How to Make Brand Communities Work: Antecedents and Consequences of Consumer Participation

ABSTRACT The majority of brand community literature deals with the exploration of the nature of brand communities and the measurement of community effects. However, existing literature on how to implement and to manage company-run brand communities is rare. In the present article, we conceptualize drivers and consequences of consumer brand community participation and empirically test our model with a data set of 1,025 members of a virtual brand community. Results indicate that identification with community, satisfaction with community, and degree of influence explain most of the variance in consumer participation. Moreover, positive influences of participation on recommendation behavior, brand image of the community sponsor, and intention to continue community membership can be confirmed.