H2. The Facebook community positively influences consumer–company identification.
Most previous studies have focused on identification with the brand community (e.g. Algesheimer et al., 2005), but not many have investigated the role played by the company in establishing such relationships and, more specifically, the influ- ence exerted by customer–company identification (Marzocchi et al., 2013). Moreover, in recent times, the subject of identi- fication has attracted more interest and attention in exploring the psychological bond with both the community and the company. However, almost none simultaneously considered identification with the community and the company, investi- gating the behavioral implications from the Facebook community members’ perspective. Therefore, the current study closes this gap. We propose that when a Facebook fan identifies a company’s brand community, he/she also identifies this company. That is, there is a positive relationship between consumer–community identification and consumer–company identification. The hypothesis is that: