Moderating effect of trust between perceived value and customer brand engagement in SNSs

Abstract

The Internet has ushered a new age of social media marketing. Presently, many companies have formed a social media presence to promote their businesses online. As the number of active users in Social Networking Sites (SNSs) continues to increase, many companies are making significant investment in SNSs to create a mass of new fans and engage with them. The purpose of this research are two-fold: (1) to identify the relationship between perceived value and customer brand engagement (CBE), (2) to examine the role of trust as a moderator on the relationship between perceived value and CBE. A correlational research was conducted and online questionnaire was disseminated to 212 fans in company’s brand page. Statistical methods encompassing reliability test and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were adopted to analyze data collected. The result shows that there are significant relationships between perceived value and CBE. Furthermore, the finding reveals that trust is fully moderating the nexus between perceived value and CBE. This paper could offer a useful guidance for companies who have intention to create a presence in SNSs, as well as for companies who have established their site in SNSs. Besides, the findings of this paper can assist companies to formulate a better strategy for reinforcing their SNSs as well as acts as a springboard for future study in SNSs context.