The Impact Of Consumers’ Brand Attachment On Continuous Interaction Intention In Virtual Brand Communities

Virtual Brand Communities (VBCs) are playing an increasingly strategic role in the modern corporate competitions. It can influence and even determine consumers’ reviews, help companies identify and understand consumers’needs and desires, which could further promote enterprises’innovations. Many researches of foreign scholars reveal that the social networks and friendship in VBCs are the major reason for people staying, even participating activities in VBCs. What is more, according to the previous research, only the frequency of VBCs determines its prosperity and long-term development. Nevertheless, instead of the foreign countries, there have been lots of differences in China, such as consumers’brand and consumption awareness, attitudes towards the network, statistical features and even the marketing environment. Research of this topic in China is rare at the moment. Therefore, based on the previous study, this paper combines literature research in Sociology, Psychology, Consumer Behavior and Marketing with field survey research to analyze and verify the existence and effect of brand attachment towards consumers’continual interaction intention in VBCs under the specific circumstances in China. Meanwhile, the test of the mediating effect of virtual brand community identity is another assignment.Through network questionnaire research and field survey aimed at consumers of electronics industry, there has collected334valid questionnaires (total650questionnaires distributed). This research applies SPSS17.0Statistics tool for data collected to make reliability and validity analysis, descriptive analysis, factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The data statistical analysis draws two conclusions. First, there has been brand attachment which has there dimensions, affection, trust and brand-self connection, in China’s VBCs. Second, consumers’ brand attachment in China’s VBCs is playing a positive effect to their continual interaction intentions. Further more, virtual brand community identity has also played a positive mediating effect between consumers’ brand attachment and continual interaction intentions.While there are inevitable limitations in research methods, research content and the selection of study sample, this paper has a dual significance of both theoretical and practical. From a perspective of theoretical significance, this paper views the continual interaction intention as the outcome variable and introduce the topic from a emotional motivation, not the judgement-driven behavior as most scholars did, which has made up to the gaps of research of this field in China.In addition, the research not only concerns the consumer themselves in communities but also the whole community, which insists on both personality and common integrity. From a perspective of practical significance, this paper supports some inspiration for managers about how to set up and develop VBCs and helps corporations to make use of the platform to understand the consumers’ needs and desires, build steady brand relationship, enhance brand equity and brand image, and further promote the innovations of products and services.