| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 科技管理研究所 === 99 === The prevalence of Internet use allows brand admirers to take advantage of this online platform and build virtual communities centered around brands. These virtual brand communities not only function as information exchange centers for brand lovers, but member interaction within them also fulfills human social needs. To the enterprises, they are the touch points for direct communication with customers, as well as the ideal environment to cultivate brand loyalty. However, previous studies have mainly focused on community participation and brand relationship, and overlooked the influence of web quality. Hence, this research has taken on viewpoints from both social relation and web technology, and combined brand community integration, web quality, community identification, and community commitment to discuss how brand loyalty is formed under the virtual brand community context.
Four smart phone brand communities (Apple, HTC, Nokia, and Samsung) built on Sogi were chosen to be the research targets. A total of 400 online questionnaires were delivered, and 247 responses were received. The response rate is 61.75 percent. A structural equation model was built and estimated, and the results show that brand community integration has a significant and positive influence on both community identification and brand loyalty. Community identification and web quality also show positive and high relevance towards community commitment. Furthermore, community commitment is proven to be a positive influence on brand loyalty. In sum, this research provides an integrated brand community model for the existing marketing literature, and helps marketers to get a better understanding of how virtual brand communities enhance brand loyalty.
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