Chapter 9 - community approach

Question 1

brand community

Answer 1

• specialised, non-geographically bound community, based on structured set of social relationships among users of brand
• relies on shared identity:
  I. shared consciousness of kind: legitimacy, oppositional brand loyalty
  II. shared rituals and traditions: rituals, storytelling
  III. sense of moral responsibility: integrating/retaining members, assistance in use of brand

Question 2

assumptions of community approach

Answer 2

–>requires interaction between consumers –> triangular communication is fundamental (marketer–>consumer–>consumer)
2 key assumptions:
- ‘brand triad’ notion implies changes in the way ‘brand-consumer exchange’ is perceived
- community approach adds social brand perspective to brand management

Question 3

brand-consumer exchange (community approach)

Answer 3

• continuous brand-consumer dialogue shaping brand
• advantages: extreme consumer loyalty and enthusiasm; social benefits for consumers and important information sources (both benefiting consumer and marketer)
• disadvantages: autonomous consumers are capable to collectively reject marketing actions; difficult to manage due to shift in negotiation power

Question 4

sociocultural perspective

Answer 4

• roots in ethnography
• focus on consumer as cultural player in social setting using consumption experience as source of important personal social experiences

Question 5

theoretical framework of community approach

Answer 5

1. community theory
2. subcultures of consumption

Question 6

community theory

Answer 6

• online communities connect humans or consumers who share common interest
• no longer bound to geographical entity, so can be formal and informal

Question 7

subcultures of consumption

Answer 7

• adds social interaction to concepts like consumer loyalty, brand meaning, etc
• inspired a whole new stream of research into social aspects of consumption
• markers of subculture: hierarchal social structure, ethos manifest in shared beliefs and values, unique jargons and rituals, unique modes and symbolic expressions

Question 8

markers of community

Answer 8

1. brand communities
2. brandfests = proactive marketer establishes consumer interaction to facilitate evolvement of brand community
3. community brands = same characteristics as brand communities and brandfests but adds another dimension to scope of approach since no marketer exists

Question 9

types of brand communities

Answer 9

• brand public = results from aggregation of large number of isolated expressions that have common focus
• brand communities broken down into more nuanced categories based on how members actually relate to them:
  –>pools (=strong associations with shared activity/value, loose member connections)
  –>webs (= strong one-to-one relationships with others having similar needs)
  –> hubs (strong connections to central figure and weaker association with one another

Question 10

types of value creation

Answer 10

1. social networking: ‘welcoming’, ‘emphasising’, ‘governing’ members in behavioural expectations within community boundaries
2. community engagement: ‘documenting’, ‘badging’, ‘milestoning’, ‘staking’
3. brand use: ‘customising’, ‘grooming’, ‘commoditising’
4. impression management: ‘evangalizing’, ‘justifying’

Question 11

web 2.0 and social media

Answer 11

• triangular communication
• strong social communicator has opportunity of moving considerable amount of media spend from paid media
• need to behave accordingly and post other kinds of communication than traditional brand communication –> content marketing
• word-of-mount is important
• crowdsourcing: social interactions trigger new interpretations and new discoveries

Question 12

methods and data of community approach

Answer 12

1. ethnographic research = field research, observational research or participant observation and is characterized by researcher participation and variety of data –> insider/outsider dilemma, solved using pairs
2. netnography: applying principles of ethnography to internet-related fieldwork to collect knowledge of geographically dispersed brand communities

Question 13

managerial implications of community approach

Answer 13

• benefits of triadic communication: powerful sense of community have greater value to marketer than brand with weak one; brand meaning may be applied to marketing of new products; social collective
• threats of triadic communication: collective rejection of marketing efforts and use of communication channels to disseminate rejection; consumers don’t like international marketing; transparency, criticism, parody
• facilitating a community: strong and successful online WOM needs to take into account qualitative measures (social-, emotional-, functional-drivers)
• finding right balance between traditional and social media marketing