How an Online Gaming Community Advertises Brands to Members: The Roles of Relational Bonds and Trust Transfer

The purposes of this study are to examine the effects of relational bonds (i.e., financial, social, and structural) on two aspects of members’ trust toward their online gaming community (i.e., cognitive and affective); to investigate the interrelationship between two aspects of trust and members’ trust toward brands the online gaming community advertises based on the trust transfer theory; and to test the impacts of two aspects of trust and brand trust on purchase intentions. To do so, this study collects data from League of Legends (LoL) video-game users in the United States who have been involved in the LoL Inven community as members. The empirical findings indicate that cognitive trust toward an online gaming community is significantly influenced by financial bonds, while affective trust toward an online gaming community is significantly impacted by financial, social, and structural bonds. In addition, cognitive trust has significant effects on affective trust and brand trust, and affective trust significantly influences brand trust, resulting in a higher level of purchase intentions among online gaming community members. Based on the empirical findings, this study has theoretical and managerial implications for advertising strategies in the online environment.