The effect of consumer-to-consumer interactions on idea generation in virtual brand community relationships

Prior studies have indicated that innovative ideas can originate either from intra-sector interactions or from outer-sector interactions (e.g., company-to-customer). However, idea generation in virtual brand communities seems still lacking of empirical research, even though it has become a remarkable issue nowadays. This paper, therefore, investigates the relationship between consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interaction, brand knowledge, and idea generation in virtual brand communities. Our hypotheses are tested on the basis of the analysis of data collected from 228 members of the Mondeo On-line Club in Taiwan. The results indicate that C2C interaction is positively associated with idea generation. The hierarchical moderated regression analysis reveals that “human capital” exerts a significant moderating effect and “brand knowledge” has a partial but significant mediating effect on the relationship between C2C interactions and idea generation.