A Model and Empirical Study on the User’s Continuance Intention in Online China Brand Communities Based on Customer-Perceived Benefits

Many Chinese companies have recently joined a trend to build their own online brand community, which is good for their corporate strategy and even for innovation, but with a high failure rate due to the low continuance intentions of users. In addition, related research is rare, especially for studies on the relationships between customer-perceived benefits, satisfaction, and the continuance intention of users. The objective of this study was to examine the existing relationships between three constructs: customer-perceived benefits, satisfaction, and user’s continuance intention, in the context of Chinese online brand communities from the perspective of the process. An online questionnaire surveyed 153 online brand community users to understand the relationship between customer-perceived benefits, customer satisfaction, and user’s continuance intention. The data analysis shows that customer-perceived benefits as an antecedent variable have an important influence on the satisfaction and continuance intention of users. Customer satisfaction as a mediator variable also makes a significant positive impact on the user’s continuance intention. At a practical level, the result provides further insight into online brand community operation strategies, and provides managers with new ideas and suggestions for business innovation models.