A Study on the Impact of Brand Ritual on Online Word-of-Mouth Communication

The study aims to explore the impact mechanism of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication, introducing the mediating variable—flow experience—and the moderating variable—consumer–brand relationship norms. The study uses the approach of the experimental research. In Experiment 1, with the watch as the experimental product and the advertisement as the online scene, 62 subjects in the pre-experiment and 132 subjects in the formal experiment are recruited to verify the main effect of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication. In Experiment 2, with the tea bag as the experimental product and the online press conference as the online scene, 73 subjects in the pre-experiment and 185 subjects in the formal experiment are recruited to verify the mediating role of flow experience in the impact of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication. In Experiment 3, with the scented candle as the experimental product and the promotional video of the e-commerce store as the online scene, 81 subjects in the pre-experiment and 269 subjects in the formal experiment are recruited to verify the moderating role of consumer–brand relationship norms in the impact of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication/flow experience. The results show that brand ritual is more effective in promoting online word-of-mouth communication than random action, flow experience plays a completely mediating role in the impact of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication, and consumer–brand relationship norms play a moderating role in the impact of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication/flow experience. The study not only reveals the impact mechanism of brand ritual on online word-of-mouth communication, but also provides strong guidance for companies to utilize brand ritual, flow experience, and consumer–brand relationship norms to promote online word-of-mouth communication.