• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.25
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• pp.339-370
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• 2008

As the Internet environment develops, Internet has already been being established as important tool of business marketing and branding. In particular, a brand community where customers interact with other customers who have the same interest in brand provides a variety of benefits to customers as well as companies. The brand community makes it possible for company to build, and retain relationships with customers, and capture new market opportunities. Therefore, this study examines the relationship among service quality of brand community, customer value, customer satisfaction, customer trust, and brand community loyalty in online brand communities. The results of empirical analysis can be summarized by the following: First, service quality of brand community had a significant direct effect on customer value. Second, service quality of brand community had a significant direct effect on customer satisfaction. It had also a positive, significant indirect effect on customer satisfaction through customer value and customer trust. Third, service quality of brand community had a significant indirect effect on brand community loyalty through customer satisfaction, customer value, and customer trust. Therefore, These finding will spawn both academic and practitioner interest in brand community and serve as a foundation for further research in this important area.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.621-638
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• 2020

Luxury companies are striving to improve their communication with customers while paying attention to online promotion and marketing activities. As companies interact with customers in luxury brand communities via various channels, they yield consumers higher value throughout the effective consumption process. In addition, this connection enhances customers' understanding of the company, making it easier for companies to acquire empathy from customers. This study aims to analyze the value factors that affect luxury brand community members' purchase intention and brand attitude. This study utilizes online survey results of four hundred prestige brand community users in China. The results reveal the positive effects of customer engagement on customer psychological empowerment and flow, the positive impacts of customer psychological empowerment and flow on community identity and brand attachment, the positive effects of community identity on purchase intentions, and the positive effects of brand attachment on purchase intentions and brand attitude. Furthermore, the results show that community types and fashion involvement partially moderate customer engagement. This study provides theoretical suggestions for relationship marketing in the luxury brand community environment. Last, this study presents practical implications that companies could utilize to create an emotional connection with their community members, resulting in an increase of customer support.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.2222-2240
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• 2023

Brand fandom refers to a collection of consumers with strong emotions toward a brand. Studying the dynamics of brand fandom can help brands understand which services or strategies influence their consumers to become a part of brand fandom. However, existing literature on fandom in the last three decades has mainly used qualitative methods, and there is still a lack of research on fandom using quantitative methods. Specifically, previous studies lack a framework for locating fandoms from online textual data and analyzing their dynamics. This study proposes a framework for exploring brand fandom dynamics based on online textual data. This framework consists of four phases based on the design thinking model: Preparing Data, Defining Fandom Categories, Generating Fandom Dynamics, and Analyzing Fandom Dynamics. This framework uses techniques such as social network analysis and process mining, combined with brand personality theory. We demonstrate the applicability of this framework using case studies of two Korean home appliance brands. The dataset contains 14,593 posts by consumers in 374 online communities. The results show that the proposed framework can analyze brand fandom dynamics using textual customer data. Our study contributes to the interdisciplinary research at the intersection of data-driven service design and consumer culture quantification.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.30 no.6 s.154
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• pp.916-927
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to identify psychological and behavioral outcomes of commitment to apparel brand community by test structural equation model. Subjects of 317 members for 9 selected apparel communities responded the questionnaire in the home-page or in the attached file. The results were as follows: 1) The suggested structural equation mode was accepted by data from apparel brand communities with hish brand strength(${\chi}^2=97.42$, d.f.=89, p=0.25, GFI=0.92, AGFI=0.88, RMR=0.05, NFI=0.94). However, this model wasn't accepted by data kom apparel brand communities with low brand strength. 2) Three types of commitment to brand community(emotional, continuous and normative commitments) influenced brand identification positively and brand identification positively influenced three types of behavioral outcomes(favorable word-of-mouth, co-production and repurchase of brand). Therefore, managements need to develop marketing programs to promote each type of commitment to their's own brand community.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.385-396
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate contents identification and brand community identification on the brand community. Analysis was performed for the empirical study where important variables of this framework included attractiveness, similarity, intimacy, information quality, contents identification, and community identification, loyalty. I collected the 184 data through survey and analyzed them. The data were recorded and analyzed using the SPSS 14.0 and LSREL 8.30. The brief findings of the study were as below: Given the finding of the study, users who have contents identification directly don't affect on purchase loyalty. Therefore, company intensifies users' visiting community. Users who consistently visit community have purchase loyalty. Existing studies on online brand community is a study for the identification. This study identified the dimensions of the content attribute of the content identification and brand community identification were examined by questionnaires. Accordingly, the company operating the brand community to provide more useful suggestions.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.51-89
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• 2007

INTRODUCTION Due to the high broadband internet penetration rate and its group-oriented culture, various types of online communities operate in Korea. This study use 'Uses and Gratification Approach, and argue that members' usage-needs satisfaction with brand community is an important factor for promoting community commitment. Based on previous studies identifying the effect of brand image on consumers' responses to various marketing stimuli, this study hypothesizes that brand image can be a moderate variable affecting the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction with brand community and members' commitment to brand community. This study analyzes the influence of usage-needs satisfaction on brand community commitment and how apparel brand image affects the relationships between usage-needs satisfactions and community commitments. The hypotheses of this study are proposed as follows. H1-3: The usage-needs satisfaction of apparel brand community (interest, transaction, relationship needs) influences emotional (H1), continuous (H2), and normative (H3) commitments to apparel brand communities. H4-6: Apparel brand image has a moderating effect on the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction and emotional (H4), continuous (H5), and normative (H6) commitments to apparel brand communities. METHODS Brand communities founded by non-company affiliates were excluded and emphasis was placed instead on communities created by apparel brand companies. Among casual apparel brands registered in 6 Korean portal sites in August 2003, a total of 9 casual apparel brand online communities were chosen, depending on the level of community activity and apparel brand image. Data from 317 community members were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis, moderated regression analysis, ANOVA, and scheffe test. Among 317 respondents answered an online html-type questionnaire, 80.5% were between 16 to 25 years old. There were a total of 150 respondents from apparel brand communities(n=3) recording higher-than-average brand image scores (Mean > 3.75) and a total of 162 respondents from apparel brand communities(n=6) recording lower-than-average brand image scores(Mean < 3.75). In this study, brand community commitment was measured by a 5-point Likert scale: emotional, continuous and normative commitment. The degree of usage-needs satisfaction (interest, transaction, relationship needs) was measured on a 5-point Likert scale. The level of brand image was measured by a 5-point Likert scale: strength, favorability, and uniqueness of brand associations. RESULTS In the results of exploratory factor analysis, the three usage-needs satisfactions with brand community were classified as interest, transaction, and relationship needs. Brand community commitment was also divided into the multi-dimensional factors: emotional, continuous, and normative commitments. The regression analysis (using a stepwise method) was used to test the influence of 3 independent variables (interest-needs satisfaction, transaction-needs, and relationship-needs satisfactions) on the 3 dependent variables (emotional, continuous and normative commitments). The three types of usage-needs satisfactions are positively associated with the three types of commitments to apparel brand communities. Therefore, hypothesis 1, 2, and 3 were significantly supported. Moderating effects of apparel brand image on the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction and brand community commitments were tested by moderated regression analysis. The statistics result showed that the influence of transaction-needs on emotional commitment was significantly moderated by apparel brand image. In addition, apparel brand image had moderating effects on the relationship between relationship-needs satisfaction and emotional, continuous and normative commitments to apparel brand communities. However, there were not significant moderate effects of apparel brand image on the relationships between interest-needs satisfaction and 3 types of commitments (emotional, continuous and normative commitments) to apparel brand communities. In addition, the influences of transaction-needs satisfaction on 2 types of commitments (continuous and normative commitments) were not significantly moderated by apparel brand image. Therefore, hypothesis 4, 5 and 6 were partially supported. To explain the moderating effects of apparel brand image, four cross-tabulated groups were made by averages of usage-needs satisfaction (interest-needs satisfaction avg. M=3.09, transaction-needs satisfaction avg. M=3.46, relationship-needs satisfaction M=1.62) and the average apparel brand image (M=3.75). The average scores of commitments in each classified group are presented in Tables and Figures. There were significant differences among four groups. As can be seen from the results of scheffe test on the tables, emotional commitment in community group with high brand image was higher than one in community group with low brand image when transaction-needs satisfaction was high. However, when transaction-needs satisfaction was low, there was not any difference between the community group with high brand image and community group with low brand image regarding emotional commitment to apparel brand communities. It means that emotional commitment didn't increase significantly without high satisfaction of transaction-needs, despite the high apparel brand image. In addition, when apparel brand image was low, increase in transaction-needs did not lead to the increase in emotional commitment. Therefore, the significant relationship between transaction-needs satisfaction and emotional commitment was found in only brand communities with high apparel brand image, and the moderating effect of apparel brand image on this relationship between two variables was found in the communities with high satisfaction of transaction-needs only. Statistics results showed that the level of emotional commitment is related to the satisfaction level of transaction-needs, while overall response is related to the level of apparel brand image. We also found that the role of apparel brand image as a moderating factor was limited by the level of transaction-needs satisfaction. In addition, relationship-needs satisfaction brought significant increase in emotional commitment in both community groups (high and low levels of brand image), and the effect of apparel brand image on emotional commitment was significant in both community groups (high and low levels of relationship-needs satisfaction). Especially, the effect of brand image was greater when the level of relationship-needs satisfaction was high. in contrast, increase in emotional commitment responding to increase in relationship-needs satisfaction was greater when apparel brand image is high. The significant influences of relationship-needs satisfaction on community commitments (continuous and normative commitments) were found regardless of apparel brand image(in both community groups with low and high brand image). However, the effects of apparel brand image on continuous and normative commitments were found in only community group with high satisfaction level of relationship-needs. In the case of communities with low satisfaction levels of relationship needs, apparel brand image marginally increases continuous and normative commitments. Therefore, we could not find the moderating effect of apparel brand image on the relationship between relationship-needs satisfaction and continuous and normative commitments in community groups with low satisfaction levels of relationship needs, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS From the results of this study, we draw several conclusions; First, the increases in usage-needs satisfactions through apparel brand communities result in the increases in commitments to apparel brand communities, wheres the degrees of such relationship depends on the level of apparel brand image. That is, apparel brand image is a moderating factor strengthening the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction and commitment to apparel brand communities. In addition, the effect of apparel brand image differs, depending on the level and types of community usage-needs satisfactions. Therefore, marketers of apparel brand companies must determine the appropriate usage-needs, depending on the type of commitment they wish to increase and the level of their apparel brand image, to promote member's commitments to apparel brand communities. Especially, relationship-needs satisfaction was very important factor for increasing emotional, continuous and normative commitments to communities. However the level of relationship-needs satisfaction was lower than interest-needs and transaction-needs. satisfaction. According to previous study on apparel brand communities, relationship-need satisfaction was strongly related to member's intention of participation in their communities. Therefore, marketers need to develope various strategies in order to increase the relationship- needs as well as interest and transaction needs. In addition, despite continuous commitment was higher than emotional and normative commitments, all types of commitments to apparel brand communities had scores lower than 3.0 that was mid point in 5-point scale. A Korean study reported that the level of members' commitment to apparel brand community influenced customers' identification with a brand and brand purchasing behavior. Therefore, marketers should try to increase members' usage-needs satisfaction and apparel brand image as the necessary conditions for bringing about community commitments. Second, marketers should understand that they should keep in mind that increasing the level of community usage needs (transaction and relationship) is most effective in raising commitment when the level of apparel brand image is high, and that increasing usage needs (transaction needs) satisfaction in communities with low brand image might not be as effective as anticipated. Therefore, apparel companies with desirable brand image such as luxury designer goods firms need to create formal online brand communities (as opposed to informal communities with rudimentary online contents) to satisfy transaction and relationship needs systematically. It will create brand equity through consumers' increased emotional, continuous and normative commitments. Even though apparel brand is very famous, emotional commitment to apparel brand communities cannot be easily increased without transaction-needs satisfaction. Therefore famous fashion brand companies should focus on developing various marketing strategies to increase transaction-needs satisfaction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.30 no.4 s.152
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• pp.644-654
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is 1) to analyze the clothing purchasing behavior according to gender 2) to analyze the characteristics provided by the fashion on-line community, 3) to analyze the effects of the fashion on-line community characteristics to community commitment and brand loyalty. As for data collection, on-line survey was conducted for the fashion online community members in 'daum' portal site and total 404 volumes were used for the study analysis. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, $x^2-test$, factor analysis, regression analysis by utilizing the SPSS 10.0 program. The results of this study were as follow: First, it was found that characteristics of fashion on-line community are three factors of 'interactivity', 'information provision' and 'interest provision'. Second, as the analysis result of the effects of the fashion on-line community characteristics to the community commitment and brand loyalty, the more 'interactivity' and 'interest provision', the higher 'behavioral commitment' and at this time brand loyalty was high. The higher 'interactivity', 'interest provision' and 'information provision', the higher attitudinal commitment and brand loyalty. In addition, the more 'information provision' and 'interest provision' were, the more it positively influenced brand loyalty. It is considered that this study will help fashion enterprises establish an on-line community strategy to induce brand loyalty by analyzing the community utilization pattern of fashion on-line community members.

• Review of Korean Society for Internet Information
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-28
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• 2013

In a backlash against corporate branding and capitalism, a growing number of consumers are resisting current marketplace practices and big corporate brands. One particular form of this phenomenon is the emergence of anti-brand communities in social media. The current study, which surveyed a sample of 251 anti-brand community members on Facebook, provides a preliminary understanding of the characteristics and antecedents of anti-brand communities as a new platform for consumer empowerment and anti-brand activism. Findings suggest that consumers' engagement in online anti-brand communities, especially through social media, may be triggered by their negative experiences with employees, product quality, post-purchase service, and value/price. They are motivated, the results show, by seven primary factors: altruism, revenge, advice seeking, convenience, sympathy seeking, socialization, and the need to vent.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.59-67
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• 2022

Purpose: This study identifies how twelve key success factors of distribution strategies for community enterprises in Thailand achieve higher performances. Research design, data, and methodology: The samples in this study were 400 entrepreneurs throughout the country. The instrument for data elicitation was a questionnaire. The descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation, T-Test, F-Test, multiple regression, and multiple correlations. Results: The results revealed that, overall, the samples showed high opinions on online distribution strategies in all aspects. In detail, the three highest factors were as follows: 1) electronic satisfaction, 2) product characteristics and electronic trust, and 3) the quality and success in online distribution. In detail, the three highest aspects of online distribution success were customer loyalty, financial performance, and work management, respectively. The online distribution strategies influencing community enterprises' success were electronic trust, electronic loyalty, social information, electronic satisfaction, and online distribution tools, which had a statistical significance of 71. Conclusions: This research has made an essential contribution to community enterprise entrepreneurs should focus on and adopt these 8P+4ODS concepts to increase sales, maintain brand loyalty of existing customers, get new customers, develop learning, and improve the working potentials of community enterprise entrepreneurs.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.21-51
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• 2017

Recently there have been an increasing number of companies suffering a negative brand image in the major media. Thompson et al. (2006) defined this as "$Doppelg{\ddot{a}}nger$ Brand Image." The images mentioned above have been created and propagated on Internet communities, which are one of the major paths of online spreading. This study will empirically analyze the effect of each $Doppelg{\ddot{a}}nger$ brand image on the customer's brand attitude, using a text-mining method focusing on "A company"'s case. This study will also cover the change in customer brand attitudes related to the company's correspondence in a situation in which the $Doppelg{\ddot{a}}nger$ brand image exists. In addition, the study will determine the presence of a priming effect after the spread of the $Doppelg{\ddot{a}}nger$ brand image. To that end, we collected 974 comments from 94,889 posts and A's official blogs related to A from B community, the largest automobile community site in Korea. Through this investigation, we obtained the following results. First, there was a significant difference in the ratio of negative sentiment of internet community before and after $Doppelg{\ddot{a}}nger$ brand image. Second, with regard to the topic modeling, the ratio of articles including negative topics increased and the other article ratio decreased over time. Finally, we found that there is a priming effect about negative brand image of "A company."