Developing a model for customer brand engagement on social media in the banking industry

Introduction: The rapid growth of the Internet and the increasing penetration of social media in the society have provided a good opportunity to reinforce the relations of organizations with customers. By applying these media, organizations can increase their interactions with customers and create more value for both the customers and themselves through engaging them with the brand. Accordingly, this study seeks to identify the antecedents, dimensions and consequences of customer brand engagement in social media in the banking industry.Methodology: In order to achieve the purpose of the research, the mixed method was used, and the data were collected from the customers who followed one or more banks in social media. The data collection tools were in-depth interviews (in the qualitative section) and questionnaires (in the quantitative section). The data were processed through content analysis and structural equation modeling with a partial least squares approach and the Smart PLS software.Results and Discussion: The results of the study are presented in the framework of a customer brand engagement model in social media in the banking industry. The model has three sub-categories including the antecedents, dimensions and consequences of customer engagement. The antecedents address individual factors including reward (social media provide an easy and comfortable way to receive brand-related campaigns and/or special offers), entertainment (i.e., one of the main motivations concerning the consumers’ use of social media such as playing games, listening to music, and viewing videos), information acquisition (consumers rely and more often use social media to conduct their search for information and to decide what to purchase), curiosity (The user's willingness to interact on social media to access the opinions of others about the bank provides easy access to bank information and what is happening in the bank), brand involvement (the perceived relevance of the brand based on inherent needs, values, and interests), and social advantage (ability to establish and obtain social identity among other users and facilitate and expand social interactions with other users). The organizational factors include brand reputation (it refers to factors such as having a large audience, well-known and positive image of the bank in society), brand popularity (it is related to the acceptance and popularity of the bank among the people of the community), service experience (subjective,