Jamid Ul Islam

Examining the effects of brand love and brand image on customer engagement: An empirical study of fashion apparel brands

Abstract Organizations are making huge investments to embrace customer engagement. Customer engagement has become a central concept in customer–brand relationships. The empirical investigation of customer engagement is covered in previous literature, yet none of the studies so far have empirically examined the relationships between brand image and brand love simultaneously with regard to customer engagement in the fashion apparel context. This study is the first to investigate customer engagement in the context of fashion apparel. It examines the effects of brand image and brand love on customer engagement. Customer loyalty as an outcome of customer engagement is also studied. To collect data, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 430 students, of whom 403 students returned the completed questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 20.0 software was used to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that brand image and brand love significantly influence customer engagement. Brand love was also found to act as a mediator between brand image and customer engagement. The results also reveal that customer engagement influences customer loyalty. The results can prove helpful to practitioners in engaging customers while branding and marketing their fashion apparel brands so as to build a loyal customer base. The development of the research model can also provide a stage for scholars to undertake future research.

Linking Customer Engagement to Trust and Word-of-Mouth on Facebook Brand Communities: An Empirical Study

ABSTRACT Given the rise of social networking sites, particularly Facebook, companies have started engaging with customers in this newly emerged digital space. This study explores the role of customer engagement in enhancing trust and word-of-mouth on brand communities over Facebook. The effect of customer involvement on customer engagement is also checked. This study also investigates the direct relationship of customer involvement with trust and word-of-mouth. A pen-and-paper questionnaire survey of 450 Facebook account holder students was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that a higher level of involvement with the brand community leads to a higher level of customer engagement. Customer engagement leads to customer trust and word-of-mouth activities. The results further suggest a direct positive relationship of customer involvement with trust and word-of-mouth, but the mediation of customer engagement strengthens the mentioned effect.

The impact of online brand community characteristics on customer engagement

This study investigates whether and how the unique characteristics (information quality, system quality, virtual interactivity, and rewards) of online brand communities affect customer engagement.The consequent effect of customer brand engagement on brand loyalty is also examined.This study frames and empirically validates a model for engaging customers with online brand communities on Facebook, considering the moderating role of gender. The advent of interactive digital platforms has led people to progressively interact on such platforms, urging organizations to create online communities to engage customers with them and with each other to enhance brand loyalty. This study attempts to investigate what motivates customers to engage in these brand communities. Through a questionnaire survey of 430 Facebook users, this study investigates whether and how the unique characteristics (information quality, system quality, virtual interactivity, and rewards) of online brand communities affect customer engagement. The consequent effect of customer engagement on brand loyalty is also examined. This study frames and empirically validates a model for engaging customers with online brand communities on Facebook, considering the moderating role of gender. The Stimulus-Organism-Response paradigm is solicited to justify the theoretical background of this study. The data were analyzed using structure equation modelling. Results reveal that each of the characteristics positively influences customer engagement, with information quality and virtual interactivity bearing the strongest influence. Customer engagement also exhibits a strong positive impact on brand loyalty. This results further reveal that gender gap in the online environment is declining as the impact of all the four characteristics of online brand communities on customer engagement was invariable across male and female members.

The transpiring journey of customer engagement research in marketing: A systematic review of the past decade

Purpose To understand how customer engagement has been researched in the last decade, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of customer engagement research in the existing literature, derive a comprehensive definition of customer engagement and summarize few important and basic issues that future research should address. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review was carried out on customer engagement spread over 38 journals identified from online academic databases of Scopus, Emerald, EBSCOS and Science Direct. A total of 66 conceptual and empirical articles on customer engagement research spanning from 2005 to 2015 were analyzed based on different classification schemes. Findings Customer engagement is becoming a key concept in marketing. Customer engagement is a multi-dimensional concept comprising of cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social dimensions. The theoretical foundations of this concept predominantly lie with relationship marketing and service-dominant logic. Research on customer engagement has gained a significant pace in the last six years (2010-2015) but most of the articles on customer engagement have come from developed countries. Research limitations/implications By providing the distribution schema of customer engagement articles based on different criteria and by highlighting the future research avenues, this study is believed to serve as a valuable tool for researchers to understand the current scenario of customer engagement research in the marketing discipline and take this research area forward. This study acknowledges limitations with respect to its exclusive search criteria, which might affect its generalizability. Practical implications This study exhibits the favorable outcomes organizations can derive by building and managing an engaged customer base. The more an organization knows about how to engage its customers, the better adept it will be to enact so. Therefore, understanding customer engagement is imperative in that regard; this review will help organizations comprehend that better. Originality/value This is the first systematic review of customer engagement that provides a detailed understanding of the current state of customer engagement research on a single platform and also draws a comprehensive customer engagement conceptualization.

Personality factors as predictors of online consumer engagement: an empirical investigation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the relationship between consumer personality traits and consumer engagement (CE) in the online brand community (OBC) context. This study also examines the effect of CE on consumers’ ensuing purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey incorporating the Big Five model of personality, 390 responses were collected from students who were members of at least one Facebook-based OBC. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The results reveal that extraversion represents the strongest driver of CE in OBCs, followed by openness to experience, neuroticism and agreeableness. Conscientiousness was found to be negatively related to CE. The findings also indicate a positive association between CE and purchase intention. Practical implications This paper highlights the ways in which marketers can capitalize on consumer personality traits and develop corresponding strategies that will not only increase CE in OBCs, but also consumers’ ensuing purchase intent for specific offerings. Originality/value This research is among the first to demonstrate and empirically validate insight into the ways in which consumer personality traits drive CE in OBCs. This study, thus, adds to the rapidly developing research stream on CE by exposing and empirically validating an integrated set of influential consumer personality-based antecedents of CE, and examining key ensuing outcomes of CE.

Awareness and willingness towards Islamic banking among Muslims: An Indian perspective

Purpose - Subsequent to financial crises during the last few decades, Islamic banking has attained global acceptance and has gained a momentum in emerging economies as a substitute for the conventional (interest-based) banking. Since India ranks third in terms of Muslim population globally, therefore, it is quite spontaneous to analyze the concept of Islamic banking in an Indian perspective. This study aims to explore the awareness and willingness of Muslim Indians towards Islamic banking. Design/methodology/approach - To collect data, adopting purposive sampling, a sample of 290 Indian Muslims was surveyed in Delhi NCR region of India using a self-structured questionnaire. Appropriate statistical tools were applied to analyze the data. Findings - The results concede that majority of the respondents lack an understanding of how Islamic banking works. The results further concede that majority of the respondents are willing to go for Islamic banking if informed properly and offered better customer experience. The results suggest that Islamic banking organizations need to frame effective communication strategies to increase awareness among the populace about how Islamic banking operates. Practical implications - If approached strategically, one would expect India to be a huge market for Islamic banking. By offering a preliminary understanding about the awareness and willingness of Indian Muslims, this study can prove helpful for organizations to design and deliver informative advertising campaigns to inform potential customers about Islamic banking operations, and to ensure the ability to provide efficient service before starting the operations in any country for the first time. Originality/value - By exploring the awareness and willingness of Indian Muslims, the current study takes an important research gap into account and, therefore, enriches the existing Islamic banking literature.

Consumer engagement in online brand communities: a solicitation of congruity theory

The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to study the influence of self-brand image congruity and value congruity on consumer engagement in online brand communities (OBCs); second to test whether gender moderates this effect; and third, it also examines the role of consumer engagement as a driver of brand loyalty.,Using an online questionnaire, 443 responses were collected from consumers who are members of at least one OBC on Facebook. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.,The results revealed that both self-brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect consumer engagement. A positive effect of consumer engagement on brand loyalty was also attained. Third, the results revealed that gender did not moderate the examined relationships.,This research integrates and broadens existing explanations of different congruity effects on consumer engagement. This study thus suggests the value of developing their OBCs to exhibit congruence with customers’ self-image and value, which in turn, will contribute to the development of brand loyalty.,This research applies congruity theory to examine the impact of self-brand image- and value congruity on consumer engagement in OBCs. Through the establishment of this novel theoretical link, this study furthers insight into the domain of social media marketing.

ZEE Zindagi: Offering Value through Distinct Approach

The case ‘‘ZEE Zindagi: Offering Value through Distinct Approach’ illustrates the strategic move by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) to launch the channel Zindagi in India. The case describes how Zindagi responded to research findings and audience feedback so as to offer what the existing Indian soap operas were either not offering at all or not offering it the way audience wanted them to. The case also explores how the channel focused on some strategically important factors and mixed those in such a way that it created a paradigm shift in the way serials were shown and viewed in India, thereby, applying blue ocean strategy by breaking and reconstructing industry boundaries. The case scrutinizes the strategic move by Zindagi using ‘eliminate–reduce–raise–create grid’ and ‘strategic canvas’ of blue ocean strategy and discusses the important lessons to be learned from Zindagi experience.