Purpose

The purpose of this research is to understand what motivates 7–11-year-old children to participate in online brand communities (OBCs). Prior research has concentrated on prescriptive product categories (games and gaming), predominantly adolescent groups and the social aspects of community engagement and actual behaviour within communities, rather than the motivations to participate with the OBC. This has ultimately limited what has been gleaned, both theoretically and managerially, from this important segment.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretive, longitudinal position is adopted, using a sample of 261 children (113 male and 148 female) from across the UK, using event-based diaries over a 12-month period, generating 2,224 entries.

Findings

Data indicate that children are motivated to participate in a brand community for four reasons: to support and ameliorate pre-purchase anxieties, resolve interpersonal conflicts, exact social dominance in terms of product ownership and perceptions of product knowledge and to actively engage in digitalised pester power. The study also reveals that certain motivational aspects such as conflict resolution and exacting dominance, are gender-specific.

Research limitations/implications

Knowledge of children’s motivation to engage with OBCs is important for marketers and brand managers alike as the data reveal markedly different stimuli when compared to known adult behaviours in the field. Given the nature of the study, scope exists for significant future research.

Practical implications

The study reveals behaviours that will assist brand managers in further understanding the complex and untraditional relationships that children have with brands and OBCs.

Originality/value

This study makes a novel examination of a hitherto little-explored segment of consumers. In doing so, it uncovers the theoretical and practical characteristics of child consumers that contemporary, adult-focussed literature does not recognise. The paper makes an additional contribution to theory by positing four new behavioural categories relating to community engagement – dependers, defusers, demanders and dominators – and four new motivational factors which are fundamentally different from adult taxonomies – social hegemony, parental persuasion, dilemma solving and conflict resolution.

中文翻译：

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探索参与在线品牌社区的动机：一项对 7-11 岁儿童的研究

目的

本研究的目的是了解是什么促使 7-11 岁儿童参与在线品牌社区 (OBC)。先前的研究集中在规定的产品类别（游戏和游戏）上，主要是青少年群体以及社区参与和社区内实际行为的社会方面，而不是参与 OBC 的动机。这最终限制了从这个重要部分在理论上和管理上收集到的信息。

设计/方法/方法

采用了一种解释性的纵向位置，使用来自英国各地的 261 名儿童（113 名男性和 148 名女性）的样本，使用基于事件的日记在 12 个月内生成 2,224 个条目。

发现

数据表明，儿童参与品牌社区的动机有四个：支持和缓解购买前的焦虑、解决人际冲突、在产品所有权和产品知识认知方面的精确社会支配地位以及积极参与数字化纠缠力量. 该研究还表明，某些动机方面，例如解决冲突和严格控制，是特定于性别的。

研究限制/影响

了解儿童参与 OBC 的动机对于营销人员和品牌经理都很重要，因为与该领域已知的成人行为相比，数据显示出明显不同的刺激。鉴于该研究的性质，存在未来重要研究的空间。

实际影响

该研究揭示的行为将有助于品牌经理进一步了解儿童与品牌和 OBC 之间复杂且非传统的关系。

原创性/价值

这项研究对迄今为止鲜有探索的消费者群体进行了新颖的研究。在这样做的过程中，它揭示了当代以成人为中心的文学所没有认识到的儿童消费者的理论和实践特征。该论文通过提出与社区参与相关的四个新行为类别——依赖者、解散者、需求者和支配者——以及四个与成人分类根本不同的新动机因素——社会霸权、父母说服、解决困境和冲突，对理论做出了额外贡献。解析度。