Rein in or let it go? Managerial strategy for companies in social media brand communities

Abstract With the increasing popularity of social media, motivating customers to participate in social media brand communities has become an essential strategy for companies to achieve value co‐creation and maintain their competitive advantage. However, companies are in a dilemma about the management strategies in social media brand communities: rein in or let it go? In order to solve it, this study constructed a value co‐creation evolution game model between companies and customers in the context of social media brand communities. This study explored the stability of customer and company strategy and the impact of critical factors on the evolution results. Finally, numerical simulation experiments were conducted. The research shows that the optimal management strategy for companies in social media brand communities is to interact with customers rather than rein in them. Although reining in customers can inhibit value destruction initially, it will hinder the realization of value co‐creation in the long run. Moreover, platform management plays a vital role in value co‐creation in social media brand communities, especially in the constraints on customer behaviors. This research can provide dynamic and practical recommendations for companies managing social media brand communities.