Engagement with Online Customers in Emerging Economies: The Power of Online Brand Communities and Social Networking Sites

Abstract

In today's highly dynamic business environment, firms are increasingly seeking customer participation and engagement with their brands. Thus, the role that customer engagement plays in the co-creation of customer experience and value receives utmost attention from both academicians and practitioners and given the inherent characteristics of services, extending firm-customer relationships through customer engagement is especially critical for service firms. However, there still remains a gap in the literature in terms of how customers engage with services online. Drawing mainly on the service-dominant logic along with the relationship marketing and social exchange theories, this chapter addresses this research gap by providing a literature review in this area and examining the key drivers and outcomes of online customer engagement, particularly through online brand communities and social networking sites, so that customer engagement in such virtual environments can be promoted as a new opportunity to create enhanced value, especially in emerging economies.