The influence of perceived benefit on structural, cognitive and relational social capital in fashion blogs; the study of female users

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) how female blog users' perceived benefits (i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, community identification and perceived norm of reciprocity) influence their perceived social capital on fashion blogs, (2) the influence of structural social capital and cognitive social capital on users' relational social capital and (3) the influence of relational social capital on blog loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was performed using 530 useable data collected through an online survey.

Findings

The result indicated that perceived usefulness and the norm of reciprocity led to the development of cognitive social capital, while community identification and the norm of reciprocity led to the development of structural social capital. Cognitive and structural social capital both led to the development relational social capital, which in turn influenced blog loyalty.

Originality/value

This study provides insights for a fashion brand marketing strategy that uses fashion blogs to target relevant consumers. It helps firms to understand the factors that lead people to embed their resources in a blog and to learn how the different perceived benefits impact blog users' contributions to the community.

Citation

Kim, J., Yang, K., Zeng, X. and Cheng, H.-P. (2021), "The influence of perceived benefit on structural, cognitive and relational social capital in fashion blogs; the study of female users", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 310-330. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-06-2019-0125