Less for More: Does Consumers’ Proneness to Join More Online Brand Communities Negatively Impact Consumers’ Sharing Ability?

Abstract

Online consumer experience has been the focus of recent studies as an enabler to sharing commerce. Consumer experiences are key facilitators for consumers’ social sharing of commerce. Nonetheless, as consumers have become prone to joining brands’ conversations, risks of consumer oversaturation, undermining consumers’ sharing ability should be expected to develop. The negative influence of customer relationship proneness (CRP) in joining and engaging with a high number of brand communities has not been examined. This study employs an online survey of members of a leading mobile phone company’s online sharing community on Facebook to offer new insights on CRP’s role in negatively affecting consumers’ commitment to sharing within brand communities. This is the first study to examine the negative impact of CRP on online brand communities and brand relationship. It is also the first to examine the relationship between CRP in joining online communities and online community commitment in social networking sites.