Consumer Literacy in Virtual Brand Communities: Dimension Exploration and Scale Development

Abstract

Virtual brand communities are one of the most important ways for companies to strengthen ties with consumers and cultivate brand loyalty. Consumers, as the main participants of virtual brand communities, play an important role in their own literacy for the healthy and sustainable development of the communities. This study explores the connotation and structure of consumer literacy in virtual brand communities from the perspective of consumers, and develops and tests a scale. First, based on relevant literature, case studies, and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 38 consumers who have browsed virtual brand communities, the study defined the concept of consumer literacy and qualitatively summarized the potential dimensions. The study then used the SPSS26.0 and AMOS24.0 software to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaire survey, and combined the methods of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and nomological validity analysis to identify the three dimensions of consumer literacy in the virtual brand community, including brand knowledge, engagement skills, and conceptual knowledge, and obtained a scale with good reliability and validity. The results provide a measurement tool for the study of consumer literacy in virtual brand communities and a scientific basis for further improving the management of the communities.