Online Community Experience (OCE) and its impact on customer attitudes: an exploratory study

Many companies have realised the critical importance of online product communities as a tool to facilitate interactions amongst their customers and to strengthen customer-product ties. This study proposes a new construct, Online Community Experience (OCE), to enhance our understanding of customers' online interactions in such communities and its impact on customers' product-related perceptions and attitudes. We draw on diverse theoretical areas including computer-mediated communication, information processing, and brand communities to identify the critical antecedents of OCE. The model was validated using data collected from a sample of 108 subjects through a set of two questionnaires. The study findings offer strong support for the model and indicate the importance of OCE as a critical mediating variable in understanding the impact of online community participation on customer attitudes and perceptions. The key implications for future research and managerial practice in the areas of online communities, marketing communication, and customer relationship management are discussed.

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