Azin Dalvand; Masoud Simkhah; Davood Jafari
Abstract
In this study, considering the moderating role of gender, we have investigated the influence of online brand community (OBC) characteristics on customer’s engagement and brand loyalty. In this way, the mediating effect of engagement and the subsequent effect of customer’s engagement ...
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In this study, considering the moderating role of gender, we have investigated the influence of online brand community (OBC) characteristics on customer’s engagement and brand loyalty. In this way, the mediating effect of engagement and the subsequent effect of customer’s engagement on brand loyalty have also been studied. Statistical population of this research is all people who are at least the members of one of the online brand communities. 256 samples were selected and questionnaires were forwarded to them electronically through social networks and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software. The results show that two characteristics of OBC, “information quality” and “virtual interaction”, have no effect on the customer’s engagement and on the other hand, customer engagement shows a positive and significant impact on brand loyalty. In analyzing the results of mediating and moderating variables, we found that OBC is influenced by brand loyalty through customer’s engagement. It was also concluded that gender does not modify the effect of information quality and virtual interaction on customer’s engagement.
