Personality Traits That Lead Members of Online Brand Communities to Participate in Information Sending and Receiving

An online brand community is a powerful arena for marketers to cultivate customer relationships. The level of participation is a clear indicator when distinguishing the levels of strength and types of involvement in a brand community. However, research explaining the personality traits and motivations of online brand community members, as relevant to their participative behaviors, is lacking. By adopting the 3M model as a theoretical foundation, this study examines personality traits as the antecedents of the participative behavior of online brand community members; that is, the disposition to receive information and to send market information to others when using the online platform. Based on the results of an online survey, this paper illustrates a hierarchical structure of traits interplaying at various levels to provide a nomological net for predicting behavioral intention. The results indicate that identification with a brand community and value consciousness are key predictors that encourage participation in receiving and sending information. This study provides a more comprehensive and theoretically based perspective that emphasizes sound strategic options to influence brand community participation.