Brand Communities Essay Example

Definition of Brand Communities

Glynn & Woodside (2009) states that a brand is not simply the company logo or simply the symbol but a set of associations which satisfies the demands of a customer . On the other hand, a community is defined as a group of people with mutual characteristics and whose feelings and sense of responsibility are mutually same (Jang et al., 2008). Therefore, a brand community can, therefore, be defined as a group of individuals who are like-minded about a particular product is the same or simply a group of persons who are loyal to a particular brand.

Motivating Factors of a Brand Community

Motivating factors of the online community lead to the formation and continued existence of the online community. About this, Sung et al. (2010) provide that social media is responsible for the creation and continued existence of online brand communities since they can interact from there. Also, Martínez-López et al. (2016) suggest that the creation of brand communities had been inspired by the fact that developing online brand communities is being seen to influence the long-term customer loyalty of a particular. Therefore, the social media and creation of long-term customer loyalty have motivated the creation of consumer brands.

Drivers for Engagement with Online Communities

Online communities have benefits that are associated with the creation of brand communities.Wang (2002) argues that it is crucial for the customers to interact with the online brand communities for them to become aware of the benefits associated with them. Also, online communities create value to the customer. In conjunction to this, Serje (2012) has studied value creation of virtual communities are aviation centered. .

Social Roles in Online Communities

The brand loyal customers keep asking questions, and as they are answered, they get educated by knowing what they did not know previously. Therefore, online communities provide a platform where customers can enjoy the feeling of association by interacting with online brand communities (Dholakia, Bagozzi and Pearo, 2004). Also, the companies which are the owners of particular brands share new information with their customers in the online communities. In addition to educating, online communities help in inspiring the members by giving them incentives for their good deeds. Therefore, there are crucial roles that the online communities play, which include educating and encouraging its members.

Examples of Brand Communities

Brands that have developed brand communities include Harley- Davidson, JEEP, LEGO, e-Bay among other companies.According to brand Albert, Merunka & Valette-Florence (2008), helps people who are loyal to a particular group become loyal and assist them to define themselves as people belonging to that particular brand. About these, these people can be able to create a social class within themselves, for instance, a class which is loyal to JEEP can be a type which is composed of high-class people.

References

Albert, N., Merunka, D. and Valette-Florence, P. (2008). When consumers love their brands:

Exploring the concept and its dimensions. Journal of Business Research, 61(10), pp.1062-1075.

Dholakia, U., Bagozzi, R. and Pearo, L. (2004). A social influence model of consumer participation in network- and small-group-based virtual communities. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 21(3), pp.241-263.

Glynn, M. S., & Woodside, A. G. (2009). Business-to-business brand management: theory, research and executive case study exercises. Bingley, JAI Press.

Jang, H., Olfman, L., Ko, I., Koh, J. and Kim, K. (2008). The Influence of On-Line Brand

Community Characteristics on Community Commitment and Brand Loyalty. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 12(3), pp.57-80.

Martínez-López, F. J., Anaya-Sánchez, R., Aguilar-Illescas, R., & Molinillo, S. (2016). Online Brand Communities: Using the Social Web for Branding and Marketing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24826-4

Seraj, M. (2012). We Create, We Connect, We Respect, Therefore We Are: Intellectual, Social,

and Cultural Value in Online Communities. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(4), pp.209-222.

Sung, Y., Kim, Y., Kwon, O. and Moon, J. (2010). An Explorative Study of Korean Consumer

Participation in Virtual Brand Communities in Social Network Sites. Journal of Global

Marketing, 23(5), pp.430-445.

Wang, G. (2002). Attitudinal Correlates of Brand Commitment. Journal of Relationship

Marketing, 1(2), pp.57-75.