Evaluation of the Consumer Interaction Capability of the Virtual Brand Community of Chinese Mobile Internet Enterprises Based on the Hybrid MCDM Method

Abstract

E-commerce has grown considerably with increasing access to the Internet. As a means of e-commerce, the virtual brand community (VBC) has become one of the important channels for brand enterprises to promote products, enhance brand awareness and compete with enterprises in the digital economy. The most important task of any website is the provision of tailored information and services to satisfy client needs. This research aimed to evaluate the status of websites and services provided by Chinese mobile internet enterprises. Based on the Fogg behaviour model, initial criteria and sub-criteria were constructed, and a new hybrid multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model was used in this study that combines the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique and the analytic network process (ANP) method to determine the interaction between factors and to determine the weight of each factor. Finally, the PROMETHEE method was utilised to rank and develop the consumer interaction capability of the VBC of Chinese mobile internet enterprises. Once these perceptions were captured, among the three criteria determined for the evaluation of the VBC of different mobile internet enterprises, affective involvement was the most important criterion, followed by motivation and environment triggers. Moreover, the VBCs of three communication enterprises were evaluated and ranked to validate the proposed model.