Influence of personality traits and community situations on user engagement in online brand communities: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

User engagement within online brand communities has the potential to yield knowledge value, innovation value, and direct economic value for enterprises. Comprehending the factors that influence user engagement has emerged as a pressing concern for enterprises. We utilized trait activation theory to examine the causal combinations that impact high levels of user engagement, while considering the interaction between personality traits and community situations. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we examined a sample of 323 brand community users and found five distinct pathways that yielded high user engagement. Agreeableness functioned as a facilitator; both openness and neuroticism were integrated with frequent interpersonal interaction and rapid product iteration in the community, which jointly promoted user engagement. These findings provide valuable insights for enterprises’ online brand communities, as they show the value of adopting personalized strategies to elicit user engagement among individuals with diverse personality traits.