THE IMPACT OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY AND BRAND COMMUNITY ON BRAND TRUST AND MSME GROWTH IN BUKALAPAK PARTNER APPLICATION USERS

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
The growth rate of internet users in Indonesia is relatively rapid & significant. Based on (Datareportal, 2022) there are 204.7 million internet users in Indonesia, where this figure represents 73.7% of the total population in Indonesia today. Along with this growth, applications that are useful for composing activities and even the efforts of internet users have begun to emerge. One of the things that has become rampant is the application for MSME players. Through an explanation (BKPM, 2022) it was recorded that around 61.97% of GDP was contributed by MSME players operating at this time, which was around 64.19 million. Meanwhile, in recent years, taglines or programs that carry MSMEs up in class have been increasingly encouraged.
Mitra Bukalapak application is one of the pioneers that aims to help UMKM actors or individuals who do not have a business to be able to develop their business and increase income in order to improve the welfare of its users. Towards the third quarter of 2022 itself, Mitra Bukalapak has reached approximately 15 million users application.
Through the results of research (Chauduri & Holbrook, 2001) mentioned that a business can provide good results influenced by the brand trust chain and brand influence. Based on (Eggers et al., 2013) mentioned that there is a strong positive impact between brand consistency and brand consistency on brand trust in MSMEs. Whereas according to (Habibi et al., 2014), the effect of customer relationships on the four elements of the brand community on brand trust is stronger for consumers who have high engagement with brand community.
Until now, research that examines the impact of brand authenticity and brand communities affecting brand trust & MSME growth is still minimal, especially in the context of brand use of an application in Indonesian MSMEs. Even in previous studies, it has not made a brand community factor, so it has not been comprehensive. According to this research gap, this research will include other factors, namely the brand community. In addition, this study will also measure the impact of the brand community on brand trust and the growth of MSMEs. (Morhart et al., 2015) defines Brand Authenticity about the extent to which consumers perceive a brand to be loyal and true to itself and its consumers, as well as supporting consumers to be honest with themselves themselves. Based on (Gunawan Nanang, 2021) that an object is considered authentic if in lexical it can be distinguished by its imitation, namely a person's perception of the reality of physical experience or the behavior of an object verified based on what was previously claimed. (Eggers et al., 2013) argues that measure Brand Authenticity can be through Brand Congruence, Brand Consistency and Brand Customer Orientation.

Brand Congruence
Brand Congruence theory explains where individuals are more comfortable and satisfied with products/brands that match the actual or desired self-concept (Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967). Alharbi (2022) also argues that people not only consider what they do about a product but also the meaning associated with the product. Consumers who have a sense of similarity with the brand and an already high level of trust in experiences that have already been experienced and remembered have the opportunity to buy products continuously in the same brand (Soedionon, 2020) H1: Brand Congruence has a positive influence on Brand Trust

Brand Consistency
It is explained (MarcomCentral.com, 2020) that Brand Consistency is how an organization can successfully convey their message to customers in accordance with organizational values built through customer experience, Brand identity as well as brand promise offered. (Rowden, 2003) mentioned that a consistent brand identity ensures that the brand looks different in the market from its competitors. Seric et al. (2020) argue that consistent communication over a brand has a positive relationship with brand trust. H2: Brand Conshave a positive influence on Brand Trust

Brand Customer Orientation
In this study, Brand Customer Orientation is explained as a broad organizational process to produce and maintain a harmonious brand meaning towards customers and other stakeholders (Ewing & Napoli, 2005). Based on opinion (Gupta, 2008) customer orientation is about understanding customer needs, brand customer orientation is about satisfying customers. If the wishes of beneficial seorang individuals have been conveyed then customers and other stakeholders of the company will perceive the brand as authentic, thus building trust. (Eggers et al., 2013) H3: Brand Customer Orientation has a positive influence on Brand Trust

Brand Community
Freitas (2017) explained that Brand Community is a group consisting of individuals with a common interest in a brand or product that is formed both in real and virtually, namely cyberspace. Muñiz (2001) argues that communities are now no longer limited by geography. Initially, the community was considered a place, usually rural. However, the notion of society now transcends that limitation and has a much broader meaning. Habibi et al. (2014) stated that a customer-focused media-based brand community can influence brand trust. H4: Brand Community has a positive influence on Brand Trust

Brand Trust
According to Chauduri & Holbrook (2001), Brand Trust ialah willingness by consumers to rely on the ability of the brand to perform its functions as promised. Ballester (2005) argues that Brand Trust is seen as an expectation based on consumers' belief that the brand has the most certain qualities that make it consistent, competent, honest and responsible. Brand trust also provides value to customers to increase purchases for customers (Baisyir, 2021). H5: Brand Trust has a positive influence on SME Growth

SME Growth
Growth can be defined through two different angles, namely measurable increase in business size and changes in development that cannot be measured (Penrose, 1995). Runtuk (2015) states that growth can be measured through several common indicators, such as sales, employment, and assets.

RESEARCH METHODS
The subject of this study was a user of the Mitra Bukalapak application who is a member of the Mitra Bukalapak brand community, namely JUWARA. Sampel of this study was selected by purposive sampling method by means of which the research questions were only shared specifically with members of the brand community through an exclusive platform Namely WhatsApp Group. In this quantitative study, data collection using the survey sharing method using Google Form media. There were 362 respondents who filled out the questionnaire in full in the period of September 2022. Meanwhile, in collecting data, this study uses an interval scale as a measure of the influence of independent variables on dependents. The interval scale has several types of questions that can include knowledge, perception, attitudes and behavior. And this study uses 5 response points, which are strongly disagree, agree, neutral, agree, strongly agree.

Measurement Model
In this study, the measurements used were SEM-PLS and the data was processed through the Smart PLS 3.0 program. Hair et all. (2011 state that SEM-PLS has a more "regression-based" approach that minimizes the residual variance of endogenous construction. It is also explained that SEM-PLS is the right method to get broad potential for SEM researchers, especially in the field of marketing (Hair et all., 2011

Structural Model
In hypothesis testing in this study using the bootstraping method where (Hair et all., 2011) argues that this method involves repeated random sampling with the replacement of the original sample for creating a bootstrap sample, which aims to obtain errors in hypothesis testing. In table 4.0 it is stated that H2, H3, H4 and H5 are acceptable, with a result of t-value >1.65 and a p-value of <0.05 while H1 is rejected.
The results of this study found that Brand Congruence had a negative impact on Brand Trust so that H1 was rejected with a t-value of 1.139< 1.65; p-value >0.05. Meanwhile, Brand Consistency to Brand Trust has a positive impact so that H2 can be accepted with a t-value of 4.004> 1.65; p-value <0.05. This is also supported by previous research that has found that organizations can greatly increase brand trust by being consistent in whatever they do. (Eggers et al., 2013). In addition, Brand Customer Orientation also has a positive impact with Brand Trust so that H3 can be received with a t-value of 2,152> 1.65; p-value <0.05. This was agreed upon (Windarti, 2020) which stated that trust is influenced by customer orientation positively and significantly. In the Brand Community on Brand Trust, a positive impact was also found with t-value of 3.318> 1.65; p-value <0.05. In this regard, Mousavi (2016) in his research argues that the stronger their social identity in the community, leads to their trust in the brand. And in the Brand Trust, it was found that there was a positive pack of SMEs Growth, namely with a t-value of 6,770> 1.65; p-value <0.05.

CONCLUSION
In this study, it was found that Brand Consistency has a positive impact on Brand Trust, Brand Customer Orientation has a positive impact on Brand Trust, Brand Community has a positive impact on Brand Trust and Brand Trust itself has a positive impact on SME Growth. On the theoretical implications, this research can support previous research and add the latest reference to the influence of Brand Auhenticity, Brand Community on Brand Trust and SME Growth where this research is still very limited, especially in the technology industry. For the managerial implications that can be found in this study is that having Brand Consistency in building a brand affects user trust, therefore it is important for a brand to execute and keep the value conveyed to the users accordingly. In accordance with Mitra Bukalapak's value, namely "Warung Naik Kelas", this value needs to be balanced with programs that can provide broad benefits to its users. In addition, in Brand Customer Orientation, it is also found that a brand will increase its trust if the wishes and needs of users become the main focus and can be fulfilled well. For this reason, Bukalapak Partners can always innovate every feature and product launched according to the needs of users. In the Brand Community the involvement of members as well as the interactions and information shared by fellow members also have a good impact on the trust of the Partner brand Bukalapak, for that a variety of conversation topics and a good culture can always be built in every conversation that occurs with fellow members in Whatsapp Group. As well as the increase in Brand Trust of Bukalapak Partner users through a feeling of security for every product used and the value that is in harmony with each program provided also motivates Mitra Bukalapak users to develop their business.