Brand attachment is a relationship between the enterprise and consumers which is of a higher level and stronger strength than repeated purchase behavior. Virtual brand community provides a medium of exchange for brand information, experience and feeling for customers, can supply extra brand involvement and brand value, and is an important carrier of the establishment of brand attachment relatio...

To stand up for the brands they support, members of brand communities develop “oppositional brand loyalty” towards other rival brands. This study identifies how the interaction characteristics of brand community affect the perceived benefits of community members, and whether the perceived benefits cause members to develop community commitment, as well as the relationship between community commi...

Although research into consumer participation in online brand communities has grown in recent years, still little is known about how membership in a Facebook brand community is related to brand loyalty. This study tests the direct and indirect effects of brand community engagement, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention, and community promotion behavior on attitudinal loyalty, repurchase int...

Brand communities and social media often overlap. Social media is an ideal environment for building brand communities. However, there is limited research about the benefits and consequences of brand communities established on social media platforms. This study addresses this issue by developing a model depicting how consumers’ relationship with the elements of a brand community based on social ...

This paper investigates the antecedents and the behavior of Lead Users in the Microsoft brand community (MBC). Lead users in the MBC are called Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVP). The group of MVPs is highly regarded as a very valuable resource within the Microsoft brand community, and their opinion strongly influences innovations in the MBC. MVP activities are center within the Micros...

Social media based brand communities are communities initiated on the platform of social media. In this article, we explore whether brand communities based on social media (a special type of online brand communities) have positive effects on the main community elements and value creation practices in the communities as well as on brand trust and brand loyalty. A survey based empirical study wit...

This article examines retail branding in the single-brand retail environment. Single-brand retailers sell only private label brands, which are generally the name of the store. The foundation of this research is based on prior calls in the literature to examine private label and retail branding. This article examines the role of selfand social-identification and affiliation with a brand communit...

Recently, we witness a shift from product-centric to customer-centric brand community. The customer-centric approach allows value co-creation in brand community by involving customers in various activities that bring a product to the market. It is thus interesting and necessary to examine customers' motivations in helping brand and community grow and succeed. Based on the person-environment fit...

Brand community interactions and online customer support have become major platforms of brand sentiment strengthening and loyalty creation. Rapid brand responses to each customer request though inbound tweets in twitter and taking proper actions to cover the needs of customers are the key elements of positive brand sentiment creation and product or service initiative management in the realm of ...

Current study aims to investigate the possible factors that influence online brand equity, which was measured by brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association and brand loyalty. The three predictors included in the research framework are online communication tools (which include online advertising and e-mail marketing), word of mouth and virtual community. An online questionnaire survey...