Driving Brand Evangelism of Fast-Food Brands in Thailand: The Mediator Role of Online Brand Community Engagement
Keywords:
Brand Interactivity; Brand Identification; Brand Evangelism; Online Brand Community EngagementAbstract
Fast-food brands in Thailand operate an online brand community, especially on Facebook, to build customer-brand relationships and create customers that go beyond brand loyalists. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of brand interactivity and brand identification within social media on brand evangelism and how it is mediated by online brand community engagement for a fast-food brand in Thailand. This study targeted community members who had a fast-food brand customer and were members of an official fast-food brand fan page on Facebook for at least six months. The data from the study were 500 followers of fast-food brands on Facebook, and the data analysis used AMOS for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results show that brand interactivity in each construct and brand identification have a considerably positive impact on the operation of fast-food brands in Thailand through social media like Facebook and are significant antecedents of online brand community engagement and brand evangelism. Furthermore, the role of online brand community engagement in mediating the positive impact on brand evangelism. The findings highlight brand interactivity as a crucial factor to drive business in the digital era by using brand content to effectively interact with customers and enhance customer benefits through brand interactions.
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