Branding in Interactive Media: Engagement Platforms and Their Influence on Customer Engagement and Brand Image

Branding in digital worlds has become a critical issue and has shifted from a firm-focused management to a customer-focused one. This is especially relevant in virtual engagement platforms, which are designed to promote customers’ value-creating activities. This research aims to explore whether the active role of customers in engagement platforms (EPs) influences brand image and customers’ purchase behavior through their engagement. Building on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, we also explore the role of emotions as the drivers of the customer perceptions in these platforms. SEM analyses are used to test the hypothesized relationships. Our results corroborate that, during the interaction with the platform, customers experience emotions that influence their engagement. Brand image mediates the effects of emotions and customer engagement on his/her purchase behavior.