Online brand communities as heterogeneous gatherings: a netnographic exploration of Apple users

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuğba Özbölük ◽  
Yunus Dursun
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Opinion Leader ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Online Brand Community

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the different types of members based on their roles within an online brand community dedicated to Apple. Design/methodology/approach Design/methodology/approach Data are drawn from an 18-month netnographic study, including participant and non-participant observation. Findings Findings reveal that members of the online brand community share a common goal but they are heterogeneous in many respects. In this research, five different types of brand community members are identified: learner, pragmatist, activist, opinion leader and evangelist. These findings emphasize the heterogeneity of the brand community or the differences of members and subgroups they form in the community. Practical implications This paper offers some insights for brand managers. There are different sub-tribes in online brand communities and these sub-tribes develop their own meanings of the brand. This means that online brand communities do not form one single homogenous target group and can be segmented into subgroups. Findings also offer a deeper understanding of negative characteristics of online brand community members. The role “activist” found in this study may be crucial for marketers, as activists can represent the negative side of online brand communities. Originality/value The literature on brand communities has focused predominantly on the homogeneity of these communities. This paper extends the literature by demonstrating the heterogeneity in an online brand community. The paper contributes to the brand community literature by substantiating that online brand community members can be segmented into subgroups based on their roles within the community. In addition, the paper extends the existing literature on brand communities that has overlooked the destructive consumer roles.

scholarly journals “No piracy talk”: how online brand communities work to denormalize controversial gaming practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1103-1122
Author(s):  
Daiane Scaraboto ◽  
Stefânia Ordovás de Almeida ◽  
João Pedro dos Santos Fleck
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Community ◽  
Alternative Practices ◽  
Normalization Process

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explain how online brand communities work to support the denormalization of controversial (i.e. illegal yet normalized) gaming practices.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study was characterized by long-term immersion in an online brand community for Brazilian Xbox gamers. The dataset includes online and offline interactions with community members, interviews, and online archival data.FindingsThis study shows how online brand community members promoted legal gaming in a market where piracy was prevalent. It demonstrates how community members worked to establish coherence; engaged in cognitive participation; developed collective action that extended beyond the community; and reflected on their own work.Research limitations/implicationsThis study identifies online brand communities as a potential ally in combating controversial practices in online gaming; complements individual and behavioral approaches in explaining why consumers adopt controversial practices in online environments; and adds a normalization framework to the toolkit of Internet researchers.Practical implicationsThis study identifies ways in which the potential of online brand communities can be leveraged to reduce consumer adherence to controversial gaming practices through denormalizing these and normalizing alternative practices that may be more desirable to companies and other stakeholders.Originality/valueThis long-term, qualitative study inspired by normalization process theory offers an innovative perspective on the online practices of consumers who engage with a brand in ways that create value for themselves and for the brand.

Online customer engagement

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wafa Hammedi ◽  
Jay Kandampully ◽  
Ting Ting (Christina) Zhang ◽  
Lucille Bouquiaux
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Community ◽  
Core Brand

Purpose – The emergence and success of online brand communities in the marketplace have attracted considerable interest; this study seeks to determine the conditions in which people create social environments by investigating the drivers of connections to a focal online brand community and other brand communities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the composition of multi-community networks, focussing on the density and centrality of brand communities. Design/methodology/approach – On the basis of insights from prior literature, the proposed model examines customers’ social relationships with multiple brand communities. A survey of 290 participants spans eight brand communities. The modeling process used structural equation modeling; the analysis of the social relationship among brand communities relied on an ego network approach. Findings – Two drivers prompt connections to other online brand communities. First, personal identification with a core brand community enhances connections to other communities. Second, some core brand members choose a functionality-driven approach in creating social environments. Practical implications – For marketers, this study highlights the importance of positioning the brand community as part of a social environment. To strengthen customer-brand relationships, marketers should focus on community members’ multiple memberships. Originality/value – This paper extends understanding of online brand community members’ motivations to participate in a focal brand community. It also explains the creation of a social environment, through a careful consideration of participation in different brand communities and their relationships.

Exploiting online environment to engage customers: social commerce brand community

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-361
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa Cuomo ◽  
Alice Mazzucchelli ◽  
Roberto Chierici ◽  
Francesca Ceruti
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Social Commerce ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Online Brand Community ◽  
Multiple Case

Purpose Taking jointly into account social commerce and online brand community, this paper aims to investigate how the growth of social commerce and the fast adoption of online brand communities have given firms the opportunity to establish a new kind of community, namely, the social commerce brand community. Adopting a managerial perspective, the research aims to identify the core dimensions of social commerce brand community and shed light on how they contribute in engaging customers and transform them into brand advocates. Design/methodology/approach Five social commerce retailers operating into five different sectors of activity have been involved in a multiple case study. Data retrieved from semi-structured interviews have been triangulated with information gathered from different sources to provide depth to the cases and enhance data validity. Findings This study substantiates the rise of social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon that differs from traditional online brand communities and provides firms with concrete support in selling activities and in managing relationships with customers. The multiple case study allows also to detect social commerce brand community core pillars, namely, participants’ identification, participation, conversation and social support. These four elements turned out to be crucial to develop an effective social commerce brand community. Research limitations/implications This study extends existing theory on social commerce and online brand community by investigating the social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon and clarifying the fundamental pillars on which it relies. Originality/value This study extends existing theory on social commerce and online brand community by investigating the social commerce brand community as a new phenomenon and clarifying the fundamental pillars on which it relies.

Firm-brand community value co-creation as alignment of practices

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 596-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Skålén ◽  
Stefano Pace ◽  
Bernard Cova
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Collaborative Practices ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Collaborative Platform ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute knowledge regarding the nature of successful and unsuccessful value co-creation processes between firms and brand communities and the strategies used to address the latter. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a netnographic study of the online collaborative platform known as Alfisti.com, which carmaker Alfa Romeo launched to enhance co-creation with its most devoted consumers, the “Alfisti”. Findings – The findings identify three groups of collaborative practices: interacting, identity and organizing practices. The paper details how firm and brand community members enact the elements – procedures, understandings and engagements – of collaborative practices and how the alignment of these enactments impacts value co-creation. Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests that co-creation of value succeeds when the enactment of collaborative practices aligns, i.e. when firm and brand community members enact practices in a similar way, and that co-creation fails when the enactment of practices misaligns. Firms and brand communities use three realignment strategies – compliance, interpretation and orientation – to address the misalignment and failure of co-creation. The fact that the research draws on a single qualitative case study is a limitation. Practical implications – Managerial implications include using realignment strategies to manage firm-brand community co-creation. Originality/value – Creating an empirical-based framework regarding successful and failing co-creation and how the latter is addressed in the context of brand community makes the paper original.

Sponsorship image transfer theory in virtual brand communities

2018 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. 1287-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Alonso Dos Santos ◽  
Francisco Rejón Guardia ◽  
Ferran Calabuig Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Community ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the influences and efficiency of a sports sponsorship in an online brand community. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted through interviews with 609 social network users of a Spanish first league soccer team. The partial least squares (PLS) methodology was applied with a posteriori segmentation (PLS prediction-oriented segmentation (POS)). Findings The attitude toward the sponsor helps to assess the efficiency of sponsorships between companies. This variable is particularly relevant for evaluating sponsorship efficiency in online brand communities. Improving trust and assessing the sense of membership directly improves attitudes toward the team and the sponsored brands. The attitude toward the sponsor has a direct and positive impact on the purchase intentions. The use of a posteriori segmentation with the PLS–POS technique helps discriminate between groups. Research limitations/implications Among the limitations encountered, further study would require using a sample of various sports disciplines and cultures. Practical implications Specific actions and communication strategies are defined for each segment and in general to adapt communication strategies that improve identification with virtual brand communities. The study has revealed involvement-related differences resulting from the impact that engagement with the sponsored team may have on the assessed relationships. Originality/value The study of the effects of sponsorship and the use of a posteriori variables user segmentation in an online brand community are used.

Understanding customer participation in online brand communities

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shampy Kamboj ◽  
Zillur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Customer Participation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Community

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of customer participation research specifically in online brand communities and summarize a number of basic issues as important research gaps that future research should address. Design/methodology/approach By using the content analysis method, this paper explores, analyses and presents a literature review by closely examining 113 articles published during 2001-2016, primarily from the leading marketing and management journals. Findings The findings of this review show that regardless of the plenty of studies in this area, a conceptual framework for customer participation is undetermined. This review presents a framework describing various antecedents, mediators, moderators and consequences of online brand community participation. Apart from this, various theories and models used in the reviewed articles are being depicted. The literature classification presented in this paper portrays the current trends and patterns of research in this area. This review also addresses research gaps in this area and presents them in the form of future research directions. Research/limitations/implications This review of literature carried out by the authors suggests that customer participation in online brand communities needs more focused conceptual research and the implications of this study will help researchers in this direction. Moreover, the managers can use the identified variables as a checklist to their online brand communities’ activities. Originality/value This paper is the first to provide a systematic review of customer participation in online brand community area that presents a comprehensive knowledge regarding the current state of research in this area on a single platform and provides a conceptual framework.

Virtual brand community engagement practices: a refined typology and model

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda D. Hollebeek ◽  
Biljana Juric ◽  
Wenyan Tang
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Component Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Four Component Model ◽  
Online Brand Communities

Purpose Despite Schau et al.’s (2009) pioneering research addressing consumers’ community engagement practices, scholarly understanding of the nature and dynamics characterizing consumers’ engagement practices in virtual (online) brand communities, and their inter-relationships, is limited to date. Building on these authors’ study, this paper aims to develop a refined typology and process model of virtual brand community engagement practices (VBCEPs). Design/methodology/approach Using the netnographic methodology, the authors analyze 20 luxury handbag community members’ entries posted on the brand’s particular section of The Purse Forum. Findings The authors develop an eight-component VBCEP typology that refines Schau et al.’s (2009) four-component model of brand community engagement practices. The model comprises “greeting”, “regulating”, “assisting”, “celebrating”, “appreciating”, “empathizing”, “mingling” and “ranking”. These practices contribute to and maintain the community’s vision and identity, and strengthen shared community consciousness. Research limitations/implications A key limitation of this research lies in its findings being generated from a single, luxury virtual brand community. Future research may thus wish to validate the VBCEP typology and model across different contexts. Practical implications The authors provide strategic managerial recommendations designed to leverage virtual brand community performance, which center predominantly on the social (altruistic) and achievement-based VBCEP sub-processes. Originality/value The eight-component VBCEP typology refines Schau et al.’s four-component model of brand community engagement practices with particular applicability to virtual brand communities.

Online brand communities’ contribution to digital business models

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wioleta Kucharska
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Mechanisms ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Identification ◽  
Online Brand Community

Purpose There is limited research examining social drivers and mediators of online brand community identification in the context of business models development. This study aims to identify them behind the social mechanisms and present essential factors which should be applied in business models to foster value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a convenience sample of 712 cases gathered among young European Facebook users via an electronic survey and analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. Findings Customer–other customers’ identification is a pivotal factor in influencing brand community identification. Practical implications If companies want to implement online brand communities into business models effectively and co-create brand value, they need deliver brand content useful for customer self-expression and social interaction to enhance consumer-brand identification and customer–customer social bonds which enable to transform the audience into a community. Focusing on the constant reinforcement of online brand community by supporting customer–customer relationships is critical for voluntary value co-creation. Originality/value The main contribution of this study to the literature on online brand communities is the presentation and empirical verification of pivotal social mechanisms of online brand community identification considered as a starting point to potential co-creation and capturing value based on the social presence theory.

The brand personalities of brand communities: an analysis of online communication

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1064-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannette Paschen ◽  
Leyland Pitt ◽  
Jan Kietzmann ◽  
Amir Dabirian ◽  
Mana Farshid
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Brand Personality ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Community ◽  
Computerized Content Analysis

Purpose Online brand communities provide a wealth of insights about how consumers perceive and talk about a brand, rather than what the firm communicates about the brand. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether the brand personality of an online brand community, rather than of the brand itself, can be deduced from the online communication within that brand community. Design/methodology/approach The paper is empirical in nature. The authors use community-generated content from eight online brand communities and perform content analysis using the text analysis software Diction. The authors employ the five brand personality dictionaries (competence, excitement, ruggedness, sincerity and sophistication) from the Pitt et al. (2007) dictionary source as the basis for the authors’ analysis. Findings The paper offers two main contributions. First, it identifies two types of communities: those focusing on solving functional problems that consumers might encounter with a firm’s offering and those focusing on broader engagement with the brand. Second, the study serves as a blueprint that marketers can adopt to analyze online brand communities using a computerized approach. Such a blueprint is beneficial not only to analyze a firm’s own online brand community but also that of competitors, thus providing insights into how their brand stacks up against competitor brands. Originality/value This is the first paper examining the nature of online brand communities by means of computerized content analysis. The authors outline a number of areas that marketing scholars could explore further based on the authors analysis. The paper also highlights implications for marketers when establishing, managing, monitoring and analyzing online brand communities.

The role of personalization, engagement, and trust in online communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjeong Kang ◽  
Dong-Hee Shin ◽  
Taeshik Gong
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
Perceived Familiarity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore whether brand community characteristics (perceived personalization and familiarity among members) affect brand community engagement through customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction. Design/methodology/approach – A survey questionnaire was distributed to members of online brand communities to test the research hypotheses. Findings – The findings showed that the relationships among the brand community constructs are significant. C2C interaction mediates the relations between the characteristic variables and brand community engagement. Furthermore, the findings revealed that brand community trust moderates the effects of perceived personalization on the quality of C2C interaction and on brand community engagement. It also moderates the relations between perceived familiarity among community members and each of brand community engagement and the quality of C2C interaction. Practical implications – Marketers should utilize a brand community’s C2C interaction for its marketing strategies. Moreover, managing brand communities by focussing on perceived personalized service and the familiarity of members can also ultimately increase community engagement by enhancing the quality of C2C communication. Originality/value – This study argues that firms need to manage online brand communities intuitively in order to increase members’ community engagement. To do so, they need to allocate spaces in which C2C communication can actively occur within brand communities, for example, in a discussion forum.

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