Motivational drivers of behavioral online brand engagement in content consumption context : examining brand commitment and trust in online content as moderators

Abstract

The Internet has become increasingly important for companies in recent years. However, online environment possesses many challenges for both managers and researchers. Moreover, it is not until recently engagement concept has begun to emerge in the marketing literature. However, it is known that engagement has a strong influence on many favorable customer outcomes. Thus, engagement is a fruitful research topic in online environment. The purpose of this explanatory study is to examine behavioral dimension of online brand engagement in context of content consumption. This study examines the effects of five motivational drivers (community, information, entertainment, identity, and remuneration) on behavioral online brand engagement. This relationship is further investigated through moderating effects of brand commitment and trust in online content. In addition, the impact of behavioral online brand engagement on brand purchase intention is examined. The study is conducted in tractor context. Quantitative approach is selected for this study. The data (N=819) is gathered through an online survey which is administrated in five languages (English, German, French, Polish, and Finnish). Based on the results of this study, the best predictors of behavioral online brand engagement are community, entertainment, and information which, however, are only weak predictors. Identity has no significant impact, whereas remuneration has a weak negative impact on behavioral online brand engagement. There is partial support only to two moderation hypotheses: when the relationship between identity and behavioral online brand engagement is concerned, there is a statistically significant difference between the low and high group regarding both moderators. However, both moderators act also as antecedents of behavioral online brand engagement. Consuming brand-related content online rather than offline also has a significant positive impact on brand purchase intention. In addition, frequency of consumption has a significant positive impact on behavioral online brand engagement thus supporting the participation-engagement dichotomy that is adopted in this research.