Community Participation and Consumer-to-Consumer Helping: Does Participation in Third Party–Hosted Communities Reduce One's Likelihood of Helping?

Abstract

Third party–hosted consumer communities in general, and brand communities in particular, have been touted for their ability to generate value for firms by promoting consumer-to-consumer (C2C) helping. However, little research has examined whether consumer communities actually foster C2C helping, and who is helped. In contrast, the brand-community literature suggests community strategies may reduce the likelihood of community members helping non–community members. If so, strategies that promote third party–hosted brand or product-category communities may be counterproductive in fostering C2C helping. Should firms focus on promoting brand communities, promoting product-category communities, or both? On the basis of a hazard model analysis of 9,192 actual C2C helping events over a 25-month period, and supported by a second cross-sectional study, this article examines how participation in brand and product-category communities influences one's likelihood of helping others. We find that brand-community participation increases one's likelihood of helping fellow members while reducing the likelihood of helping members of rival brand communities. Surprisingly, product-category community participation reduces one's likelihood of helping members of brand communities. The authors discuss managerial recommendations.