LAUSR

Seeing the rising growth of online brand communities, an increasing number of political parties are investing time, money, and resources into designing and managing online brand communities to gain voters’ attention. Although online brand communities have been recognized as a powerful relationship-building medium, there is a limited study of online political brand community impact in shaping voter behavior. This study has examined relationships among electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) about a political brand, online political brand community participation, online political brand community commitment, political brand love, and political brand trust in voters’ political brand preferences. The result shows that eWOM about a political brand significantly influence online political brand community participation. Participation strength in online brand communities increases community commitment. The enhanced awareness and knowledge motivate members toward a higher level of preference for the political brand. Political brand love and brand trust mediates the relationship between the brand community and brand preference. The findings may help political marketers understand the role of online political brand communities in shaping voters’ party brand preference and resultant voting behavior. It may further help political marketers to strategize their brand community pages for a better outcome.