Customer participation in virtual brand communities: The self-construal perspective

By introducing the self-construal theory to the virtual brand community literature, this study examines how self-construal interacts with community rewards and public self-consciousness to influence customer participation. Based on data collected from two communities in China, we found that independent construal had a stronger positive direct effect on the intention to participate than did interdependent construal. The effect of independent construal on intention was attenuated by community reward and public self-consciousness. In comparison, the effect of interdependent construal on intention was enhanced by public self-consciousness, but this strengthening effect did not exist for community rewards. A significant association between intention and actual participation was also found.