The importance of social media brand communities for brands of fast-moving consumer goods

Abstract

This dissertation comprises four studies that collaborate towards the same objective: understanding the importance of social media brand communities (SMBC) for brands of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). It begins with a literature review study on‘ consumer engagement in social media brand communities’, culminating in presenting an integrative framework of the research on the topic. The study explored different definitions, dimensions and measurements of the concept and the different approaches of the research. It presents the causes and consequences of the several identified constructs and their role in conceptual models, such as independent, dependent, mediator, or moderator variables. Consumer engagement in social media brand communities was mainly identified as a mediator variable in the relationship between community-related factors and community outcomes or brand outcomes. The main theories supporting the conceptual models were also identified. The second study presents an exploratory phase of the phenomena. Through in-depth interviews with experts and focus-group discussions with consumers, the study suggests a set of propositions supported in the literature that reflect the context of consumer interaction with the mass-market brands on social media. Concepts such as brand trust and loyalty were identified as consequences of the interaction, while consumer-brand identification was identified as a cause of variation in the relationship between consumer engagement in the community and brands outcomes. The confirmatory phase comprehends two quantitative studies exploring the relationship between consumer engagement in social media brand communities of FMCG and brand outcomes. The first one aimed to identify the consumer motives to engage in these communities and the impact on brand trust, loyalty and word-ofmouth. Results showed that consumer engagement is driven by brand passion, feelings of community connection and self-expression, and information search, which positively influences brand trust and directly or indirectly affects brand loyalty. It is also driven by helping others, hedonic rewards, and like-minded discussions that positively impact word-of-mouth. Engagement driven by like-minded discussions has a negative impact on brand trust and loyalty, revealing that for some consumers, participation is not motivated by brand-related aspects, even it could induce the development of a negative attitude toward the brand. The second quantitative study aimed to explore a more complex model involving a moderation effect of consumer-brand identification on the relationship between consumer engagement in the community and brand loyalty. The results showed that in FMCG, consumer engagement in brand communities is driven by information searching, brand passion, feelings of community connection, and self-expression in the community. Consumer engagement and consumer-brand identification have positive impacts on brand trust and loyalty. The moderating effect of consumer-brand identification on the relationship between consumer engagement in SMBC and brand loyalty is negative, revealing that consumer engagement in social media brand communities has a stronger impact on brand loyalty in the presence of low consumerbrand identification.