The effects of value co-creation practices on building harmonious brand community and achieving brand loyalty on social media in China

Social media activities generated by consumers in brand communities are claimed to have a potentially game-changing impact on interaction among brand entities and brand building. In this article, we explore whether value co-creation practices in brand community have positive effects on the consumer-brand and consumer-other consumers' relationships, as well as, community commitment and brand loyalty. A survey based empirical study with 286 respondents was conducted. The results of structural equation modeling show that four value co-creation practices positively influence consumer-other consumers' relationships and only two of the four positively influence consumer-brand relationships. The consumer-brand-consumer triad relationships could significantly enhance brand loyalty directly, as well as indirectly through community commitment. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.