Recent studies have highlighted the importance of social media brand communities to brand loyalty. This paper aims to stress the role of the brand in that relationship, suggesting a conceptual model in mass-market products in which consumers’ engagement in social media brand communities, brand identity, and consumer-brand identification are related to brand outcomes, such as trust and loyalty. A qualitative analysis was conducted, through in-depth interviews with experts and focus group discussions with consumers, so as to evaluate their experience with brands on social media. The findings indicated that in mass-markets, consumers engaged in social media brand communities may develop positive attitudes towards the brand, such as trust and loyalty, and that consumer-brand identification may have a fundamental role in transforming consumer-brand community interactions into consumer-brand relationships.

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Consumer-brand identification,Consumer engagement,Social media,Brand loyalty,Brand identity

• Economics and Business - Social Sciences