Abstract: Structural hole is the key point to the formation of online brand community. However, seldom literature pays attention to the embeddedness process and effect mechanism of online structural hole. Based on the Embeddedness Theory, this paper focuses on the impact of organizational citizen behavior on structural hole in online brand communities and the effect of structural hole on brand consumption behavior. The results of the empirical study show that: community participation can increase informational benefit directly instead of promoting members to the position of online structural hole; online altruism can help members get to the position of structural hole; the position of structural hole can bring about more social enhancement benefit rather than more informational benefit; either informational benefit or social enhancement benefit can influence brand loyalty and brand recommendation positively. The research findings will enrich the theory of online brand community from the perspective of organizational citizen behavior and structural hole, and in the meantime, will help community managers develop communities.

Key words: Online brand communities, Organizational citizen behavior, Structural hole, Embeddedness theory, Consumer brand behavior