The influence of mere virtual presence with product experience and social virtual product experience on brand attitude and purchase intention: Conformity and social ties as moderators

Abstract

本研究目的是比較單純虛擬在場產品經驗 (mere virtual presence with product experience, MVPE) 與社交虛擬產品經驗(social virtual product experience, SVPE) 在線上品牌社群效果的差異影響，並以從眾行為和社會連結為干擾變數，評估對各種虛擬產品體驗類型(MVPE、SVPE) 之間的線上品牌社群效果。本研究實驗設計採3 (MVPE、給予式SVPE-C2C、交換式SVPE-B2C) × 2 (從眾行為：高/低) × 2 (社會連結：強連結/弱連結)在Facebook 上的研究假設。研究結果顯示，不同的虛擬產品體驗類型對品牌社群效果具有差異。另外，從眾行為和社會連結在虛擬產品體驗類型(MVPE、SVPE)和品牌社群效果之間具有干擾效果。不論社會連結為高或低，在搭配從眾行為的交互干擾作用下，SVPE 的品牌社群效果皆優於MVPE。雖然虛擬產品經驗的重要性不斷地增加，但在研究上仍然缺乏從人機互動和人際互動相結合的虛擬產品經驗對消費者行為影響的研究。

The purpose of the present study is to expand on the findings of previous studies by comparing the brand community effect of mere virtual presence with product experience (MVPE) and social virtual product experience (SVPE). Moreover, by employing conformity and social ties, the present study aimed to analyze various virtual product experience types (MVPE, SVPE) to determine the differences in brand community effect. This study employed a factorial online experimental design to test these hypotheses on Facebook. It conducted a 3 (MVPE, gift-giving SVPE-C2C, exchange SVPE-B2C) × 2 (conformity: high/low) × 2 (social ties: strong ties/weak ties). The results provide evidence that different virtual product experience types will determine the differences in brand community effect. The results also show indirect effects for the two moderators between virtual product experience types (MVPE, SVPE) and brand community effect. In addition, regardless of whether the social ties are high or low, with the conformity of interactive interference, SVPE brand community effects are better than those of MVPE. Although the importance of these virtual experiences is continuously increasing, there is still a lack of studies that empirically analyze the effects on consumer behavior from the combination of machine interaction and interpersonal interaction of VPEs.