The Role of Online Brand Community Experience in Driving Brand Evangelism for Car Brands in Thailand
Keywords:
brand evangelism, brand community experience, online brand community commitmentAbstract
The purposes of this research were to examine: 1) the influence of brand experiences from online
brand community towards online brand community commitment and brand evangelism; 2) the influence
of online brand community commitment towards brand trust and brand commitment; 3) the influence of
brand trust and brand commitment towards brand evangelism; and 4) the influence of brand experiences
from online brand community towards brand evangelism through the creation of online brand community
commitment, brand trust and brand commitment. The online questionnaire set was used as a tool as
well as the purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. The samples were the members
of five Facebook groups for car brands in Thailand and own that particular brand of car. The total of 398
respondents were valid to be used for analysis. The Path Analysis was used through Structural Equation
Model (SEM) in order to prove the hypotheses. The results revealed that: 1) members’ brand experiences
obtained from online community positively influenced on online brand community commitment and brand
evangelism; 2) online brand community commitment had influence on brand trust and brand commitment,
which then led to brand commitment; 3) brand trust and brand commitment had direct influence on brand
evangelism; and 4) brand trust had indirect influence on brand evangelism through the creation of brand
commitment. This study can be proposed as an integrative model explaining how brand evangelism was
influenced by overall online brand community experiences through enhancing customer’s commitment
towards the brand community in social media, brand trust and brand commitment. In addition, this study
will be benefits for the management of automotive industry of Thailand in order to understand the online
brand community‘s behaviors and attitude as well.
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