Drivers of Online Brand Community Value Creation: The Role of Psychological Empowerment

Abstract

There is an upsurge of consumer empowerment driven by the rise of the Internet and online communities. However, the effect of psychological empowerment that may be experienced in contributing knowledge and experiences in the process of participation in online brand community has seldom been investigated. This study aims to examine the role of psychological empowerment in online brand community and its impact on value co-creation behaviors. By using PLS-SEM, the result indicate that perceived responsiveness, validation, status seeking, perceived network size, and information quality, facilitates the establishment of psychological empowerment, which in turn promotes consumers’ value co-creation behaviors. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.