Purpose

Brands are investing heavily in content marketing within digital communication channels, yet there is limited understanding of the effectiveness of this content on consumer engagement. This paper aims to examine how consumer engagement with branded content is created through consumer-initiated online brand communities (OBCs) and brand-initiated digital content marketing (DCM) communications. Self-brand connections are examined as an important antecedent to the cognitive, affective, behavioural and social dimensions of consumer engagement and the subsequent impact of engagement on loyalty is explored across these two channels.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey approach was used with two consumer samples for one focal retail brand, namely, a consumer-initiated OBC (Facebook) and email subscribers of the retail brand’s DCM communications. A multi-group analysis of structural invariance procedure was used to comparatively examine the formation of engagement for consumers within the OBC and DCM channels.

Findings

This study demonstrates the different ways in which engagement forms across different digital communication channels. Self-brand connection (SBC) was found to strongly drive behavioural, cognitive, affective and social engagement. The cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement was found to mediate the self-brand connection and consumer loyalty relationship. Overall, this relationship was most strongly and significantly mediated by affective and cognitive engagement within the OBC channel when compared to the DCM channel.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study should be interpreted with several limitations in mind. First, the research was conducted within the confines of one OBC, within one social networking site platform characterised by self-selected membership based on a passion and immersion with the brand. This means that consumers within the OBC were highly connected to one another and the retail brand and highly socialised in-group norms and mores. This type and intensity of connection may not be the case for all forms of OBCs. Second, this study was limited to one retail brand, from one brand category. Future research should examine OBCs across a range of utilitarian and hedonic brands to comprehensively contextualise the dimensions of engagement. Third, the data for this study was cross-sectional. The use of netnographic analysis and qualitative interviews across a range of OBCs would support the triangulation of the findings of this research, especially with regard to the narrative that consumers’ express when discussing how their SBC manifests through the dimensions of engagement. Fourth, this study explored a single antecedent of engagement, namely, self-brand connections. Future research may consider how SBC operates in conjunction with other complementary factors to enhance consumers’ affective, cognitive, social and behavioural engagement such as brand awareness, satisfaction and participation/interactivity. In addition, future research could examine an expanded array of engagement outcomes such as purchase intention, the share of wallet and reputation. Finally, future research should examine the operationalisation and validation of the dimensions of engagement using multiple competing scales to assess the suitability of these engagement scales across multiple brand categories and contexts.

Practical implications

Given the increasing investment in branding within social media and the fragmentation of brand communications across multiple communications platforms, the management of effective brand communications remains a significant challenge. This study found that the relationship between self-brand connections, affective, social, behavioural and cognitive engagement and loyalty was context-specific and moderated by a digital communication channel (OBC vs DCM email marketing), thus providing insights as to the effectiveness of OBCs and DCMs as two tools for enhancing consumer loyalty.

Originality/value

This study makes a novel contribution to the engagement literature by examining the antecedent role of self-brand connections in predicting consumers’ engagement; the moderating role of digital communication platforms (OBC vs DCM) on the formation of cognitive, affective, behavioural and social engagement; and the mediating effect of these dimensions on loyalty.

中文翻译：

---

零售传播渠道中的消费者参与：在线品牌社区和数字内容营销计划的检查

目的

品牌在数字通信渠道中对内容营销进行了大量投资，但是对于这种内容对提高消费者参与度的有效性的了解有限。本文旨在研究如何通过消费者发起的在线品牌社区（OBC）和品牌发起的数字内容营销（DCM）交流来创建消费者对品牌内容的参与。自我品牌关系被视为消费者参与的认知，情感，行为和社会维度的重要先决条件，并且在这两个渠道中探索了参与对忠诚度的后续影响。

设计/方法/方法

调查方法用于一个主要零售品牌的两个消费者样本，即消费者发起的OBC（Facebook）和零售品牌DCM通讯的电子邮件订阅者。使用结构不变性程序的多组分析来比较检查OBC和DCM渠道内消费者的参与形成。

发现

这项研究展示了跨不同数字通信渠道形成参与的不同方式。发现自我品牌联系（SBC）可以强烈推动行为，认知，情感和社会参与。发现认知，情感和行为参与可以调解自品牌联系和消费者忠诚度关系。总体而言，与DCM渠道相比，OBC渠道内的情感和认知参与是这种关系的最强烈和最显着的中介。

研究局限/意义

在解释本研究的结果时应牢记一些限制。首先，这项研究是在一个OBC的范围内，在一个社交网站平台内进行的，该平台的特征是基于对品牌的热情和沉浸而自我选择的成员资格。这意味着，OBC内的消费者彼此之间和零售品牌之间有着高度的联系，并且在团体规范和道德规范方面也高度社会化。并非所有形式的OBC都具有这种类型的连接强度。其次，本研究仅限于一个品牌类别中的一个零售品牌。未来的研究应检查各种功利和享乐品牌的OBC，以全面地体现参与度。第三，这项研究的数据是横断面的。在一系列OBC上使用网络志分析和定性访谈将支持本研究结果的三角测量，特别是在消费者讨论订婚维度如何体现其SBC表现时的叙述。第四，这项研究探讨了参与的单一前提，即自我品牌联系。未来的研究可能会考虑SBC如何与其他互补因素一起运作，以增强消费者的情感，认知，社会和行为参与度，例如品牌知名度，满意度和参与度/互动性。此外，未来的研究可能会检查一系列广泛的参与成果，例如购买意愿，钱包份额和声誉。最后，

实际影响

鉴于社交媒体中对品牌建设的投资不断增加，以及跨多个传播平台的品牌传播的分散化，有效的品牌传播管理仍然是一项重大挑战。这项研究发现，自品牌联系，情感，社会，行为和认知参与以及忠诚度之间的关系是针对特定情况的，并通过数字交流渠道（OBC与DCM电子邮件营销）进行调节，从而提供了有关OBC有效性的见解和DCM作为提高消费者忠诚度的两个工具。

创意/价值

这项研究通过检查自品牌联系在预测消费者参与度方面的前期作用，对参与度文献做出了新的贡献。数字通信平台（OBC与DCM）在认知，情感，行为和社交参与方面的调节作用；以及这些维度对忠诚度的中介作用。