Facebook, tuenti, twitter...time to move forward with virtual brand communities

Resumen

As consumers become increasingly “connected”, opportunities for interpersonal influence increase. There exists ample theoretical support for the idea that people are influenced by others’ opinions. Referrals and recommendations influence consumer behavior such as the choice of which brand to purchase. Therefore, marketers are increasingly interested in making use of the Internet to promote their brands. However, many firms have jumped into the virtual world without understanding how virtual communities work and how to use them successfully. The aim of this research to better understand what determines why consumers share brand-related information, and more interestingly, what motivations drive consumers’ intentions to contribute to the diffusion of brand communities. Two variables, the intention of becoming a member of the brand community and the intention of retransmitting the community to each individual’s social network are assessed. In this study we propose that the motivations to promote the community are dependent on the type of relationship (strong vs. weak) between the referral of the communication and the consumer who receive the brandrelated information through his/her own social network.