Understanding the factors influencing children's participation in brand communities

Child-oriented brand communities are increasingly being utilised by marketers, to encourage children’s engagement and participation with brands. While brand communities have been extensively researched for adult participants, children are cognitively and socio-emotionally different to adults, prompting the need for targeted research in the area. This thesis by publication, comprising of four core publications and two supplementary papers, addresses the need to understand the factors influencing children’s brand community participation. Through undertaking a mixture of secondary, descriptive and causal research, this thesis advances the knowledge of child brand community participants, aiding academics and practitioners alike. Firstly, an analysis of the extant literature on brand communities was undertaken. Through consolidating the literature, it was revealed that several areas require academic attention, including that of child-oriented brand communities. Secondly, the replication of a seminal adult-oriented brand community model was performed, and extended to a child context. Results indicated that children’s participation in brand communities was different to that of adults. Thirdly, a new model to predict children’s participation was developed. Findings revealed that subjective group dynamics and personal self-esteem influenced children’s brand community participation. Children with low personal self-esteem were seen to have stronger recommendation intentions and were more committed members, than children with high personal self-esteem. Lastly, causal research was undertaken to produce a model that predicts children’s participation. The three-part experimental study showed that children had a stronger desire to participate when the community members were characteristically like themselves, and loyal to the community. This thesis contributes to the brand community literature, presenting much needed information on child participants. The models developed and interdisciplinary theories employed, contribute to the brand community literature, providing new avenues through which to investigate brand community participation. Advice is provided to practitioners regarding the unique characteristics of child participants and how to effectively manage and promote child-oriented brand communities.