The Power of Committed Consumers: A Quantitative Study of Branded Online Communities’ Impact on Brand Perception

Abstract

This study aims to explore how interaction drivers in a branded online community impacts the brand perception among members of a community. Understanding brand perception is important since brand management is crucial for differentiating on the market. This study examines a branded online community, which is a community created and hosted by a brand. By examining previous research, four drivers for interaction and two influential components have been identified as important factors to understand the impact on brand perception. By using a quantitative research method, an online survey was distributed in a Facebook community (N=528). The results suggest that engagement within the community will have a large impact on members’ brand perception. All content within the branded online community will be associated with the brand, which is a risk since the content is usergenerated and difficult to control. The brand must establish a level of involvement that will encourage user-generated content and ensure relevance, while not interfering with the conversations in the community. This will generate high engagement among consumers, which is shown to be key to raise brand perception.