Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47 (2019) 339–347

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser

The influence of identity-driven customer engagement on purchase T

intention☆
Catherine Prenticea, , Xiao Yun Hanb, , Lian-Lian Huab, Lin Hub
⁎ ⁎

a
Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia
b
Business School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Drawing on social identification theory and motivation of expectancy, the current study examines the re-
Social identification lationship between social identification, customer engagement and purchase intention in the context of online
Customer engagement communities. Social identification is operationalised into person-to-person and person-to-community identifi-
Purchase cations, whereas customer engagement into attitudinal and behavioural engagement. This study was undertaken
Online community
with members from two of the most popular online communities in China. The study confirms that identifying
with other members of the online community is significantly related to identification with the community; both
identifications have a significant impact on customer engagement, which can lead to purchase intention.

1. Introduction personal motives underlying customer engagement are better determi-

Customer engagement has been popularised in the literature over
last decade as an important means to attract customer purchase and
brand loyalty. Research in the relevant literature has mostly centred on
conceptualising this construct and examining its consequential effects
for businesses (Brodie et al., 2011; Pansari and Kumar, 2017; Sashi,
2012; So et al., 2016a, 2016b; Van Doorn et al., 2010; Verhoef et al.,
2010). Among those, Van Doorn and colleagues provided a compre-
hensive conceptual framework to address potential antecedents and
consequences of customer engagement from three perspectives; custo-
mers, firms and context-based characteristics. Prior studies are pri-
marily centred on firm-based antecedents and consequences
(Gummerus et al., 2012; Jaakkola and Alexander, 2014; Kumar et al.,
2010; Sashi, 2012; Vivek et al., 2012). Customer-based research has
received very limited attention (Prentice et al., 2018).
Given its implications for business performance, firms make every
endeavour to engage customers with their brands and products. These
endeavours, inter alia, include enhancing brand reputation and cus-
tomer satisfaction (Kumar and Pansari, 2016), supporting customer
actions by providing appropriate processes and platforms, and pro-
viding rewards and incentives to customers (Guesalaga, 2016; van
Doorn et al., 2010). Whilst these business-based efforts serve as external
impetus to drive customers to engage with the business and ultimately
to purchase the products, researchers (Prentice et al., 2018) argue that
nants of product purchase and customer loyalty. Admittedly, although
customers can be driven by various incentives offered by the business to
engage with the firm, the authors argue that customers may opt to
volitionally or voluntarily engage with the business with little or no cost
incentives or effort by the firm. Their primary intention to engage is
intrinsically driven and often initiated by individual factors for their
own benefits, such as seeking information for an informative purchase,
reinforcing their purchase decision, or providing reviews as a means to
identify with the brand (Prentice et al., 2018). Such engagement is
primarily undertaken in online brand communities, facilitated by the
rise of internet and advanced IT technologies. The popularity and
continued evolution of social media has enabled consumers to virtually
(online) engage with a brand and other consumers associated with the
brand (Bilro et al., 2018a,2018b; Loureiro et al., 2018; Prentice et al.,
2018; Sashi, 2012; Sawhney et al., 2005; Wirtz et al., 2013). Social
media provides online brand community platforms where consumers
interact with one or the other, write reviews, and share brand or pro-
duct information and experiences (Wirtz et al., 2013). These platforms
present rich information to facilitate consumers’ decision making and
evaluation of the brand and products.
Whilst most researchers and practitioners are focused on identifying
and proposing firm-related antecedents, very few studies have at-
tempted to understand customer-based preconditions. These conditions
include psychological factors such as social identity (Prentice et al.,

☆
Note: This project is funded by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (71272194, 71772186).
⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: cathyjournalarticles@gmail.com (C. Prentice), hanxy@mail.sysu.edu.cn (X.Y. Han).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2018.12.014
Received 30 September 2018; Received in revised form 11 November 2018; Accepted 27 December 2018
0969-6989/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Prentice et al.
2018; Prentice and Loureiro, 2018; Vivek et al., 2018; van Doorn et al.,
2010). The psychological conditions are more reflective of customer
discretion in engaging with the firm or brand, and hence require
minimal or no financial or other business-oriented involvement from
the firm (Prentice and Loureiro, 2018). Prentice et al. (2018) refer to
such discretionary engagement as an organic approach to customer
engagement. These organic antecedents provide businesses with cost-
effective means to promote customer engagement and achieve financial
advantages.
The current study contends that customers’ social identification can
be an organic and customer-based antecedent and examines how such
identification drives customers to volitionally engage with the business-
related communities and affect their subsequent purchase. This con-
tention is consistent with Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory of moti-
vation. The theory indicates that individuals are motivated to engage in
certain behaviours or actions, for the prospect of generating desired
outcomes. In this respect, social identity can be an intrinsic motivator.
Social identity theory indicates that individuals tend to classify them-
selves and others into various social categories and associate them-
selves with a group that they would like to be identified with (Ashforth
and Mael, 1989). Individuals may have a high level of social identity
when they are aware of their membership in a group and the mem-
bership is significant. In an online brand community, customers who
are identified with a brand and its associated communities are more
likely to engage with the brand and community through interacting and
communicating with other members of the community (Prentice et al.,
2018) since social identity reinforces belongingness to and having af-
filiation to a chosen group or community (Trepte, 2006). These custo-
mers are more likely to develop significant relationships with other
customers and turn to those sites as a source of information and support
(Hajli et al., 2014). Such engagement is likely to lead to brand purchase
and loyalty, as the process of receiving and offering information and
support reinforces customers’ understanding and connection with the
brand. The longer the customer participates in the community, the
more likely he or she is identified with the brand and the community.
Consistent with the foregoing discussion, this study draws upon van
Doorn et al. (2010) and Prentice and Loureiro's (2018) conceptual
framework with a focus on the customer-based engagement model, and
adopts Prentice et al. (2018) organic engagement concept to investigate
how customers’ social identification with an online brand community,
influences their engagement with the brand and affects subsequent
brand purchases. In particular, the study examines how the length of a
customer’ membership with a chosen online brand community affects
their identification and engagement with the community. The proposed
relationships are shown in Fig. 1. Understanding these relationships
provides researchers and business practitioners with a cost-effective
means to address customer engagement and product sales, since the
customer-based social identification is self-driven precondition, rather
than expensive firm-based antecedents (such as incentives and re-
wards). The following section reviews the relevant literature on the
proposed relationships and forms hypotheses accordingly. Methodology
for testing these hypotheses is outlined, followed by a presentation of
the results. Discussion of the findings and implications are provided and
conclude the paper.
Customer Purchase
Social
idenficaon engagement intenon
Membership
Fig. 1. The research model for this study.
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47 (2019) 339–347
2. Literature review
2.1. Social identification in an online community
An online community is a social network which allows individuals
with similar interests in a business, a brand or the brand associated
products to virtually interact online with one another through a specific
social media platform (Rheingold, 1993). The community enables
members to post views and opinions, comment on discussions, and offer
or receive advice. An online community generally involves three parties
(the company, customers and other members) (Muniz and O'Guinn,
2001). However, the company often plays a minor role in members’
online activities. Members opt to interact with each other, instead of the
company which is motivated by commercial interests. Through regular
online interactions, the community members become a virtual family or
invisible friends (Ridings et al., 2002). Gradually the member develops
a sense of belongingness to, and social identification with, the online
community (Algesheimer et al., 2005a, 2005b).
Social identification is fundamentally reflective of one's desire for
social identity and affiliation with a consciously chosen social group.
Social identity refers to an individual's membership, emotional
bonding, and perceived value in that social group (Tajfel, 1978). Social
identity theory indicates that individuals develop identification through
classifying themselves and others into various social categories, thereby
engendering social comparison and positive distinction (Zhang and
Zuo, 2006). Given this relational and comparative nature, individuals
seek to identify themselves in a social group to enhance their self-es-
teem (Abrams and Hogg, 1988). An individual who identifies with a
social group tends to choose activities congruent with salient aspects of
their identities and perceive themselves as psychologically intertwined
with the fate of the group (Ashforth and Mael, 1989).
Research on social identity is primarily focused on individual
identification with an organization, a community, or any social group.
For instance, identification with an organization enhances support for
and commitment to the organization. Strong identification motivates
members to exert additional effort toward tasks that contribute to co-
workers and to the organization (Ashforth and Mael, 1989; Dutton
et al., 1994). Very few studies have attempted to understand how an
individual's identification with other members of community may affect
their identification with the community. In this study we refer to the
former as customer-to-customer identification (CCI); the latter as cus-
tomer-to-community identification (CMI). Most individuals are in-
volved with the online community to communicate with other members
and to seek or offer information and support (Armstrong and Hagel,
1996; Prentice et al., 2018). Information from other members are per-
ceived to be more objective and helpful than information provided by
the company (Kozinets, 2002). Those who genuinely and constantly
share information and offer support are naturally recognised and
identified by other members who seek and receive such information
and support. Likewise, the latter tend to initiate their identification to
interact with others. The receiving and giving processes reinforce an
individual's identification with other members of the community, and
subsequently with the community. This discussion informs the fol-
lowing hypothesis:
H1. Customer-to-customer identification (CCI) is positively related to
customer-to-community identification (CMI).
2.2. Customer engagement
Customer engagement research has emerged in the literature over
the past decade and there is a lack of consensus on its conceptualisation
and components. Customer engagement in the marketing literature has
been viewed as a unidimensional or multidimensional construct that
primarily involves cognitive, affective and/or behavioural aspects of
customer relationships with a brand or a firm (Hollebeek, 2011). The
C. Prentice et al.
multidimensional perspective seems to be dominant in the literature
with a focus on the behavioural dimension (e.g. Hollebeek, 2011;
Mollen and Wilson, 2010; Patterson et al., 2006; So et al., 2016a,
2016b; Vivek et al., 2010). Customer engagement behaviours refer to a
customer's behavioural manifestation toward an object (for example a
brand, a firm or other customers) beyond purchase, including writing
reviews, helping others, blogging, providing referrals, spreading word-
of-mouth (WOM) recommendations for a brand or product, and co-
creating values for the firm or the brand they opt to be engaged with
(Brakus et al., 2009; Brodie et al., 2011; Doorn, et al., 2010; Hoyer
et al., 2010; Nambisan and Nambisan, 2008). Some researchers
(Hollebeek et al., 2014; Mollen and Wilson, 2010; Vivek et al., 2014)
refer to customer engagement as a psychological state, which derives
from a customer's emotional and cognitive connection with a brand
within a certain context.
Customer engagement should be manifested in cognitive, emo-
tional, and behavioural involvement with a business or a brand. Brodie
et al. (2011) concur with this view and define CE as a dynamic psy-
chological process, based on the existence of a customer's interactive,
co-creative experiences with a specific object in a specific set of con-
ditions. Consistent with this view, the current study contends that a
genuinely engaged customer must demonstrate both attitudinal and
behavioural manifestations. Psychological engagement implicates cus-
tomer attitude and may have long-term benefits for the firm (Prentice,
2013). The attitudinal aspect conveys a psychological state with cus-
tomers’ high involvement, belongingness, and connections toward
firms, and comprises of cognitive and affective components referred to
as customer attitudinal engagement (CAE). The behavioural aspect re-
flects a behavioural manifestation beyond transactions, which is driven
by one's cognition and affection (Porter et al., 2011) and referred to as
customer behavioural engagement (CBE). Individual behaviour is lar-
gely determined by behavioural intention, and the intention is largely
governed by attitude (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). The attitude – in-
tention – behaviour relationship has been extensively discussed in the
literature (Dong et al., 2010a, 2010b; Han et al., 2008; Li et al., 2009).
Attitudinal customer engagement serves as the psychological founda-
tion of behavioural customer engagement, and hence, affect engage-
ment behaviours.
H2. Customer attitudinal engagement is positively related to customer
behavioural engagement.
2.3. Social identification and customer engagement
Social identification with a brand community augments the sig-
nificance of customer-firm relationship and promotes the development
of positive attitudes such as trust, commitment, or involvement (Brodie
et al., 2011). CCI, as previously discussed, reflects the fulfilment of
customers’ requirements for relationships, which involve associating
with other members of the online community, feeling understood,
supported, and admired, as well as understanding, supporting, and
admiring others. Such identification is manifested in the primary psy-
chological substrate for deep, committed, and meaningful relationships
with the organization (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2003). Customer en-
gagement describes precisely, the connectedness between customers
and the firm, and requires customers to devote extra efforts beyond
purchase toward the firm.
H3a. Customer-customer identification is positively related to customer
attitudinal engagement.
H3b. Customer-customer identification is positively related to customer
behavioural engagement.
A virtual community is a combination of human relationships and
comprises of members sharing mutual interests or hobbies. Through
interaction with like-minded individuals, community members perceive
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47 (2019) 339–347
their organizational membership and foster belongingness to the group
(Kohler et al., 2011; Kim et al., 2011). If the belongingness to the group
is strong, the identification with the community would be enhanced
accordingly. This will likely intensify members’ willingness to com-
municate and build friendships with others, and amplifies their at-
tachment with the community (Nambisan and Baron, 2009). These
social benefits can be crucial motivators to members’ participation in
the online community (Wang and Fesenmaier, 2004). Subsequently, the
members tend to share their knowledge and willingly engage with the
community (Haeyoung et al., 2014; Qu and Lee, 2011). This view is
consistent with social exchange theory (Emerson, 1976), which ex-
plains reciprocal relationships between engaging parties. Identifying
with the online brand community is perceived to be a type of social
benefit (sharing information and receiving support). Reciprocally, the
community members would intend to engage with the brand. This
discussion informs the following hypothesis:
H4a. Customer-community identification is positively related to
customer attitudinal engagement.
H4b. Customer-community identification is positively related to
customer behavioural engagement.
2.4. Customer engagement and purchase
Online brand communities are intended for firms and customers to
engage with each other and to strengthen the ties between company
and customers, and ultimately promote sales and enhance customer
loyalty. Prior research has shown how customer engagement has a di-
rect positive relationship with customer purchase and loyalty (Brodie
et al., 2011; Gummerus et al., 2012; Hollebeek, 2011; Prentice et al.,
2018; Vivek et al., 2012). The level of customer engagement influences
the level of customer loyalty and success of the brand (So et al., 2014).
Indeed, customers’ intention to engage with the brand community
(ACE) can be transferred to their intention to buy products or services
from the brand. Hence:
H5. Customer attitudinal engagement is positively related to customer
purchase.
Behavioural customer engagement refers to a customer's beha-
vioural manifestations toward a brand or firm beyond purchase, and
derived from their interactive experiences with the firm, brand, or other
customers. During the interactive process, customers will develop close
connections with the brand associated communities. This connection
prompts customers to purchase brand related products or services
(Prentice et al., 2018). Behavioural engagement facilitates customers
transiting on the belief-attitude-behaviour continuum (Vivek et al.,
2012) and influences customer loyalty toward the firm and repeat
purchase behaviours (Harrigan et al., 2017; So et al., 2014; Van Doorn
et al., 2010). Accordingly, the following hypothesis is offered:
H6. Customer behavioural engagement is positively related to customer
purchase.
2.5. The moderating role of membership
Given an online community generally enables customers or any
individuals to join, participate, or leave the community, the length of
membership or involvement with the community may be indicative of
the level of engagement with the brand or the business, and embodies
the members’ commitment and the nature of their activities. Wang and
Fesenmaier (2004) found that membership status had a significant in-
fluence on the level of participation in online travel communities.
Members with different demographic backgrounds vary in the degree of
identification with the organization (Dutton et al., 1994; Wang and
Fesenmaier, 2004), and then perform differently within the community.
C. Prentice et al.
New members might have a lower identification and remain in the
process of understanding the community, attracted by the values re-
ceived from the community (Prentice et al., 2018). New members’ in-
teractions with existing members may facilitate or speed up the process
of identification with other members as well as with the community. On
the other hand, a long-time member may identify strongly with the
community, and then act as a leader in community interaction
(Thompson and Sinha, 2008), recommending the community to more
people and helping more entrants to blend in with the community.
Accordingly, the member's duration of membership may affect cus-
tomer engagement and purchase through its influence on their identi-
fication. The longer a member is involved with the community, the
more he or she would identify with the brand and the community,
therefore the more participative and engaged the member is, with re-
gard to, both attitudes and behaviours (Wang and Fesenmaier, 2004).
Therefore, the length of membership is likely associated with product
purchase. This discussion informs the following hypothesis:
H7a. Duration of membership has a significant moderating effect on the
relationship between social identification and customer attitudinal
engagement.
H7b. Duration of membership has a significant moderating effect on the
relationship between social identification and customer behavioural
engagement.
H7c. Duration of membership has a significant moderating effect on the
relationship between customer attitudinal engagement and purchase.
H7d. Duration of membership has a significant moderating effect on the
relationship between customer behavioural engagement and purchase.
3. Methods
3.1. Sample
The sample in this study was drawn from two major and largest
online tourism brand communities in China: mafengwo.cn and qyer.com.
Online tourism communities in China are primarily classified into two
categories. One is the vertical enterprise category, focusing on specific
areas or particular needs, such as www.mafengwo.cn and www.qyer.
com; the other is a comprehensive enterprise category that provides all-
around strategy guides to tourists, such as www.ctrip.com. An in-
tegrated online tourism brand community provides a one-stop tourism
service platform and has a requirement for financial performance. This
type of brand community aims to enhance users’ attachment to the
brand. However, a vertical online tourism brand community offers free
services to users and members, and its development pattern is widely
divergent from an integrated community. Given its free service and
informative nature, this type of brand community is more popular and
attracts more consumers to engage within the community. According to
an iResearch report (2014), there were about 55 million users of ma-
fengwo.cn, and about 50 million users of qyer.com.1 The two platforms
were ranked the top two online brand communities in China and sub-
sequently make these two communities ideal choices for the purpose of
this study.
3.2. Measures
All study variables were measured by adapting scales applied within
previous research, with items being assessed using a 7-point Likert
scale. (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Within this study,
customer identification is classified into “customer-community identi-
fication” (CMI) and “customer-customer identification” (CCI). CMI
1
Source: iResearch: China Online Travel UGC Report in 2014.
342
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47 (2019) 339–347
refers to a customer's perception of oneness and affinity with a brand
community, this identification reflects a sense of belongingness to a
community. Accordingly, the items that were used to measure CMI
were adapted from Mael and Ashforth (1992). This scale has four items,
including “This community's success is my success”. The Cronbach
alpha for this scale was 0.92. Items used to measure CCI were adapted
from Algesheimer et al. (2005a, 2005b) and refer to the identification
with group members, whereby a customer construes himself or herself
as group members. Three items were selected for this study and include
“The friendships I have with other community members mean a lot to
me”. The Cronbach alpha for this scale is 0.84.
Customer attitudinal engagement was measured by adapting Vivek
et al. (2014). Customer attitudinal engagement indicates the extent to
which an individual connects with community or other members. Six
items were included in this study and the Cronbach alpha for this scale
is 0.92. Customer behavioural engagement was measured by adapting
items from Verleye et al. (2014). Customer behavioural engagement
represents a customer's behavioural manifestation toward a virtual
community beyond purchase, such as compliance, cooperation, feed-
back, and helping others. Four items were included in this study and the
Cronbach alpha for this scale is 0.88.
Customer purchase intention refers to customers’ intention to buy
products or services through links in the community. Three items were
adapted from Zeithaml et al. (1996) in this study and the Cronbach
alpha for this scale is 0.91. Duration of membership was measured
using a single question: “How long have you been a member of the
community?” The factor loadings, composite reliability, and validity
are reported in the next section.
3.3. Procedures
Prior to the survey, the study instrument was validated by two
marketing Professors who have published widely in similar research
areas. The survey was then pilot tested through sojump.com, a profes-
sional and popular survey website in China. Ten members from one of
the selected online tourism communities located in different regions of
China were targeted to complete questionnaires. As a result, items were
revised for better understanding and clarity. The revised questionnaires
were subsequently assessed by the primary researcher and colleagues
who specialise in customer engagement research or teach research
methodology. Relevant modifications were applied with a view to im-
proving face validity and readability.
The survey was conducted online. By searching keywords on
Microblog such as “qyer.com”, “mafengwo.cn”, and “travel tips”, we
identified members who participated online tourism communities reg-
ularly and sent them the questionnaire link with an invitation letter.
The invitation email contained a brief description of the project and a
hyperlink that directed participants to the survey. Two mechanisms in
the survey tool were deployed: a social media collector to distribute the
survey, and a Web-Link collector with a fixed URL link that enabled the
dissemination of the survey through different channels. These user-
friendly features assisted in accessing a wider population. Participants
were informed the completion of the questionnaire was taken as im-
plied consent. Participants remained anonymous and the data was kept
de-identifiable. An incentive of a raffle draw was offered to encourage
participation. The survey's welcome page contained external links to
the ‘Project's Description’ as well as the draw's “Terms and Conditions”,
which were accessible to participants at any point in time.
As a result, 515 usable responses were generated. Of the total
sample, 66.5% of respondents were female and 33.5% were male (see
Table 1). The majority of respondents fell in the age group of 18 – 25
(63.7%), followed by the 26 – 35 group (26.1%). At least 76.6% of
respondents had acquired a diploma, certificate or bachelor's degree. Of
the total sample, 309 respondents, or (60.2%), had been within a
community for less than 2 years with 54% of respondents coming from
mafengwo.com.
C. Prentice et al. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47 (2019) 339–347

Table 1 validity. The square root of average variance extracted of each con-
Profile of respondents. struct exceeds the correlation between constructs, indicating dis-
Variables n % criminant validity. The results for correlations, means and SD among
study variables are provided in Table 3.
Gender
Female 342 66.5
4.2. Hypotheses testing
Male 171 33.5
Age
＜18 years 8 1.6 The hypotheses testing was estimated through SEM with Lisrel 8.72
18–25 years 327 63.7 using the maximum likelihood estimation method. The results demon-
26–35 years 156 30.4 strated a very good fit with the model, with χ2 = 408.17, df = 145, χ2/
36 – 55 years 21 4.1
df = 2.81, p = .00, NFI = 0.98, CFI = 0.99, IFI = 0.99, RFI = 0.98,
> 55 years 1 0.2
Education GFI = 0.92, AGFI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.062, and SRMR = 0.029. The
Postgraduate degree 2 0.4 results show that CCI is significantly related to CMI (ß = .73,
Graduate Diploma 92 17.9 p < .001), supporting H1. Both CCI and CMI have significant effects on
Bachelor's degree 393 76.6
customer attitudinal engagement: ß = 0.46, p < .001 for CCI and
Diploma/certificate 23 4.5
Secondary school 3 0.6
ß = 0.40, p < 0.001 for CMI. Attitudinal engagement also sig-
Duration of membership nificantly relates to behavioural engagement (ß = 0.51, p < .001).
< 1 year 134 26.1 Both engagement dimensions exert a significant impact on purchase
1–2 year 175 34.1 intention: ß = 0.45, p < .001 for CAE and ß = 0.35, p < .001 for
2–3 years 123 24.0
ABE. The results are show in Table 4.
3 – 4 years 48 9.4
> 4 years 33 6.4 H7 proposed the moderating role of membership duration. A multi-
Online community group analysis was performed to test moderation (Wulf et al., 2001;
Mafengwo 277 54 Palmatier et al., 2007; Han et al., 2008). First, the total sample was split
Qyer 197 38.4 into two sub-groups based on the duration of being a member of the
Others 39 7.6
community, with one group being a member ≥ 2 years (referred to as
senior group for the purpose of this study, or SG), the other < 2 years
3.4. Common method variance (referred to as junior group or JG), with 204 respondents falling into
the SG group and 309 into the JG group. The analyses demonstrates
In addition to the ex-ante procedure described above to minimise acceptable model fit indices for both sub-samples:
common method bias, ex-post statistical remedies were implemented to
examine common method variance, including Harman's single factor SG: χ2 = 267.84, df = 145, χ2/df = 1.85, NFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.99,
test, partial correlation procedure, and controlling for the effects of an IFI = 0.99, RFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.061, SRMR = 0.038,
unmeasured latent methods factor (Podsakoff et al., 2003). First, Ex- GFI = 0.89, AGFI = 0.84;
ploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed by loading all study JG: χ2 = 347.68, df = 145, χ2/df = 2.40, NFI = 0.98, CFI = 0.99,
variables to examine the number of factors and respective variance IFI = 0.99, RFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.069, SRMR = 0.033,
explained. Results from this procedure revealed five factors and the first GFI = 0.90, AGFI = 0.85
factor explains about 20% of variance. Second, a partial correlation
procedure by including a marker variable (perceived usefulness) was The path coefficients in both sub-samples were first assumed equal,
performed. Inclusion of the marker variable did not alter the postulated then, a comparison of the constrained (constraining the equality of path
relationships and significance of these relationships. Finally, following coefficients in both sub-samples) and unconstrained models were per-
the recommendation of Podsakoff et al. (2003), the last procedure was formed through a chi-square difference test. The results (see Table 5)
to control for the effect of an unmeasured latent factor and to compare revealed that all paths are significantly different between two samples,
the item loadings with and without adding an unmeasured latent indicating existence of a significant moderating effect. Specifically, the
methods factor. This procedure resulted in some adjustments in the paths CCI→CMI, CMI→CAE, CBE→PI, CBE→PI are greater in JG than
measurement model. Finally, diagnosis of multicollinearity using the in SG; however, the paths CCI→CAE, CAE→CBE, CAE→PI are smaller
Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) demonstrated no issue of multi- in JG than in SG. The relationship between CMI and CBE is not sig-
collinearity, as all VIFs were below 5.0 (Neter et al., 1985). nificant in JG, nevertheless significant in SG.
The study hypotheses imply a few mediation paths, with customer
engagement dimensions mediating between customer identification
4. Analysis and results and purchase intention. Further analysis was performed to understand
whether customer engagement played a mediation role in purchase. We
4.1. Measurement model assessed mediation effect with Monte Carlo Method (see Table 6). The
mediation effect is significant when zero is not included in the 95%
As existing scales were used to measure the study variables, confidence interval (Selig and Preacher, 2008). According to the results,
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood estima- 95% confidence internal for all mediations are not including zero, in-
tion was performed to assess their reliability and validity (Hu and dicating the existence of mediation effect. The bias corrected boot-
Bentler, 1999). The result of model fit indices were acceptable: (χ2 strapping p value tested mediating effects (Bollen and Stine, 1990;
(140) = 401.06, p < .0005, CFI = 0.99; NFI = 0.98; GFI = 0.93, Shrout and Bolger, 2002). Table 7 displays the bias corrected boot-
RMSEA = 0.062, SRMR = 0.027). The results of standardized residual strapping p values, and the path coefficient estimates indicating the
co-variances and modification index values also indicated no con- magnitude of the effect between two variables with or without in-
spicuously significant changes to the model. The average variance ex- cluding a mediator.
tracted for each variable was over .50, indicative of adequate con-
vergence (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). The composite reliability was 5. Discussion
acceptable for each of the factors. Factor loadings were positive and
statistically significant (See Table 2). All items have significant loadings Drawing on social identification theory and motivation of ex-
on their corresponding constructs, demonstrating adequate convergent pectancy, the current study examines the relationship between social

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Table 2
Confirmatory factor analyses results.
Item FL α CR AVE

Customer-customer identification The friendships I have with other community members mean a lot to me 0.71 0.84 0.74 0.50
If community members planned something, I’d think of it as something “we” would do rather than something 0.80
“they” would do
I see myself as a part of this community 0.87
Customer-community identification When someone criticizes this community, it feels like a personal insult 0.82 0.92 0.86 0.61
This community's success is my success 0.89
When someone praises this community, it feels like a personal compliment 0.92
When a story in the media criticized this community, I would feel embarrassed 0.82
Customer Attitudinal engagement I am heavily into this community 0.79 0.92 0.87 0.87
I am passionate about participating in this community 0.84
I pay a lot of attention to anything about this community 0.87
Anything related to this community grabs my attention 0.87
I enjoy this community more when I am with others 0.74
This community is more fun when other people around me join it too 0.74
Customer behavioural engagement I adequately complete all expected behaviours in this community 0.84 0.88 0.82 0.53
I do things to make the community's job easier 0.84
I provide the community some useful suggestions to improve services 0.80
I help other members get what they need within this community 0.74
Purchase intention I would purchase products or services through this community 0.85 0.91 0.87 0.69
The community is my first choice to buy relative products or services 0.88
I would do more businesses with this community in the next few years 0.92

Note: α = Cronbach's alpha, FL = factor loadings, CR = composite reliability, AVE = average variance extracted.

Table 3 5.1. Social identification and customer engagement

Results for correlations, means and SD among study variables.
Variables Mean SD CCI COI CEA CEB PI
The study shows that both CCI and CMI are significantly related to
customer engagement. Identification with other members of the com-
CCI 4.45 1.56 0.71 munity also impacts on identification with the community. This finding
CMI 3.39 1.56 0.49** 0.78 indicates that customers participate in the community to interact with
CAE 4.30 1.42 0.41** 0.30** 0.93
CBE 3.67 1.50 0.49** 0.37** 0.39** 0.73
other members and to identify with them through online communica-
PI 4.45 1.43 0.26** 0.19* 0.33** 0.44** 0.83 tions. Members with similar interests may upgrade their social identity
in this process. These interactions help them understand the brand and
Note: **p ≤ .01, *p ≤ .05. The values in bold are square root of average var- its associated products better, eventually this understanding enables
iance extracted. CCI = Customer-customer identification; CMI = Customer- them to identify with the brand and its associated community. When a
community identification; CAE = customer attitudinal engagement; customer identifies with the brand or the company, they are likely to be
CBE = customer behavioural engagement; PI = Purchase intention.
motivated to maintain a positive attitude toward the brand, and to be
encouraged to build a deeper social relationship with the company
Table 4 (Einwiller et al., 2006). Such social connection is reflected in their
Results of hypothesized test.
engagement with the company with regards to their intentions and
Path β t Value Hypothesis support actual behaviour.
Customer attitudinal engagement has a significant effect on beha-
CCI→CMI 0.73** 13.42 H1 Supported
CAE→CBE 0.33** 5.18 H2 Supported
vioural engagement as shown in this study. This finding indicates that
CCI→CAE 0.49** 7.69 H3a Supported having a positive attitude towards engaging with the brand community
CCI→CBE 0.34** 4.75 H3b supported leads to ultimate behavioural participation which is manifested in their
CMI→CAE 0.35** 5.94 H4a Supported active interactions with community members. The positive relationship
CMI→CBE 0.17** 2.73 H4b supported
between attitudinal and behavioural engagements is consistent with the
CAE→PI 0.39** 6.99 H5 Supported
CBE→PI 0.38** 6.76 H6 Supported approach addressed in Bandyopadhyay and Martell (2007a, 2007b) and
Prentice (2013) where customers’ attitudes should be examined sepa-
Note. *Significant at the 0.05 level; **significant at the 0.01 level. rately from the behavioural dimension.
CCI = Customer-customer identification; CMI = Customer-community identi-
fication; CAE = customer attitudinal engagement; CBE = customer behavioural 5.2. Customer engagement and purchase
engagement; PI = Purchase intention.
The results show that both attitudinal and behaviour engagements
identification, customer engagement, and purchase intention, in the with the brand community have significant effects on purchase inten-
context of online communities. Based on the nature of customer inter- tion. The findings indicate that the more the customers actively engage
actions through social media platforms, social identification is oper- with the online community, the more likely they will purchase products
ationalised into customer-to-customer and customer-to-community or services through the community. An engaged customer who has
identifications, and customer engagement into attitudinal and beha- established a deep and stable connection with the community and un-
vioural dimensions. The study confirms that identifying with other dertakes an active character in the community, will choose to purchase
members of the online community is significantly related to identifi- and use products and services as a form of emotional expression. As
cation with the community; both identifications have a significant im- such, customer engagement potentially transforms non-transactional
pact on customer engagement, which leads to purchase. Details of the behaviours into purchase behaviours.
findings are discussed as follows. The significant mediation effects exerted by both engagement di-
mensions on the relationship between social identification and pur-
chase show that social motives (social identification in this study) do

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Table 5
The results for moderation testing.
Proposed model JG SG Δχ2(Δdf = 1)

Beta t-value Beta t-value beta t-value

CCI→CMI 0.73** 13.42 0.77** 10.85 0.71** 7.90

CCI→CAE 0.49** 7.69 0.44** 5.20 0.57** 5.64 39**
CMI→CAE 0.35** 5.94 0.40** 4.79 0.28** 3.26 10.14**
CAE→CBE 0.33** 5.18 0.31** 3.76 0.35** 3.45 11.54**
CAE→PI 0.39** 6.99 0.30** 4.37 0.55** 5.60 33.67**
CBE→PI 0.38** 6.76 0.50** 6.90 0.21* 2.25 5.01*
CCI→CBE 0.34** 4.75 0.34** 3.49 0.30** 2.62 6.86**
CMI→CBE 0.17** 2.73 0.16 1.75 0.22* 2.48 6.05*

Note: *p＜0.05, **p＜0.01. JG = junior members, SG = senior members.

CCI = Customer-customer identification; CMI = Customer-community identification; CAE = customer attitudinal engagement; CBE = customer behavioural en-
gagement; PI = Purchase intention.

Table 6 members, interacting with other members provides a motivating im-

Results for mediation testing. petus to engage with the brand.
Mediation path 95% confidence interval
6. Theoretical implications
CCI→CAE→CBE [0.07008, 0.2776]
CMI→CAE→CBE [0.05939, 0.1828]
The current study draws upon the conceptual framework from Van
CCI→CAE→PI [0.08945, 0.3078]
CMI→CAE→PI [0.07948, 0.2037] Doorn et al. (2010) and Prentice and Loureiro (2018) to examine how
CCI→CBE→PI [0.01688, 0.2566] individual factors influence customer engagement and their subsequent
CMI→CBE→PI [0.01989, 0.1185] purchase. The study adopts the concept of organic customer engage-
CCI→CMI→CEB [0.03729, 0.2246] ment from Prentice et al. (2018) and investigates how social identifi-
cation with online brand communities affects an individual consumer's
Note: CCI = Customer-customer identification; CMI = Customer-
community identification; CAE = customer attitudinal engagement;
brand engagement, which leads to product purchase. This examination
CBE = customer behavioural engagement; PI = Purchase intention. offers some significant implications for the literature. Unlike prior re-
search on social identity, this study takes a further step to oper-
play a significant role in driving customer engagement and subsequent ationalise social identification into person-to-person and person-to-
purchase. The partial effects indicate that social identification has a community identifications. The study contends that including both as-
direct influence on customer purchase. This finding is consistent with pects provides better insights into how a customer chooses to identify
that in Prentice et al. (2018) where social identity is found to affect with a social community and how each identification relates to this
customers’ loyalty behaviours. customer's engagement with the brand. This finding indicates that it is
important to understand different types of social identification as they
vary in their influence on customer engagement and purchase beha-
5.3. The role of membership viours. The study contributes to social identity research and broadens
the conceptualisation of social identification.
The significant moderating effect exerted by the community mem- Taking the approach to operationalise customer engagement into
bership indicate that CCI has a greater effect on attitudinal engagement attitudes and behaviours, this study provides a holistic approach and
for customers who have participated in the community for a long time. captures the cognitive, affective, and behavioural aspects of customer
However, the membership demonstrates a negative moderating effect engagement with a brand. The results of discriminant validity and
on the relationship between CMI and attitudinal engagement. CMI has a factor analysis confirm this approach. This classification draws upon
greater effect on attitudinal engagement for customers who have par- the concept of customer loyalty which is operationalised into attitu-
ticipated in the community for a short time. This finding indicates that dinal and behavioural dimensions as shown in Prentice (2013). The
relatively new members rely more on the brand community than ex- influence of attitudinal engagement on behavioural engagement reveals
isting members. They need to feel confident about the brand and its that the former is the psychological foundation and precedes the latter.
associated community to engage with brand. In the case of long-term The confirmed attitude behavioural relationship is consistent with

Table 7
Results for Mediation test.
Variables Direct effect Mediation mediation Direct effect Mediation Mediation

Model1 Model2 Model3 Model4 Model5 Model6

CCI 0.489** 0.177** 0.201**
CMI 0.479** 0.166** 0.203**
CEA 0.488** 0.496**
CEB 0.474** 0.479**
R2 0.239 0.380 0.381 0.230 0.378 0.383

Model 1: the direct effect of CCI on PI.

Model 2: the effect between CCI and PI with CAE as the mediator.
Model 3: the effect between CCI and PI with CBE as the mediator.
Model 4: the direct effect of CMI on PI.
Model 5: the effect between CMI and PI with CAE as the mediator.
Model 6: the effect between CMI and PI with CBE as the mediator.

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that in Prentice (2013) and Hawkins and Vel (2013). This finding
provides insights into the dimensionality of customer engagement and
reveals their relationship sequence.
7. Practical implications
The study also has practical implications. Firms today understand
the value of engaging customer while in reality, customers are often
disengaged from the firm or brand associated community. The study
offers a cost-effective means for businesses to engage their customers.
The cost-effectiveness is reflected in little involvement by the firm and
leaving customers to communicate at their own discretion and engage
freely with other members who have similar interests. The study un-
earths that customers’ social identity in a brand community can be a
contributory factor of customer engagement in online communities and
subsequent purchase. These results offer companies insights into the
implementation of customer engagement strategies and the enhance-
ment of customers’ connection with organizations.
Specifically, the firm should find the means to boost customer
identification with the brand community and improve the quality of
community relationships. In particular, the firm could endeavour to
facilitate their identification process such as organizing charitable
programs, conducting environmental activities, and actively under-
taking social responsibilities. On the other hand, online communities
could help customers find like-minded members and immerse them-
selves in interactive experiences with others. Interactions by commu-
nity members can occasionally stimulate innovative ideas, which be-
come increasingly important for companies to leverage user generated
content. Collectively, companies should endeavour to enhance cus-
tomer-customer interactions, and seek the means to empower custo-
mers to participate in marketing activities and product development.
Given the positive relationship between customer engagement and
purchase intentions, the firm should develop an appropriate business
intelligence system and motivate customers to engage with the brand
by developing a reward system and providing incentives for actively
engaged customers, for instance, motivating customers to become
opinion leaders or knowledge contributors; launching interesting topics
that lead them to build or merge into additional social networks and
connect with other social mediums. These activities can enforce inter-
actions between customers, creating referral value, influencer value,
and knowledge value, and may even prompt the purchase of products
or services.
The significant moderating role of membership duration indicates
that customers with different membership lengths should be classified
into different tiers with different reward systems. The result shows that
new entrants are more likely to be influenced by values produced by
communities and perceived similarities between themselves and com-
munities, which sparks their engagement intention with communities.
On the other hand, regular customers focus more on the similarities and
interactions between themselves and other members. Therefore, for
new entrants, it would be helpful for the online brand community to
encourage members to provide informative content to improve their
engagement. For regular or senior members, the community should
create more opportunities to promote the interactions among members.
7.1. Limitations and future research
Although this study provides some interesting insights, some lim-
itations are acknowledged. First, this study undertook a cross-sectional
design, and causal relationships between variables need to be tested
with longitudinal research. Second, the sample was only comprised of
online brand community members in China, the findings may not be
generalizable in other study contexts. Including more brand commu-
nities from different industries may offer different insights. Future re-
search should also cross-validate the findings in other regions where the
culture and macro environmental factors are different from the current
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47 (2019) 339–347
study context. Third, the current study only included one customer-
based antecedent. Other customer factors proposed in van Doorn et al.’s
(2010) conceptual framework and in Prentice and Loureiro (2018) are
worth looking into in future studies. Fourth, this study only focused on
positive engagement, extending the investigation to examine negative
engagement would provide more insights for researchers and practi-
tioners to better understand the impact of customer engagement. Fi-
nally, future research shall extend the outcome variable by including
other customer loyalty behaviours.
Acknowledgement
This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of
China (71272194, 71772186) and Natural Science Foundation of
Guangdong Province (2018A030313862).
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