Becoming Friends in Online Brand Communities: Evidence From China |
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| Authors: | Zhimin Zhou Chenting Su Nan Zhou Ning Zhang |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Marketing, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 518060;2. Institute for Cultural Industries, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 518060;3. Department of Marketing, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China;4. Department of Marketing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China, 430072 |
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| Abstract: | With the aid of information technology, consumers have increasingly engaged in social interaction in online brand communities. How can these strangers make friends online? Drawing on embeddedness theory and media richness theory, we examine the antecedents and intermediate mechanisms of online friendship. We theorize that online brand community interactivity aided by instant messaging technology is the main driving force of online friendship, whereas social presence and a sense of yuan (a Chinese concept describing predetermined relations) mediate online friendship development. Online friendship in turn enhances consumer online brand community commitment. We test our conceptual model with a sample of consumers from Chinese online sporting goods forums. The results support our hypotheses and inform online brand community research and practice. |
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| Keywords: | Online Community Interactivity Online Friendship Social Presence Sense of yuan Online Brand Community Commitment |
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