Search

Social media technologies (SMTs), online brand communities, and social customer relationship management (SCRM) Capabilities play an indispensable role in the engagement and loyalty-building of university students to achieve a sustainable university reputation. This study provides pioneering input for higher education institutions (HEIs) by developing a new integrated SCRM model through self-congruity or self-congruence theory, which examines SMTs Use, online brand communities, SCRM Capabilities, customer engagement, customer loyalty, and university reputation. Using cross-sectional data from 400 students from Pakistani public universities, structure equation modeling applies to Smart PLS 3.2.7. Results indicate that all hypotheses have significant positive relationships, except SMTs use found insignificant with university reputation. Also, SCRM Capabilities mediate between SMTs use and university reputation, while customer engagement mediates between online brand communities and customer loyalty. This study indirectly supports public HEIs sustainability. Further, these findings contribute new knowledge to literature and theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital platforms develop and offer opportunities in the form of online brand communities (OBCs) to interact and engage customers with the brand, which might lead to brand loyalty over a while. The present study investigates how OBCs influence online customer engagement (OCE) and brand loyalty through a questionnaire survey of 488 social media users. Extant literature is reviewed to identify the unique characteristics (website satisfaction, usefulness, response time, and entertainment) of such digital platforms and examine their influences on OCE and brand loyalty. The moderating role of gender was also tested empirically. Results revealed that characteristics of OBC platforms primarily influence OCE; however, website satisfaction influences both OCE and brand loyalty. Moreover, OCE positively influences brand loyalty. These findings were similar for male and female customers, excluding website satisfaction, which was insignificant for females. The study concludes with crucial theoretical and managerial implications that will help develop the firms' strategies to encounter issues related to OBCs globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social media platforms have become progressively vital in modern era as a means of interacting with consumers and as a means for marketers to focus on online social networks so as to foster loyalty of brands. Purpose of this study is to analyze the causal relationship among the characteristics of gamified customer benefits (epistemic benefits, social integrative benefits, personal integrative benefits and hedonic benefits), customer engagement and customer loyalty with respect to online brand communities on social media platforms. This study also analyzes the mediating role of customer engagement between gamified customer benefits and customer loyalty. Data is collected from 250 individuals and Smart PLS-4 is used to empirically test the hypothesis. Results reveals that epistemic benefits, social integrative benefits and hedonic benefits has positive and significant impact of customer engagement and customer loyalty while personal integrative benefits shows insignificant impact on customer engagement and loyalty. This study shows mediating role of customer engagement amid gamified customer benefits and customer loyalty. Thus, this study may help brand managers to better understand role of gamified customer benefits with customer engagement and customer loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]