Global Journal of Management and Business Research, E: Marketing, Volume 22 Issue 3

Anamika Dey α & Md. H Asibur Rahman σ I. I ntroduction he technological progress in the era of the internet has drastically transformed our daily lives and the operations of businesses. For example, marketing activities have become significantly more complicated than before the rise of social media (Habibi et al., 2016; Hoang et al., 2019). Social media has become an Recently, "Social Media-Based Brand Community" (SMBBC) has been used to characterize brand communities on social media platforms like Facebook and Weibo (Habibi et al., 2016; Hoang et al., 2019). "Brand community is a specialized, geographically unbound community built on an organized network of social connections amongst brand aficionados" (Liao & Wang, 2020). At the same time, recognized as a behavioral framework that measures a customer's capacity for disclosing personal information, contributing ideas and output to the brand, learning, and developing a stronger bond with the retailer by engaging in decision-making (Carlson et al., 2019). SMBBC may inform companies about their consumers' needs, product improvements, and competitiveness (Carlson et al., 2019; Kang & Shin, 2016). SMBBC also helps clients understand the companies products and services and other customers’ reviews (Hoang et al., 2019). Marketing professionals are now more interested in SMBBC (Islam et al., 2018; Kamboj & Rahman, 2017). Hook et al. (2018) suggested studying consumer brand community involvement. The components of SMBBC include shared awareness, shared rituals and traditions, and responsibility to the community (Habibi et al., 2014, 2016). SMBBC can be developed by businesses, their subsidiaries, or their agents, and they consist of consumers who enjoy certain brands of businesses (Hoang et al., 2019; Munnukka et al., 2015). Companies mainly introduce brand communities to get good brand results (Coelho et al., 2019; Relling et al., 2016). Thus, significant firms should engage with brand communities and validate members' triumphs to build confidence. It maintains and improves the community's brand equity and regularity (Burgess & Jones, 2020). BCP is growing in popularity in academia and management circles since research demonstrates that customer involvement may benefit T © 2022 Global Journals Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue III Version I Year 2022 ( ) E 71 integral ingredient of today's marketing environment (E. Keller & Fay, 2012; Liu et al., 2018). It has become a progressively salient stage for brands to demonstrate their products (Binwani & Ho, 2019; Choedon & Lee, 2020). Impact of Social Media-Based Brand Community Participation on Brand Image in Bangladesh: Mediating Role of Brand Association and Brand Awareness Keywords: Brand community participation, Brand association, Brand image, Brand awareness, Fashion brands, Bangladesh. Abstract- The study’s objective is to investigate the impact of Social Media-Based Brand Community Participation on the brand's image. Besides, the study also focuses on uncovering the mediating role of brand association and brand awareness. For achieving the above objectives, relevant pieces of literature were extensively studied, and seven hypotheses were developed. For collecting relevant data for the research, a structured questionnaire was developed and administered through using online social media. The study used convenience sampling to collect data from 445 customers who have access to social media platforms and who have participated in several fashion brands' fan pages. The study discovered that Social Media-Based Brand Community Participation (SMBBCP) is positively related to brand association and brand awareness; however, it has an insignificant relationship with brand image. Besides, the brand association is positively associated with brand image, whereas brand awareness has a positive impact on brand association. Moreover, the study confirms that brand association mediates the relationship between SMBBCP and brand image, aside from negotiating the relationship between brand awareness and brand image. Further, brand awareness mediates the relationship between SMBBCP and brand association. The far- reaching implications of the research have been discussed concerning the scope of further studies. Finally, the study examines its limitations in generalizing the results and concludes with a conclusion. Corresponding Author α : Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business & Social Science (FBSS), Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh. e-mail: anamika01cu@gmail.com Author σ : Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration- General, Faculty of Business Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh. e-mail: asibur.rahman@bup.edu.bd Brand Community Participation (BCP) has been