A multidimensional scale for measuring online brand community social capital (OBCSC)☆
Introduction
Online brand communities (OBC) are growing in number and becoming an increasingly important interface where marketers can effectively facilitate the relationship between their brand and consumers. According to Constantin, Platon, and Orzan (2014, p. 128) “Brands gain consistency and develop themselves through their relationship with the consumer”. Furthermore, brands are constructed based on consumers' insights and experiences, and an OBC provides a platform where consumers can share opinions, thoughts and knowledge, and where they can exchange brand information (Amine & Sitz, 2004; Madupu & Cooley, 2010; Shaari & Ahmad, 2016; Sloan, Bodey, & Gyrd-Jones, 2015; Wang, Butt, & Wei, 2011). Exponential growth in the number of internet users coupled with advancing internet technology (Web 2.0) has enabled rapid and easy communication amongst users in OBCs, resulting in “high levels of customer-brand engagement” (Wirtz et al., 2013, p. 224). Web 2.0 has enabled a switch from internet-enabled delivery of content (Web 1.0) to internet communities built around user-generated content (Li, Yang, & Huang, 2014). Customers are no longer passive receivers of information; they are now co-creators and conduits for brand messages (Kasouf, Darroch, Hultman, & Miles, 2009; Shaari & Ahmad, 2016). Not surprisingly, it is this accelerated participation by consumers, the nature of the content shared relating to the brand, and the consequential potential OBCs now offer marketers as a communication tool, which has heightened interest in understanding OBCs further.
OBCs are a web-based advancement of traditional brand communities (Dessart, Veloutsou, and Morgan-Thomas (2015) originally described by Muniz & O'Guinn (2001, p. 412). as a “specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among users of a brand”. Although this is only one of many definitions that exist throughout the literature, they all have a common theme that suggests OBCs are characterised by the nature or quality of the interactive behaviour that occurs in the community. The vitality of an OBC is reliant on its informational content and social relationships (Chiu, Hsu, & Wang, 2006; Zhou, Zhang, Su, & Zhou, 2012), and the ongoing success of an OBC is dependent on having members actively involved in the community with a strong sense of belonging to the community and the brand (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2002; Casaló, Flavián, & Guinalíu, 2008; Kim, Yang, & Kim, 2009; Koh & Kim, 2004; Meek, Lambert, Ryan, & Ogilvie, 2018; Wirtz et al., 2013; Woisetschläger, Hartleb, & Blut, 2008).
Studies have shown that some of the most successful online communities were established by people who were not aligned to the company in any way but had created a community based purely on their “love of the brand” (McWilliam, 2000). These self-initiated online communities do not always have the rights to use the brand name, so they fabricate a name for the group but are considered a brand community due to their common interest in a specific brand. For example, one of the OBCs in this study is a very successful community devoted to Lego®1 who call themselves “The Brickset Community”. Other unofficial OBCs include the BMW® 2 devoted group known as “Bimmerfest”, and the Rolex® 3 community referred to as “New Turfers”. These communities are of significant benefit to organisations as the majority of members are loyal purchasers and regular users of the brand.
Social capital is often used to refer to the characteristics of a society or community that encourages cooperation amongst members in the group to achieve a common goal such as increased productivity or knowledge sharing efficiency (Adler & Kwon, 2002; Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; Hau, Kim, Lee, & Kim, 2013; Jones & Taylor, 2012; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998; Watson & Papamarcos, 2002). The primary benefit of communities in general with an accrued level of social capital is the ability to effectively disperse information between members of the community (Adler & Kwon, 2002; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). This is especially relevant in OBCs as they rely on the interaction between members in the form of brand-related knowledge-sharing for their ongoing survival (Li, Clark, & Wheeler, 2013; Wirtz et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2012). In OBCs social capital is a construct that defines the structural characteristics of the community and is said to play a significant role in cultivating users' sense of belonging (Meek, 2016; Meek, Lambert, et al., 2018; Zhao, Lu, Wang, Chau, & Zhang, 2012) and participative behaviour (Li et al., 2014; Maksl & Young, 2013; Pinho, 2013; Sheng & Hartono, 2015). According to Lee, Lee, Taylor, & Lee (2011, p. 226) “the structural properties of a brand community can have an impact on relationship maintenance and, in turn, brand building”. Therefore, social capital in an OBC is essential to the ongoing success of the community through improving the quality of the communication between its members, whilst adding value to the brand (Chiu et al., 2006; Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001).
A review of the literature on social capital illustrates that there are a number of scales used to measure social capital in health and behavioural research (Chen, Stanton, Gong, Fang, & Li, 2009; Wang, Chen, Gong, & Jacques-Tiura, 2014), from an organisational perspective (Adler & Kwon, 2002; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998; Watson & Papamarcos, 2002) or in an online environment (Chiu et al., 2006; Pinho, 2013; Williams, 2006). However, there is a need for an improved measurement of online brand community social capital (OBCSC) as there are functional differences between social capital in an organisational, civic, or general online capacity and social capital specific to OBCs (Chiu et al., 2006). We must approach social capital in OBCs with a different set of assumptions and therefore a more relevant measure is required (Williams, 2006).
Variables representing the social capital construct in an offline environment (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998; Tsai & Ghoshal, 1998) have been adapted and used recurrently by researchers studying social capital in an online environment (Chiu et al., 2006; Guo, Liang, Wang, & Peng, 2017; Li et al., 2014; Liao & Chou, 2012; Sheng & Hartono, 2015; Smith et al., 2011). However, in these studies the focus is on each variable acting as an antecedent to social capital in a unidimensional form, whereas in accordance with Burt (1997), Putnam (2000), and Coleman (1990) in this study we propose that OBC social capital (OBCSC) is a collective construct embedded in the structure of the community and is therefore considered multidimensional. For example, Coleman (1990, p. 302) suggests ‘Social capital is defined by its function. It is not a single entity, but a variety of different entities having two characteristics in common: They all consist of some aspect of social structure, and they facilitate certain actions of individuals who are within the structure’. Furthermore, although network ties appears to represent either the entire structural network of relationships or an antecedent of social capital in the literature (Lee & Lee, 2010; Li et al., 2013), in this study network ties refers to the strong personal relationships that develop between individuals through the bonding function of social capital on a community level. This is a fundamental aspect of social capital that differentiates this study from prior research.
Although extensive research has been carried out on the positive attributes of social capital in online social networks, communities of practice, and online communities in general, a single study has not yet subjected a multidimensional scale of social capital to rigorous testing within and across a range of OBCs. Extending existing theory this study provides valuable implications for academics and practitioners with regard to understanding interactive user behaviour specifically in an OBC environment.
Section snippets
Online brand communities (OBCs)
OBCs provide valuable insights into what consumers are saying about products and the brand in general. They also act as an intermediary for cultivating long-term relationships with consumers by encouraging brand value co-creation (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004). From a marketing perspective, OBCs act as an intermediary between customers and brands with successful OBCs having the potential to increase brand-related consumer behaviour, such as brand loyalty, brand recognition, positive
Scale development and validation procedure
Following standard scale construction procedures, a series of analyses were undertaken to develop and refine the constructs and items for the OBCSC scale (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009; Churchill Jr, 1979; DeVellis, 1991; DeVellis, 2012; Netemeyer, Bearden, & Sharma, 2003). This study primarily followed the scale development process recommended by DeVellis (2012), Churchill Jr (1979), Gerbing and Anderson (1988), Netemeyer et al. (2003) and used in recent scale development studies by
Conclusion
The current study advances the understanding of social capital and its effects by empirically testing a multidimensional measurement scale for the OBC environment. Previous scales have measured social capital from a health and behavioural perspective (e.g., Chen et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2014), an organisation perspective (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998) and an online perspective (Pinho, 2013; Williams, 2006). This current study has progressed these earlier discussions to empirically test a social
Limitations and further research
The results of this study are empirically valid; however as with any research where attitudes are measured and analysed, results should be interpreted with caution. For example, the differences between company-initiated OBCs and consumer-initiated OBCs have not been explored in this study and may have a bearing on the results, as the majority of the OBCs featured in this research were created by consumers with little interference from the brand owners. Furthermore, it should be noted that there
Stephanie Meek is a Lecturer in the field of Marketing and Business Research in the School of Business and Law, at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. Her teaching areas of expertise include International Marketing, Retail Marketing, Business Research Practices and Business Analytics. Her research interests include interactive internet based consumer behaviour, brand engagement, building brand equity in an online environment. Stephanie has comprehensive industry experience in
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Cited by (0)
Stephanie Meek is a Lecturer in the field of Marketing and Business Research in the School of Business and Law, at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. Her teaching areas of expertise include International Marketing, Retail Marketing, Business Research Practices and Business Analytics. Her research interests include interactive internet based consumer behaviour, brand engagement, building brand equity in an online environment. Stephanie has comprehensive industry experience in management, marketing and advertising. Dr Meek received her PhD in Marketing from Edith Cowan University, Perth Western Australia.
Maria M. Ryan is an Associate Professor in Marketing and is currently Associate Head of the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. Her research interests include the impact on consumption of individuals' attachment to their environment, using various research methods to examine consumption behaviour and tourism impacts. Maria has published competitive papers at the international and national level on consumer behaviour, brand management and methodological issues. In addition, she has worked extensively in the marketing research industry across both private, public and not for profit clients.
Claire Lambert is a Lecturer in the field of Marketing at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia in the School of Business and Law. She specializes in the areas of branding and marketing communications in young children's and adult's responses. Her research includes customer/consumer engagement and interactive customer/brand relationships; measuring brand equity and predicting brand preference; consumer susceptibility and responses to advertising and sales promotion. Dr. Lambert has extensive industry experience in marketing and sales promotion within the quick service food and consumer goods industries. She received her PhD in Marketing from the University of Western Australia.
Madeleine Ogilvie is an Associate Professor in the field of Marketing at Edith Cowan University and currently works as the Associate Dean Teaching and Learning for the School of Business and Law. Her research interests are in the fields of semiotics, consumer research and the customer sales interface where she has published and presented nationally and internationally. Madeleine has worked extensively in the International Education market, and prior to working at ECU, in the pharmaceutical industry in sales and sales management. She has consulted for both public and private organisations on many facets of marketing and management.
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.