Virtual World, Real Engagement: Building Brand Attachment Via Hosted Brand Community Online Events

Creating positive brand experiences by interacting with consumers through hosted events in brand-based communities should enhance brand attachment. The important commercial benefits of consumer brand attachment include positive word of mouth (WOM), attitudinal and behavioural loyalty and a greater willingness to pay a premium price (WTPPP). Typically community brand events have purposely excluded marketers’ brand involvement activities (e.g. consumer driven communities on line or in a face-to-face context). Others have taken the form of sponsorship where direct interaction with brand representatives is extremely limited, scripted or non-existent. This research extends the literature related to stimulating brand attachment by investigating brand led community events and unscripted consumer interaction with each other and brands’ representatives.