Anonymous online community, brand engagement and word-of-mouth in the higher education context

Abstract

This study examines the influences of Online Interaction Propensity in university confessions pages, Attitude toward participating in university confessions pages, and Higher Education involvement on the engagement of students with their university. The relational outcomes comprising students’ word-of-mouth activity and praise are also investigated. The quantitative online and offline surveys were conducted on 509 participants targeting university students and graduates who follow or interact with posts on universities’ confession pages. The collected data was then processed and employed SEM path analysis to empirically examine the proposed conceptual model. The results determine that both online interaction propensity and higher education involvement have significant impacts on the engagement of students in their university while the attitude of students toward participating in university confessions pages has no impact on this engagement. In addition, the influence of students’ engagement on their word-of-mouth is proved. The study shows a deep understanding of the drivers relating to the confession pages’ participation in students’ engagement with their university, and another way to generate positive student-university relationship outcomes. The results suggest universities should not overlook the impact of students’ participation in university confession pages, then adopt feasible and practical approaches in managing their relationship with students to stimulate their word-of-mouth. The research provides insights that have not been studied previously in the Vietnam higher education context. Although it is practically observed that students’ engagement is impacted by their participation in university confession pages, there is a lack of intensive work on this issue.