Why do consumers participate in brand microblogs?

•Brand microblogs are a type of social media brand community.•Purposive value and microblog identification directly influence participation.•Social value and entertainment value influence participation through identification.•At the brand level, microblog matrix size influences microblog identification.•Brand popularity moderates the effect of microblog matrix size.

Many firms have adopted brand microblogs, which are a form of social media brand community. Consumer participation is essential to the development of brand microblogs. However, given the new features of brand microblogs, determining how to encourage the continued participation of consumers is challenging and thus worth exploring. This study draws on social identity theory to examine the antecedents of continued participation in brand microblogs from a multilevel perspective. Questionnaires were distributed to consumers who followed brand microblogs. A total of 345 valid responses were collected for empirical analysis. Our results reveal that, at the individual level, purposive value directly influences participation intention, whereas social value and entertainment value indirectly influence participation intention through the mediation of microblog identification; at the brand level, microblog matrix size affects participation intention through microblog identification. Moreover, the effect of microblog matrix size on microblog identification is moderated by brand popularity.