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.