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Benson, Caroline, and Martin Hedrén. "Online Brand Communities - a Route to Brand Loyalty?" Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för ekonomi och teknik (SET), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-23231.
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Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the use of online brandcommunities helps sporting goods brands in building brand loyalty. Frame of Reference: The frame of reference begins with a presentation of brands leading upto brand equity and subsequently brand loyalty. The second part of thissection begins with a presentation regarding marketing communication,the promotional mix and online communities. Finally, brand loyalty andonline community is merged together into a presentation of brandloyalty in online brand communities. Method: The purpose is examined through comparing secondary data withquantitative collected data about community members’ purchasingbehaviour prior and after joining a sporting goods brand community. Empirical Framework: In this part the results of the online questionnaire is presented. Conclusion: The survey concludes that sporting goods brands' online brandcommunities have a positive impact and suggestions on further researchare presented.
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BARBOSA, ROBERTA DA SILVA ATHAYDE. "SOCIAL MEDIA BASED BRAND COMMUNITIES EFFECTS ON BRAND LOYALTY." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2018. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=35243@1.
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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIROCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTITUIÇÕES COMUNITÁRIAS DE ENSINO PARTICULARES
A rápida propagação e alta popularidade das mídias sociais digitais criaram um ambiente favorável à instalação de comunidades de marca. Cada vez mais, empresas criam comunidades - as chamadas fanpages no Facebook - como forma de se aproximar dos seus consumidores e alcançar a lealdade dos mesmos. Neste contexto, este estudo elaborou dois novos modelos conceituais para investigar como as comunidades de marca baseadas em mídias sociais afetam a lealdade à marca. A revisão de literatura realizada permitiu que esta relação fosse explorada por meio dos seguintes construtos: benefícios funcionais, psicossociais e hedônicos, comprometimento com a comunidade e boca-a-boca. Os dados da pesquisa foram obtidos através de uma survey on-line que, aplicada a membros da comunidade da Netflix no Facebook, gerou 1.236 respostas válidas. Estes dados, analisados por meio de modelagem de equações estruturais (SEM), confirmaram todas as hipóteses propostas e sugeriram que as comunidades de marca baseadas em mídias sociais influenciam positivamente na lealdade à marca. Os modelos finais da pesquisa indicaram, ainda, que os benefícios hedônicos são os que exercem maior influência sobre o comprometimento com a comunidade e sobre o boca-a-boca. Além disso, indicaram que o boca-a-boca decorrente da comunidade apresenta influência significativa sobre a lealdade à marca.
The digital social media s quick spread and its big popularity has built a favorable environment to the creation of brand communities. Increasingly, companies launch communities - known as fanpages on Facebook - as a way to approach their customers and reach brand loyalty. In face of that, this study sought to develop two new models in order to investigate how social media based brand communities affect brand loyalty. The literature review allowed this relation to be explored through the following constructs: functional benefits, social-psychological benefits, hedonic benefits, community commitment and word-of-mouth. The research data was collected via an on-line survey applied to Netflix s community members on Facebook, which had 1.236 valid responses. Structural equations modeling (SEM) was employed and confirmed all the research hypotheses, suggesting that social media based brand communities affect positively brand loyalty. The findings reveal that hedonic benefits are the major influencers of community commitment and word-of-mouth. Therefore, results show that the word-of-mouth from the community significantly influences brand loyalty.
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Han, Jung-Min. "The consumer negotiation of brand meaning in online brand communities." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-consumer-negotiation-of-brand-meaning-in-online-brand-communities(d7db292d-1fa1-4314-a595-53a2febbab44).html.
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There has been much enthusiasm over the power of online brand communities (OBCs). Ensuring that OBCs achieve their potential, however, is a challenge. Adopting the view that an OBC is a social entity at its core, this study examines consumers’ perceptions of OBCs and how consumers manage the continuous tension between social-related and brand-related aspects of OBCs through brand-related and non-brand-related social practices. The researcher took a symbolic interactionist approach and qualitative data were collected using ethnography and in-depth interviews from OBC participants in South Korea. The study was divided into two phases: the exploratory phase and the main study. In the first stage the researcher inspected OBCs and focused on understanding the social context by investigating four OBCs in the fashion and digital camera categories. Evidence of an OBC as a virtual third place (VTP) in the consumer’s mind was revealed. A typology was developed and social practices were revealed and defined. In the main study the researcher developed the framework of brand meaning negotiation and revealed how consumers symbolically interact and negotiate brand meaning through social practices. The tension between social-related and the brand-related aspects during this process was illustrated. The key contributions of this research are as follows. Firstly, the study reveals that an OBC has a strong VTP quality, whereby consumers hate to leave. Second, the study extends our understanding of an OBC by categorising consumers’ different perceptions of OBCs according to their attachment to the brand, the OBC and other participants. Third, the study reveals underlying social practices within OBCs that show the characteristics of a collectivistic culture. The study also fills the research gap by examining the brand meaning negotiation process and suggesting a framework that shows how underlying practices link brand and social-related aspects of an OBC together, which was formerly a “black box”. Lastly, it demonstrates that social bonds, regardless of their importance for making an OBC thrive, can be a double-edged sword and should be balanced carefully with brand-related practice.
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Dessart, Laurence. "Consumer engagement in online brand communities." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2015. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6638/.
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This thesis advances the concept of consumer engagement as a valid approach to the conceptualisation and measurement of Online Brand Community (OBC) participation. Against the background of rapid technological advances affecting the way consumers interact online, this thesis posits that past representations of OBC participation fail to adequately capture OBC participation. It further argues that consumer engagement offers a new analytical lens, which is more responsive to the interactive, social and multidimensional nature of OBCs. The thesis conceptualises consumer engagement in OBC as an affective, cognitive and behavioural phenomenon whereby a consumer is engaged both with the other members of the OBC and with the focal brand. It then identifies antecedents and outcomes of consumer engagement in English-speaking OBC. The measurement and conceptual model are tested using data from OBC participants. In particular, two original scales of consumer engagement are developed. The conceptual model is tested using structural equation modelling techniques, and the results largely support the research hypotheses. The results show that online interaction propensity, attitude toward OBC participation and product involvement positively relate to OBC engagement, and that online brand engagement is positively related to product involvement and OBC engagement. Online brand engagement shows positive correlations with brand trust, commitment and loyalty. Group invariance is largely achieved using data from French OBCs, which contribute to validating the English sample results. Overall, the thesis conceptually and empirically contributes to the burgeoning literature on consumer engagement in OBC and enhances our understanding of OBC participation. The study provides an improved, more online-relevant conceptualisation and measurement of consumer engagement and identifies its key individual drivers and relational outcomes. These findings also provide strategic implications for the community of OBC practitioners.
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Brylla, Konrad. "Self brand connecting communities eine Diplomarbeit über die Bedingungsfaktoren von brand communities am Beispiel der Marke Smart." Saarbrücken VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2008. http://d-nb.info/989177300/04.
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MOSCHIN, MASSIMILIANO. "Online brand communities: studio della comunità Fantic Motor." Doctoral thesis, Urbino, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11576/2665329.
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Eicker, Daniel Julius. "Brand communities Lösung für eine effektivere Markenkommunikation." Hamburg Diplomica-Verl, 2007. http://d-nb.info/989219232/04.
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Eicker, Daniel Julius. "Brand Communities : Lösung für eine effektivere Markenkommunikation /." Hamburg : Diplomica Verl, 2008. http://www.diplom.de/katalog/arbeit/10841.
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Wiegandt, Philipp. "Value creation of firm-established brand communities." Wiesbaden Gabler, 2009. http://d-nb.info/997539674/04.
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Martin, William Carroll. "Investigating the antecedents and consequences of perceived connectedness to brand users brand communities versus brand collectivities /." Diss., Mississippi State : Mississippi State University, 2009. http://library.msstate.edu/etd/show.asp?etd=etd-03262009-122935.
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Adomaviciute, Inga, and Denis Danilov. "Interaction between brand communities and a brand owner : The effect on community members’ perception of a brand." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-180003.
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Purpose The aim of the paper is to improve the understanding of effects caused by involvement of brand community members in communication with a brand owning company. The research has been conducted in Moscow, Russia. It examines brand values associated with Audi by Audi Club Moscow members, and those ones perceived by non-community members, and beside this, the degree of involvement in communication with the company of both. Research Method Numerous in-depth interviews have been processed among brand community members, people outside the community and the Audi AG employees. Results Through the analysis of primary data it was found that thanks to active communication with Audi brand community members associate with the brand values, similar to the brand holder’s ones. However, people outside the community, who do not actively communicate with the company, have the tendency to perceive brand values, controversial to brand owner’s ones. Research limitations/implications Due to the time and resources limits only one Audi brand community was chosen to represent Russia’s market. The investigation of communication channels between a brand and brand communities could be the direction of further studies. Practical implications The results of the study might have value for practical implementation in business; they could be used for building up and managing communication between a company and brand communities. Originality/value This study supplies the contribution to the existing literature and companies’ managers disclosing a field not analyzed before
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Decheco, Castro Maria Claudia, and Montes Beatriz Isabel Soto. "Brand communities, social support, brand engagement en relación al brand loyalty en la categoría de clothing retail." Bachelor's thesis, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/655614.
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La presente investigación tiene como objetivo analizar la categoría de clothing retail en el contexto peruano. Actualmente, el consumidor tiene más en cuenta el performance de una marca, no en cuántos canales está presente, ya que lo más resaltante son las estrategias que utilizan en la relación al cliente, siendo el tipo de contenido el que puede inducir a realizar compras a través del canal online u offline, migrando entre estos canales durante el proceso de compra.
Diferentes marcas han podido reconocer la importancia del Social Commerce, siendo este un nuevo desarrollo del comercio electrónico generado por el uso de las redes sociales para empoderar clientes para interactuar en Internet. De esta manera, se han identificado diferentes variables que permitirán conocer la efectividad de la comunicación de las marcas en las redes sociales. Por ello, esta investigación tomará en cuenta el estudio de cuatro variables, Brand Communities, Brand engagement, Social Support y Brand loyalty.
Este estudio se ha basado en diversas investigaciones que han utilizado una metodología cuantitativa. Es así que, a través del aporte de diferentes autores, se realizó un contraste de definiciones y relaciones con las variables mencionadas.
Finalmente, en este trabajo se espera evidenciar la base teórica que sí existe una relación entre el social support y las brand communities y, si esta suele implicar el desarrollo del brand engagement y el brand loyalty.The present research is aimed to analyze the category of clothing retail in the Peruvian context. Currently, the consumer takes more account of the performance of a brand, not on how many channels it is present because the most important things are the strategies they use in the customer relationship. Thanks to the type of content that can induce purchases through the online or offline channel, migrating between these channels, during the purchase process. Different brands have been able to recognize the importance of Social Commerce, this being a new development of e-commerce generated by the use of social networks to empower customers to interact on the Internet. In this way, the different identified variables will allow knowing the effectiveness of the communication of brands on social networks. Therefore, this research will take into account the study of four variables, Brand Communities, Brand engagement, Social Support, and Brand loyalty. This study is based on various researches that have used a quantitative methodology. Thus, the input of different authors had been contrasted and related to the selected variables. Finally, this work is expected to show the theoretical basis if there is a relationship between social support and brand communities and, if this usually implies the development of brand commitment and brand loyalty.
Trabajo de investigación
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Terechshenko, Milan, and Vera Radionova. "Brand Communities. : A quantitative study of brand community influence on prospective and existing members." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Handelshögskolan vid Umeå universitet, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-45215.
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This research was initiated due to the popularity brand community phenomenon is gaining among companies through last several years. Growing number of companies on the market and shortening of the life cycle of products, make companies work hard in order to retain existing customers and gain new ones. Brand communities may provide many benefits to companies such as ability to build customer loyalty, increase of the marketing efficiency and enhancement of a brand. We wish to explore brand communities from two perspectives: inside, factors that may influence brand community members in particular purchase of augmented products and word of mouth communication and outside, the perception of brand communities as a future value by prospective customers.Due to our philosophical considerations and non-geographical nature of brand communities, the research method that we have chosen is quantitative. In order to collect a large amount of primary raw data we have used a survey approach. Therefore the self-administered questionnaire was designed. Two sampling techniques were used in data collection process – convenience and snowball. The survey was distributed via e-mail and Internet. The predetermined respondents were asked to answer questionnaires and distribute them further. During the data collection period 258 respondents were surveyed.The findings of this research suggest that prospective customers, who have a favorite brand, see brand community as a future value, hence may have an incentive to buy products or services of a particular brand. A managerial implication in this case is that brand communities are a good opportunity for a company to build long term relations with existing customers by involving them in brand community activities. Brand community events such as meetings, festivals, and promotional activities also influence an incentive of consumers to buy augmented products or services of a company; hence giving a firm an opportunity to earn additional profits by selling more additional products, paid services or accessories. Word of mouth communication is another valuable asset that companies may use. In our research we have proved that word of mouth inside brand communities may influence its members to buy products or services of another brand under the influence of an opinion leader or the majority. So managers of companies that sell related or supplemented products may jointly organize events, and reach more consumers.
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Goodwin, Jill Suzanne. "Creating Brand Communities| A Phenomenological Study on Media and the Psychology of Brand Magic." Thesis, Colorado State University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10599404.
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Understanding the complexities of the consumer-brand relationship is an ongoing area of study in multiple fields. Stemming from the notion that brands convey cultural meaning, brand community studies focus specifically on the process of meaning creation. The traditional focus of brand community research has been on social interaction. However, newer research points to the psychological formation of brand communities in the absence of social interaction. The psychological sense of brand community (PSBC) model was created to account for this newer area of research. Mental models are the cognitive model individuals form to interact with the world around them. Based in psychology, mental model research postulates that individuals must first be able to internally represent their external world in order to interact with it. Mental model theory provides a foundation for insight to the individual’s reality of the brand community relationship at the social and psychological level. Thus, this study will use a qualitative phenomenological approach to elicit and explore the expressed mental models of members that self-identify with a brand community when exposed to branded media. In particular, this study centers around the Disney brand and how Disney’s use of video advertisements activates PSBC among a loyal following. By using a brand exemplar to study this phenomenon, common themes of the consumer-brand relationship are revealed that give insight to the types of internal representations of external reality elicited by branded media exposure. By gaining a better understanding of the difference between psychological and social brand communities, media communication scholars can gain a deeper understanding of how the types of messages created for a brand can foster a sense of relationship with the brand.
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Alotaibi, Meshaal Hamad. "A model of brand engagement in online brand communities: Co-creating value for the brand and the community." Thesis, Curtin University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/48582.
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Utilising qualitative and quantitative methods, this thesis examines customer engagement in value co-creation from a customer perspective. This thesis provides a model of brand engagement behaviours in online brand communities by taking into account co-creating value for the brand and the community. The findings identify three types of engagement behaviours - helping oneself, helping others and helping the firm - and provide an empirical model explaining antecedents and outcomes of each engagement behaviour.
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Hartman, Fredirk, and Helena Engström. "User innovation på brand communities : en studie av salesforce.com." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Avdelningen för företagsekonomi, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-32513.
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Bakgrund och problemformulering - Vi har valt att studera och analysera i vilket avseende det sker user innovation på ett forum skapat av företaget Salesforce. Forumet är ett brand community för användare som utvecklar Salesforce tjänster. Frågeställningarna behandlar om det sker olika typer av user innovation och vad det är som driver användarna till att innovera på det forum vi har valt att studera. Vår studie syftar till att bidra med en bredare kunskap och förståelse kring ämnet då det finns begränsad forskning kring user innovation inom online brand communities idag. Teori - Begreppet brand communities förklaras utifrån Muniz och O’Guinns (2001) synsätt som innebär att ett online brand community är en samlingsplats på internet dedikerat till ett specifikt varumärke. På vårt valda brand community innoverar användarna och vi utgår från Gault (2012) för att redogöra för begreppet innovation som i sin tur möjliggör en fördjupad förståelse för user innovation. Vi utgår från en definition av user innovation som innebär att användare innoverar för sin egen skull (von Hippel & Euchner 2013). Metodologi - Vi eftersträvar en djupare förståelse för user innovation på vårt specifika forum och då lämpar sig en kvalitativ explorativ ansats bäst. Inspiration har hämtats från Kozinets (2006, 2011) kvalitativa metod netnografi som innebär en deltagande-observerande forskning på nätet. Resultat - I detta avsnitt presenterar vi de likheter och skillnader som Salesforce forum har med Muniz och O’Guinns (2001) kriterier för vad ett brand community är. Vidare presenteras vårt resultat i form av två kategorier av user innovations: modifierade innovationer och skapande innovationer. Kategorierna förklaras och illustreras med exempel som klargör deras innebörd. Analys och diskussion - I analysen diskuterar vi vad som driver användarna på vårt valda forum att innovera och analyserar likheter och skillnader med redan befintliga teorier kring user innovation. Vi resonerar oss fram till en ny term vi väljer att kalla user co-innovation samt spekulerar i huruvida innovationerna genererar någonting för Salesforce. Slutsats - Vårt teoretiska bidrag till forskningen presenteras genom vår modell som illustrerar sambandet mellan user innovation, user co-innovation och våra två kategorier. Modellen innefattar vilka användare som innoverar, vilkafaktorer som driver dem till att innovera och resultatet av user co-innovation på vårt valda brand community.Nyckelbegrepp - Innovation, user innovation, lead users, brand community, online community, netnografi.Background and problematization -We have chosen to study to what extent user innovation occurs on a forum created by the company Salesforce. This forum is a brand community devoted to user development of Salesforce services. Our main research question is whether there occur different types of user innovations on the brand community we are studying and what it is that drives these users to innovate. Our study aims to contribute with a wider knowledge and understanding of user innovation on brand communities since the research of today on the subject is limited. Theory - In this chapter we explain the concept of brand community based on Muniz and O’Guinns (2001) definition which implies that an online brand community is an online meeting place for people dedicated to a specific brand. User innovation occurs on our chosen brand community and we base ourselves on Gaults (2012) theory to explain innovation in order to explain the term user innovation. We use one definition of user innovation which implies that users innovate for themselves (von Hippel & Euchner 2013). Methodology - We seek a deeper understanding of user innovation on our specific brand community and that makes a qualitative exploratory approach best suited. Inspiration has been taken from Kozinets (2006, 2011) netnography which is a qualitative method and involves participatory observation research online. Results - In this chapter we present the similarities and differences that we have been able to identify between Salesforce forum and the criteria for a brand community set by Muniz and O’Guinn (2001). Furthermore we introduce our result which consists of two categories of user innovations: modified innovations and creativity innovations. The categories are explained and illustrated with examples that clarify their meaning. Analysis and discussion - In this chapter we discuss what drives users on our chosen brand community to innovate and analyze similarities and differences between already existing theory on user innovation. Our discussion results in a new term which we choose to name user co-innovation. We also speculate whether the user innovations generate something of value for Salesforce. Conclusion - Our theoretical contribution to the subject is presented by our model that illustrates the connection between user innovation, user co-innovation and our two categories. The model includes which users that innovate, the factors driving them to innovate and the results of user co-innovation on our chosen brand community.
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Santos, Sílvia Micaela Tavares dos. "Relatório de estágio na Toluna SAS: online brand communities." Master's thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/16382.
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Mestrado em Línguas e Relações EmpresariaisO presente trabalho propõe-se relatar o estágio curricular completado pela aluna Sílvia Santos na Toluna (Paris), no âmbito do Mestrado em Línguas e Relações Empresariais. Ao longo deste trabalho, a aluna descreve a empresa e o estágio. A título de enquadramento teórico, este relatório inclui uma secção de pesquisa dedicada às brand communities. A aluna termina com uma reflexão crítica sobre a experiência e o seu enquadramento com o Mestrado em questão.
This paper reports the curricular internship the student Sílvia Santos completed at Toluna (Paris), within the framework of the Master’s degree in Languages and Business Relations. Throughout this paper, the student describes the company and the internship. This report includes a section dedicated to brand communities, as a means to offer some theoretical background. The student ends with a critical reflection about the experience and its relation to the relevant Master’s.
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Hoppe, Melanie. "Informelle Mitgliedschaft in Brand Communities Einflussfaktoren, Konsequenzen und Gruppenunterschiede." Wiesbaden Gabler, 2009. http://d-nb.info/993786839/04.
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Loonam, Mary. "An exploration of member involvement with online brand communities (OBCs)." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8642/.
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Despite growth in research investigating online consumer behaviour there appears to be a lack of study focusing specifically on how consumers are involved within online settings. Involvement is defined as the perceived relevance of a stimulus object such as a product to the individual consumer (Zaichkowsky, 1984). The study of consumer involvement is valuable as it is believed to be important mediator of consumer behaviour (e.g. Slater and Armstrong, 2010; Knox, Walker and Marshall, 1994). This study explores member involvement with Online Brand Communities (OBCs) focusing specifically on two questions: (1) What is involving about OBCs? (2) How are members involved with OBCs? The study employs a netnographic methodology consisting of participant observation of two OBCs over a nine month period. Based on the findings from the observation data two conceptual models relating to the characteristics and development of member involvement with the OBC are presented. The ‘Typology of Online Community Involvement’ model identifies four distinct types of member involvement with the OBC: (1) utilitarian involvement, (2) social involvement, (3) ego-related involvement, and (4) affective involvement. The ‘Journey of Member Involvement with the OBC’ model charts the different pathways that members who are involved with the OBC may undertake during their membership. The findings provide deeper insights into online consumer behaviour such as triggers that prompt members’ initial and continued involvement with OBCs. Recommendations for management focus on developing tools and strategies that help cultivate and sustain member involvement with the OBC.
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Xie, Quan. "Youthful Users' Participation in Facebook Brand Communities: Motivations, Activities, and Outcomes." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1420562909.
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Pasternak, Oleksandra. "Electronic word-of-mouth in online brand communities : drivers and outcomes." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2017. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8132/.
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Current study advances the understanding of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in the context of online brand communities (OBC) embedded in social media. The focal concept of this thesis is OBCeWOM, which represents a behavioural manifestation of OBC engagement – a growing stream of research in the brand community literature. By connecting the two key streams of research on online consumer-to-consumer and consumer-brand interactions, the current thesis addresses the nature, drivers and outcomes of OBCeWOM in the social media setting. The study follows a sequential mixed-methods research design, where the data was first collected via 22 semi-structured interviews, followed by a survey of 652 members of social media-based OBCs. The research was divided into three studies in line with the stated research questions. Consistent with the RQ2 and RQ3, Study 1 utilised semi-structured interviews to identify the key motivations for and outcomes of OBCeWOM in the social media setting which were consequently included in the finalised conceptual framework. Following this, Study 2 relied on interview and survey data to answer the RQ1 by clarifying the dimensionality of and developing a new measurement scale for OBCeWOM. Finally, Study 3 utilised the survey data to confirm the relationships hypothesised in the conceptual model and answer the RQ2 and RQ3. Findings of this thesis confirm the multi-dimensional nature of OBCeWOM, consisting of reading, posting and sharing components and offer a new reliable measurement for eWOM in the OBC context. Results of the study further identify four key motivations of OBCeWOM in the social media setting, including getting assistance from the brand, social interaction, social expression of opinions and expressing positive emotions. Concurrently, self-expression motivation has a negative effect on OBCeWOM. Finally, this thesis confirms the role of OBCeWOM in brand trust, brand loyalty, and oppositional brand loyalty. Current research offers several theoretical, methodological and managerial implications.
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Jaber, Julia, and Gabriella Lundvall. "Social media marketing - An insight on companies’ brand communities on social media." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-31257.
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Järnfors, J. (Jani). "The relationship between content marketing and user engagement in online brand communities." Bachelor's thesis, University of Oulu, 2018. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201805312278.
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This bachelor’s thesis is a systematic literature review focusing on the relationship between content marketing and user engagement in online brand communities. Based on the literature reviewed, it creates definitions for the main terminology, investigates the value of engagement for both online communities and marketers, creates a model of the factors motivating user engagement in online brand communities and connects this to content marketing. In addition, guidelines for engaging users in online brand communities are provided for content marketers based on the findings of the research. Finally, the thesis suggests topics for further research into online brand community management.
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Moscato, Emily Marie. "Brand Communities and Well-being: Learning to Age in a Red Hat." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/64202.
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The older female segment plays a critical role in society's fabric, as women past retirement volunteer a significant amount in their communities and provide essential caregiving to family members and friends. Moreover, older females outnumber older males and with the baby boomer population aging over 65, this segment is becoming more influential. Yet there is surprisingly little marketing research that focuses on this older female segment, their lived experiences, and their well-being. Working within the tradition of consumer culture theory, this project is an ethnographic exploration of the Red Hat Society (RHS), a brand community which focuses on celebrating older women. This research adds to the theoretical understanding of older female consumers by exploring how older women negotiate the meaning of aging, gender, and identity. Extending on brand community literature, I suggest how the RHS manages to create a supportive, 'safe space' in which members are able to engage play and learning. Play performances, enacted in through costuming and other rituals within the brand community, are extended beyond the bounds of this 'safe space' to influence the identities and well-being of these women.Ph. D.
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Meek, Stephanie A. "Understanding influences on the critical-to-success factors in online brand communities." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2016. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1808.
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In an internationally competitive market a company’s brand is its most valuable asset, and increasing and retaining loyal customers is key to long-term success. Forging binding relationships between consumers and their brand is therefore of critical importance to most organisations (Lhotáková, 2012). Previous studies indicate that online brand communities (OBCs) effectively facilitate such relationships (Backhaus, Steiner & Lugger, 2011; Madupu & Cooley, 2010) and provide companies with reliable marketing intelligence to potentially gain a competitive advantage.
OBCs are online forums dedicated to a specific brand, where consumers gather and exchange information and socialise. Today they are more prevalent than ever before, yet research in this area is still limited. From a marketing perspective, research indicates that creating bonds between the consumer and the brand offers stability to the brand, and consumers who involve themselves with brand communities’ exhibit higher levels of brand loyalty (Brodie et al, 2013; Thomas & Veloutsou, 2013). Therefore it is essential that marketers understand the culture of OBC’s, in order to retain existing members, and to develop strategies to encourage new members to join.
The objective of this study was to identify and examine both individual and community level attributes that influence members’ participative behaviour and sense of belonging (SOB) to OBCs, as these factors are critical for retaining members and sustaining the community. In addition, the strength of each relationship was measured, based on whether members were socialisers or information seekers, as this has been the subject of significant discourse in the online community literature.
The investigation employed a mixed methods approach and two-stage process. The first stage involved netnography and focus groups (qualitative research) in order to provide depth and clarity to the study and structure to the questionnaire (quantitative research) used in stage two. The sample for this study consisted of 659 OBC members from around the world; however the majority of respondents (455) were from one specific community with an affiliation to the LEGO® brand. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine if items loaded on their respective constructs, Cronbach’s alpha was performed to check the internal consistency of the items for reliability, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of the model. Finally, structural equation modelling (SEM), in the form of path analysis, was used to test the hypotheses.
Key findings from the research indicate that the strongest individual level influence on participative behaviour in an OBC is the network ties that develop between members in the community. This suggests that friendships between community members have the capacity to increase the time they spend in the community and the number of posts they contribute. The level of perceived anonymity is another individual level factor found to have a significantly negative effect on participative behaviour, and a sense of belonging, therefore as members become more recognisable in the community the more they actively participate, and the greater attachment they develop to the community. From a community perspective social capital represented by a shared language, shared vision, social trust and reciprocity has the most significant influence on the sense of belonging members develop in the community. This suggests that the quality and structure of the relationships in an OBC, and the culture of the environment has a strong effect on the strength of the connection members cultivate with an OBC. Interestingly when the data is separated between subgroups of information seekers and socialisers network ties only increase participative behaviour for information seekers, and perceived anonymity only has an influence on participative behaviour for socialisers.
The results of this study support the proposed conceptual model and offer insights into the different influences on consumer behaviour in OBCs, and how the purpose for participation affects the composition and strength of those influences. Iimplications for marketers, organisations and OBC administrators include a greater understanding of the factors that encourage and support participative behaviour and sense of belonging to the community. Consequently, stakeholders can use this information to develop strategies that will ensure the ongoing success of their OBCs. Theoretical contributions include bridging the gap between the literature related to online communities in general and the unique characteristics of OBC’s, developing a valid measurement scale for social capital in an OBC context, and establishing a structural framework of consumer behaviour specific to OBC’s.
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Gyori, Laszlo Alexandru, Arthur Heurtaux, and Pedro Alonso Talavera. "Relationships on social media based brand communities : Explaining the effect on customer-based brand equity in the service industry." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för marknadsföring (MF), 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-65022.
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Background: The importance of brand communities is increasing as managers have understood the benefits such communities which can create competitive advantage. Companies are trying to differentiate from the competitors and customer-based brand equity has been acknowledged as a successful marketing tool. Moreover, the development of social media allowed people from different cultures to come together, interact and share experiences in regards of their favorite brand. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the effect of relationships on social media based brand communities on customer-based brand equity in the service industry. Methodology: The research proposes a sequential explanatory design which consists of a mixed approach by collecting and analyzing the quantitative data first, followed by the collection and analysis of the qualitative data in the form of interviews based on the quantitative results. Data has been collected from Facebook Groups and Facebook Fan Pages in regards of an airline. Findings: Relationship that customers form with the brand, other customers and the service on social media based brand equity have a positive effect on customer-based brand equity. Furthermore, perceived brand trust represents a significant moderator in this relationship. Additionally, results show that there are differences between different cultures in enhancing brand equity. Keywords: Social Media, Brand Communities, Customer-Based Brand Equity, Service Industry, Perceived Brand Trust, Culture
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McClure, Samantha. "Brand Engagement in Relation to the Elements of Uses and Gratifications Theory through Participation in Virtual Brand Communities on Pinterest." Thesis, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10163337.
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Many advertising, marketing, and communication professionals look for ways to increase consumers’ engagements with their brands. In doing so many have begun to use social networking sites, such as Pinterest. Consumers can engage with brands through participation in these sites. Through this brand engagement, businesses can hope for positive customer satisfaction towards their specific brand, which can lead to the development of brand attachments. The purpose of this study was to show the association between brand engagement and the elements of uses and gratifications theory, specifically through the use of the virtual brand community of Pinterest. Statistical tests were conducted to determine the relationship between individual and multiple elements of the uses and gratifications theory and brand engagement.
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DellaBruna, Sylvie, and Beata Edlund. "Directing Customer Social Identity Through Influencer Marketing and Brand Co-creationActivities : A NA-KD Case Study." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Jönköping University, IHH, Företagsekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-49010.
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Background: Today, for firms to engage with customers, it takes more than traditional advertisements, enticing prices and celebrity endorsements. Customers now rely on and expect to become an active rather than passive participant in the firm’s branding and marketing activities. Due to this change in the marketing environment firms have moved towards utilizing social media influencers and brand co-creation activities to drive the level to which customers connect their self-concepts with the brand. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the unique ways in which NA-KD uses their influencer marketing strategy and brand co-creation activities to drive the social identities of their customers and to create a model that visualizes this process. Method: An exploratory study has been conducted by the authors to investigate the influencer marketing and brand co-creation activities of the firm as to address the purpose of this paper. A single case study was performed where NA-KD was the primary subject of research. Semi-structured interviews with key employees working within marketing, collaborations and content creation was the primary source of data collection. Conclusion: The empirical findings demonstrated the processes which employees at NA-KD created to develop their influencer marketing and brand co-creation strategies. The findings showed that the social identities of customers in an influencer-born firm are able to be directed through the activities within influencer marketing and brand co-creation. From these findings a conceptual model representing the process and management of social identity direction and producer-consumer relationship formation. This process includes influencer marketing, brand co-creation and brand experience, managed by methods of CRM and circle mapping to allow for self-brand connections and continued firm growth to occur.
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Blüchert, Simon, and Mårten Nordbeck. "Connecting Value Co-Creation Practices and Consumer Relationships in Brand Communities : A Comparative Multiple Case Study of Two Adidas Runners Communities." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-414424.
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A strong brand community is characterized by its value co-creation practices and brand community consumer relationships. Although previous brand community literature explains the contribution of brand community entities through these practices and relationships separately, no identified research has focused on how these practices are connected to the consumer relationships. In short, this body of literature has neglected to describe what practice corresponds to which consumer relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study sought to describe the value co-creation practices within brand communities in relation to its consumer relationships. A comparative multiple case study of two Adidas Runners communities was applied to address this. The findings suggest that the higher level of brand community entity involvement in value-co creation practices, the stronger brand community consumer relationships. Furthermore, the study details the connections between the different value co-creation practices and their corresponding consumer relationships. Specifically, these connections are as follows; social networking and community engagement practices connected to the consumer-other consumers and consumer-marketer relationships, impression management practices connected to the consumer-brand relationship, and brand use practices connected to the consumer-product and consumer-marketer relationships. In addition, the findings suggest the practice of socializing to be added to the set of value cocreation practices.
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Sorensen, Anne. "Social media for social good: Value creation in social media based cause brand communities." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2015. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/91391/4/Anne%20Sorensen%20Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis presents a case study of value creation in the social media based brand communities of two Australian cause organisations. It improves understanding of how value is created in this increasingly important environment by examining participants' posts and practices, organisational strategies and supporters' perceptions of value creation. The thesis shows that while value creation is complex, value is generated for supporters and organisations alike, and positively influences the outcomes for recipients of the vital services provided by the cause organisations. Value creation in this context thus manifests social good for supporters, service recipients and society at large.
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Hedin, Charlotte, and Britta Balogh. "Brand consistency : A case study of Stadium." Thesis, Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Textilhögskolan, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-20731.
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A brand has to communicate to its customers in a consistent way to achieve a strong position and to distinguish from competitors on today’s market. Many companies operate and offer their products and services on the current market in physical and virtual environments. Therefore the issue to communicate in a consistent appearance within all channels is an increasing challenge. This thesis work studies the matter of how companiesare working with brand consistency in their business in physical and virtual environments. This was done to analyze the consequences of the problem when a brand isinconsistent in its messages to the customer and in its operations. For this work the qualitative research method and a case study have been chosen. The case study includes observations of three physical Stadium stores, located in the centre of Gothenburg, Sweden and Stadium’s website. This was chosen to analyze this matter in real life in both environments. The theoretical framework consists of two main areas: These are branding and relationship marketing, which support this research. Brand includes the theories of brand identity and brand image, and relationship marketing comprises the theories of customer loyalty, brand communities and additional value. These areas have been used throughout the whole work as tools to research the issue of brand consistency. The empirical data has also been recorded according to these areas. As the conclusion, the findings of the thesis work have shown that brand consistency builds an important part in a company’s communication channels. For the case of Stadium it can be stated that it has positive approaches in working with brand consistency but also points out parts that are lacking and indicating inconsistency.Program: Magisterutbildning i Fashion Management
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Zhang, Jie (Olivia). "The exploration of consumer power in online brand communities : a comparison case study in Australia and China." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2008. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/26373/1/Jie_Zhang_Thesis.pdf.
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Aided by the development of information technology, the balance of power in the market place is rapidly shifting from marketers towards consumers and nowhere is this more obvious than in the online environment (Denegri-Knott, Zwick, & Schroeder, 2006; Moynagh & Worsley, 2002; Newcomer, 2000; Samli, 2001). From the inception and continuous development of the Internet, consumers are becoming more empowered. They can choose what they want to click on the Internet, they can shop and transact payments, watch and download video, chat with others, be it friends or even total strangers. Especially in online communities, like-minded consumers share and exchange information, ideas and opinions. One form of online community is the online brand community, which gathers specific brand lovers. As with any social unit, people form different roles in the community and exert different effects on each other. Their interaction online can greatly influence the brand and marketers. A comprehensive understanding of the operation of this special group form is essential to advancing marketing thought and practice (Kozinets, 1999). While online communities have strongly shifted the balance of power from marketers to consumers, the current marketing literature is sparse on power theory (Merlo, Whitwell, & Lukas, 2004). Some studies have been conducted from an economic point of view (Smith, 1987), however their application to marketing has been limited. Denegri-Knott (2006) explored power based on the struggle between consumers and marketers online and identified consumer power formats such as control over the relationship, information, aggregation and participation. Her study has built a foundation for future power studies in the online environment. This research project bridges the limited marketing literature on power theory with the growing recognition of online communities among marketing academics and practitioners. Specifically, this study extends and redefines consumer power by exploring the concept of power in online brand communities, in order to better understand power structure and distribution in this context. This research investigates the applicability of the factors of consumer power identified by Denegri-Knott (2006) to the online brand community. In addition, by acknowledging the model proposed by McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig (2002), which emphasized that community study should focus on the role of consumers and identifying multiple relationships among the community, this research further explores how member role changes will affect power relationships as well as consumer likings of the brand. As a further extension to the literature, this study also considers cultural differences and their effect on community member roles and power structure. Based on the study of Hofstede (1980), Australia and China were chosen as two distinct samples to represent differences in two cultural dimensions, namely individualism verses collectivism and high power distance verses low power distance. This contribution to the research also helps answer the research gap identified by Muñiz Jr & O'Guinn (2001), who pointed out the lack of cross cultural studies within the online brand community context. This research adopts a case study methodology to investigate the issues identified above. Case study is an appropriate research strategy to answer “how” and “why” questions of a contemporary phenomenon in real-life context (Yin, 2003). The online brand communities of “Haloforum.net” in Australia and “NGA.cn” in China were selected as two cases. In-depth interviews were used as the primary data collection method. As a result of the geographical dispersion and the preference of a certain number of participants, online synchronic interviews via MSN messenger were utilized along with the face-to-face interviews. As a supplementary approach, online observation was carried over two months, covering a two week period prior to the interviews and a six week period following the interviews. Triangulation techniques were used to strengthen the credibility and validity of the research findings (Yin, 2003). The findings of this research study suggest a new definition of power in an online brand community. This research also redefines the consumer power types and broadens the brand community model developed by McAlexander et al. (2002) in an online context by extending the various relationships between brand and members. This presents a more complete picture of how the perceived power relationships are structured in the online brand community. A new member role is discovered in the Australian online brand community in addition to the four member roles identified by Kozinets (1999), in contrast however, all four roles do not exist in the Chinese online brand community. The research proposes a model which links the defined power types and identified member roles. Furthermore, given the results of the cross-cultural comparison between Australia and China showed certain discrepancies, the research suggests that power studies in the online brand community should be country-specific. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on online consumer power, by applying it to the context of an online brand community, as well as considering factors such as cross cultural difference. Importantly, it provides insights for marketing practitioners on how to best leverage consumer power to serve brand objective in online brand communities. This, in turn, should lead to more cost effective and successful communication strategies. Finally, the study proposes future research directions. The research should be extended to communities of different sizes, to different extents of marketer control over the community, to the connection between online and offline activities within the brand community, and (given the cross-cultural findings) to different countries. In addition, a greater amount of research in this area is recommended to determine the generalizability of this study.
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Zhang, Jie (Olivia). "The exploration of consumer power in online brand communities : a comparison case study in Australia and China." Queensland University of Technology, 2008. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26373/.
Full textAbstract:
Aided by the development of information technology, the balance of power in the market place is rapidly shifting from marketers towards consumers and nowhere is this more obvious than in the online environment (Denegri-Knott, Zwick, & Schroeder, 2006; Moynagh & Worsley, 2002; Newcomer, 2000; Samli, 2001). From the inception and continuous development of the Internet, consumers are becoming more empowered. They can choose what they want to click on the Internet, they can shop and transact payments, watch and download video, chat with others, be it friends or even total strangers. Especially in online communities, like-minded consumers share and exchange information, ideas and opinions. One form of online community is the online brand community, which gathers specific brand lovers. As with any social unit, people form different roles in the community and exert different effects on each other. Their interaction online can greatly influence the brand and marketers. A comprehensive understanding of the operation of this special group form is essential to advancing marketing thought and practice (Kozinets, 1999). While online communities have strongly shifted the balance of power from marketers to consumers, the current marketing literature is sparse on power theory (Merlo, Whitwell, & Lukas, 2004). Some studies have been conducted from an economic point of view (Smith, 1987), however their application to marketing has been limited. Denegri-Knott (2006) explored power based on the struggle between consumers and marketers online and identified consumer power formats such as control over the relationship, information, aggregation and participation. Her study has built a foundation for future power studies in the online environment. This research project bridges the limited marketing literature on power theory with the growing recognition of online communities among marketing academics and practitioners. Specifically, this study extends and redefines consumer power by exploring the concept of power in online brand communities, in order to better understand power structure and distribution in this context. This research investigates the applicability of the factors of consumer power identified by Denegri-Knott (2006) to the online brand community. In addition, by acknowledging the model proposed by McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig (2002), which emphasized that community study should focus on the role of consumers and identifying multiple relationships among the community, this research further explores how member role changes will affect power relationships as well as consumer likings of the brand. As a further extension to the literature, this study also considers cultural differences and their effect on community member roles and power structure. Based on the study of Hofstede (1980), Australia and China were chosen as two distinct samples to represent differences in two cultural dimensions, namely individualism verses collectivism and high power distance verses low power distance. This contribution to the research also helps answer the research gap identified by Muñiz Jr & O'Guinn (2001), who pointed out the lack of cross cultural studies within the online brand community context. This research adopts a case study methodology to investigate the issues identified above. Case study is an appropriate research strategy to answer “how” and “why” questions of a contemporary phenomenon in real-life context (Yin, 2003). The online brand communities of “Haloforum.net” in Australia and “NGA.cn” in China were selected as two cases. In-depth interviews were used as the primary data collection method. As a result of the geographical dispersion and the preference of a certain number of participants, online synchronic interviews via MSN messenger were utilized along with the face-to-face interviews. As a supplementary approach, online observation was carried over two months, covering a two week period prior to the interviews and a six week period following the interviews. Triangulation techniques were used to strengthen the credibility and validity of the research findings (Yin, 2003). The findings of this research study suggest a new definition of power in an online brand community. This research also redefines the consumer power types and broadens the brand community model developed by McAlexander et al. (2002) in an online context by extending the various relationships between brand and members. This presents a more complete picture of how the perceived power relationships are structured in the online brand community. A new member role is discovered in the Australian online brand community in addition to the four member roles identified by Kozinets (1999), in contrast however, all four roles do not exist in the Chinese online brand community. The research proposes a model which links the defined power types and identified member roles. Furthermore, given the results of the cross-cultural comparison between Australia and China showed certain discrepancies, the research suggests that power studies in the online brand community should be country-specific. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on online consumer power, by applying it to the context of an online brand community, as well as considering factors such as cross cultural difference. Importantly, it provides insights for marketing practitioners on how to best leverage consumer power to serve brand objective in online brand communities. This, in turn, should lead to more cost effective and successful communication strategies. Finally, the study proposes future research directions. The research should be extended to communities of different sizes, to different extents of marketer control over the community, to the connection between online and offline activities within the brand community, and (given the cross-cultural findings) to different countries. In addition, a greater amount of research in this area is recommended to determine the generalizability of this study.
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Mashego, Sendra Dimakatso. "Evaluating the influence of corporate social responsibility on brand reputation in the mining industry: a case study of Exxaro's Grootegeluk mine." Master's thesis, Faculty of Commerce, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33793.
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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now playing an imperative role in South Africa and globally, especially in the mining sector. This industry is expected to make profits while contributing towards a better society. Despite the industry‘s significant contribution to the economy, it also has a negative impact socially and environmentally. Over the past decades the mining sector has been seen as not mindful of its immediate stakeholders. Communities in close proximity to mines do not trust mining companies due to perceptions that mining companies fail to consider the environment within which they operate. Communities are often left with the impression that mines have simply degraded the environment without contributing to sustainable local development such as such as poverty, health, infrastructure, education and unemployment. The reputation of mining companies thus has declined, resulting in economic losses. Mining companies still interpret CSR as an environmental stewardship rather than a model for improving alignment with its stakeholders, as well as enhancing and building brand reputation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of CSR on the mining industry's brand reputation. The study links the CSR efforts of Exxaro‘s Grootegeluk Mine and their ability to enhance the mine‘s reputation in areas of operation. Exxaro is among the top five coal producers in South Africa. The Grootegeluk Coal Mine is an open cast coal mine in Lephalale, Limpopo. A quantitative research methodology was applied using a face to face structured self-administered questionnaire to collect primary data from a sample of 330 participants. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted with a view to condense the sample composition. The non-probability sampling was deemed appropriate for this study, particularly, the simple random sampling. Regression analysis was deemed suitable to for this study. The collected data was analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Research results have shown that CSR has a favourable association with brand reputation. The study found that community members are more aware of the mine‘s economic responsibility in relation to other dimensions of CSR. This finding implies that the community is more in-tune with aspects that have a direct bearing on their livelihood and are more inclined to seek opportunities and initiatives that improve their overall standard of living. Overall, the findings show that organisations that invest in socially responsible behaviour have higher levels of perceived reputation among the society. Philanthropic initiatives should be developed with the involvement of community members to ensure that their real needs will be determined. Poorly developed community projects do not benefit the mine or the community. The mines should look into sourcing the majority of its staff from the local community. In addition, mining organizations should look into aggressively training local community members who do not possess the required skills necessary for employment within the mining sector. Furthermore, communities should be made aware of all CSR initiatives which are relevant to them through community engagement initiatives because this action will lead to attitude and behaviour changes towards the mine. Previous studies have focused mainly on how CSR initiatives contribute to brand value, customer satisfaction, brand attitude, customer retention, and customer loyalty, and on the relationship between CSR and organization performance. This study highlights the importance of CSR measures on organizational reputation and advises policymakers, the mining industry and scholars.
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Linte, Thibault, Ariane Hervier, and Vincent Bogdan. "Being Small and Managing Communities : An explorative study on how SMEs utilize community management to communicate." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-78445.
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Research on community management conducted in the past has used primarily examples and case studies within large corporations. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) also need to be included in community management, exploring the ways in which they deal with community management and if the large company theories on the subject can be applied to them. In an attempt to respond to this gap in community management we respond to the question of how do small and medium-sized companies utilize communities to communicate successfully to their consumers? During our work, we noted that SMEs were facing two phases when dealing with community management. A strategic step, where the company has to define its goals, its targets, the means it will invest and the tools it will use to deal with community management. The second phase being an operational step includes the creation of communities and the management of them. In the strategic step, we pointed out questions which companies have to address before starting community management including the benefits that the company expects from the community, the amount it will invest in it and the tools the company will use. In the operational step, five main principles were highlighted as commonly used by SMEs to communicate through communities: (1) promotion of an Ideal, (2) uniting around shared interests, (3) the use of the myth as a gathering factor, (4) the importance of the community involvement in the company, and (5) the physical interaction between community members and the brand. Additionally, we found that SMEs have two main advantages when it comes to collaborating with customers/fans that large businesses did not have: proximity and flexibility. However, we found that it was difficult for small companies to find competent people working in the community management field. This lack of knowledge within SMEs appeared to be the primary reason why most brand communities failed. Therefore, in this thesis we aimed to point out good habits in terms of community management in order for SMEs to possess a basic knowledge, thus enabling them to benefit from their advantages of proximity and flexibility, which are a result of by their size and is essential for community management.
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Baumann, Bernhard. "Der Community Value als Teil des Customer Value Eine quantitative Untersuchung der Nutzendimensionen von Brand Communities /." St. Gallen, 2004. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/01665363001/$FILE/01665363001.pdf.
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Bhandari, Min Parsad. "The role of consumer participation and engagement in influencing loyalty and word-of-mouth : user generated brand communities." Thesis, Abertay University, 2018. https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/54e683be-dc28-447a-8984-b6321ff06222.
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This research aims to investigate the role of consumer engagement in influencing loyalty and word-of-mouth through a user generated brand community on Facebook by collecting evidence from both quantitative and qualitative studies. A quantitative study is adopted to test the engagement dimension and its relationships with other constructs, such as participation, loyalty, and word-of-mouth, with a sample size of 551 collected among Facebook users in the UK. The empirical analysis from the quantitative data supports the ABC (i.e., affective, cognitive, and behavioural) dimensions of engagement as assumed in the study and finds a positive relationship between engagement, participation, loyalty, and word-of-mouth. Similarly, a qualitative study is adopted in the form of a semi-structured interview held with six user Apple brand champions from an Apple user generated online brand community on Facebook. A thematic analysis is conducted to analyse the engagement dimensions and their relationship to participation, loyalty, and word-of-mouth. In addition, the application of both the methods (i.e., the quantitative and qualitative studies) to investigate the main aim helps the research to attain complementarity. The combination of both methods provides evidence to justify the engagement dimensions and their relation to participation, loyalty, and word-of-mouth. The quantitative study supports the argued engagement dimensions and their relationship with other constructs, whereas the qualitative study explores other components of engagement and their relationship with similar constructs, as well as helping to enhance the relationships and dimensions of engagement. Moreover, this study contributes to marketing literature by empirically validating customer loyalty and word-of-mouth as outcomes of customer participation and engagement. No study so far has empirically investigated the effect of customer engagement on loyalty and word-of-mouth in a user-generated online brand community context. This enhanced understanding of vigour, personal identity, attention, absorption, sharing, and learning suggests that marketers should concentrate on the type of information presented, as well as the format in which information is presented outside the company’s networks. Community markers, such as feelings, emotions, excitement, contribution, and interaction with peers, contribute significantly to engaging and influencing loyalty and word-of-mouth with both the brand community and the brand itself.
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Gaber, Hazem Rasheed Abd ElWalkil. "Consumer engagement in social media based brand communities : a study of Facebook and fast-food in Egypt." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2017. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/34152/.
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This research project was conducted in response to several calls by marketing scholars and practitioners for a better understanding of the concept of consumer engagement in general and social media based brand communities in particular. The term ‘consumer engagement’ has grown in importance in recent years to describe consumers’ interactive experiences with brands. The popularity of that term was boosted by the rapid penetration of social networking sites which facilitated engagement of consumers through online brand communities embedded in it. This thesis investigates consumer engagement in Facebook brand pages. These pages are considered a form of online brand communities that are created by many companies for marketing purposes. Fast food brand pages in Egypt were used as a context for conducting this research study, where they are extensively used for targeting young consumers. With the purpose of identifying the factors that enhance consumer engagement in these online communities, this study examined consumers’ relationships with brands that initiated these communities as well as consumers’ perceptions inside these communities. Also, it studied the role of these brand pages in fostering consumers’ brand love as well as brand equity dimensions and outcomes. Brand love is an important marketing concept that has been appearing in academic publications recently to describe consumers’ emotional connections with brands. It is becoming widely accepted that consumers’ emotions towards brands, are a key determinant for their consumption behaviour. A mixed method research design incorporating focus groups and online surveys was used to collect data in the current study. The data collection was conducted by drawing a sample from young consumers whose ages are between 18 and 29, and who are active members of official fast food brand pages on Facebook in Egypt. The first phase of this study adopted a series of qualitative focus group discussions with the aim of exploring the nature and dimensionality of consumer engagement from the perspective of young Egyptian consumers. Also, it was useful in exploring the benefits these consumers seek by their engagement in online communities. The second phase was conducted through an online survey that was posted on Facebook brand pages of the fast food chains in Egypt. The aim of the quantitative phase was to test a conceptual framework for the antecedents and outcomes of consumer engagement in social media based brand communities. This framework was developed from an extensive literature review as well as the qualitative discussions. The findings indicated that consumer engagement is a multidimensional concept that consists of emotional, cognitive and behavioural dimensions, as well as several sub-dimensions. Also, three factors related to consumers’ relationships with brands (brand identification, satisfaction and trust) and four factors related to consumers’ perceptions inside the brand communities (critical mass; functional, hedonic and monetary benefits) were identified as antecedents of consumer engagement. Moreover, the study proved the positive effect of consumer engagement on the development of brand love. Furthermore, it indicated a positive influence of brand love on brand equity dimensions and outcomes. The current study contributes theoretically by enhancing our understanding of the concept of consumer engagement, particularly in the context of social media based brand communities in Egypt. More importantly, the inclusion of brand love is expected to contribute to the body of consumer-brand relationships literature. Also, this thesis contributes by providing a measurement scale for consumer engagement in the context of social media. On the other hand, the study provides some practical implications, where it provides some useful guidelines for companies to follow when advertising to young consumers on Facebook brand pages.
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Erkas, Eivor, and Jennifer Baron. "The Importance of Storytelling in Today's Business : A case study." Thesis, University of Gävle, Department of Business Administration and Economics, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-189.
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Summary
This thesis discusses the possibility for PERSONEC to use storytelling as a strategic communicative concept in its marketing to mediate the brand identity of its organisation. In the search for this, we have chosen to describe the concept of brand identity and storytelling as a draft for the construction of the brand.
We have then analysed how storytelling can be applied, and already is, at PERSONEC and also presented some recommendations about how storytelling could be developed by PERSONEC.
In this thesis we investigate how PERSONEC communicates and manages its brand identity through the implementation of storytelling. Our main problem is: How can PERSONEC use storytelling as a concept to communicate its brand identity both internally and externally? This in turn involves two sub questions, namely: What is the brand identity of PERSONEC? And: What is storytelling as a concept and how can it be employed at PERSONEC?
Data collection has been performed using a qualitative method. In order to find out about brand identity and storytelling, primary data has been gathered through interviews with key personnel at PERSONEC. Secondary data consists of results of surveys on public awareness of the PERSONEC image as well as results from customer satisfaction survey on PERSONEC. The findings have been analysed based on diverse theories on brand and storytelling. Our thesis has in the beginning an explorative approach which at the end results in a conclusive description.
Theories, mainly from Aaker (1996) and Kapferer (2003) have been used to investigate the brand identity of PERSONEC. In accordance with their theories, the identity can describe the reality of the organisation and can be a tool to create a unitary illustration of the organisation, to be communicated internally and externally. In our results we have found that PERSONEC is symbolised by knowledge in personnel-, payroll- and financial management in the Nordic region with an experienced and diversified staff.
Based on theoretical and empirical material about storytelling we have found key issues of the notion of storytelling. These involve discussions about the concept of storytelling, its area of application and how stories should be structured and also which aspects are important for this process. We consider storytelling as a concept to structure the communication of an organisation both internally and externally. The stories can act as a bridge between the organisation and the outside world and can also simplify description and communication of complex processes and concepts. In order to differentiate itself PERSONEC should continue to use storytelling to communicate its core values in a more emotional and engaging way.
Stories reveal. Stories motivate. Stories bind individuals into teams. Stories create solutions.
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Lim, Jaehoon. "A transition process from information systems acceptance to infusion behaviour in online brand communities : a socialization process perspective." Thesis, Brunel University, 2012. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/6516.
Full textAbstract:
Social media such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and online communities plays an important role for knowledge production and diffusion as well as discussions among people. Among social media, online brand communities (OBCs) have recently received attention from both academics and practitioners due to the practical benefits of OBCs for consumers and companies. For consumers, knowledge sharing and its collective activities help them to make purchase decisions and to protect themselves against firms’ monopoly and oligopoly or collusion and anticompetitive actions. For companies, new ideas and feedback on brand products created by OBC members are useful input to develop new products and enhance existing product lines. Therefore, active content generation by community members is one of the critical success factors of OBCs. However, many scholars argue that only a few members who are more devoted to a community are tending to engage in OBC activities and many community members tend to remain in the periphery (sometimes called ‘lurkers') of the community by using OBCs merely for gathering information without any contributions. Therefore, it is important to make members in the periphery of the community transit to the core to increase members’ intentions and ‘devoted members’ to produce more valuable benefits for both consumers and firms. In spite of its importance, the literature is lacking in efforts to explain how and when community members in the periphery transit to the core of the community in a long-term perspective. This study aims to reveal how and why OBC members transit from the periphery to the core of the community and how to increase their intention to use OBC from a long-term perspective. OBC use behaviour is classified into, largely, two categories according to the purposes of an OBC: behaviour with a brand product consumption purpose; and behaviour with a social relationship building purpose. This study classifies OBC members as three clusters by social identity theory: tourists, minglers, and devoted members (devotees and insiders). The devoted members have valuable consumption knowledge of brand and strong social bonds in the OBC and the OBC members become a devoted member by accumulated brand knowledge and experiences through long-term OBC use. Therefore, from a socialisation aspect, this study adopts organisational socialisation theory as the theoretical lens to explain how and why the members evolve from novice members as tourist to devoted members in OBC contexts. Socialisation theories argue that there are usually three sequential stages for a member to gain full membership in a community: pre-entry, accommodation, and affiliation. In addition, this study adopts IS implementation theory to understand OBC user behaviours from an IS use behaviour perspective: acceptance in the pre-entry stage and routinisation in the accommodation stage and infusion in the affiliation stage. By reviewing socialisation theory and IS implementation theory, this study finds four significant motivations, those of information quality, trust, sense of belonging, and brand loyalty for intention of OBC use from the acceptance (pre-entry) to infusion (affiliation) stages. To integrate the socialisation perspective with the IS use perspective, this study adopts a technology acceptance model (TAM) as a theoretical framework to link to motivators in different OBC use behaviour from the acceptance to infusion stages. As a result, this study proposes a conceptual framework to explain the OBC members’ transition process from acceptance (pre-entry) to infusion (affiliation). The aim of this study is to predict and explain the transition of motivators for OBC use from pre-entry to affiliation and how to improve members’ intention of OBC use from a long-term perspective ultimately to foster ‘devoted members’. This study adopts an online survey targeting 518 participants who belong to 17 OBCs in South Korea and the conceptual framework is validated. The results show that all factors (i.e. information quality, trust, sense of belonging, brand loyalty) are significant determinants to increase intention to use OBCs and the factors have a causal relationship with each other to form a transition process from the acceptance (pre-entry) to infusion (affiliation) stages. This study also reveals that brand loyalty has a significant role to explain the transition process and directly influence user intention to use OBCs. The sense of belonging also directly affects members’ intention to use OBCs but has less impact than brand loyalty. In addition, the results indicate that TAM is an appropriate model to predict user behaviours in a long-term perspective to explain the change of OBC use behaviour from the acceptance to infusion stage and confirms that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have significant impact on the intention to use OBCs as in other IS studies. Understanding the transition process within OBCs has theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it will extend our understanding of how IS end users transit from acceptance behaviour to continued use and extended use of information systems in virtual community contexts. For managers, this study will provide them with insight on how to retain potential consumers in OBCs and facilitate their activities to gain consumer feedback on existing and new products.
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Zafir, Haneen Osama. "The impact of customers' experience of quality on brand loyalty : a study of health and diet online communities." Thesis, Brunel University, 2016. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/13721.
Full textAbstract:
Consumer experience plays an increasingly significant role in influencing the success of most businesses. The concept of ‘consumer experience’ has become an important area of study within the disciplines of marketing and consumer behavior. Regardless of its positive attention, this phenomenon has received in recent years; the clarification of consumer experience quality in online communities has remained unclear and needs a detailed theoretical base. In addition, it has been assumed that there is a relation between consumer experience quality and brand loyalty, nevertheless, there is limited research to confirm this theoretical proposition. The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth perspective on the concept of consumer experience quality and its dimensions in the online community. The Internet has changed the behavior of consumers significantly where individuals have used online communities to interact with one another. These online communities enable individuals to connect globally in order to communicate effectively since inappropriate communication activities can affect the image consumers have formed with a particular organization from online social networks. As a result, the traditional way of communication is changed using interactive platforms. Data was collected through qualitative and quantitative research using an online blog where consumers shared ideas, experiences and interacted with each other about their experiences of Weightwatchers and Slimming World in the United Kingdom. The qualitative research was done by applying Netnography technique that uses content analysis of consumer reviews of their experiences in the Health and Diet online communities. Using the PLS-SEM, the structural model proposed in this study revealed a significant positive relationship between pragmatic experience and overall quality experience. Thus, the current study maintains the notion that pragmatic experience is a key determinant of overall quality experience. In addition, finding of this study suggests that consumers assess their online experience when participating in “health and diet online communities”. These pragmatic components are reflected in the consumers’ benefits gained during interacting with the online community. Furthermore, it was evident that consumers view the online community as important in relation to their feelings and enjoyment because the forum provides them with the opportunities and preferences to share health and diet information with other community members. Consequently, the participants in the “health and diet online communities” will eventually generate moods, feelings and emotional experiences after interacting with each other in order to develop an affective relationship with a company’s brand and products.
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Santos, Cátia Filipa Albano. "How to engage low category users through social media: the case of the make-up sector in Portugal." Master's thesis, NSBE - UNL, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/9521.
Full textAbstract:
A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsPurpose: This work project should be inevitably deemed as a practical approach to a marketing problem; “How to engage low category users through the social media – the case of the make-up sector in Portugal”. Design/methodology/approach: Online structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used. The questionnaire was answered by 110 women aged from 15 to 45 years old and the interviews were conducted with 14 women of the same age. The interviews provided key insights for the questionnaire formulation. Findings: Women are poorly informed on make-up properties and characteristics, feeling a genuine concern in regard to this subject. Lack of time, occasional usage and skin damage are the main barriers for make-up usage by low category users. Overcoming these aspects pass by demystifying the association of make-up with skin damage and emphasise the functional and emotional benefits of make-up. Further, brands need to create contents more consumer-oriented and ask directly to fans/followers suggestions and other insights. Resort to Portuguese “common” women for greater empathy in campaigns, promote online meetings between followers and make-up professionals on social media; and finally take advantage of the hybrid condition of Facebook, which incorporates multiple forms of content presentation, including videos, the most appealing format of make-up presentation for women. Research limitations/implications: Further studies addressing this topic, by using larger samples and study of specific make-up brands and campaign programs, over social media to reach a solid growth potential of make-up market evidences in Portugal. Originality/ value: Make-up brands are emphasising their interest in linking social media and marketing their promotional mix around social marketing.
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Almeida, Stefânia Ordovás de. "Os efeitos da participação em comunidades virtuais de marca no comportamento do consumidor: um estudo comparativo entre comunidades gerenciadas pelas organizações e pelos consumidores." Universidade de São Paulo, 2009. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/12/12139/tde-10092009-101222/.
Full textAbstract:
O surgimento de comunidades virtuais de marca como avenidas estabelecidas para as ações de marketing de uma ampla gama de produtos e serviços é um tema atual e relevante; entretanto, os estudos recentes ainda não responderam a uma importante questão: é melhor para as organizações criar suas comunidades de marca ou deixá-las fluir por parte da iniciativa dos consumidores? Buscando lançar luz sobre esse ponto, este trabalho propõe um framework teórico para avaliar e comparar a participação do consumidor nos diferentes tipos de comunidades de marca virtuais, gerenciadas pela empresa ou pelo consumidor. Levando em consideração seus antecedentes-chave (homogeneidade demográfica e psicográfica percebidas, liberdade de expressão e disponibilidade de avenidas virtuais) e o impacto destes em comportamentos futuros por parte do consumidor. Para tanto, foram utilizados procedimentos qualitativos, para desenvolvimento do framework teórico e indicadores de mensuração, e a técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais para teste e validação dos modelos de mensuração e estrutural. Como objeto de estudo, foram utilizadas duas comunidades distintas para o mesmo produto a plataforma de jogos XBOX da Microsoft. Uma gerenciada pela própria empresa (XBOX Brasil) e outra gerenciada pelos consumidores (Portal XBOX). Os resultados apontam para um impacto direto dos constructos antecedenteschave testados no modelo estrutural sobre as variáveis mediadoras e destas na variável consequente. O efeito moderador da comunidade de origem também é confirmado através da análise multigrupos, que apontou a comunidade oficial como mais efetiva em gerar lealdade em suas diversas formas, porém a comunidade gerenciada por consumidores como mais efetiva em gerar identificação, participação e efeitos comportamentais. Tais resultados contribuem para o conhecimento acadêmico e gerencial em marketing, pois apresentam uma nova abordagem de estudo para a gestão de comunidades de marca e, consequentemente, das relações entre grupos de consumidores e organizações. Limitações encontradas no estudo e encaminhamentos para futuros estudos também são discutidos.The insurgence of virtual brand communities as established venues for marketing actions for a wide range of products and services is an important relevant topic in the marketing field. Despite its significance, recent studies have not addressed an important question: is it better for companies to build, manage and support their own brand communities or let them be developed and run entirely by customer enthusiasts? Looking for some insights about this specific topic, this study proposes a theoretical framework to evaluate and compare customer participation in the different virtual brand communities company-managed and consumermanaged considering its key antecedents (perceived demographic and psychographic homogeneity, expressive freedom and availability of virtual venues) and their impact on future consumer behaviors. To accomplish this goal: (1) qualitative procedures were applied to develop the theoretical framework and measurement items, and (2) the structural equations modeling technique was used to test and validate the measurement and structural models. To test the research hypotheses, two different communities for the same product were used the Microsoft XBOX game console one managed by the company (XBOX Brasil) and the other managed by consumers (Portal XBOX). The findings indicate a direct impact of the key antecedents tested in the structural model on to the mediators, and also a direct impact of the mediators on to the consequent construct. The moderator effect of community of origin is also confirmed through multi-group analysis, which indicated that the official community is more effective in generating loyalty in its diverse forms, whereas the consumer-managed community proves to be more effective in generating identification, participation and behavioral effects. These findings contribute to the academic and managerial knowledge in the marketing field, as they present a new perspective of study for the brand communities management, and for the relations between groups of consumers and organizations. Limitations of this research and suggestions for future studies are also discussed.
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Martins, Daniela Portugal Craveiro. "Brand equity within business networks : the case of Innoenergy." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/17292.
Full textAbstract:
Mestrado em MarketingEsta investigação visa estudar o valor da marca dentro das redes de negócios através do caso da KIC InnoEnergy, uma entidade europeia que promove a inovação na área da energia sustentável. Com base em conceitos como redes de negócios, brand equity e comportamento de compra organizacional, pretende-se avaliar o valor da marca da empresa na sua rede, bem como entender as necessidades do seu ecossistema e o que mais valorizam. Os dados foram recolhidos através de métodos qualitativos e a amostra incluiu alguns dos stakeholders. Concluiu-se que a InnoEnergy tem um forte valor de marca entre o ecossistema das start-ups, bem como entre os seus parceiros, enquanto a educação é a linha de negócios em que as associações da marca precisam de ser mais trabalhadas. Concluiu-se também que as semelhanças entre Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) podem ser prejudiciais para a saliência da marca no seu ecossistema. De uma perspectiva teórica, sugere-se a inclusão de um novo bloco na adaptação do modelo de Keller para business-to-business, que teria o nome de "network". Futura investigação deve centrar-se em cada relação com os diferentes atores e linhas de negócio, o papel da marca neste contexto e as consequências práticas das semelhanças em termos de branding das diferentes KICs.
This research aims to study brand equity within business networks through InnoEnergy's case, a European entity that promotes innovation in the sustainable energy field. Based on concepts such as business networks, brand equity and organizational buying behavior, it is intended to evaluate the brand equity of the company in its network as well as to understand the needs of its ecosystem and what they value the most. To this end, data was collected through qualitative methods and the sample included some of the stakeholders. It was concluded that InnoEnergy has strong brand equity among the start-up's ecosystem, as well as among its partners, whereas Education is the business line in which the associations need to strengthen the most. It was also concluded that the similarities between Knowledge and Innovation Communities can be harmful to the salience of the brand in its ecosystem. From a theoretical perspective, it is suggested the inclusion of a new block in the Keller's model adaptation to business-to-business, called "networks". Further research should focus on each relationship with the different actors and business lines, the role of branding in this context and the practical consequences of the similarities between KICs branding.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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Dia, Uzezi. "Exploring value creative and value destructive practice through an online brand community: : The case of Starbucks." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Avdelningen för företagsekonomi, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-38151.
Full textAbstract:
This paper explores value co-creation and value co-destruction with a focus on the social practices embedded in the online brand community “My Starbucks Idea (MSI).” The objectives of the research are accomplished through a detailed explanation of the study’s stages, starting with the Research design/Planning, and followed by the Community Entry (Entrée), Data collection, Limitations, and Ethical implications. Since the study is exploratory in character, the qualitative research strategy was used. As Bryman and Bell (2011) note, qualitative research gives particular attention to words rather than numbers in the gathering and interpretation of data. This study applied a modified ‘netnographic’ approach, a new qualitative method devised specifically to investigate consumer behaviour vis-à-vis cultures and communities present on the Internet (Kozinets 1998). This study identifies three elements of practice: stalking, gossip, and exhibitionism. It also supports the idea stated by Echeverri & Skålén (2011) that there is no positive without a negative in interactive value formation. Although those authors’ work was focused on the provider-customer interface, the idea proves applicable to the online brand community (OBC) used for illustration in this study. The present study also draws attention to a vital characteristic of practice often forgotten: ‘Language’ as an enabler of all other elements (Whittington 2006). The paper contributes to the knowledge in the practice theory domain, and thus consumer culture, especially relating to OBCs. When using OBCs as a marketing tool, considerable ingenuity must be employed by business managers to gain strategic information and feedback from online forum discussions. Such information can help in the company’s strategic decision making. By building relationships and gaining new customers through the process of collaboration, managers can become more like brand storytellers. Also, such communication can be channelled as a means to create greater awareness, both of the brand and the users’ experiences, along with aiding in the development of better services and products to meet customers’ needs. In the current study, consent was an ethical concern that limited the scope and path taken by the paper. The ten-week research period was another limiting factor in properly covering all of the contextualized consumption activities and gaining sufficient experience within the MSI community.
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Sponga, Alexandra. "Competing Smartphone brands: Understanding brand rivalry between two brand communities." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10214/6761.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is an investigation of brand rivalry between two competing brands. The number of Smartphone users in Canada is rising and is not expected to slow anytime soon. Two major Smartphone brands have emerged as competing brands in this product category: Samsung and Apple. When two strong companies emerge brand rivalry can manifest. Brand rivalry seems to be under studied in the consumer behaviour literature, yet is common amongst consumers. Current literature pertaining to brand rivalry focuses primarily on the ‘dark’ side of this concept, manly oppositional brand loyalty and brand rivalry. Utilizing focus groups, this study gains a more holistic view of the interaction between opposite brand community members. The findings extend the existing literature by offering evidence of the ‘lighter’ side to brand rivalry.
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Matečná, Mária. "Budovanie brand communities." Master's thesis, 2017. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-431656.
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MATEČNÁ, M. Building brand communities. Diploma thesis. Brno: Mendel University in Brno, 2017. This diploma thesis deals with the functioning of brand communities in the form of friends clubs in the Czech Republic. The goal is to analyze the status of friends clubs and to identify the motivation and willingness of people to engage in communities. In the thesis are specified band communities and their building, estab-lishing, characteristics and realized community activities. The thesis explores the motives of people to engage in communities and identifies the factors perceived by the benefits of membership. Using analysis of primary data obtained through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews are made suggestions of recom-mendations for emerging and existing friends clubs and more specific for the Klub přátel Českého rozhlasu Brno.
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Sohn, Youngju Korzenny Felipe. "Opinion leaders and seekers in online brand communities centered on Korean digital camera brand communities /." Diss., 2005. http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07012005-002206.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2005.Advisor: Dr. Felipe Korzenny, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept of Integrated Marketing Communication. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains v, 55 pages. Includes bibliographical references.
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Lee, Jia. "Online anti-brand communities in Korea." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2010-12-2583.
Full textAbstract:
This paper attempts to explore the nature of the online anti-brand communities in
South Korea. The current state of the online anti-brand communities is discovered with
regards to different kinds of online platforms and the categories of targeted products and
services. Case analyses of three popular anti-brand communities were conducted to discover how dissatisfied consumers form a group, interact with other consumers, and generate group actions. Specific details of consumer interactions and collective actions in the online anti-brand communities provide some managerial implications of how to effectively react to the
anti-brand movement.text
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Goellner, Katharina. "Brand Community Duty: The Role of Duty in Brand Communities." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10214/3593.
Full textAbstract:
In their exploratory study Muniz & O’Guinn (2001) found three markers of a brand community: a sense of belonging, rituals and tradition and a sense of duty toward the community. Two of the three markers of community have been included in conceptual models on brand communities. However, the third marker (sense of duty) has not been implemented up to now. Hence, the objective of this thesis is to extend Bagozzi & Dholakia’s (2006) brand community model by incorporating the construct “sense of duty”.
In this research, a conceptual model of brand communities is developed. Overall, the findings support the conceptual model. The results show that sense of duty is a decisive mediator of brand community behaviours and that sense of duty is divided into three distinct components: new member integration, product usage and member retention. Further, this research indicates that community-related behavioural intentions are not significantly related to purchase intentions.