Yuan and marketing: The perception of Chinese owner-managers

Becoming Friends in Online Brand Communities: Evidence From China

“…Among them, online brand community interactivity and sense of yuan are second‐order constructs, which we measured with three formative dimensions and two formative dimensions, respectively. Because two dimensions (i.e., association of yuan and matching of yuan ) that measure the sense of yuan were based on the study by Siu (), their content reliabilities were guaranteed. We tested the internal consistency reliability of the data by using confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's α level.…”

“…Although yuan is used to explain a low‐likelihood event in Chinese cultural contexts, it is also perceived by people from Western cultures, including British people (Goodwin et al, 1997). These beliefs promote friendship because the low likelihood of encountering people online increases the sense of yuan (Siu, ; Yang et al, 1988).…”

“…Yuan emphasizes the existence of a predetermined bond between two relational parties. Association of yuan and matching of yuan were selected from prior research (Siu, ) as the two formative aspects of yuan because both emphasize the unexpected meeting of others online and the commonalities among members who meet one another. Thus, two scales were adapted from the study by Siu (), one that measures association of yuan , and one that measures matching of yuan .…”

“…In contrast with Westerners, Chinese people tend to attribute a low‐likelihood event to a universal force that governs all occurrences. These events are perceived as being predetermined by a supernatural force and are thus highly valued by the people who encounter or witness them (Siu, ; Yang & Ho, ). For example, when two strangers become friends or two lovers get married, they are perceived as connecting through yuan (Cheung, ).…”

“…Furthermore, the active control, two‐way, and synchronous features of online interactivity (Liu, ) provide ample opportunities for community members to uncover commonalities, such as common interests, experiences, and personalities. Consequently, they may believe they match yuan and thus may be willing to develop relational affinity (Siu, ). We thus regard the sense of yuan as a mediator between online brand community interactivity and online friendship.…”