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Purpose – This paper aims to delineate the meaning, conceptual boundaries and dimensions of consumer engagement within the context of online brand communities both in term of the engagement with the brand and the other members of the online brand communities. It also explores the relationships of consumer engagement with other concepts, suggesting antecedents of engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 international online brand community members, covering a variety of brand categories and social media platforms. Findings – This paper suggests that individuals are engaging in online communities in social network platforms both with other individuals and with brands. The study also identifies three key engagement dimensions (cognition, affect and behaviours). Their meaning and sub-dimensions are investigated. The paper further suggests key drivers, one outcome and objects of consumer engagement in online brand communities. These findings are integrated in a conceptual framework. Research limitations/implications – Further research should aim at comparing consumer engagement on different social media and across brand categories, as this study takes a holistic approach and does not focus on any particular category of brands or social media. Consumers’ views should also be evaluated against and compared with marketing managers’ understanding of consumer engagement. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the fast-growing and fragmented consumer engagement literature by refining the understanding of its dimensions and situating it in a network of conceptual relationships. It focusses on online brand communities in rich social media contexts to tap into the core social and interactive characteristics of engagement.

Purpose In an era where companies shift a part of their marketing budget to support their social media presence, very little is known about the antecedents and effects of participant identification in a social media community. This paper aims to examine the antecedents of community identification in a Facebook company-managed brand community, for inactive members, using the uses and gratification theory. Brand community identification is also expected to lead to higher levels of brand loyalty for these members. Design/methodology/approach This research reports the results of a quantitative with survey data from 389 members of a variety of different official Facebook pages. Findings The results reveal that inactive members of Facebook pages can be influenced to act in a way that is beneficial for a company. Perceived human and information value of the brand Facebook page lead members to identify with a brand community and identification is a strong predictor of loyalty to the brand. Practical implications This paper provides suggestions to managers on the development of brand community value that can increase brand community identification and loyalty of apparently inactive brand community members. Originality/value By showing that brand community identification and loyalty exist for users with low activity levels, this research challenges the widely accepted idea that only highly active members are valuable in online brand communities. Specifically, it reveals the most important motivations for these members to identify with the community and be loyal to the brand.

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the phenomena of negative brand relationships and emotions to evidence how such relationships transpose into the willingness to participate in collective actions in anti-brand communities. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was carried out, targeting Facebook anti-brand communities, dedicated to sharing negativity toward technology products. A total of 300 members of these communities participated in the study. Findings The study shows that the two dimensions of negative brand relationship (negative emotional connection and two-way communication) lead to community participation in anti-brand communities, through the mediating role of social approval and oppositional loyalty. Anti-brand community growth is supported by members’ intentions to recommend the group and is the result of their participation. Research limitations/implications The study’s focus on technology brands calls for further research on other brand types and categories and the inclusion of other independent variables should be considered to extend understanding of collective negativity in anti-brand communities. Practical implications The paper provides insight to brand managers on the ways to manage negativity around their brand online and understand the role that brand communities play in this process. Originality/value The paper proposes the first integrative view of brand negativity, encompassing emotions and behaviors of consumers as individuals and as members of a collective, which allows the understanding of the dynamics of anti-branding and highlights the mechanisms that facilitate anti-brand community expansion.

Purpose This paper aims to determine the impact of online community participation on attitudes and product-related behaviour in the health and fitness sector. Design/methodology/approach Survey data are collected from 221 users of the social medium Instagram, members of the self-proclaimed health and fitness community (#fitfam). Data are analysed with structural equation modelling. Findings The study shows that online community identification and engagement significantly increase health environment sensitivity, resulting in heightened engagement in physical fitness and healthy product choices. Social implications Given the difficulty to remain engaged in pro-health behaviour and the growing impact of social media on young adults’ lives, these findings are encouraging. They show that online health and fitness communities provide a supportive environment in which consumers can identify and freely engage and a fertile ground to the development of health sensitivity and product-related behaviour. Originality/value The study advances knowledge on the role of social media and online communities in promoting health and fitness product behaviours and attitudes.

Purpose This paper aims to conceptualize brand repulsion as a specific nuance of brand rejection, highlight the boundary work at play in situations of collective brand repulsion and extract implications for the brands that are at the centre of such situations and to delineate future directions for scholars. Design/methodology/approach The authors’ study of the “I Hate Apple” group on Facebook is grounded in a six-year long naturalistic enquiry designed to capture the boundary work performed by its members. The authors’ sources include netnographic data, online focus groups, observations and personal online correspondence with members and moderators. Findings This study’s findings reveal that certain brands serve the identity work of consumers by allowing them in erecting boundaries based on three major sources of repulsion: anti-fandom, anti-hegemony and anti-marketing. They show that for each type of boundary work, corporate and product brand repulsion seems prevalent. Research limitations/implications This research limits itself to considering the types of boundary work related to brand repulsion as regards a single brand: Apple. Practical implications The study can help managers identify the types(s) of boundary work related to their brand and it provides practical recommendations for these various sources of brand repulsion. It also helps them distinguish between consumer brand repulsion directed against their product and their corporation. Originality/value This study advances knowledge in the field of brand rejection by exploring a specific nuance: brand repulsion. Its close examination of consumer collective practices offers a deeper understanding of the ins and outs of the paradoxical phenomenon of repulsion/attraction for a brand. The cultural lens is used as an original approach to this under-investigated nuance of brand rejection.

Purpose Although recent research appreciates that consumers increasingly interact with brands in brand communities and that brand engagement is an important and complex phenomenon in brand communities, little is known about the nature of individuals’ brand engagement in brand communities. This study aims to identify brand community members’ segments in terms of their brand engagement within the community; help us understand if these segments use a different approach in the development of brand loyalty; and develop mechanisms that can be used to identify members of these segments. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a quantitative approach and uses a total of 970 responses from members of Facebook brand pages in three popular languages on Facebook (English, French and Spanish). Data are analysed with structural equation modelling, integrating FIMIX-PLS and POS-PLS. Findings The results reveal that cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement dimensions play a different role in driving brand loyalty. Three different segments of engaged consumers exist (emotional engagers, thinkers and active engagers). Variables related to the perceived value of the brand community provide initial explanations as to the differences of the consumer groups. Research limitations/implications The data were collected from a specific type of brand communities (Facebook-based, company-managed brand communities) and are self-reported. Practical implications This work demonstrates the heterogeneity of brand community members in terms of their brand engagement profile and the effect of this profile on the formation of behavioural brand loyalty. Suggestions on identifying members of these segments based on the value that they get from the community are offered. Originality/value This work extends the brand engagement and brand community literature. It is the first work that provides this nature of actionable suggestions to the teams supporting brands with brand communities.

Building on practice theory and brand community literature, the aim of this article is to (1) identify the nature of intensity of collective consumption practices and (2) understand how intensity of consumption practices interplays with consumer’s relations to the self, the community, and the brand in a collective branded setting. The Crossfit brand is used as a context in this article because of its inherently intense nature and communal consumption settings. Twenty-one Crossfitters from North America and Europe were interviewed to understand their collective consumption practices of the brand. The results show that intensity of collective consumption practices consists of four dimensions: complexity, frequency, length and focus. Intensity is essential to the nature and maintenance of the relationships consumers keep with themselves, the community and the brand, and shapes them in many ways. While intensity is key to the way consumption practices exist, intensity is also highly personal, context-dependent and subject to interpretations and changes, which can even put the brand at risk. In a society where intensity is increasingly sought after by individuals and used as a differentiator by brands, we propose a first conceptualisation of the concept. This article also offers keys to managers to tap into the mechanisms of intense collective consumption practices for their brand.

The study explores the role of storytelling in generating positive consumer responses to video ads, compared to fact-based ads. The findings support the relevance of storytelling in enhancing consumer-brand relationship and show how a co-creation process in the evolution of a brand’s storytelling content contributes to large and positive consumer responses.

This thesis advances the concept of consumer engagement as a valid approach to the conceptualisation and measurement of Online Brand Community (OBC) participation. Against the background of rapid technological advances affecting the way consumers interact online, this thesis posits that past representations of OBC participation fail to adequately capture OBC participation. It further argues that consumer engagement offers a new analytical lens, which is more responsive to the interactive, social and multidimensional nature of OBCs. The thesis conceptualises consumer engagement in OBC as an affective, cognitive and behavioural phenomenon whereby a consumer is engaged both with the other members of the OBC and with the focal brand. It then identifies antecedents and outcomes of consumer engagement in English-speaking OBC. The measurement and conceptual model are tested using data from OBC participants. In particular, two original scales of consumer engagement are developed. The conceptual model is tested using structural equation modelling techniques, and the results largely support the research hypotheses. The results show that online interaction propensity, attitude toward OBC participation and product involvement positively relate to OBC engagement, and that online brand engagement is positively related to product involvement and OBC engagement. Online brand engagement shows positive correlations with brand trust, commitment and loyalty. Group invariance is largely achieved using data from French OBCs, which contribute to validating the English sample results. Overall, the thesis conceptually and empirically contributes to the burgeoning literature on consumer engagement in OBC and enhances our understanding of OBC participation. The study provides an improved, more online-relevant conceptualisation and measurement of consumer engagement and identifies its key individual drivers and relational outcomes. These findings also provide strategic implications for the community of OBC practitioners.