دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی رغبت مصرف کنندگان بر میکروبلاگ های برند - نشریه الزویر

Abstract

Building upon the persuasion theory in the social psychology literature, this study investigates how companies can use microblogging services to influence consumers’ participation and brand loyalty. We develop and empirically test our research model using an online survey in China. Our findings show that persuasion factors, including information quality, perceived similarity, and source credibility, increase community commitment. Perceived similarity and source credibility exhibit bias effects on information quality. Community commitment affects participation and brand loyalty, which is also influenced by participation. We expect that this research can contribute to the existing literature and provide marketers with important practical suggestions.

6. Discussion and conclusion

In recent years, microblogging sites have become one of the most popular types of social media for online users. Increasingly more companies now attempt to use these services for building brand microblogs. Thus, they may benefit from consumers’ engagement and enhance consumers’ brand loyalty. Motivated by the need to understand whether consumers can be influenced/persuaded to participate and develop brand loyalty in brand microblogs, this study develops the theoretical research model and empirically tests it using data collected from brand microblogs.

6.1. Discussion of findings

Our findings suggest that community commitment in brand microblogs increases when consumers process the content of messages (systematic processing) and certain noncontent related cues (heuristic processing). Specifically, consumers become more committed to a brand microblog if it provides highquality information, shows similar value and preferences to them, and acts as a credible brand. The increased community commitment means that consumers have a favorable feeling and are more emotionally attached to the microblog. This positive attitude toward the microblog is found to positively affect consumers’ participation and brand loyalty. The finding is consistent with prior research into traditional brand communities [10,13,87]. It suggests that consumers with high commitment tend to show a high tendency for reading messages carefully, forwarding the messages to their own network of followers, and commenting on the messages. Consumers’ loyalty to the brand will be also strengthened as they develop strong community commitment and show a high level of participation in the brand microblog. This highlights the fact that both commitment and participation are key elements for establishing consumers’ brand loyalty.