CREATING CUSTOMER LOVE: HOW ORGANIZATIONS CAN ENGENDER POSITIVE AFFECT IN ONLINE PRODUCT-CENTERED COMMUNITIES

摘要

The Internet has disrupted a company's traditional control over the communication they use to create positive affect. The compilation of reviewer posts plays a leading role in constructing a company's overall brand sentiment. What is less well understood is how companies can engender positive posts. The objective in this study was to develop a framework that demonstrates how customers and organizations interact online; as well as investigate the on-line interaction and the positive affect it generates. We formulated hypotheses and then used a Structural Equation Model to test that two distinct mechanisms work together to underpin the creation of a company's online positive affect. The two distinct mechanisms of our study are online co-creation and cognitive play. We find that organizations that co-create with their customers and are playful during the online interaction are being rewarded with positive affect. Adding cognitive play to the online interaction, the total explanatory power of our model, of the positive affect expressed by customers, for this sample, increased to 52%. We discuss the important findings that emerge from this study and suggest directions for additional research.