Online brand community engagement and brand evangelism; the role of age, gender, and membership number

Purpose: This study investigates the critical role of online brand community (OBC) engagement in fostering brand evangelism, and the moderating role of age, gender, and online brand community (OBC) membership number, on social media. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the study’s objective, 303 active Facebook online brand community (OBC) users were surveyed. The AMOS structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to test the hypothesised model. Findings: The results indicate that OBC engagement improves brand evangelism. Specifically, the results show that age, gender, and OBC membership number moderate the relationship between OBC engagement and brand evangelism. Interestingly, this study found that female, younger, and low-OBC follower consumers more significantly contribute to nourishing brand evangelism than male, older, and high-OBC follower counterparts. Originality/value: OBC engagement is validated as a key brand evangelism driver, further substantiating its role as a crucial strategic metric. Moreover, age, gender, and OBC membership number as moderating factors in the association between OBC engagement and brand evangelism (word of mouth referral, brand defence, and future purchases) have been verified. Although the findings suggest that improved OBC engagement contributes to evangelism, this effect transpires more significantly among female, younger, and low-OBC followers than male, older, and high-OBC followers.