Exploring the Influence of Consumer Brand Identification on Online Brand Advocacy: The Mediating Role of Consumer Brand Engagement in Online Travel Agencies

The aim of this study was to analyze if consumer brand identification had an influence on online brand advocacy through the mediating effect of consumer brand engagement. Therefore, the research questions this study attempts to answer are as follows: To what extent does consumer brand identification influence online brand advocacy among online travel agency (OTA) website users through the mediating effect of consumer brand engagement? To address this research question, the study employed a quantitative approach utilizing a self-administered online survey for data collection. Valid and reliable pre-existing scales were used as measurement instruments. The survey targeted Dutch nationals and residents of the Netherlands. Data analysis was conducted using Simple Linear Regression and the Process Macro tool in IBM SPSS statistics. The findings revealed that OTA users who strongly identify with a brand are more likely to engage with the platform, which ultimately leads them to become advocates of the platform. Interestingly, there was also evidence that users who did not frequently engage with the brand still performed advocacy actions online. This suggests that while consumer brand engagement enhances the likelihood of online brand advocacy, it is not an exclusive requirement for advocacy behavior. Consequently, all hypotheses tested in this study were accepted. These results underscore the importance of fostering a strong consumer brand identity to enhance brand advocacy. The study contributes to the understanding of how engagement and identification interact to influence consumer behavior in the digital context of online travel agencies. Future research could further explore the nuances of these relationships in different demographic and cultural settings, and among various types of brands.