Social support, social capital and online community e-loyalty: an empirical study

Online communities, as an essential manifestation of online social relationships, sociality factors (including social support factors and social relationship factors, etc.) ought to facilitate the formation of community trust and community satisfaction. However, although the existing literature has explored the underlying mechanisms of online community trust and satisfaction formation, few studies implemented research from the integrated sociality perspectives. In this thesis, we integrate social capital theory and social support theory to consider social capital and social support as important antecedent social factors in forming community trust and community satisfaction, which influence users' trust and satisfaction in online communities. Community trust and satisfaction further promote community loyalty. Specifically, this thesis scrutinizes the influence of three levels of social support factors such as information support, emotional support, and human-computer network management support and three kinds of social capital such as structure, cognition, and relationship to online community trust and satisfaction. Based on the proposed research model, 430 online community users' survey data were collected through an empirical questionnaire and the research model was tested through the partial least squares structural equation model method. The results of the thesis suggest that social support factors, including information support, emotional support, and interpersonal network interaction support, and social capital factors including structural capital, relational capital, and cognitive capital significantly affect community users' loyalty not only directly but also indirectly through enhancing community users' trust and satisfaction. Thus, users' trust and satisfaction with the community are significant mediating variables.Nas comunidades online, como uma importante manifestação das relações sociais online, os fatores de socialidade (incluindo fatores de apoio social e fatores de relacionamento social) devem facilitar a formação de confiança e satisfação da comunidade. No entanto, embora a literatura existente tenha explorado os mecanismos subjacentes à formação da confiança e da satisfação da comunidade online, poucos estudos consideraram a perspectiva social de forma integrada. Nesta tese, integramos a teoria do capital social e a teoria do suporte social para considerar o capital social e o suporte social como importantes fatores sociais antecedentes na formação da confiança e satisfação da comunidade, que influenciam a confiança e a satisfação dos utilizadores em comunidades online. A confiança e a satisfação da comunidade promovem ainda mais a lealdade da comunidade. Especificamente, esta tese estuda a influência de três níveis de fatores de suporte social - suporte de informação, suporte emocional e suporte de gestão da relação homen-computador - e três tipos de capital social - estrutura, cognição e relacionamento - na confiança e satisfação da comunidade online. Com base no modelo de pesquisa proposto, 430 observações de utilizadores de comunidades online foram recolhidos através de um questionário. O modelo de pesquisa foi testado através de métodos de equação estruturais. Os resultados da tese relevam que fatores de suporte social, incluindo suporte de informação, suporte emocional e suporte de interação de rede interpessoal, e fatores de capital social, incluindo capital estrutural, capital relacional e capital cognitivo, afetam significativamente a lealdade dos utilizadores da comunidade, não apenas diretamente mas também indiretamente, aumentando a confiança e a satisfação dos utilizadores da comunidade; a confiança e a satisfação dos usuários com a comunidade são variáveis mediadoras importantes

An empirical investigation into the behavioural aspects of OBC participation

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonAdvancements in information technology have shaped the way customers and organisations interact with one another. Online brand communities (OBCs), especially have found their way into 21st century relationship marketing. While research embraces these OBCs for their cost-efficiency and ability for quicker and more intimate interactions, it has not thoroughly examined the procedure through which participation in such OBCs affects the major constructs of relationship marketing. Drawing from the commitment-trust theory and its central concepts of brand trust and brand commitment, this thesis utilizes this theory in a brand community and in an online context. Using probability sampling and a self-administered questionnaire, this study employs a deductive logic to investigate if higher levels of commitment and identification with an OBC translate to increased attachment, identification, trust and commitment toward the brand that the OBC supports. Furthermore, it demonstrates that this OBC-generated commitment is significant to brand managers since it enhances brand equity in terms of positive Word-Of-Mouth, customers’ propensity to pay a price premium and oppositional brand loyalty. Similarly, this thesis underlines the importance of understanding the process through which an OBC member gradually develops strong emotional ties with the OBC, as a result of continuous interaction with other OBC members

Negative brand engagement in the online context

This thesis advances the understanding of negative online brand engagement. Previous studies mostly presume consumer brand engagement to be positive. However, many studies highlight the importance of negative online brand engagement and appreciate that it can be more common and potentially more impactful or detrimental to both brands and consumers, particularly in the online context, than positive online brand engagement. Negative online brand engagement is relatively new in the field of marketing and branding research, with no agreement on its conceptualisation and robustly developed measurement. The current thesis aims to address the gap in the conceptualisation and operationalisation and identify and test prominent drivers and outcomes of negative online brand engagement. The theoretical development involves a systematic literature review of positive consumer engagement, reviews existing articles on negative consumer engagement and builds the foundation for conceptual model development. The empirical analysis adopts a sequential mixed-methods research design. The qualitative study (online observation, semi-structured interviews) was firstly conducted to identify dimensionality, antecedents and outcomes of negative online brand engagement, and develop the conceptual model. Survey data (N=431) were then used in the measurement development and hypotheses testing. The findings show the multi-dimensional nature of negative online brand engagement, consisting of cognition, affection, online constructive and destructive behaviour. The quantitative results identify six drivers of the phenomenon, namely perceived brand quality, brand failure severity, unacceptable brand behaviour, anti-consumption in general, consumer brand disidentification and oppositional attitudinal loyalty. Finally, the same evidence supports five outcomes including consumers’ intention to participate in anti-brand communities, brand disloyalty, happiness, offline destructive and constructive behaviour. The thesis offers theoretical and managerial implications. It provides an improved, innovative conceptualisation and a valid measurement of negative online brand engagement and identifies its key drivers and outcomes, none of which have been clearly identified in previous studies. These findings also provide strategic implications for managers to develop the appropriate marketing and branding strategies and avoid or manage the effects of negative online brand engagement

Examining social media live stream’s influence on the consumer decision-making:a thematic analysis

Social media live streaming, in the form of live video and user stories, is widely used by influencers, organisations and individuals to connect with their audiences. Its popularity is well-established in a range of theoretical and managerial contexts. However, there is a lack of scholarship on the role of this phenomenon on consumer decision-making. Filling this gap in the research is essential due to the importance of consumer decision-making in marketing and brand strategy development in organisations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore and outline the nature of the influence of live stream on the consumer decision-making. The study was part of a 12-month Netnography consisting of participant observation and social media monitoring of brand pages and branded hashtags on social media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. A thematic analysis revealed five main themes and a conceptual model is proposed which outlines the social media live stream’s influence on consumer decision-making at each stage

Examining social media live stream’s influence on the consumer decision-making: a thematic analysis

oai:repository.uel.ac.uk:8x4q4Social media live streaming, in the form of live video and user stories, is widely used by influencers, organisations and individuals to connect with their audiences. Its popularity is well-established in a range of theoretical and managerial contexts. However, there is a lack of scholarship on the role of this phenomenon on consumer decision-making. Filling this gap in the research is essential due to the importance of consumer decision-making in marketing and brand strategy development in organisations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore and outline the nature of the influence of live stream on the consumer decision-making. The study was part of a 12-month Netnography consisting of participant observation and social media monitoring of brand pages and branded hashtags on social media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. A thematic analysis revealed five main themes and a conceptual model is proposed which outlines the social media live stream’s influence on consumer decision-making at each stage

Determining the Citizen Loyalty Factor of COVID-19 Website Using the Trust Model

One of the information technology (IT) utilization by the government is the establishment of an official website for public access, designed to disseminate information about the COVID-19. Gaining public trust in the information dissemination is getting harder due to the amount of information, while the government is striving to provide reliable information. The service quality provided on the official website will affect the public’s trust and desire to use these services. Citizen loyalty is known when people intensively use the government electronic services because they believe in the government and its e-services based on perceived satisfaction and service quality. This research studied the effect of service quality, trust, and user satisfaction on user loyalty when using e-services by the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) government. The study used a trust model developed by Alkraiji and Ameen and applied it to the official COVID-19 website. Data were collected from 100 respondents in the DIY who were in the productive age range. The experiment was carried out using explanatory and inferential techniques with multiple linear regression methods. The results of the study indicate that all model hypotheses are accepted. The relationship between antecedents and citizen loyalty was more influenced by trust in government and e-government. This finding explains why Yogyakarta citizen trust the government and its electronic services and will be loyal to use these services during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other facilities in the future.

Qualitative Marketing Research: The State of Journal Publications

Qualitative methods in marketing have become essential not only for their classical advantage in consumer behavior, but also for their benefits in dealing with big data and data Qualitative methods in marketing have become essential not only for their classical advantage in consumer behavior, but also for their benefits in dealing with big data and data mining. Research from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that when it comes to online data, unstructured content accounts for 90% of all digital information. Under these circumstances, this study provides a literature review and analysis on the role and relation of qualitative methods with quantitative methods in marketing research. The paper analyzes research articles that include qualitative studies in the top marketing journals during the last decade and focuses on their topic, domain, methods used and whether they used any triangulation with quantitative methods. Starting from this analysis, the study provides recommendations that can help better integrate qualitative methods in marketing research, academics and practice.mining. Research from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that when it comes to online data, unstructured content accounts for 90% of all digital information. Under these circumstances, this study provides a literature review and analysis on the role and relation of qualitative methods with quantitative methods in marketing research. The paper analyzes research articles that include qualitative studies in the top marketing journals during the last decade and focuses on their topic, domain, methods used and whether they used any triangulation with quantitative methods. Starting from this analysis, the study provides recommendations that can help better integrate qualitative methods in marketing research, academics and practice

Business or fun? : similarities and differences between Portuguese and International wine bloggers

The worldwide emergence of blogs has presented marketers with a new communication channel. Despite the increasing growth of wine blogs little is understood about the practices and motivations of wine bloggers. This exploratory study investigates the similarities and differences of profile, uses and motivations between Portuguese and international wine bloggers. The results show significant differences in rating (rating versus non-rating) and wine samples (acceptance or not). Marginally differences were found in the blogging activity age and motivations. Similarities were found in the frequency of posts, adoption of advertising, statistical tools to measure blog traffic and licence content of the blogFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)COMPETEQRENFEDE

Electronic word-of-mouth in online brand communities: drivers and outcomes

Current study advances the understanding of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the context of online brand communities (OBC) embedded in social media. The focal concept of this thesis is OBCeWOM, which represents a behavioural manifestation of OBC engagement – a growing stream of research in the brand community literature. By connecting the two key streams of research on online consumer-to-consumer and consumer-brand interactions, the current thesis addresses the nature, drivers and outcomes of OBCeWOM in the social media setting. The study follows a sequential mixed-methods research design, where the data was first collected via 22 semi-structured interviews, followed by a survey of 652 members of social media-based OBCs. The research was divided into three studies in line with the stated research questions. Consistent with the RQ2 and RQ3, Study 1 utilised semi-structured interviews to identify the key motivations for and outcomes of OBCeWOM in the social media setting which were consequently included in the finalised conceptual framework. Following this, Study 2 relied on interview and survey data to answer the RQ1 by clarifying the dimensionality of and developing a new measurement scale for OBCeWOM. Finally, Study 3 utilised the survey data to confirm the relationships hypothesised in the conceptual model and answer the RQ2 and RQ3. Findings of this thesis confirm the multi-dimensional nature of OBCeWOM, consisting of reading, posting and sharing components and offer a new reliable measurement for eWOM in the OBC context. Results of the study further identify four key motivations of OBCeWOM in the social media setting, including getting assistance from the brand, social interaction, social expression of opinions and expressing positive emotions. Concurrently, self-expression motivation has a negative effect on OBCeWOM. Finally, this thesis confirms the role of OBCeWOM in brand trust, brand loyalty, and oppositional brand loyalty. Current research offers several theoretical, methodological and managerial implications