Brand loyalty in enterprise microblogs: Influence of community commitment, IT habit, and participation. Issue 2 (1st June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Hong; Zhang, Kem Z.K.; Lee, Matthew K.O.; Feng, Feng
• Is Part Of: Information technology & people. Volume 28:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 304
• Page End: 326
• Publication Date: 2015-06-01
• Subjects: Social networking -- User participation -- Virtual community -- Brands -- Habits -- E-marketing; Information technology -- Periodicals; Management information systems -- Periodicals; Human-computer interaction -- Periodicals; 004
• DOI: 10.1108/ITP-03-2014-0047
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-3845

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: – With the prevailing microblogging phenomenon, many marketers have created their microblog accounts to promote products, advertise brands, and attract consumers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of consumers' community commitment, information technology (IT) habit, and participation on their brand loyalty in the context of enterprise microblogs. Design/methodology/approach: – A total of 364 valid data were collected from fans or followers of enterprise microblogs through a survey onWeibo.com . The data were analyzed with smart partial least squares. Findings: – Community commitment and IT habit directly lead to brand loyalty and indirectly affect brand loyalty through the mediating influence of participation. Information quality, perceived expertise, and social interaction are antecedents of community commitment. Satisfaction, importance, and social interaction positively affect IT habit. Research limitations/implications: – To enhance the generalizability of the study, future studies may examine findings in other platforms (e.g. Twitter) with a large sample size. Practical implications: – Practitioners can increase consumers' brand loyalty through enterprise microblogs. Considerable attention should be directed to facilitating members' community commitment and IT habit. In addition, the study points out significant antecedents of community commitment and IT habit for researchers, managers, and companies. Originality/value: – To uncover the marketing potential of microblogging technology, the authors highlight the need for investigating how enterprise microblogs generate promising marketing outcomes. The present study examines key determinants of brand loyalty. The model empirically shows the significant effects of community commitment, IT habit, and participation.