Research on the relationship between social presence and consumers’ continuous participation intention in virtual brand community

Purpose In virtual brand communities, social presence enhances consumers’ participation willingness, but its underlying mechanism for continuous participation remains to be elucidated. This study aims to reveal the relationship between social presence and continuous participation intention and to identify the moderating effect of institutional trust on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Using social presence and social identity theory, we constructed a chain mediating model with moderating effects. This paper tested the proposed hypothesis by using SPSS and AMOS software. Findings Social presence has a significant positive effect on consumers’ continuous participation intention. Brand identity and community identity play a chain-mediating role between social presence and consumers’ continuous participation intention. The safety and monitoring dimensions of institutional trust positively moderate the relationship between brand identity, community identity and continuous participation intention. The safety and monitoring dimensions of institutional trust enhance the mediating roles of brand identity and community identity, with a moderated mediating effect. Originality/value This study contributes novel insights into the relationship between social presence and continuous participation intention and enriches the social presence and social identity theories. This study offers managerial implications for managers to boost consumers’ continuous engagement.