Purpose Taking jointly into account social commerce and online brand community, this paper aims to investigate how the growth of social commerce and the fast adoption of online brand communities have given firms the opportunity to establish a new kind of community, namely, the social commerce brand community. Adopting a managerial perspective, the research aims to identify the core dimensions of social commerce brand community and shed light on how they contribute in engaging customers and transform them into brand advocates. Design/methodology/approach Five social commerce retailers operating into five different sectors of activity have been involved in a multiple case study. Data retrieved from semi-structured interviews have been triangulated with information gathered from different sources to provide depth to the cases and enhance data validity. Findings – This study substantiates the rise of social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon that differs from traditional online brand communities and provides firms with concrete support in selling activities and in managing relationships with customers. The multiple case study allows also to detect social commerce brand community core pillars, namely, participants’ identification, participation, conversation and social support. These four elements turned out to be crucial to develop an effective social commerce brand community. Research limitations/implications This study extends existing theory on social commerce an online brand community by investigating the social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon and clarifying the fundamental pillars on which it relies. Originality/value This study extends existing theory on social commerce and online brand community by investigating the social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon and clarifying the fundamental pillars on which it relies.

Cuomo, M., Mazzucchelli, A., Chierici, R., Ceruti, F. (2020). Exploiting online environment to engage customers: social commerce brand community. QUALITATIVE MARKET RESEARCH JOURNAL, 23(3), 339-361 [10.1108/QMR-12-2017-0186].

Exploiting online environment to engage customers: social commerce brand community

Cuomo, M. T;Mazzucchelli, A;Chierici, R;Ceruti, F
2020

Abstract

Purpose Taking jointly into account social commerce and online brand community, this paper aims to investigate how the growth of social commerce and the fast adoption of online brand communities have given firms the opportunity to establish a new kind of community, namely, the social commerce brand community. Adopting a managerial perspective, the research aims to identify the core dimensions of social commerce brand community and shed light on how they contribute in engaging customers and transform them into brand advocates. Design/methodology/approach Five social commerce retailers operating into five different sectors of activity have been involved in a multiple case study. Data retrieved from semi-structured interviews have been triangulated with information gathered from different sources to provide depth to the cases and enhance data validity. Findings – This study substantiates the rise of social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon that differs from traditional online brand communities and provides firms with concrete support in selling activities and in managing relationships with customers. The multiple case study allows also to detect social commerce brand community core pillars, namely, participants’ identification, participation, conversation and social support. These four elements turned out to be crucial to develop an effective social commerce brand community. Research limitations/implications This study extends existing theory on social commerce an online brand community by investigating the social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon and clarifying the fundamental pillars on which it relies. Originality/value This study extends existing theory on social commerce and online brand community by investigating the social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon and clarifying the fundamental pillars on which it relies.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
social commerce; brand community; Web 2.0; social commerce brand community; multiple case study
English
20-feb-2020
2020
23
3
339
361
reserved
Cuomo, M., Mazzucchelli, A., Chierici, R., Ceruti, F. (2020). Exploiting online environment to engage customers: social commerce brand community. QUALITATIVE MARKET RESEARCH JOURNAL, 23(3), 339-361 [10.1108/QMR-12-2017-0186].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
10-1108_QMR-12-2017-0186.pdf

Solo gestori archivio

Tipologia di allegato: Publisher’s Version (Version of Record, VoR)
Dimensione 278.8 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
278.8 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/231574
Citazioni
  • Scopus 6
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 5
Social impact