The Influencer of Online Brand Communyties

The Influence of On-Line Brand Community Characteristics on Community Commitment
and Brand Loyalty

Author(s): Heehyoung Jang, Lorne Olfman, Ilsang Ko, Joon Koh and Kyungtae Kim
Source: International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Spring, 2008), pp.
57-80
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27751260
Accessed: 06-01-2020 15:38 UTC
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The Influence of On-Line Brand Community
Characteristics on Community Commitment and
Brand Loyalty
Heehyoung Jang, Lome Olfman, Ilsang Ko, Joon Koh, and
Kyungtae Kim
ABSTRACT: The relationship between on-line communities and on-line brands is inves
tigated by examining how on-line brand community's characteristics affect community
commitment and brand loyalty-in particular, how the hosting type of an on-line brand
community affects the relationships between characteristics and community commitment.
A survey of 250 respondents revealed that their community commitment was significantly
influenced by their community interaction and the rewards for their activities, but not by
information quality and system quality. The analysis shows that the hosting type of a
community has a significant moderating effect and that community commitment increases
brand loyalty. Interpretations and implications of the findings, as well as future research
directions, are discussed.
KEY WORDS AND PHRASES: Brand community, brand loyalty, community commitment,
company-initiated community, consumer-initiated community.
Recent advances in information technology have led to the development of

media for self-expression and information sharing. These advances enable
consumers to get useful information from the Internet rather than off-line,
thereby leading to the establishment of a variety of on-line brand communi
ties. An on-line brand community is a specialized, non-geographically bound
community, based upon social relationships among admirers of a brand in
cyberspace [39]. For example, people who are interested in Harley-Davidson
motorcycles get together via the Internet, form an on-line community, and meet
continuously in on-line and off-line spaces. The members of a community of
this kind have a shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of
moral responsibility, all centering on a branded good or service.
A brand achieves success when consumers are able to express their personal
characteristics through the brand as a result of their membership in a brand
community. Many companies have established on-line brand communities,
accessible through the company's home page or on-line portal. In addition,
active consumers have built their own on-line brand communities that respond
to members' needs by providing plentiful information about the pre-purchase,
purchase, and after-service of branded products and services. Promotions
and advertising through brand communities have been phenomenal [42]. As
yet, no study has rigorously investigated the specific influence of the charac
teristics of on-line brand communities on their members7 commitment and
loyalty in terms of service quality, interaction, and rewards, including their
This study was supported by the second BK21 program of the Korean govern
ment.
International Journal of Electronic Commerce / Spring 2008, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 57-80.
Copyright ? 2008 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.
1086-4415/2008 $9.50 + 0.00.
DOI 10.2753/JEC1086-4415120304
58 JANG ET AL.
operating mechanisms. Most studies in this area have focused on the factors
affecting loyalty to an on-line community or the antecedents of loyalty to a
brand or product.
This paper examines the influence of on-line brand community charac
teristics on community commitment and the resulting impact of community
commitment on brand loyalty. It also analyzes how different types of com
munities affect the relationships between brand community characteristics and
community commitment. In line with these two main purposes, the following
four aspects are elucidated: the key characteristics of on-line brand commu
nities, the influence of these characteristics on community commitment, the
differential impacts of community type on community commitment, and the
relationship between community commitment and brand loyalty.
The discussion that follows highlights the importance of on-line brand
communities in Internet business and explores how they increase the brand
loyalty of the consumers who use and participate in them. An understand
ing of on-line brand communities is expected to provide companies with an
opportunity to gain competitive advantages in marketing their products and
services.
Theoretical Background
On-Line Community and Brand Community
Community
A community can be explained with reference to three major criteria: (1) lo

cality, (2) social interaction, and (3) bond [20]. Locality demonstrates that the
community is based upon a certain region that differentiates it from other
communities. Social interaction refers to the means of relationship building
among community members. Bond comes from the fact that membership in the
community gives its member a feeling of comfort and a sense of belonging [29].
A community consists of the personal and institutional relationships between
the members, their interactions, the atmosphere, the evolution of individual
and collective identities, and, last but not least, physical or virtual spaces for
meeting. The members of a community share a profession, a discipline, and
job roles or deal with the same clients [45]. As defined by Etzioni and Etzioni,
a community has two central attributes: (1) affect-laden relationships of the
members and (2) commitment to a set of shared values, meanings, and a
shared historical identity [11]. Every community has frameworks, ideas, sto
ries, experiences, lessons learned, and documents that community members
share at work or outside of work (e.g., a community of interest). Community
denotes a body of specific, collectively elaborated know-how about ways of
doing tasks in a specific domain [58]. According to Muniz and O'Guinn, the
three core components of a community are: (1) an intrinsic connection such that
members feel different from others not in the community; (2) the presence of
shared rituals and traditions that perpetuate the community's history, culture,
and consciousness; and (3) a sense of moral responsibility, duty, or obligation
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 59
to the community as a whole and its individual members [39]. In short, a com
munity is defined as an organization of individuals or small groups that have
an intention to get together and a sense of mutual responsibility [48, 49].
T?nnies observes that social relations fall into one or another of two cat
egories: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft [55]. These terms are often translated as
//community// and "society." Gemeinschaft relationships are local, cohesive,
enduring, intimate, and face-to-face; Gesellschaft relationships are large-scale,
impersonal, and calculative, and in consequence are weaker. An on-line com
munity is similar to a Gemeinschaft, except that it forms through an electronic
communication medium and is not bound by space and time.
Gusfield distinguishes two types of communities: the traditional territo
rial or geographical community (e.g., a neighborhood, town, or region) and a
relational community concerned with human relationships (e.g., hobby clubs,
religious groups, fan clubs) [16]. Most on-line communities are relational com
munities. However, members of on-line communities actively interact with
one other on a specific site in cyberspace and have an emotional attachment to
the site that resembles the attachment of members of a traditional community
to the physical place of their relationship.
On-line Community
The ubiquity of the Internet and the human desire for connectedness, knowl
edge, and information has combined to create new social forms such as on
line communities. Communities on-line are quite different from those in the
physical world. In traditional communities, people meet one another face to
face, get to know one another, and then, if the chemistry is right, form relation
ships. In the on-line world, people get to know others, form relationships ,and
only then, if the chemistry is right, choose to meet them face to face [48]. In
addition, participation in an on-line community is driven by volitional choice,
whereas in traditional bounded communities membership may be imposed
involuntarily by geographical location [4].
There are multiple definitions of an on-line community. Rheingold de
fines the on-line community as a social aggregation that emerges from the
Net with sufficient human feeling to form a web of personal relationships in
cyberspace [48]. Hagel and Armstrong also see the on-line community as a
computer-mediated space [17]. Bagozzi and Dholakia view on-line commu
nities as computer-mediated social spaces with intentional actions, in which
content is created by members through ongoing communication processes
[4]. However, Rothaermel and Sugiyama note that on-line communities may
not be a complete substitute for personal, simultaneous, one-to-one inter
action, either vocally or face-to-face [49]. Their study found that about 30
percent of the respondents communicated with other community members
via telephone and in person, in addition to their on-line participation. Fox,
proposing a community embodiment model (CEM), illustrates that relation
ships of various kinds may exist between physical and virtual communities
by a more dominant communal mechanism [12]. In the real world, commu
nity members often engage in off-line as well as on-line interactions [29, 41].
60 JANG ET AL.
For the purposes of this study, an on-line community is defined as a group

of individuals engaging in predominantly on-line interaction in virtual spaces
created through the integration of communication with content developed
by community members.
Hagel and Armstrong classify on-line communities into four types: transac
tion-, relationship-, interest-, and fantasy-based [17]. Henri and Pudelko also
suggest that there are four principal types of on-line communities: (1) com
munity of interest, (2) goal-oriented community of interest, (3) learner's
community, and (4) community of practice based on the two dimensions of
social bond and intentionality [19]. Furthermore, on-line communities exist
for profit organizations (e.g., professional communities of practice), as well
as at the noncommercial level where individual citizens create their own
communities of interest [46]. In an on-line community, people who share
common interests get together electronically and agree on the benefits they
receive through their actions [56]. An on-line community is only viable if it
maintains a sufficient number of members [6]. Community builders need to
provide beneficial products to retain existing community members and attract
potential members [28]. The discussion in the next section will focus on brand
communities, a type of on-line community formed by members who share an
interest in a particular brand.
On-Line Brand Community
Firms like Dell and Cisco Systems have transformed suppliers and customers
into members of their corporate communities, thereby enabling exchanges of
valuable information and knowledge with them. More and more firms are
recognizing the advantages of on-line brand communities, which include the
opportunity for effective communication with customers and of obtaining
valuable ideas. Brand communities do not simply provide companies with
an additional communication channel; they also enable the possibility of
establishing linkages to devoted users [2]. A brand community starts based
on its core asset, the brand itself, and grows by building relationships among
members interested in the brand.
There are several classifications of on-line brand communities (e.g., Con
stance [7], Henri and Pudelko [19], Kozinets [33]), but by and large they can
be grouped into two major types based on the criterion of who hosts them:
(1) consumer-initiated communities voluntarily built by their members and
(2) company-initiated communities built by the company that owns the brand
in order to establish a relationship with consumers and induce productive
feedback from them. The hosting type may be one of the most important fac
tors in classifying on-line communities because it results in different operating
mechanisms [5, 39]. Constance similarly proposes that virtual communities
fall into two categories based on establishment type and relationship orien
tation: (1) member-initiated communities (analogous to consumer-initiated)
and (2) organization-sponsored communities (almost identical to company
initiated) [7].
Company-initiated on-line brand communities have the advantages of pro

viding detailed information about products and their usage. However, since
the management of the Web site is controlled by the company, unfavorable
opinions from customers may be removed and blocked. Thus, the weaknesses
of products with which customers have unpleasant experiences are less likely
to be shown on the Web site, as compared to consumer-initiated on-line brand
communities. Consumer-initiated communities can provide beneficial informa
tion, valuable experiences, and strengths and weaknesses of products without
screening or appealing to other consumers to purchase, but their ability to
render detailed specifications of the product is limited. These communities
tend to manage negative information about the branded product quite well,
compared to the company-initiated ones.
An on-line brand community, whether consumer-initiated or company-initi
ated, has some unique characteristics. It has no geographical limitations [57].
It is built around commercialized products or services shared by community
members [39]. It is relatively stable, and its members have strong commitments
with common themes and goals [8, 35]. It acts as a place for social negotia
tion where the community reflects mainstream culture and encourages the
members' voluntary interpretation of the brand [22]. Community members
have a high level of identity as well as an understanding of the commercial
landscape [39].
Commitment and Loyalty

Commitment
Commitment can be seen as a set of needs to sustain a worthwhile business

to-consumer relationship [51]. It has been defined as "an enduring desire to
maintain a valued relationship" [37] and "a tendency to resist change" [47].
Commitment plays a key mediating role in the formation of consumer loyalty
and behavioral intention [13, 38, 47]. Morgan and Hunt define commitment
in a business-to-business relationship as mutual trust that requires effort to
maintain a sustainable relationship, arguing that commitment appears when
community members value their relationships with other members [38].
Interactive communication facilitates a positive attitude among members
toward the community operator as well as the community, and this, in turn,
enhances the level of commitment to the community [25]. Wiener considers
commitment as a process of bridging between a certain set of leading variables
and the resulting behavioral outcomes, and concludes that commitment is a
motivational factor [59]. Staw classifies commitment as either attitudinal or
behavioral [54]. The former involves emotional attachment to a community
and often leads to strong community membership; the latter results in actual
behaviors beyond mere emotional attachment. Members' actual behaviors
in an on-line community are critical factors, since the on-line environment
does not have a geographical base. It is, therefore, relatively hard to promote
members to actively visit and stay in their community.
62 JANG ET AL.
In light of the preceding definitions, one may say that in the context of an
on-line community, commitment refers to each member's attitude toward
the community The concept of commitment may predict members' actual
behaviors in an on-line community, such as solving problems for others,
giving help, and community participation. Thus, to accommodate a broad
range of commitment in an on-line community, commitment is here treated
as an attitudinal factor that appears when the members of a community feel
that the continuing relationship between their community and themselves is
valuable.
In the service marketing literature, service quality, perceived value, and
satisfaction are considered to be antecedents of commitment [15, 21, 52]. Koh
and Kim argue that leaders' enthusiasm, off-line interaction, and enjoyability
lead to a sense of on-line community that has a significant influence on mem
bers' commitment [29]. Several articles proposing that leaders' effort, off-line
activities and managerial strategies (e.g., rules, reward systems) directly affect
members' commitment and intention to participate in an on-line community
[31, 60]. However, there has been little investigation of members' attitudes
and behavior in the context of an on-line brand community that may vary by
community typology.
In a company-initiated on-line brand community, customers' participation
in building their opinions and managing their continuing experiences can be
easily monitored and controlled by the company. Such a community may be
handicapped in building customers' commitment to the branded product.
However, in a consumer-initiated on-line brand community, customers volun
tarily participate in building information about good features of the product
and valuable experiences with it. Uncontrolled feedback from fellow members
helps members to trust their community and strengthen their commitment.
Therefore, members tend to have higher beliefs and concerns about product
information and experiences from their peers in a consumer-initiated on-line
brand community than in company-initiated one.
Loyalty
Loyalty can be defined as a feeling of attachment to a certain set of brands

and companies [32]. Companies whose consumers are strongly loyal can gain
important competitive advantages in marketing, such as reduced corporate
marketing and transactional costs, increased cross-selling rate, a greater
positive word-of-mouth effect, and reduced cost of failure [14]. Aaker defines
brand loyalty as the degree of a consumer's emotional attachment to a brand
and suggests that it has six dimensions: consumer willingness to repurchase,
price premium, satisfaction rate, switching cost, preference over brand, and
commitment to brand [1]. Oliver demonstrates that consumer loyalty comes
from a high level of commitment that leads to product or service repurchas
ing [43].
The Internet helps people to approach and evaluate products without any
time limits. It also facilitates discarding unwanted alternatives. There may be
a need for more and better efforts to bring people to a company's home page
and retain them as loyal and profitable customers [28]. Loyalty, which is a
key requirement in establishing any kind of relationship marketing, may also
play an important role in expanding e-commerce [14]. Based on the preceding
discussion, loyalty can be defined as either attitudinal or behavioral. Since
commitment, as an attitudinal factor, is included in the research model of this
study, the focus will be on behavioral loyalty, which drives brand recommen
dation to others and increases consumer retention. Loyalty may be a relevant
variable to represent the degree of influence a brand has on consumers in the
on-line community context where a company gains competitive advantages
in marketing.
There have been many studies of the factors affecting loyalty, such as service
quality, product quality, information quality, corporate image, price, and com
mitment [10, 34,40], but little work combining brand loyalty with the on-line
community concept. That is to say, few researchers have noted that brand
loyalty can be increased by on-line community participation or commitment.
The present study explores the link between brand community commitment
and level of brand loyalty.
In on-line brand communities, loyalty to a brand is expected to be influenced
not only by customers' voluntary participation in the community, but also by
their autonomous management of the Web site. In consumer-initiated on-line
brand communities, because the trustworthy information and experiences
presented are trustworthy, customers are likely to build strong commitments
to the community, thereby establishing persistent loyalty to the relevant brand
or branded products.
Research Model and Hypotheses

Model and Hypotheses
Plant developed a three-dimensional model of the on-line community space:
(1) degree of community regulation, (2) degree of community openness to
membership, and (3) degree to which a community is involved in commercial
activities [46]. Many studies, including those by Hagel and Armstrong, and by
Kim, have discussed the community-related dimensions, such as community
regulation, openness, and commerce, which contributed to Plant's model, as
well as the definition of communities [17, 27]. Since most of the earlier studies
investigated community characteristics and the operating mechanism of on-line
communities without connecting them to the concept of a brand in marketing,
this research area is fragmented. Filling the gap between on-line community re
search and marketing research, the present study focuses on brand community
characteristics and community-operating mechanisms by community types.
It is proposed that on-line brand community characteristics affect the level of
community commitment and that the effects of community characteristics on
commitment are contingent upon community types. In addition, it is expected
that the commitment will increase brand loyalty (see Figure 1).
64 JANG ET AL.
Information
Quality
System
Quality7
Interaction
Reward
Figure 1. Research Model
On-Line Brand Community Characteristics
This study addresses four major characteristics of the on-line brand com
munity: (1) quality of information, (2) quality of system, (3) interaction, and
(4) rewards for activities. The first two characteristics are known to exert a
strong influence upon the satisfaction and loyalty to the community of its
members [3, 44, 61]. McWilliam emphasizes the importance of interaction
in increasing consumer commitment to communication [36]. Sheth and Atul
reveal that a reward for valuable information to the community may accel
erate the level of community commitment [53]. Accordingly, the following
hypotheses are developed:
HI. Characteristics of an on-line brand community positively influence on

line brand community commitment.
Hl-1. Higher quality of information in an on-line brand community leads to

higher on-line brand community commitment.
Hl-2. Higher quality of system in an on-line brand community leads to

higher on-line brand community commitment.
Hl-3. Higher interaction among community members leads to higher on-line

brand community commitment.
Hl-4. Greater reward for activities in a community leads to higher on-line

brand community commitment.
Types of On-line Brand Communities
Kang classifies on-line brand communities as either consumer- or company

initiated [26]. Berry and, similarly, Muniz and O'Guinn propose that the
attitude of community members toward the community is dependent upon
who the host is [5, 39]. In a consumer-initiated brand community, since it is
built and operated based on purely voluntary behaviors of members (i.e.,
consumers), the community stimulation or member participation tends to be
affected by general community characteristics, such as leaders' enthusiasm,
information quality, and community content [29]. However, a company-initi
ated community may include a hybrid, mixed style of both voluntariness and
unwillingness in terms of community operation, since the members some
times will participate in the community to get mandatory Web services, such
as free software upgrade services. Thus, the operating mechanism of such
a community may be different from that of a purely voluntary community.
Specifically, the influence of brand community characteristics on community
commitment may be weaker for a company-initiated community than for
a purely consumer-initiated community Therefore, the hosting type of a
brand community is introduced as a moderating variable, and the following
hypotheses are proposed:
H2. The type of on-line brand community moderates the relationship between
brand community characteristics and community commitment.
H2-1. The type of on-line brand community moderates the relationship

between information quality and community commitment.

between system quality and community commitment.

between community interaction and community commitment.

between activity reward and community commitment.
On-Line Brand Community Commitment and Brand Loyalty
Although there is some confusion about their relationship, it is generally ac

cepted that commitment is different from loyalty in that commitment leads to
loyalty [9, 38]. Jacoby and Chestnut argue that commitment arises while one
is searching through brands before making a choice, whereas loyalty arises
later [24]. Accordingly, they see commitment as the foundation for the develop
ment of brand loyalty. On-line community participation or commitment may
increase the brand value perceived by community members, since it may help
them to have a positive attitude to the brand as well as to have brand loyalty.
66 JANG ET AL.
Therefore, stimulating community activities and commitment is expected to

lead to brand loyalty of consumers in the long term.
Brand loyalty has both attitudinal and behavioral components, and emerges
when these factors co-exist. Thus:
H3. Higher on-line brand community commitment leads to higher brand

loyalty.
Operational Definitions of Research Variables
The instruments of the present study were based on literature related to in

formation systems (IS), marketing, and community psychology. Information
quality, in this study, is defined as "quality of information provided through
the community," while system quality refers to "speedy and convenient
search for information in the community" [34, 61]. Interactivity involves the
degree of information exchange among community members and between
community members and the host of the community [36, 39]. Reward for
activities reflects the degree of monetary or psychological reward for proac
tive members in the brand community [53]. On-line brand community com
mitment is defined as "strong and positive feelings among members toward
the community" [36]. Finally, brand loyalty was adapted to the study setting
based on earlier studies like Kang's [26], and was measured by the degree
of brand attachment to products and repurchase of products/services of the
brand. Operational definitions and measurements of the research variables
are provided in Table 1.
The respondents in the study were asked to select either (1) consumer-initi
ated community or (2) company-initiated community to indicate the type of
community in which they participate. The former type includes SKY People
(the on-line community of the SKY mobile phone brand: www.skysamo.com),
ACU (the on-line community of the Samsung AnyCall mobile phone brand:
www.anycalluser.com), and the Internet Verna Club (the on-line community
of the Verna automobile brand: www.verna.co.kr), while i-SKY (the on-line
community of the SKY Teletech Co. mobile phone: www.isky.co.kr), Anycall
Land (the on-line community of the Samsung Electronics Co. mobile phone:
www.anycall.com), and Verna Inside (the on-line community of the Hyundai
Motors automobile community: http://club.hyundai-motor.com/inside) are
examples of the latter type. These were the sites where the sample for this
study were obtained.
Research Method
Sample and Data Collection

The questionnaire for this study was developed via the following steps: First,
measurement items were translated into Korean with double translation
checks. Before data collection for the study, pretesting of the measurement
binary [4, 15, 24]
Source
Degree of activity in exchanging information [22, 24]
Excellence, affluence, newness, credibility [21, 39]
Convenience of navigating through information
Upgrade (downgrade) of member privileges
Exchanges between host and members
Excellence of Web design [21,39] Degree of emotional attachment
Degree of need to participate
Measurement according to degree of activity
Speed of inquiry and response Recommendation to others [15]
and interpersonal exchanges
Sense of belonging [7, 22]
Stability of system access Degree of satisfaction
Monetary reward [34]
Psychological reward
Degree of trust Purchase of brand
Degree of monetary or psychological rewards for proactive
Speedy and convenient search for information in community
Degree of brand attachment to or repurchase of products
and between community members and host of community
Degree of information exchange among community members Degree of strong and positive feelings toward community
Operational definition
Quality of information provided through community
Initiated and operated by company that owns brand
Voluntarily initiated and operated by consumers with help of menu hierarchy and layout
members of brand community
or services of brand
among members
Table 1. Operational Definitions and Measures of Variables.
Characteristics of on-line brand community
Reward for activities
Quality of information
Name of variable
Quality of system On-line brand community
Type of community
Consumer
Interaction
Company
Brand loyalty
commitment
68 JANG ET Ah.
was conducted with ten graduate students majoring in IS management

and marketing science. The pretest respondents were asked to evaluate the
relevance of the questionnaire items for each variable of the study. The ques
tionnaire was modified in accordance with the pretest feedback. The brand
community leaders of SKY People, ACU, iSKY, Internet Verna Club, Anycall
Land, and Verna Inside were contacted, and their brand community member
e-mail lists were obtained. Using the e-mail lists, 500 questionnaires were
randomly distributed to brand community members. In addition, the survey
guidelines were uploaded onto the Web sites of the brand communities. Out
of the 500 questionnaires sent, 284 were returned, which gives a response rate
of 57 percent. Thirty-four questionnaires were discarded because of a lack of
integrity in some of the answers, giving a final sample size for the analysis
of 250. All of the items in the survey were measured on a seven-point Likert
scale except for type of community, which was measured by a binary scale.
The statistical analysis used SPSS 12.0 for Windows.
Analysis and Results

Of the 250 respondents, 78.6 percent were male and 21.4 percent were female.
Almost three-quarters of the respondents were in their twenties (exactly 73.5%),
which may represent an accurate reflection of the mainstream of on-line com
munity users. Also, 57.6 percent of respondents were enrolled in consumer
initiated communities, and 42.4 percent were members of company-initiated
communities. The respondents' average amount of Internet use per day was
5.76 hours, and the average number of community visits per day was 4.03.
Table 2 provides sample characteristics of the study.
Factor Analysis
The internal consistency of the variables was verified with Cronbach's alpha
values, and 11 items showing low reliability were eliminated. Every variable
has at least three items. Validity was assessed by factor analysis. Principal
component analysis with varimax rotation was used to draw out factors. Fac
tors with an eigenvalue higher than 1.0 were selected. Table 3 demonstrates
that every variable had a factor loading higher than 0.7. Cronbach's alpha
values were also higher than 0.7, demonstrating the satisfactory reliability of
the research variables.
Hypotheses Testing
Simple correlations among the research variables as well as descriptive sta
tistics, such as means and standard deviations, are shown in Table 4. Pearson
correlations were calculated for the six variables measured by interval or ratio
scales. All variables were significantly correlated to each other at p < 0.001.
Potential multicollinearity among the dependent variables was checked, but
Features (%)
Age
<20 7.6
20s 73.5
30s 18.5
40s 0
>50s 0.4
Total 100.0
Gender
Male 78.6
Female 21.4
Total 100.0
Time period of activity in comm
Less than 6 months 17.2
Less than 1 year 33.6
Less than 2 years 19.3
Less than 3 years 10.5
Longer than 3 years 19.3
Total 100.0
Type of brand community
Company-initiated 42.4
Consumer-initiated 57.6
Total 100.0
Features M SD
Average hours of Int

Average stay on communit
Average number of visits
Table 2. Descriptive
their tolerance values

was not a likely threa
The hypotheses wer
2 of Table 5 shows th
system quality, did not
Hl-1 and Hl-2 were n
significant, thereby s
community members
of a community has
0.001). In addition, re
was significant in inc
which supported Hl
A moderated regress
influence of commun
fected by the type of b
community typology
and commitment. As
0.472 (p < 0.001) and R
significant increase in
0.907 0.888 0.810 0.774
alpha
Cronbach's
0.132
0.124
0.0960.186
0.227
0.265 0.052
0.164 0.173 0.8780.7610.677 2.068
Factor4 -0.031 -0.011 14.773
75.506
Factor3
0.810 2.223
-0.0030.0440.0100.1300.2490.2320.0710.3150.8470.760 0.0920.1230.105
15.881
60.732
Cronbach's
alpha 0.924 0.864
Rotated component
0.0770.087 0.821 0.853 0.274 0.055 0.183 0.195

0.177
0.8880.9002.376
Factor2 Factor6
0.084 0.803 0.8440.1630.289 0.0350.159 3.001
21.436
0.084
44.851 25.363
83.206
0.822
Rotated component
Factor 1 0.901 0.8360.7960.140 0.189

-0.033
0.049
0.160
0.039 -0.050
0.306 23.418 Factor5 0.9400.9000.908
0.224 0.138
2.616
0.097 0.379 3.278
23.415 57.844
0.893 0.169
Table 3. Factor Structure and Reliability of Variables.

Note: The boldface figures indicate grouping items by factor loading values (> 0.7).
Quality of of
information 2Reward
Community commitment 1 commitment
Community Community
2 commitment 5
Quality information 3
Cumulative variance (%)
Quality
Quality
of information
of information
4 6
Cumulative variance (%)

Explained variance (%) Explained variance (%)
Quality Quality
of system
Quality
of 3system
of system
4 2
Reward for Reward
Reward activity
for
Scale itemsfor 2 activity
activity
for
activity
3 5 6 Interaction 4Interaction 5Interaction 1 Eigenvalue
Scale items
Brand1 loyalty
Brand loyalty Brand4 loyalty 5
Eigenvalue
M SD information system Interaction activities commitment
1.478 0.546*** 0.323*** 0.373*** 0.491*** 0.390***
Quality of Quality of Reward for Community
1.769 0.440*** 0.453*** 0.763*** 0.460***
1.682 0.521*** 0.342*** 0.432***
1.870 0.508*** 0.444***
1.476 0.494***
1.414
Table 4. Correlation Analysis.
4 Reward for activities 3.301
5 Community commitment 4.429

1 Quality of information 5.483
2 Quality of system 4.868
6 Brand loyalty 5.025

3 Interaction 2.927
*** p< 0.001.
4.163
7.704 2.6840.9590.2444.0204.5053.0512.440
9.199 1.850
-0.130
4.208 -0.140
Coefficient
? 0.438**0.136**
0.209**0.195**0.361 ** 0.365**0.452**0.157**
0.0750.027 0.181*0.202T-0.012 -0.014
INFO x TYPE
Independent
variables REW x TYPE
INTER x TYPE
SYS x TYPE
INTER INTER
INFOSYS REWTYPE
INFOSYS REWTYPE
F significance)
43.230
(0.000) (0.000)
25.898
(level of
2.707
AF significance)
(level of
(0.000)
43.230
(0.031)
Notes: INFO = quality of information; SYS = quality of system; INTER = interaction; REW = reward for activity; TYPE = type of community. | p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; * * p < 0.01; * * * p <
Regression model suitability

0.472 0.023
AR2
0.495
0.472
Table 5. Moderated Regression Analysis.
0.687
0.703
Model 1 Model 2
0.001.
the moderating variable and the independent variables. In Model 2, two inter
action terms, quality of information and quality of system, were marginally
significant (? = 0.181, p < 0.05; ? = 0.202, p < 0.1), which supported both H2-1
and H2-2. However, the other two interaction terms (reward x type, interac
tion x type) were not significant. Thus, neither H2-3 nor was supported.
These results imply that information quality and system quality exert a greater
influence upon community commitment in the consumer-initiated type of
commirnity than in the company-initiated one.
To properly test contingency hypotheses such as H2-1 and H2-2, it is nec
essary to display interaction terms graphically as well as to examine them
mathematically [23,50]. The overall data set was divided into two categories,
company-initiated community and consumer-initiated community, and the
influence of information/system quality on community commitment was
plotted with the divided data, as shown in Figure 2. In the case of company
initiated communities, commitment did not significantly increase as the levels
of information or system quality intensified (the slopes of the cases flattened).
However, in the consumer-initiated commirnity type, increasing information/
system qualities had a significantly positive impact on commirnity commit
ment (the slopes were steep). Thus, it is obvious that information/system
quality had more influence on community commitment in the case of con
sumer-initiated communities than in company-initiated communities.
In addition, regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation
ships between affecting factors and commitment with the two different data
sets grouped by community type. In the case of consumer-initiated communi
ties, both information quality and system quality had a statistically significant
influence on community commitment, but in company-initiated communities
neither of them significantly affected the corrurutment. These results strongly
support the interaction effects of community hosting type on the relationships
between information/system quality and community commitment.
Finally, Table 6 shows that H3, proposing that brand community commit
ment significantly influences brand loyalty, was supported (? = 0.390, p <
0.001), implying that community commitment increases brand loyalty.
74 JANG ET AL.
Dependent Independent
variable variable ? t R7 F
Brand loyalty Community 0.390*** 6.480 0.152 41
commitment
Table 6. Regression Analysis Between Brand Loyalty and Co

Commitment.
*** p< 0.001.
Conclusion
Discussion and Implications
This study examined the relationships between community commitment and

four major characteristics of brand community (quality of information, quality
of system, interaction, and reward for activities). Only two of the community
characteristics (interaction and reward for activities) significantly affected com
munity commitment. This result was based on sample characteristics collected
from on-line communities related to mobile phones and automobiles. For ex
ample, a mobile phone community is built around users interested in accessing
information on content (ring tone, wallpaper, MP3, etc.) and on related utility
software. The information is usually collected through information exchange as
members interact on-line. The search process for such information, therefore,
helps members gain useful content that is the inherent psychological reward
for their activities. In other words, in a brand community, a large amount of
information may be provided by user interactions. Because the level of system
quality is high and almost the same everywhere in Korea through Internet
high-speed broadband service, it is likely that neither information quality
(provided by a community) nor system quality (such as response time) show
variance in affecting community commitment.
An effort was made to determine the effect of community type on the relation
ship between the characteristics of a community and community commitment.
Communities were classified by type as either consumer- or company-initiated.
Moderated regression analysis showed that the differential effects of commu
nity type were significant on some of the independent variables. Members of
consumer-initiated communities perceived both information quality and system
quality as more important in enhancing member commitment than did members
of company-initiated communities. This indicates that since consumer-initiated
cornmunities are based purely on members7 willingness to participate, commit
ment is greatly affected by the usefulness of the community site, which refers to
a voluntary working mechanism of general communities. However, a company
initiated community, in which members have to participate in order to get manda
tory Web services that only the company can offer, may have different operating
mechanisms than a consumer-initiated one. Examples of such mandatory services
are free content for newcomers and free software upgrade services.
Interestingly, a recent empirical study on communities of practice (CoPs)
showed similar results to the present findings [30]. The researchers classified
CoPs as either top-down or voluntarily created, and posited that these two
types have different operating mechanisms. In the case of CoPs created and
operated by the top-down approach, some affecting factors that were expected
to influence community stimulation were not significant in the regression
analysis. In the case of purely voluntary CoPs, all of the community stimulants
were significant, as expected. These results are in agreement with the present
findings?two different kinds of communities have different mechanisms of
community stimulation. That is, in purely voluntary communities, community
commitment or stimulation strongly depends on all of the major community
characteristics, such as information/system quality, interaction, usefulness (re
ward), leadership, and off-line activities in the community. However, in semi
voluntary or mandatory communities, commitment may be partially affected
or even not significantly influenced by such community characteristics. The
differential effects of community characteristics on community commitment
by community type have managerial implications for practitioners. Excessive
management and sponsoring by companies could harm the spontaneity of
community participants, which is one of the pivotal characteristics of both
on-line brand communities and CoPs in organizations.
Some additional implications for community leaders can be derived from
the study's findings. First, in the case of a consumer-initiated community, the
leaders should concentrate on increasing information quality as well as system
quality. Second, leaders of both consumer-initiated brand communities and
company-initiated brand communities can enhance their Web sites by provid
ing functions that promote member interaction, such as BBS (bulletin board
systems), chat, or messenger services, since interaction strongly influences
community commitment. Finally, based on the present finding that rewards for
activities had a significant impact on community commitment, leaders should
continuously filter out low-value materials from their site in order to make
the community more useful for members. Editorial control of the contents to
give rewards to community members helps to sustain a community.
The present study also found that community commitment increases brand
loyalty, which is consistent with most prior studies (e.g., [26]). This result
suggests that by increasing community commitment, companies can improve
their financial performance through consumer rephrasing and word-of-mouth
marketing. Since community stimulation or commitment is able to enhance
product brand value, it may be meaningful for companies in selling their
brands (or products), and thus they need to prepare a variety of strategies to
support their brand communities. For example, they could provide community
members with physical places for off-line activities and with support money
for regular /irregular off-line community meetings. They might even invite
brand community leaders to tour the company, which could help the company
to solicit and obtain customers' ideas about how to increase brand value.
Study Limitations and Future Research Directions
Although the sample in this study was largely made up of people in their
twenties, this probably is an accurate reflection of the age of the mainstream
76 JANG ET AL.
of on-line community users. However, as the survey was conducted on-line, it

may only have contacted heavy, as opposed to general, users. In addition, the
sample was skewed in favor of males (78%). Further study is therefore required
to overcome the weakness of the present sample for the overall population in
order to generalize the findings.
The four major characteristics used in the study?quality of information,
quality of system, interaction, and reward for activities?may not fully re
flect overall community characteristics. In addition, as a purely moderating
variable, the type of brand community was a discrete value (company- or
consumer-initiated). A future study could better explain the community's
operating mechanism by replacing this variable with a continuous variable
by interval scales, such as the degree of customer participation in building
and managing a brand community.
Further research needs develop a more elaborate questionnaire that will
elicit a deeper understanding of an on-line brand community. In addition,
this study only examined a few industries, suggesting that each industry's
unique characteristics may have affected the study results. Thus a further
study over a wider range of industries is needed. It is necessary to generalize
and theorize the working mechanism of on-line communities and enlarge it
into the specific context of brand, origin, industry, and so on.
Companies try to develop brand loyalty among their consumers. One
method they do this is by building and operating on-line communities to
sustain consumer relationships, that is, company-initiated. In addition, active
consumers working independently have developed on-line brand communi
ties on their own behalf, that is, consumer-initiated. The major finding of this
study was the differential effects of the two different community types on
community commitment. The main stimuli triggering community commit
ment may vary by brand community type. It is hoped that the results of this
empirical study will help company brand managers to determine the best way
to increase the brand loyalty of their customers.
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80 JANG ET AI.
HEEHYOUNG JANG (janghy@chonnam.ac.kr) is a Ph.D. candidate at the College of

Business Administration, Chonnam National University, South Korea. Her research
interests include e-commerce, e-communication, on-line community, and organizational
impact of information technology.
LORNE OLFMAN (lorne.olfman@cgu.edu) is dean of the School of Information Systems

and Technology and occupant of the Fletcher Johns Chair in Technology Management
at Claremont Graduate University. He came to Claremont in 1987 after graduating with
a Ph.D. in business (management information systems) from Indiana University. His
research interests include how software can be learned and used in organizations, the
impact of computer-based systems on knowledge management, and the design and
adoption of systems used for group work. With Terry Ryan, he co-directs the Social
Learning Software Lab (SL2).
ILSANG KO (isko@chonnam.ac.kr) is a professor in the College of Business Admin

istration, Chonnam National University, South Korea. He has an M.B.A. from the
University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His
research interests are B2B electronic commerce, e-collaboration, and firm capacity and
capability of IT applications.
JOON KOH (kjoon@chonnam.ac.kr) is an assistant professor in the College of Business

Administration, Chonnam National University. He received his Ph.D. in MIS from the
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). His research interests
are virtual communities and knowledge management. His work has appeared in Com
munications of the ACM, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Journal of AIS, and
International Journal of Human Resource Management.
KYUNGTAE KIM (kimkt@chonnam.ac.kr) is a Ph.D. candidate at the College of Busi

ness Administration, Chonnam National University, South Korea, and a researcher at
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. He is interested in customer communities
and digital electronic devices.

The Influencer of Online Brand Communyties

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The Influencer of Online Brand Communyties

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The Influence of On-Line Brand Community Characteristics on Community Commitment

and Brand Loyalty

Recent advances in information technology have led to the development of

A community can be explained with reference to three major criteria: (1) lo

For the purposes of this study, an on-line community is defined as a group

On-Line Brand Community

Company-initiated on-line brand communities have the advantages of pro

Commitment and Loyalty

Commitment can be seen as a set of needs to sustain a worthwhile business

Loyalty can be defined as a feeling of attachment to a certain set of brands

Research Model and Hypotheses

Figure 1. Research Model

On-Line Brand Community Characteristics

HI. Characteristics of an on-line brand community positively influence on

Hl-1. Higher quality of information in an on-line brand community leads to

Hl-2. Higher quality of system in an on-line brand community leads to

Hl-3. Higher interaction among community members leads to higher on-line

Hl-4. Greater reward for activities in a community leads to higher on-line

Types of On-line Brand Communities

Kang classifies on-line brand communities as either consumer- or company

H2-1. The type of on-line brand community moderates the relationship

H2-2. The type of on-line brand community moderates the relationship

H2-3. The type of on-line brand community moderates the relationship

H2-4. The type of on-line brand community moderates the relationship

On-Line Brand Community Commitment and Brand Loyalty

Although there is some confusion about their relationship, it is generally ac

Therefore, stimulating community activities and commitment is expected to

H3. Higher on-line brand community commitment leads to higher brand

Operational Definitions of Research Variables

The instruments of the present study were based on literature related to in

Sample and Data Collection

was conducted with ten graduate students majoring in IS management

Analysis and Results

Average hours of Int

their tolerance values

0.0770.087 0.821 0.853 0.274 0.055 0.183 0.195

Factor 1 0.901 0.8360.7960.140 0.189

Table 3. Factor Structure and Reliability of Variables.

Cumulative variance (%)

1.478 0.546*** 0.323*** 0.373*** 0.491*** 0.390***

Quality of Quality of Reward for Community

1.769 0.440*** 0.453*** 0.763*** 0.460***

1.682 0.521*** 0.342*** 0.432***

1.870 0.508*** 0.444***

Table 4. Correlation Analysis.

4 Reward for activities 3.301

5 Community commitment 4.429

2 Quality of system 4.868

6 Brand loyalty 5.025

*** p< 0.001.

0.0750.027 0.181*0.202T-0.012 -0.014

Regression model suitability

Table 5. Moderated Regression Analysis.

Table 6. Regression Analysis Between Brand Loyalty and Co

Discussion and Implications

This study examined the relationships between community commitment and

Study Limitations and Future Research Directions

of on-line community users. However, as the survey was conducted on-line, it

1. Aaker, D. Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand

7. Constance, E.R A typology of virtual communities: A multi-disciplinary

HEEHYOUNG JANG (janghy@chonnam.ac.kr) is a Ph.D. candidate at the College of

LORNE OLFMAN (lorne.olfman@cgu.edu) is dean of the School of Information Systems

ILSANG KO (isko@chonnam.ac.kr) is a professor in the College of Business Admin

JOON KOH (kjoon@chonnam.ac.kr) is an assistant professor in the College of Business

1.478 0.546* 0.323* 0.373* 0.491* 0.390***

1.769 0.440* 0.453* 0.763* 0.460*

1.682 0.521* 0.342* 0.432***

1.870 0.508* 0.444*