Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency

This paper examines a chain of relationships running from self-congruity with a brand—that can stem from the actual, ideal or social self—to brand attachment, and from there to consumer engagement on social networking sites, specifically liking, sharing, and commenting. It further advances self-exte...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rabbanee, Fazlul, Roy, Rajat, Spence, Mark
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80240
_version_ 1848764186358710272
author Rabbanee, Fazlul
Roy, Rajat
Spence, Mark
author_facet Rabbanee, Fazlul
Roy, Rajat
Spence, Mark
author_sort Rabbanee, Fazlul
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper examines a chain of relationships running from self-congruity with a brand—that can stem from the actual, ideal or social self—to brand attachment, and from there to consumer engagement on social networking sites, specifically liking, sharing, and commenting. It further advances self-extension tendency as a moderator affecting the link between self-congruity and brand attachment. Two studies were conducted to test four hypotheses. Study one (n = 282) engaged a self-administered survey with students at a large Australian university. The second study (n = 342) was conducted amongst the members of an Australian online panel, and thus enhances generalizability. The findings reveal that activated self-congruity orientations are brand-specific. Both studies reveal that two of the three self-congruity orientations affect brand attachment, which in turn influences consumers’ proclivity to like, share, and comment on Facebook. Moreover, it has been found that when self-extension tendency is high, it strengthens the relationship between a self-congruity orientation and brand attachment. These findings extend existing theory in three ways: they show 1) social self-congruity affects brand attachment in online contexts, 2) brand attachment is a mediating variable affecting pro-brand social networking behaviours, and 3) self-extension tendency moderates the relationship between self-congruity and brand attachment. Social networking sites are widely acknowledged as a key marketing channel affecting both pre- and post-purchase behaviours; hence, these insights have theoretical as well as practical relevance.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:15:21Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-80240
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:15:21Z
publishDate 2020
publisher Emerald
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-802402021-01-05T08:07:07Z Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency Rabbanee, Fazlul Roy, Rajat Spence, Mark 1505 - Marketing This paper examines a chain of relationships running from self-congruity with a brand—that can stem from the actual, ideal or social self—to brand attachment, and from there to consumer engagement on social networking sites, specifically liking, sharing, and commenting. It further advances self-extension tendency as a moderator affecting the link between self-congruity and brand attachment. Two studies were conducted to test four hypotheses. Study one (n = 282) engaged a self-administered survey with students at a large Australian university. The second study (n = 342) was conducted amongst the members of an Australian online panel, and thus enhances generalizability. The findings reveal that activated self-congruity orientations are brand-specific. Both studies reveal that two of the three self-congruity orientations affect brand attachment, which in turn influences consumers’ proclivity to like, share, and comment on Facebook. Moreover, it has been found that when self-extension tendency is high, it strengthens the relationship between a self-congruity orientation and brand attachment. These findings extend existing theory in three ways: they show 1) social self-congruity affects brand attachment in online contexts, 2) brand attachment is a mediating variable affecting pro-brand social networking behaviours, and 3) self-extension tendency moderates the relationship between self-congruity and brand attachment. Social networking sites are widely acknowledged as a key marketing channel affecting both pre- and post-purchase behaviours; hence, these insights have theoretical as well as practical relevance. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80240 10.1108/EJM-03-2018-0221 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Emerald fulltext
spellingShingle 1505 - Marketing
Rabbanee, Fazlul
Roy, Rajat
Spence, Mark
Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
title Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
title_full Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
title_fullStr Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
title_full_unstemmed Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
title_short Factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
title_sort factors affecting consumer engagement on online social networks: self-congruity, brand attachment, and self-extension tendency
topic 1505 - Marketing
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80240