Exploring Drivers and Outcomes of Lurking Engagement and Posting Engagement in Social Media-Based Brand Communities: Case of Hedonic vs. Utilitarian Brands

Abstract

Social media-based brand communities (SMBBC) offer valuable opportunities for brands to build customer engagement (CE). Hitherto brands lack the knowledge of the forms of engagement in SMBBC that drive brand loyalty, effectiveness of investment in SMBBC, and the expected returns on the investment. Hence, the main objective of the study is to determine the drivers of CE in SMBBC, identify how they relate to two forms of engagement behaviors: lurking and posting, and their influence on resulting brand loyalty. PLS-SEM analysis of 229 fans of brands on Facebook established that significant differences exist between the drivers for lurking and posting engagement by hedonic and utilitarian brands type. Lurking engagement emerged as a significant and a stronger type of engagement behavior for brand loyalty than posting engagement. The study furnishes valuable insights on lurking and posting engagement and the variation in these engagement forms by hedonic and utilitarian brands in SMBBC.