Online Brand Communities and their Impact on Brand Equity of Indian Telecommunication Industry

Abstract

Telecommunication space in India has become highly competitive and hence organizations are looking for newer value propositions and innovative ways to compete. With the advent of digital media, physical spaces are now being complimented with virtual spaces by organizations as a means of competitive advantage. Online brand communities (OBC’s) is one such source by which Telecom companies can achieve value creation and enhanced online customer engagement with customers.
Hence this study is primarily an attempt to examine the impact of Online Brand Communities on selected brand equity dimensions of loyalty, awareness, association and perceived brand quality of telecom service providers. The purpose of this paper is to come up with a conceptual model which can explain the effects of the Online Brand Communities on value of the brand (brand equity) of telecommunication service providers.
Primary data was collected from a sample of 120 respondents with the help of a questionnaire. For data analysis, statistical methods like factor analysis and regression analysis have been used to group inter related variables and predict the relationship between correlated variables respectively.
Very few studies on OBC’s have been conducted in the telecommunication space hence the study will add to the academic literature and help telecom managers to determine how brand generated content and community participation can drive business to next level through engaged online customer experience. It will help the telecom companies in analysing brand equity building through online space, in turn enhancing the purchase decision, customer engagement and create competitive advantage.