Examining consumer-brand relationships on social media platforms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer-brand relationships affect brand loyalty and word of mouth when mediated by brand trust considering online brand communities on social media platforms. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model is developed, depicting the impact of customer-brand relationships on brand loyalty and word of mouth via brand trust. The conceptual model is validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling and data for which are collected online through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 131 brand community members in North Capital Region of India. Findings Findings of the present study revealed that brand trust partially mediated between the involvement and commitment variables of customer-brand relationships, and brand loyalty and word of mouth. However, the link between satisfaction variable of customer-brand relationships, and brand loyalty and word of mouth via brand trust was found insignificant. Originality/value The present study provides novel insight to understand consumer-brand relationships on social media platforms.