Title: Modelling the impact of activity in brand communities on loyalty

Authors: Azarnoush Ansari; Arash Riasi

Addresses: Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran ' Institute for Financial Services Analytics, University of Delaware, Purnell Hall, Amstel Ave., Newark, DE, USA

Abstract: By using the consumer centric model, this paper is attempting to find how social media based brand communities affect customers' loyalty. The statistical society of this research includes all of the followers of the fan page of a commercial bank on Instagram. The data is analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that markers of brand community and the customer relationship with the product, brand, and other customers have an impact on brand commitment. It was also found that higher degrees of brand commitment lead to higher degrees of brand loyalty. The findings of this study can help marketing managers to have a better understanding of the factors that can directly or indirectly affect brand commitment and brand loyalty in social media based brand communities. This is the first study that considers both the consumer centric model and the markers of brand community in order to identify different factors that affect brand commitment and brand loyalty in social media based brand communities.

Keywords: social media; brand community; brand loyalty; brand commitment; consumer centric model.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2020.106042

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2020 Vol.14 No.1, pp.1 - 18

Received: 24 Mar 2018
Accepted: 17 Dec 2018
Published online: 26 Mar 2020 *

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