presenting customer participation model in brand virtual communities (case study: mellat bank)

The growth of brands’ activity and investment in cyberspace has provided a good opportunity to increase customer participation. achieving this partnership requires a codified and indigenous model, and the present study was conducted to provide a model of customer participation in the brand’s virtual communities. this study is considered as basic research in terms of purpose and has been done with a cross-sectional survey approach. since quantitative and qualitative methods are used, it is considered as mixed research. the statistical population included theoretical experts (marketing professors) and experimental experts (mellat bank managers). purposeful sampling was used for sampling and it continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. finally, the views of eleven experts were used. maxqda theme analysis software and software were used to identify the underlying categories of customer participation. structural-interpretive method and micmac software were used to present the template. findings showed that the correct understanding of virtual brand communities and customer characteristics are the basic components that affect the strategic planning of branding and management of information and communication technology. these factors, in turn, affect sensory branding and the provision of banking website services and leading to customer engagement and their satisfaction and trust. finally, in the shadow of customer trust and satisfaction, customer participatory behavior can be achieved.