Brand community

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A brand community is a concept in marketing and consumer research which postulates that human beings form communities on the basis of attachment to a brand or marque. [1] A brand community refers to structured social relationships in which participants share admiration and connection of a brand that they experience through shared rituals, traditions and a sense of responsibility towards other members. [2] The term often refers to the intersection between brand, individual identity and culture.

Contents

Origin

The term "brand community" was first presented by Albert Muniz Jr. and Thomas C. O'Guinn in a 1995 paper for the Association for Consumer Research Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN. In a 2001 article titled " Brand Community", [1] they defined the concept as "a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand." This 2001 paper recently has been acknowledged by Thomson Scientific & Healthcare to be one of the most cited papers in the field of economics and business.

Description

Brand community members develop connections with like-minded individuals by sharing appreciation, lifestyle and meanings meanings associated with a particular brand. [3] [2] Brands can be seen as relationship builders that consumers use to relate with each other and with brands [4] in order to seek the consensus of affective link and emotional support. Among the concepts developed to explain the behavior of consumers, the concept of a brand community focuses on the interconnections and relationships between consumers. Whereas contemporary marketing logic, as derived from economics, study the firm as a separate entity from customers, consumer researchers argue that customers can be active cocreators together with firms. [3]

A brand community can be defined as an enduring self-selected group of actors sharing a system of values, standards and representations (a culture) and recognizing bonds of membership with each other and with the whole. Many brands provide examples of brand communities. In computers and electronics: Apple Inc. (Macintosh, iPod, iPhone), Holga and LOMO cameras, and Palm and Pocket PC Ultra-Mobile PCs. In vehicles: Ford Bronco, Jeep, Miata, Mini Cooper, Saab, Saturn and Subaru automobiles, and Royal Enfield and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In toys: Barbie and Lego.

Variants

There are several concepts that are directly related to brand communities

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References

  1. 1 2 Muniz, Albert M.; O’Guinn, Thomas C. (2001). "Brand Community". Journal of Consumer Research. 27 (4): 412–432. doi:10.1086/319618. ISSN   0093-5301. JSTOR   10.1086/319618. S2CID   7743774.
  2. 1 2 3 Canniford, Robin (2011-01-01), "A Typology of Consumption Communities", in W. Belk, Russell; Grayson, Kent; M. Muñiz, Albert; Jensen Schau, Hope (eds.), Research in Consumer Behavior, Research in Consumer Behavior, vol. 13, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 57–75, doi:10.1108/s0885-2111(2011)0000013007, ISBN   978-1-78052-116-9 , retrieved 2022-10-11
  3. 1 2 Schau, Hope Jensen; Muñiz, Albert M.; Arnould, Eric J. (September 2009). "How Brand Community Practices Create Value". Journal of Marketing. 73 (5): 30–51. doi:10.1509/jmkg.73.5.30. ISSN   0022-2429. S2CID   51793679.
  4. ↑ Veloutsou, Cleopatra; Ruiz-Mafe, Carla (2020). "Brands as relationship builders in the virtual world: A bibliometric analysis". Electronic Commerce Research and Applications. 39: 100901. doi:10.1016/j.elerap.2019.100901. ISSN   1567-4223. S2CID   211098762.
  5. ↑ Diaz Ruiz, Carlos A.; Penaloza, Lisa; Holmqvist, Jonas (2020-01-01). "Assembling tribes: An assemblage thinking approach to the dynamics of ephemerality within consumer tribes". European Journal of Marketing. 54 (5): 999–1024. doi:10.1108/EJM-08-2018-0565. ISSN   0309-0566. S2CID   216399732.
  6. ↑ Goulding, Christina; Shankar, Avi; Canniford, Robin (2013-01-01). "Learning to be tribal: facilitating the formation of consumer tribes". European Journal of Marketing. 47 (5/6): 813–832. doi:10.1108/03090561311306886. ISSN   0309-0566.
  7. ↑ Maffesoli, Michel (1996). The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi:10.4135/9781446222133. ISBN   978-0-8039-8474-5.
  8. ↑ Carù, Antonella; Cova, Bernard (2015-01-01). Dr Elina Jaakkola, Anu Helkkula and Dr Leena Aarikka-Stenroos (ed.). "Co-creating the collective service experience". Journal of Service Management. 26 (2): 276–294. doi:10.1108/JOSM-07-2014-0170. ISSN   1757-5818.
  9. ↑ Schouten, John W.; McAlexander, James H. (1995). "Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers". Journal of Consumer Research. 22 (1): 43–61. doi:10.1086/209434.
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