Exploring the Antecedents of Brand Loyalty and Electronic Word of Mouth in Social-Media-Based Brand Communities : Do Gender Differences Matter?

Recently, social media have emerged as key marketing communication channels. In this context, con- sumers are increasingly gathering in online communities which have been identi ed as social-media- based brand communities (SMBBCs). However, notwithstanding scholars’ attention towards SMBBCs, the role of consumers’ gender in developing brand loyalty intention (BLI) has been scarcely explored by literature. Moreover, scant attention has been given to the analysis of whether gender is related to di erent propensities towards brand recommendation—identi ed as a proactive behavior towards a positive electronic word of-mouth di usion (E-WOM)—in the social media context. Hence, this research aims to explore the antecedents of BLI and E-WOM by focusing on consumers’ gender dif- ferences. A structural equation model has been created based on 250 surveys collected among SMB- BCs of an American sportswear brand. The results showed that male consumers’ BLI is in uenced by engagement in SMBBCs. Instead, brand trust was the main antecedent of females’ BLI.