1. Are Visitors Outsiders
Are Visitors Outsiders? The Effect of Viewing Posts in Online Brand Communities
Zhimin Zhou
Shenzhen University, China
Ning Zhang
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R.

2. 83,415 Online Users at a point in time：
and 78,091 visitors
5,324 members
83,415 Online Users at a point in time：

3. Research Questions
How can influence visitors be influenced by online brand communities to participate in the communities and purchase the brands?

4. Conceptual Model

5. Measures
Viewing posts (Bateman, Gray, and Butler, 2010; Koh and Kim, 2004): three items
Informational value (Mathwick, Wiertz, and de Ruyter, 2008): three items
Perceived social value (Mathwick, Wiertz, and de Ruyter, 2008): four items
Attitude toward community (Gupta, Kim, and Shin, 2010): four items
Attitude toward brand (Putrevu and Lord, 1994): five items
Participation intention (Algesheimer, Dholakia, and Herrmann, 2005; Bagozzi and Dholakia, 2006): three items
Purchase intention (Putrevu and Lord, 1994): three items.

6. Data Collection and Analysis Method
The website Sojump ( a popular online survey platform in China
376 valid questionnaires
Analysis Method
Partial least square (PLS) modeling

7. Sampling Gender Age Income(RMB) Vocation Education Male 48.1%
Female 51.9%
≤ % % % % %
≥ %
No income %
< % % % % % %
Student %
Non-student (such as sales, engineer, worker, teacher)
66.5%
Primary school %
High school %
Secondary technical school %
Junior college %
Undergraduate %
Post-graduate %
Doctorate %

8. Measurement Model SFL t-value Viewing posts (Cronbach’s α = .834)
I have viewed posts in OBC X for a long time.
.843
40.380
I have visited OBC X to view posts frequently.
.902
67.923
I have viewed a large number of posts presented by members in OBC X.
.854
41.800
Informational value (Cronbach’s α = .816)
I find the information on OBC X to be valuable.
.891
66.168
I think of OBC X as an information resource.
.866
49.700
There is unique value in OBC X.
.802
25.150
Perceived social value (Cronbach’s α = .829)
I feel that members think of the patrons of OBC X as members’ extended family.
.813
31.567
I feel that participating on OBC X provides an important source of camaraderie for members.
.858
47.050
I feel that OBC X provides a sounding board for members’ ideas.
.760
22.842
I feel that members rely on the personal support they get from others in OBC X.
.819
42.188
Attitude toward community (Cronbach’s α = .897)
OBC X is a good online forum.
.903
77.354
OBC X is a likeable online forum.
.883
50.581
OBC X is a beneficial online forum.
.841
44.184
OBC X is a pleasant online forum.
.868
49.142

9. Cont’d SFL t-value Attitude toward brand (Cronbach’s α = .905)
The decision to buy Brand X is foolish.(r)
.664*
14.627
Buying Brand X is a good decision.
.905
60.526
I think Brand X is a satisfactory brand.
.917
82.934
I think Brand X has a lot of beneficial characteristics.
.886
49.415
I have a favorable opinion of Brand X.
.875
57.940
Participation intention (Cronbach’s α = .884)
I intend to be a part of OBC X.
.912
63.942
I intend to participate in the activities of OBC X.
76.547
I intend to communicate with members of OBC X.
39.599
Purchase intention (Cronbach’s α = .881)
It is very likely that I will buy Brand X.
.902
44.135
I will purchase Brand X the next time I need the product.
.933
I will definitely try Brand X.
.861
38.933
Overall model fit: χ2(263)= , χ2/df=2.79, p<.01; CFI=.93; NNFI=.92; IFI=.93; RMSEA=.070
* For the loadings of reverse questions, the response data are subtracted by 7.
Notes: OBC X means online community of brand X. (r) indicates a reverse question. SFL means standardized factor loadings.

10. Descriptive Statistics of Construct Measures
Variables  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Viewing posts
.87**
2. Informational value
.39**
.85**
3. Perceived social value
.46**
.53**
.81**
4. Attitude toward community
.50**
.56**
.69**
5. Attitude toward brand
.32**
.44**
6. Participation intention
.48**
.52**
.64**
.42**
.90**
7. Purchase intention
.35**
.45**
.36**
.71**
Mean
4.07
4.58
4.23
4.36
4.60
4.38
4.71
Standard deviation
1.08
　.89
　.88
　.84
　.95
　.96
Composite reliability
　.90
　.93
AVE
　.75
　.73
　.66
　.76
　.81
** p < .01 (two-tailed test).
Notes: Bold figures on the diagonal are the square root of the AVE for the constructs.

11. Tests of Hypotheses Hypothesized Paths Coefficient t-value Results
Main effects
H1a: viewing posts → informational value
.400**
7.202
supported
H1b: viewing posts → perceived social value
.457**
8.431
H2a: informational value → attitude toward community
.271**
4.940
H2b: informational value → attitude toward brand
.294**
4.748
H3a: perceived social value → attitude toward community
.549**
13.416
H3b: perceived social value → attitude toward brand
.060
1.061
rejected
H4: attitude toward community → attitude toward brand
.324**
3.735
H5a: attitude toward community → participation intention
.652**
12.538
H5b: attitude toward community → purchase intention
.151*
2.463
H6a: attitude toward brand → participation intention
.070
1.458
H6b: attitude toward brand → purchase intention
.632**
10.194
H7: participation intention → purchase intention
.002
0.057
* p < .05 (two-tailed test); ** p < .01 (two-tailed test).

12. Cont’d Control effects Coefficient t-value Gender → purchase intention
.004
.181
Age → purchase intention
-.005
.127
Income → purchase intention
.073
1.554
Education → purchase intention
.036
1.275
Dependent variables
Overall R2
　informational value
.160
　perceived social value
.209
　attitude toward community
.536
　attitude toward brand
.349
　participation intention
.486
　purchase intention
.541

13. Research Conclusions × × ×

14. Managerial Implications
facilitating online information sharing
foster a culture of harmony
promote members’ interactions

15. Limitations and Future Research
common method bias
variation of the model among different industries
dynamic mechanism from visitors to members