Harnessing user voices: the role of user-generated content in shaping customer-based brand equity for gadget brands

This study examines how different dimensions of user-generated content – co-creation, empowerment, community and self-concept – affect various components of customer-based brand equity, brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand associations, and trustworthiness. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 409 respondents who had created user-generated content for Apple products in Indonesia. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse these relationships. The findings revealed all the dimensions are interrelated, with the relationship between community engagement and brand loyalty and trust being the most significant, whereas empowerment significantly enhances perceived quality and brand associations. Co-creation primarily contributes to brand awareness, whereas self-concept strengthens brand associations and loyalty. This study extends existing brand equity models by incorporating trustworthiness as a dimension and providing new insights into consumer-brand relationships shaped by user-generated content. These findings offer strategic recommendations for brand managers to optimise digital engagement strategies.