Consumer behavior on Facebook :  Does consumer participation bring positive consumer evaluation of the brand?

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Abstract

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate consumers’ voluntary behaviors on Facebook through exploring how members’ community participation affects consumer citizenship behaviors toward the brand. The study also provided further insight into the mediating effect by considering brand trust and community identification.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research begins by developing a framework to describe and examine the relationship among Facebook participants, brand trust, community identification, and consumer citizenship behaviors. Furthermore, it tests the mediating effects of brand trust and community identification on the relationship between Facebook participation and consumer citizenship behaviors. The model and hypotheses in this study employ structural equation modeling with survey data.

Findings

– First, this study reveals consumers’ community participation on Facebook has directly positive and significant effects on brand trust and community identification. Second, this research confirms that brand trust has directly positive and significant effects on community identification. Third, this study found that brand trust and community identification play a mediating role between Facebook participation and consumer citizenship behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample comprised primarily young adults, which may not be completely generalizable to the population at large. This study examined a specific form of virtual community, Facebook, so the results cannot be ascribed to other formats of brand community.

Originality/value

– The issue of consumer’ voluntary behavior on social networking sites has become more and more important. This study proposed an exclusive model of the process by which the paper can consider consumers’ voluntary behaviors on Facebook from participation to consumer citizenship behavior toward the brand. This finding can be viewed as pioneering, setting a benchmark for further research.