Antecedents of brand loyalty using brand personality as a moderator in social media brand communities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the notion of social media brand communities. Social media is gaining popularity as a brand-building tool. Some researchers consider it as a new way to manage and build relations with customers. The study investigated the benefits of using a social media-based brand community as a tool to increase brand loyalty. Brand communities are considered as a solution for joining and helping consumers in their connections with the brand. The results of this research indicated that all these four consumer relationships can enhance brand loyalty. Questionnaires were distributed to 480 respondents of social media brand community users of fashion clothing brand. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to test the hypotheses. Results showed that social media brand community (customer-centric model), have significant relationships with brand loyalty (three-dimensional brand loyalty). Moderator analyses highlighted that four out of five brand personality dimensions moderate the relationship of social media brand communities, toward brand loyalty. The findings of this study help marketers to enhance their chances of creating successful SMBCs. Marketing or e-commerce managers understand the important role of different customer relationships within SMBC should make every effort to participate in the active management of these digital relationships on social media brand community. Also, this study was motivated by an interest in whether the brand personality of a brand community, rather than of the brand itself, can increase brand loyalty through customer relationship in social media.