The emergence and impact of consumer brand empowerment in online social networks: A proposed ontology

Abstract

This article presents a proposed model introducing consumer brand empowerment and discussing its antecedents and outcomes. Consumer brand empowerment reflects the perceived empowerment resulting from the consumer's influence over the brand-related attitudes and behaviors of other consumers in an online social network. The antecedents in the proposed ontology focus on the sharing of brand information in online social networks and how it promotes a sense of consumer empowerment by enabling a consumer to influence the brand attitudes of other consumers. The online social network participation factors studied include reach and how its impact is moderated by variety, depth and frequency of brand-related information sharing in social networks. The outcomes resulting from consumer brand empowerment relate to the desired cognitive, affective and behavioral brand experiences sought by an empowered consumer. The article discusses the implications of the research relative to both marketing researchers and managers interested in understanding brand management within the emerging social network landscape.