Study Notes on Uses and Gratifications Theory and Customer Participation in Social Media Brand Communities

Applying Uses and Gratifications Theory to Understand Customer Participation in Social Media Brand Communities

Abstract

  • Purpose: Investigates how various gratifications obtained in social media affect customer participation, and its sequential effect on brand trust, commitment, and word of mouth (WOM) in social media brand communities.

  • Design/Methodology: Data collected from 352 respondents using survey method, analyzed with AMOS and structural equation modeling.

  • Findings: Information seeking, incentive, and brand likeability affect customer participation, which affects brand trust, commitment, and WOM. Brand trust partially mediates the relationship between customer participation and brand commitment/WOM.

  • Originality/Value: Highlights significance of uses and gratifications theory in social media, providing insight into customer engagement in brand communities.

  • Keywords: Brand trust, Word of mouth, Brand communities, Brand commitment, SNSs, Uses and Gratifications, Customer social participation.

  • Paper Type: Research paper.

1. Introduction

  • Tough competition and increasing marketing costs compel researchers to study marketing efforts that foster customer relationships, aiding brand improvement and establishing positive customer interactions (Andersen, 2005).

  • Companies recognize social media brand communities as tools for building relationships with customers, communicating effectively and facilitating direct connections (Kang et al., 2014).

  • Social media platforms enable communication, co-creation, and sharing information (Kusumasondjaja, 2018; Kamboj and Gupta, 2018).

  • Over 50% of social media users follow brands on social platforms (Ismail, 2017).

  • Users engage with posts, sharing experiences regarding brands (Liu et al., 2019; Jain et al., 2018).

  • Emerging Trends: Brand communities allow users to share brand-related knowledge, fostering user interactions (Sarmah et al., 2017).

2. Theoretical Background

2.1 Emergence of Web 2.0

  • Web 2.0 (O'Reilly, 2005): Facilitates user-generated content.

  • Web 3.0: Integrates user cooperation for innovative content interaction (Tasner, 2010).

  • Media studies emphasize understanding technologies via user interaction. Orlikowski (2000) suggests that structures in technology are shaped by social practices.

2.2 Definition of Brand Communities

  • Defined as specialized, non-geographically bound communities centered on a brand (Muniz and O'guinn, 2001).

  • Two types:

    • Consumer-initiated: Unrestricted feedback from community members.

    • Company-initiated: Controlled content but risks losing trust if negative feedback is moderated (Jang et al., 2008).

2.3 Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&G)

  • U&G theory applied to media use highlights psychological and social needs of users, explaining motivations behind media choosing and its consequences (Katz et al., 1973).

  • Gratifications Sought vs. Gratifications Obtained: Understanding gratifications enhances communication strategies for brands by leveraging users' participation motivations (Xu et al., 2012).

  • Motives for Customer Participation: Five gratifications identified include:

    • Building interpersonal relationships.

    • Seeking information.

    • Entertainment.

    • Brand likeability.

    • Incentives.

3. Research Model and Hypotheses Development

  • Research Questions: RQ1: What gratifications in social media influence customer participation?
    RQ2: Does customer participation affect brand trust, commitment, or WOM?

  • Hypotheses:

    • H1 to H5: Relationship building, information seeking, entertainment, brand likeability, and incentive gratifications positively impact customer participation on social media brand communities.

    • H6 to H10: Customer participation positively affects brand trust, commitment, and WOM. Brand trust mediates between customer participation and these outcomes.

4. Methodology

4.1 Measurement Development

  • Constructs measured using scales adapted from prior studies (Chae and Ko, 2016; Sung et al., 2010).

4.2 Data Collection and Sample

  • Data collected from students, given their tech-savvy nature (Nadeem et al., 2015). A total of 550 surveys were distributed; 352 responses were received (64% response rate).

5. Results

5.1 Common Method Variance Tests

  • Harman's single factor and common factor analysis confirmed no significant CMV issues.

5.2 Hypothesis Testing

  • SEM analysis with AMOS validated proposed hypotheses, confirming the impact of gratifications on customer participation significantly.

5.3 Mediation Testing

  • Brand trust found to mediate between customer participation and brand commitment and WOM, supporting a partial mediation role.

6. Discussion

  • Findings contribute to understanding gratifications in social media and engage customers in brand communities, consistent with U&G theory.

6.1 Theoretical Implications

  • Expands U&G theory insights, focusing on gratifications obtained as drivers of engagement in brand communities.

6.2 Managerial Implications

  • Emphasizes the importance of fostering gratifications to enhance customer participation, encouraging activities that build brand trust.

7. Conclusion

  • This study enriches knowledge on the importance of customer gratifications in social media brand communities and their influence on brand trust, commitment, and WOM.