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The levers of engagement: an exploration of governance in an online brand community

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  • Tony Cooper

    (RMIT University)

  • Constantino Stavros

    (RMIT University)

  • Angela R. Dobele

    (RMIT University)

Abstract

Online brand communities represent an increasingly important touchpoint for establishing effective consumer–brand relationships. Growing consumer empowerment and an absence of empirical research on the subject, however, have left many firms struggling to balance the often contradictory goals of community propagation for corporate gain with the autonomy demanded by such groups. This exploratory study investigates the management of this tension between control and engagement in a single Facebook brand community to understand how a firm can balance community goals with corporate needs. Our analysis of more than 13,000 Facebook comments and 2988 company posts reveals that online brand community governance can be conceptualised as a continuum. We identify three critical levers that the case study firm manipulated to establish equilibrium between commercial and community imperatives. The levers represent appealing, consulting and affiliating actions and are manifest in a range of social media marketing tactics exhibited by the company which we examine in the context of engagement theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Tony Cooper & Constantino Stavros & Angela R. Dobele, 2019. "The levers of engagement: an exploration of governance in an online brand community," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(3), pages 240-254, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jobman:v:26:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1057_s41262-018-0132-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41262-018-0132-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Shaun M. Powell, 2019. "Journal of Brand Management: year end review 2019," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(6), pages 615-620, November.
    2. Matti J. Haverila & Kai Haverila & Caitlin McLaughlin & Mehak Arora, 2023. "The influence of the number of brand community memberships on customer centric measures," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 5-20, March.
    3. Keyoor Purani & Krishnan Jeesha, 2022. "Community based brand equity as brand culture: advancing brand equity conceptualization for a connected world," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 12(1), pages 52-70, June.

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