Driving online brand community engagement through brand authenticity: psychological brand ownership as a moderator

Purpose Engaging consumers with brands to generate multiple benefits has become critical for the firms. In this direction, this paper aims to study perceived brand authenticity’s role in engendering online brand community engagement. Brand commitment and positive word of mouth were tested as the outcomes of online brand community engagement. This paper also examines the moderation of psychological brand ownership. Design/methodology/approach A theoretically robust model based on relevant literature on online brand community engagement is tested using data from 428 users of various firm-hosted brand communities. Findings Perceived brand authenticity’s three dimensions, i.e. credibility, continuity and symbolism, emerged as predictors of online brand community engagement. Brand commitment and positive word of mouth were also established, stemming from online brand community engagement. Also, psychological brand ownership partially moderated the relationship between perceived brand authenticity and online brand community engagement. Research limitations/implications Future studies are suggested to test this framework’s relevance in other contexts to capture the essence of online brand community engagement. Originality/value This study demonstrates perceived brand authenticity as a vital precursor to online brand community engagement. Second, the study offers brand commitment and positive word of mouth as valuable outcomes of online brand community engagement. Third, current work establishes psychological brand ownership as a moderator in the context of authentic brands.