Understanding Digital Marketing Based On Online Brand Communities:Leveraging Value Creation And Community Commitment

The advancement in social media marketing and information technologies has transformed our economics because multinational companies are trying to endeavor those digital marketing strategies that provide enduring consumer-brand relationship. Therefore, academic researchers are investigating marketing approaches and techniques which could be cost-effective and viable for building a strong brand. On the other hand, up-surging of consumption culture has reciprocated unidentified products/services in to branded products/services by remodeling mass-marketing strategies into customized marketing or personal selling. For that reason, online brand communities is considered as a vital tool for designing effective customized digital marketing strategies. However, online consumers are less concerned with product or service they consume than the social connections and provision that branded product is affiliated with. The relationship created through online brand communities provide value-creation practices and community commitment that develop brand loyalty among community members. Thus, relationship marketing is considered as a domain which leads to devise marketing strategies based on information shared by members in an online brand community.The study pursuit to address the knowledge gap by exploring the imperative relationship motives that impact consumer active participation, community commitment and value-creation practices. These motives will improve marketing productivity through consumer actions, particularly with respect to Chinese consumer and their behavior on social media. Moreover, the study investigated about consumer insight regarding online brand community contents that community members share and discuss. The understandings of these contents are vital for enhancing consumer-brand relationship and identifying key brand equity attributes for designing successful marketing strategies. However, the existing literature doesn’t contain substantive information about these issues.Based on the research objectives, the study presented a theoretical framework for newly developed brands to establish successful online brand communities for their promising consumers and provide them customized contents which enhance brand loyalty and integrated marketing communications performance based on digital marketing strategies. Therefore, the study adopted deductive research approach that incorporates hypotheses testing by applying quantitative research strategy based on fully structured survey. Furthermore, the data from531Chinese respondents were gathered by adopting netnography research design because it examines the attitude and behavior of target audience. After conducting confirmatory factor analysis, the study identified relationship motives (learning, social, self-esteem and hedonic) as predictors of members’active involvement in online brand communities’activities. The structural equation modeling was used to test conceptual framework.Based on the results, learning, social and hedonic motives showed positive influence on consumer active participation. The study found that large number of community members share product information and guide other community members with product support services. Learning motive is extracted as an influential factor for active community participation and value-creation practices in an online brand community. With respect to community commitment, social motive acted as an important factor for enhancing emotional engagement. Moreover, the finding revealed that value-creation practices are decisive for enhancing brand loyalty and integrated marketing communication outcomes. The study concluded digital marketing strategies based on4Cs which includes:connectivity with consumer through online communities, sharing content for spreading positive WOM and relationships, community formation that provide consumer base and information about product attributes and lastly, commitment with brand and its online members needed to be focused. Such strategic prioritization guide academic scholars and brand managers to comprehend consumer behavior and provide intuitive motives for strengthen relationships that require long-term benefits.This study replicated online brand communities participation factors to investigate Chinese consumer behavior and outlined relationship motives that trigger Chinese consumer to participate frequently. The results suggested that brand managers should focus on learning and social motives before launching an online brand community for Chinese consumers. Especially, the study focused on describing marketing strategies for newly developed brands to attract their target audience by using integrated marketing communication and relationship marketing techniques. Therefore, multinational companies should focus on product offering that require understanding about consumer buying decisions and product-information search methods, especially through social media.The finding summarized that online brand community activities are efficient and cost-effective method to gratify member’s need. The relationship motives attained by community member through participation enhance value-creation practices and community commitment that lead to boost brand loyalty. For that reason, the moderators of newly established online brand communities should conduct frequent brand community activities for increasing consumer engagement and also support members in designing creative events for themselves. By implementing value-creation practices such as social networking, brand-use and community engagement the brand managers could attain rapid expansion and eternal activities for an online brand community. To develop a long-lasting relationship with potential consumers, brand manages should allow online members to use community-resources in organizing brand events which boost brand loyalty through impression management and community commitment. These online brand community contents communicate a valuable impression for potential consumer to join and develop a stronger relationship with brand. Thus, online brand communities are effective marketing tool that create social bonding and ease communication among members. It also involves online members in designing and implementing grassroots marketing activities.The study is one the primitive research that analyzed Chinese consumer behavior and empirically found that value-creation practices and community commitment are vital factors which contribute for developing stronger brand loyalty in an online brand community context. The managerial aspect illustrates comprehensive insights about receiving real-time consumer information and data-mining techniques to overlook the contents that are shared or posted by online members. Moreover, brand managers could create sub-groups within an online brand community based on value-creation practices for implementing a successful digital marketing strategy. From technological aspect, marketers can use virtual gaming platforms for promoting active participation or social networking and might also provide alerts regarding new product development or services through such platforms. The theoretical perspective presented the importance of social media marketing in exploring relationship motives and online brand community contents for building stronger brand loyalty and integrated marketing communications.