Soccer and Twitter: virtual brand community engagement practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 791-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tulio Zanini ◽  
Fábio Carbone de Moraes ◽  
Vitor Lima ◽  
Carmen Migueles ◽  
Carlos Lourenco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Original Proposal ◽  
Content Development ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify how consumer engagement practices shape the dynamics of a soccer club virtual brand community. Design/methodology/approach A netnographic approach was employed. Using a Python script, more than 7,000 tweets about São Paulo FC soccer club on Twitter were collected and analyzed using the Virtual Brand Community Engagement Practices typology. Findings The dynamics of engagement relies on two types of practices: those that comprise the actions of tweeting, retweeting, replying to, mentioning and liking messages from and about the São Paulo FC soccer club profile and those derived from the proposition of Hollebeek et al. (2017). Given the dynamics of Twitter, some practices have performed differently than the original proposal, resulting in a slight adaptation of the framework. Research limitations/implications Given the length and the netnographic nature of this study, its findings should be considered exploratory. Future studies can build upon the ideas presented here by researching different contexts and focal objects of engagement. Practical implications This paper provides the refinement of social media strategies and content development to make them more efficient and to establish a relevant communication channel with audiences. This knowledge can contribute to a better understanding of goals and metrics. Originality/value This paper is based on the behavioral nature of engagement in virtual brand communities, which is an increasing topic of interest. To date, few studies have examined online engagement using a practice approach specifically in the sports marketing context.

scholarly journals Unveiling heterogeneous engagement-based loyalty in brand communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 1854-1881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Dessart ◽  
Joaquín Aldás-Manzano ◽  
Cleopatra Veloutsou
Keyword(s):  
Brand Loyalty ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Brand Engagement ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Behavioural Engagement ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Although recent research appreciates that consumers increasingly interact with brands in brand communities and that brand engagement is an important and complex phenomenon in brand communities, little is known about the nature of individuals’ brand engagement in brand communities. This study aims to identify brand community members’ segments in terms of their brand engagement within the community; help us understand if these segments use a different approach in the development of brand loyalty; and develop mechanisms that can be used to identify members of these segments. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a quantitative approach and uses a total of 970 responses from members of Facebook brand pages in three popular languages on Facebook (English, French and Spanish). Data are analysed with structural equation modelling, integrating FIMIX-PLS and POS-PLS. Findings The results reveal that cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement dimensions play a different role in driving brand loyalty. Three different segments of engaged consumers exist (emotional engagers, thinkers and active engagers). Variables related to the perceived value of the brand community provide initial explanations as to the differences of the consumer groups. Research limitations/implications The data were collected from a specific type of brand communities (Facebook-based, company-managed brand communities) and are self-reported. Practical implications This work demonstrates the heterogeneity of brand community members in terms of their brand engagement profile and the effect of this profile on the formation of behavioural brand loyalty. Suggestions on identifying members of these segments based on the value that they get from the community are offered. Originality/value This work extends the brand engagement and brand community literature. It is the first work that provides this nature of actionable suggestions to the teams supporting brands with brand communities.

Brand community motives and their impact on brand community engagement: variations between diverse audiences

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Haverila ◽  
Caitlin McLaughlin ◽  
Kai Christian Haverila ◽  
Julio Viskovics
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
North American ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to compare two different sample populations (student and general) to determine the impact of brand community motives on brand community engagement.Design/methodology/approachTwo samples were drawn for the purpose of the current research. The first sample was drawn among the members of various brand communities from a general North American population sample (N = 503). The second sample was drawn purely from students, belonging to a variety of brand communities, from a middle-sized Canadian university (N = 195). Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the strength, significance and effect sizes of the relationships between brand community motive and engagement constructs.FindingsThe findings indicate that the impact of brand community motives varied by sample population. The information and entertainment motives were significantly related to brand community engagement in both sample populations with roughly equal effect sizes. The social integration motive was again significantly related to the brand community engagement construct in the student sample population – but not for the general North American general population sample. Further, the self-discovery motive and status enhancement motives were significantly related to brand community engagement in the North American sample, but not for the student sample. This indicates significant differences between the two sample populations.Originality/valueThe results of the current research demonstrate that student populations are significantly different from the general population regarding their motives towards brand communities. This indicates that brand community managers need to be aware of the motives of different brand community members and also that they need to exercise caution about utilizing purely student data to make decisions about brand community management.

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.

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.

Reducing consumer loneliness through brand communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deirdre G. Snyder ◽  
Kevin P. Newman
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Need To Belong ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Brand Evaluations ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of belonging to brand communities in improving consumer well-being and brand evaluations. Design/methodology/approach Two studies were conducted. Study 1 manipulates the framing of a brand to be either socially- or product-oriented and measures brand community joining intentions based on underlying levels of consumer loneliness and need to belong. Study 2 manipulates feelings of belongingness with a brand community and measures its impact on relatedness satisfaction, state loneliness and brand evaluations. Findings Study 1 finds that lonely consumers with a high need to belong are more likely to express intentions to join a brand community when it is socially-oriented. Study 2 finds that belonging to a brand community improves relatedness satisfaction which, in turn, reduces state loneliness and improves brand evaluations. Practical implications This research has significant implications for marketing practitioners who are looking to foster relationships among consumers in the form of brand communities, especially given the positive impact of these communities on consumer well-being. These findings suggest that marketers should create brand communities that foster a social (rather than product) focus to create a sense of belongingness with the brand and among its community members, and that doing so can improve relatedness satisfaction needs and reduce consumer loneliness. Originality/value This research contributes to the growing literature on consumer loneliness and is among the first to identify the positive psychological outcomes of socially-oriented brand communities on loneliness.

The impact of external social and internal personal forces on consumers’ brand community engagement on Facebook

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 409-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Simon ◽  
Tim Oliver Brexendorf ◽  
Martin Fassnacht
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Consumer Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Online Brand Communities ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Consumer engagement has been designated as an approach to describing online interactions that more comprehensively reflects the nature of consumers’ interactive relationships in online brand communities. This paper aims to explore consumers’ brand community engagement in the context of Facebook brand pages. This research puts forth the hypothesis that consumers’ brand community engagement on Facebook is dependent upon two overarching themes: external social forces and internal personal forces. Design/methodology/approach Based on social impact theory, social identity theory and social exchange theory, a conceptual research model is developed and empirically tested through structural equation modelling using cross-sectional data of 460 Facebook brand fans. Findings The empirical results suggest that internal personal forces primarily positively influence brand community engagement, while external social forces can even impact consumers’ brand community engagement negatively. Research limitations/implications Future research should test and validate the proposed model for specific categories and brands. Practical implications This paper offers help to online brand marketers to trigger meaningful engagement of consumers in a brand community on Facebook. Originality/value This paper examines the consumer engagement construct from a behavioural perspective in a defined social media context and highlights the peculiarities of online brand communities on Facebook that distinguish them from traditional brand communities. The research uses a strong theoretical foundation to develop a model that investigates the prevalent variables that influence consumers’ brand community engagement on Facebook.

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.

scholarly journals Millennial cultural consumers: co-creating value through brand communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Vaux Halliday ◽  
Alexandra Astafyeva
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
Brand Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Communities ◽  
Art And Culture ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Community Theory ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Research Propositions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise millennial cultural consumers (MCCs) to bring together strands of consumer theory with branding theory to consider how to attract and retain younger audiences in arts organisations. Within that the authors single out for attention how “brand community” theory might apply to MCCs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a conceptual paper that reviews and comments on concepts relevant to helping arts organisations develop strategies to attract and retain younger consumers in their audiences. Findings – Thoughtful conceptual insights and four research propositions for further work by academics and/or practitioners on Millennials and the art and culture world are derived from this review and commentary. Managerial implications are also drawn out. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the knowledge development of such concepts as value and brand communities. It also provides an explanation of these concepts conncecting academic thought on value with pressing management challenges for arts organisations, suggesting ways to apply brand community thinking to innovatiely conceptualised MCCs.

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 Patents valuation in core innovation: case study of a Brazilian public university

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri Basile Tukoff-Guimarães ◽  
Claudia Terezinha Kniess ◽  
Renato Penha ◽  
Mauro Silva Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Public University ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Valuation Methods

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess how technology transfer offices (TTOs) of a public university of the state of São Paulo use patent valuation methods in the process of using developed technology value and transferring technology to industry. Design/methodology/approach This study is an exploratory qualitative investigation based on a case study conducted in a public university in the state of São Paulo. The university has a TTO and an internal structure for technology transfer. In-depth interviews were conducted with the TTO manager about patent valuation and the answers given were analysed. Findings The results on how TTOs use patent valuation methods in the process of assigning value to technology indicate which factors facilitate and which factors hinder the valuation of patents in technologies developed at universities. Research limitations/implications The possible lack of data disclosure due to confidentiality regarding royalties and trading fees makes further comparisons between Brazilian public universities difficult. Therefore, this study recommends that further studies on patent valuation and technology transfer process at private universities, research institutes and public and private companies should be performed. Practical implications In the practice, this study contributes to companies and TTOs by increasing their synergies in licensing negotiations, as well as by reducing the gap of information, between the business parties for assignment and transfer of technologies. With regard to theoretical contribution, this study can cite advances in the methods to measure the financial benefits arising from the valuation of technologies embedded in the patents. Originality/value Owing to the lack of research on the methods of valuation used by TTOs of Brazilian universities, the present study can be useful in serving as a theoretical source for future research and in supporting future TTO negotiations in the process of transferring technologies to productive industry.

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