IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joinma/v37y2017icp32-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumer Communities Do Well, But Will They Do Good? A Study of Participation in Distributed Computing Projects

Author

Listed:
  • Thompson, Scott A.
  • Kim, Molan
  • Loveland, James M.
  • Lacey, Russell
  • Castro, Iana A.

Abstract

Brand communities and corporate social responsibility have been touted for their ability to both generate significant equity for their brands and strong bonds among community members. However, the reciprocal capacity of these brands to mobilize their followers to engage in prosocial behavior, while very promising, has been largely ignored by researchers and practitioners alike. Given the untapped potential of product aficionados, who are said to possess considerable knowledge, expertise, and engagement, this lack of research and managerial guidance is somewhat perplexing. To address this shortcoming, we conducted a longitudinal investigation of two brand communities and one non-brand based product category community drawn from five years of data from a scientific crowdsourcing project aimed at curing medical diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and AIDS. Employing a hazard modeling approach, we find that contrary to conventional wisdom, brand community participation reduces the likelihood of joining, while participation in a non-brand based product category community increases the likelihood of joining, a prosocial distributed computing project. Furthermore, willingness to help fellow community members plays an important role in the likelihood to join. These findings provide important insights for firms seeking to engage product category and brand communities in prosocial causes.

Suggested Citation

  • Thompson, Scott A. & Kim, Molan & Loveland, James M. & Lacey, Russell & Castro, Iana A., 2017. "Consumer Communities Do Well, But Will They Do Good? A Study of Participation in Distributed Computing Projects," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 32-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:37:y:2017:i:c:p:32-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intmar.2016.07.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1094996816300585
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intmar.2016.07.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fournier, Susan, 1998. "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 343-373, March.
    2. Aaker, Jennifer L. & Akutsu, Satoshi, 2009. "Why Do People Give? The Role of Identity in Giving," Research Papers 2027, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    3. Thompson, Scott A. & Loveland, James M. & Fombelle, Paul W., 2014. "Thematic Discrepancy Analysis: A Method to Gain Insights into Lurkers and Test for Non-Response Bias," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 55-67.
    4. Abagail McWilliams & Donald Siegel, 2000. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 603-609, May.
    5. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    6. Muniz, Albert M, Jr & O'Guinn, Thomas C, 2001. "Brand Community," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(4), pages 412-432, March.
    7. Kevin J. Boudreau & Lars B. Jeppesen, 2015. "Unpaid crowd complementors: The platform network effect mirage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(12), pages 1761-1777, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chien-Lung Hsu & Yi-Chuan Liao, 2019. "Bridging User Perception and Stickiness in Business Microblog Contexts: A Moderated Mediation Model," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leenheer, J. & Bijmolt, T.H.A. & van Heerde, H.J. & Smidts, A., 2002. "Do Loyalty Programs Enhance Behavioral Loyalty : An Empirical Analysis Accounting for Program Design and Competitive Effects," Discussion Paper 2002-65, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    2. Carlson, Brad D. & Suter, Tracy A. & Brown, Tom J., 2008. "Social versus psychological brand community: The role of psychological sense of brand community," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 284-291, April.
    3. Koivisto, Elina & Mattila, Pekka, 2020. "Extending the luxury experience to social media – User-Generated Content co-creation in a branded event," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 570-578.
    4. Weijo, Henri & Bean, Jonathan & Rintamäki, Jukka, 2019. "Brand community coping," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 128-136.
    5. Stokburger-Sauer, Nicola & Ratneshwar, S. & Sen, Sankar, 2012. "Drivers of consumer–brand identification," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 406-418.
    6. S. Stremersch & I. Verniers & C. Verhoef, 2006. "The Quest for Citations: Drivers of Article Impact," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 06/422, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    7. LaTour, Kathryn & LaTour, Michael S. & Zinkhan, George M., 2010. "Coke is It: How stories in childhood memories illuminate an icon," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 328-336, March.
    8. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A. & Price, Linda L., 2008. "The meanings of branded products: A cross-national scale development and meaning assessment," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 82-93.
    9. Ramaswamy, Venkat & Ozcan, Kerimcan, 2016. "Brand value co-creation in a digitalized world: An integrative framework and research implications," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 93-106.
    10. Remi Trudel & Jennifer J. Argo & Matthew D. Meng, 2016. "The Recycled Self: Consumers’ Disposal Decisions of Identity-Linked Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 246-264.
    11. Dean, Dianne & Arroyo-Gamez, Ramon E. & Punjaisri, Khanyapuss & Pich, Christopher, 2016. "Internal brand co-creation: The experiential brand meaning cycle in higher education," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 3041-3048.
    12. Totz, Carsten, 2005. "Potenziale und Herausforderungen der Markenführung im Kontext internetbasierter Interaktionen," Working Papers 30, University of Münster, Competence Center Internet Economy and Hybrid Systems, European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS).
    13. Johnson, Jennifer Wiggins & Rapp, Adam, 2010. "A more comprehensive understanding and measure of customer helping behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 787-792, August.
    14. Melnyk, Valentyna, 2014. "Resisting temptation: gender differences in customer loyalty in the presence of a more attractive alternative," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 335-341.
    15. Leenheer, J. & van Heerde, H.J. & Bijmolt, T.H.A. & Smidts, A., 2006. "Do Loyalty Programs Really Enhance Behavioral Loyalty? An Empirical Analysis Accounting for Self-Selecting Members," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-076-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    16. Andreini, Daniela & Pedeliento, Giuseppe & Zarantonello, Lia & Solerio, Chiara, 2019. "Reprint of "A renaissance of brand experience: Advancing the concept through a multi-perspective analysis"," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 355-365.
    17. Nadeem, Waqar & Tan, Teck Ming & Tajvidi, Mina & Hajli, Nick, 2021. "How do experiences enhance brand relationship performance and value co-creation in social commerce? The role of consumer engagement and self brand-connection," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    18. Füller, Johann & Schroll, Roland & von Hippel, Eric, 2013. "User generated brands and their contribution to the diffusion of user innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1197-1209.
    19. von Wallpach, Sylvia & Hemetsberger, Andrea & Espersen, Peter, 2017. "Performing identities: Processes of brand and stakeholder identity co-construction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 443-452.
    20. Ranfagni, Silvia & Crawford Camiciottoli, Belinda & Faraoni, Monica, 2016. "How to Measure Alignment in Perceptions of Brand Personality Within Online Communities: Interdisciplinary Insights," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 70-85.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joinma:v:37:y:2017:i:c:p:32-43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-interactive-marketing/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.