand relationship quality is an important initiator of the process, together with the brand identification, the presence of other members and satisfaction. Being engaged, a member tends to be more active in participating in the community, which in turn improve the brand knowledge, the brand loyalty and word-of-mouth.

Keywords: brand relationship quality; satisfaction; participation; engagement; brand identification; brand communities; brand knowledge; brand loyalty; word-of-mouth; WoM; value creation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2015.068720

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2015 Vol.16 No.2/3, pp.114 - 132

Received: 11 Apr 2014
Accepted: 15 Nov 2014
Published online: 10 Apr 2015 *

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