Moderating effects of age, income and internet usage on Online Brand Community (OBC)-induced purchase intention

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the customer attitude and perception towards the online brand communities (OBCs) and purchase intention (PI). The paper also analyses the moderating effects of age, income and internet usage on the relationship among the proposed variables. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a multi-analytical approach through the use of structural equation modelling and neural networks to test the proposed framework. The information was obtained from 236 respondents using a web-based questionnaire survey. Further, moderation analysis, with age, annual family income and weekly internet usage as moderating variables, was conducted on the structural model. Findings The results of the analysis demonstrate that the multi-group moderating effect for different groups within age, income and internet usage have significant differences for the relationships between the independent variables content perception, perceived usefulness, critical mass, brand attachment and attitude towards brand and the dependent variable, PI. Originality/value The study is one of its kind to understand and analyse the role of moderating variables (age, income and internet usage) on OBC-induced PI.