How psychological ownership stimulates participation in online brand communities? The moderating role of member type

Participation in online brand communities (OBCs) is critical for the success of the community and the owner firm. Author attempts to explore this core OBC activity on the premises of psychological ownership theory by modeling participation intentions as a function of the members' sense of individual psychological ownership (IPO) and collective psychological ownership (CPO) experienced in the community. Data collected through online surveys from 763 members of the firm created OBCs and analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that IPO and CPO sensed by the members positively influence their participation intentions, that further influences members' brand purchase intentions and positive word of mouth (WOM) about the community. The multi-group SEM analysis reveals interesting differences in the structural paths as observed for ‘active members’ and ‘lurkers’ group, supporting the moderating role of member type. The study contributes to the existing theory as well as practices on members' participation in OBCs.