The Role of Marketer- and User-Generated Content in Sustaining the Growth of a Social Media Brand Community

While recent research has increasingly indicated social media brand communities can bring about desired benefits for firms, the trade press has cautioned the unsustainable growth issue of such communities. Given that the realization of their benefits is contingent on sustained growth, this study investigates the role of two types of content central to sustaining these communities i.e., marketer-generated content (MGC) and user-generated content (UGC). Furthermore, we delineate between content of product-related (for product promotion) and social-related (for relationship building) nature. Our findings show that both social- and product-related UGC can promote growth over time, but only social-related MGC is effective in this regard. However, MGC regardless of their nature may stimulate UGC. Overall our findings suggest that sustaining the growth of a brand community requires a symphony of both marketer effort and consumer response, thus providing a more comprehensive and balanced view of their role.

[1]  Steven Boivie,et al.  Sorting things out: valuation of new firms in uncertain markets , 2004 .

[2]  Dominique M. Hanssens,et al.  Sustained Spending and Persistent Response: A New Look at Long-Term Marketing Profitability , 1999 .

[3]  Brian L. Connelly,et al.  Signaling Theory: A Review and Assessment , 2011 .

[4]  Chrysanthos Dellarocas,et al.  Are Consumers More Likely to Contribute Online Reviews for Hit or Niche Products? , 2010, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[5]  C. Sims.  MACROECONOMICS AND REALITY , 1977 .

[6]  R. Brodie,et al.  Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis , 2013 .

[7]  Ashish Kumar,et al.  The Effect of Customers' Social Media Participation on Customer Visit Frequency and Profitability: An Empirical Investigation , 2013, Inf. Syst. Res..

[8]  Khim-Yong Goh,et al.  Social Media Brand Community and Consumer Behavior: Quantifying the Relative Impact of User- and Marketer-Generated Content , 2013, Inf. Syst. Res..

[9]  M. Spence.  Job Market Signaling , 1973 .

[10]  Alok Gupta,et al.  Putting Money Where the Mouths Are: The Relation Between Venture Financing and Electronic Word-of-Mouth , 2012, Inf. Syst. Res..

[11]  A. Kaplan,et al.  Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media , 2010 .

[12]  Richard Hunt,et al.  Principles of Internet Marketing , 2000 .

[13]  Rafael Wittek,et al.  Structural Holes , 2014, Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining.

[14]  Robert S. Marvin,et al.  Differences, difficulties and adaptation: Stress and social networks in families with a handicapped child. , 1984 .

[15]  Fred haratan,et al.  Differences , 2003, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[16]  J. McAlexander,et al.  Building Brand Community , 2002 .

[17]  Penny Candace Deans,et al.  The Impact of Social Media on C-level Roles , 2011, MIS Q. Executive.

[18]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions , 2010 .

[19]  C. Fombrun,et al.  What's in a Name? Reputation Building and Corporate Strategy , 1990 .

[20]  Vivek Madupu,et al.  Antecedents and Consequences of Online Brand Community Participation: A Conceptual Framework , 2010 .

[21]  Ingoo Han,et al.  The Effect of On-Line Consumer Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement , 2007, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[22]  K. Pauwels,et al.  Effects of Word-of-Mouth versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site , 2009 .

[23]  Debra A. Laverie,et al.  Building Wine Brand Communities with the Use of Social Media: A Conceptual Model , 2011 .

[24]  Yong Liu,et al.  When do Third-Party Product Reviews Affect Firm Value and what can Firms Do? The Case of Media Critics and Professional Movie Reviews , 2012 .