Customer engagement: Exploring customers and their perceived value in the digital age

In order to deliver an effective customer experience it is of high importance for companies to understand who are the customers that engage in their online brand communities and what value these individuals perceive to receive... [ view full abstract ]

In order to deliver an effective customer experience it is of high importance for companies to understand who are the customers that engage in their online brand communities and what value these individuals perceive to receive by engaging online. Despite increasing acknowledgement of the importance of customer engagement possible antecedents and consequences of the concept remain nebulous to date. This study addresses this gap in examining the relationship of personality traits as an antecedent of online customer engagement and customer value as a consequence of online customer engagement. A conceptual framework comprising a set of hypotheses will be tested thorough an empirical study using a questionnaire as the research instrument. Preliminary exploratory interviews are employed to adapt the measurement scales accordingly. Results will shed more light on the concept of online customer engagement, which is still in its infancy in terms of academic literature. The research will help companies to improve their communities in order to get more people engaged. Customer satisfaction will increase and call-centre costs can be reduced. Moreover, well-established online brand communities can build a fruitful platform for customer co-creation and new product or service development.