Disengagement toward brand-based online communities: The role of culture

Abstract

With the rise of the internet, online brand communities have gained popularity among users. However, online brand communities continue to face difficulties in engagement and usage despite the advantages it offers. This study examines the dark side of online brand communities. A total of 316 responses from online brand community members were collected to examine the proposed hypotheses based on the Technology–Personal–Environment (TPE) framework. The study also examines the moderating effect of culture (individualism and uncertainty avoidance). The findings suggest that perceived compatibility, inertia and social influence impact the users’ disengagement intention toward online brand communities. Also, individualism and uncertainty avoidance moderated the association between perceived complexity and disengagement intention. The study contributes to the dark side of brand-based online community literature and suggests marketers how to reduce customer disengagement in online brand communities.

Keywords:

• Online brand communities
• Technology–Personal–Environment framework
• individualism
• uncertainty avoidance
• culture
• disengagement

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aman Kumar

Mr Aman Kumar is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Marketing at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam, India. His research interests include metaverse, virtual reality, technology in marketing, service failure, service recovery and online food delivery. Aman’s research has been published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management.

Amit Shankar

Dr Amit Shankar is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam, India. His research interests are in the areas of retaining, services marketing, and mobile banking. Amit’s research has been published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Marketing Management, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Australasian Marketing Journal, Journal of Global Information Management, among others.