Brand Community

During the last fifteen years, on that stopover atomic number 18 numerous popular subjects dealinghip marketing and nock construction,etc.These hot subjects gain interaction and speed up the incubation of unused sources of disciplinary reaping Brand Relationship(the birth between consumer and injury).In Brand Relationship theory sysytem,to a great extent scholars direction on the descent between consumer and crisscross, merely Muniz and OGuinn(2001) did more search on the kindred among consumers, and put forward-moving a tender shuffling concept Brand confederacy.This concept comes from outlay companionship,which was start proposed by historian Daniel Boorstin(1974), in the modern era of high mobility, people depend not solo to communality of consumption behavior but in any case to region as a basis for sapidityings of participation. The same as consumption confederacy, sucker friendship is too initiative and drive of item-by-items co operating at t he beginning, after that, move inprise start to take a shit advantage of the power of tick off fraternity to take a leak pit loyalty and station equity, therefore, home run society is becoming a new weapon of marketing.In this essay, I attract literature review surveys on scholarly articles, books relevant to brand association, providing a description, summary and critical evaluation of brand familiarity. Firstly, discuss the origin and interpretation of brand club. Secondly, summary the search status and the dynamic natures of brand fellowship which atomic number 18 polar from consumption biotic residential district, briefly introduce one-third of import features of brand community. Thirdly, illustrate evolution of brand community seat. Fourthly, case study, utilise case of Starbucks to explain the tax deductions of brand community. Fin onlyy, conclusion and the prospect of research.1 terminus ad quem of Brand community1.1 Origin of Brand communityDuring the last a couple of(prenominal) years, there is a trend that academic research on consumption activities moved a government agency from considerations of individual to a focus on communal. The explicate community was aimd frequently. consumption community (Boorstin, 1973). Subcultures of consumption (schouten and McAlexander, 1995). Band community (Muniz and OGuinn, 2001 McAlexander et al., 2002).These communities argon referred to as sociable collectives (Greenwood, 1994). Life-mode communities (Firat and Dholakia, 1998) andneo-tribes (Cova, 1997).Brands provide the linking measure out to somewhat individuals who wants to become member of these communities. These communities seize the idea that people have traffic with other people and such relationships be constructed around a fulcrum acted by brands. Harley Owners group(HOG)is a comfortably example of the brand providing such linking value(Fournier et al.,2001).There are more and more descriptive studies detailing the f eatures of such communities Star Wars fans (Brown et al.,2003) Suns Java Center community (Williams and Cothrel,2000) and Nutella(Cova and Pace, 2005).In a word, communities are expect to provide benefits for the organisation they affect brand equity and create a stable base of loyal, enthusiastic consumers (Muiz and OGuinn, 2001 McAlexander et al., 2001). Actually, it is not easy for a brand to establish a community.Brand-centred communities may typify themselves to open up a utopian place in the contemporary world.Kozinets (2001) historied that impossibility and dreamness together with deep motivational power and desire era utopianism enables clients to read with reality rather than merely escape into fantasy (Geoghegan, 1987).Which means commute and subvert are the two abilities of utopian (Maclaran and Brown, 2001).Members and the relations among them compose a community. McAlexander and Koeing (2002) identify communities on the basis of identification among community member s(a neighborhood, a va shagt pursuit, an occupation and devotion to a brand).Brand community is a new oddball of community, different from traditional community, place form a strong image, a lengthy history around brands.Actually,it is a community established with brand-centric1.2 interpretation of Brand communityBecause brand community is a new concept, there is nounified definition in academia, but we can define it from two move narrow and freehanded meanings. Narrow meaning is represented by Muniz and OGuinn. Based on the research on some brands, such as Ford Bronco, etc.Muniz and 0Guinn (2001) noted a brand community is a no-geographically bound and specialized community based on a unified set of social relationships among admirers of a brand. It highlight the point connection of brand community is brand not region, and brand community has three indispensable markers (Muniz and OGuinn, 2001).Bagozzi (2006) noted that brand community is consumption community with communa l enthusiasm for a certain brand or certain right social cognition (environmental protection), the members realize collective objective or bear the common emotional and commitment through common action. Substantiallythis is as the same as Muniz and OGuinns definitionthey both accentuate the expressions of emotion and action from a certain brandMcAlexander (2002) expended this conceptthe openhanded meaning of brand community is a connection network with focal customer as centre, besides brand relationship, there are many other relationships. This concept emphasizes the Consumers all-round have got of brand. Upshaw and Taylor (2001) made a broad explanation to this conceptthey documented that all the stakeholders who have relationship with the brand (including employeecustomerstockholdersupplier and strategic partnered) compose brand community.2 Basic theory and concept 2.1 Research Status Brand community is becoming an increasing popular topic in brand concern research however , the short-lived time leads to its present research is preliminary, and mainly focused on the concept, features, origin, impact and modes, etc. For example,Muniz and OGuinn(2001)claimed that brand community has three essential features of community consciousness of descriptor, rituals and traditions and moral responsibility.Schau and Muniz (2002)reported the value of brand community image is primary(prenominal) to consumers identify centifiedSchmitt , Rogers and Vrotsos (2003)described the performance of brand community in Jeep,BMW and many other vehicle brandsHoeffler and Keller (2002)noted the improving consciousness of brand community is in favor of enhancing brand equity based on consumers McAlexander , Kim and Roberts (2003)researched the relationship between brand community and consumers satisfaction, consumers loyalty, and claimed that consumers loyalty is not lonesome(prenominal) abnormal by customer satisfaction, but also by brand community.Belk and Tumbat noted that it is not easy for a brand to establish a community.(Schouten and McAlexander, 1995 Kozinets,2001Muniz and Schau,2005).There are many scholars focusing on virtual community, documented the classify of community and marketing strategy (McWilliams , 2000 Monica , 2000 Wind , Mahajan and Gunther ,2003). All above research meliorate the brand community theory, but there is a serious conundrum research only stays on statical concept ,feature and primary implication phase.Muniz and OGuinn said the future of research is to go to sleep how brand community wobble in different social situation.2.2 Dynamic Natures Consumption community and brand community are different on several dimensionsfirstly,Muniz and OGuinn(2001)noted that brand community is non-geographically bounded, they may be either scattered(Boorstin,1974),or geographically intemperate (Holt,1995).Geographical concentration is the dimension of social context.To be more exact, interactions within a brand community may be ric h in social context. Communication may be predominantly face to face,nediated by electronic devices(Boorstin,1974).Members may have a number of teaching about for each one other(gender,age and background).There is little understanding of movement along this dimension. The temporal stability of a community can be asset to marketers in as oftentimes as legerity equates with a long-term, stable valuable market communities can share useful consumption experiences. (Arnould and Price, 1993).2.3 Three main features 2.3.1 Consciousness of kind This feature allows two sides legitimacy and oppositional brand loyalty.Muniz and OGuinn noted that members smell an significant connection to the brand and toward each other, nevertheless they are strangers, members feel they know each other, the link is more important than the thing (Cova,1997,p307).They also can distinguish who is the real member by judging whether he is familiar with and in favor of the brand, not just because of chasing fa shion to use overlap of the brand.Sometimes,brand community members build community to share common experience and brand connotation to fight with other brands. That means community ordain become more solidarity when facing with threats (Muiz and OGuinn, 2001).2.3.2 Shared rituals and traditions The main point of this feature is shared consumption experience. It consists of celebrating the history of the brand and sharing brand stories. The transmission of brand community is life-affirming to establish its culture. At the same time, brand history is brand communitys cultural equity. Sharing brand stories playing a significant subroutine in brand building and maintaining. It strengthens consciousness of kind among brand members and contributes to imagined community. It also reinforces members identity to the brand and suspensorer members learn more about communities value. Ads play a significant character in brand community rituals and traditions. Members are concerned with ads as they expose the brand to those outside of the community, and themselves (Muiz and OGuinn, 2001). 2.3.3 Moral ResponsibilityIts definition is a sense of duty to the community as a whole and to individual members of the community (Muiz and OGuinn, 2001).There are at least two traditional communal missions the first one is integrating and retaining members, there is the presence of a social moral consciousness in traditional communities, they recognize the bound of what is appropriate and inappropriate, right and wrong. Another is assisting in the use of the brand. Assistance is to help community members, both known and unknown, repair the harvest or sack up problems. Assisting is one of the places in which computer-mediated communication offers a great deal of reading (Muiz and OGuinn, 2001).According to the primary nature of the relationship, the assistance offered between individuals sharing a communal bond is specialized (Wellman, 1990 Wellman and Wortley, 1990)3 Evolution of Brand Community moulding3.1 Traditional Brand community Model Boorstin emphasized the relationship between reaping (brand) and customer in consumption community copy (figure 1).Customers look brand as the promise enterprise made for the products run low value and image. Enhancing brand means the contract between enterprise and customer. To accomplish different needs from different target market, different brands need different brand positioning, even the same brand, with the changing of customers need, also need change brand positioning. Therefore, Boorstin took the perspective that consumption community is customer-centric, the tuition of brand should stupefy to customers need as the guide.3.2. Triangle Brand community exercise Muniz and OGuinn ,who are the initiator of the theory of brand community, enrich the relationship fabric of customer-brand, emphasized brand as intermediary (figure 2).With the development of social economy, customers are not confined to need for product (material level), they are not only concentrating on the function value of products own, more concentrating on consuming the product can give them symbolic significance and emotion interests.The similar experience and shared emotion among community members give them more emotion value than product function value. Brand community Triad Model attain through the single dimensionality in traditional customer-brand, concentrate on the relationship among customer-customer. Weakness is that the brand allow be influenced not only by customers belong to itself, but also by customers belong to other brands. For example,Many customers will interview the website and forum before purchasing products, they can find information about many other brand customers.3.3. Brand stakeholder relations model Upshaw and Taylor came up with a new Masterbrand Community model based on Brand community Triad Model. Their opinion is all the stakeholders with brand should include employee,customer,stockh older,supplier and strategic partnered.compose brand community(figure 3).A good brand image is the base of community, part these stakeholders play an significant role in maintaining brand image and reputation, only be kind to these stakeholders ,can brand have attraction. It is the motivation of brand community.This model organizes many factors which can influence brand to build and maintain the symphonious relationship between them. Although this model emphasizes that many kinds of stakeholders are important to brand building, it involves too many complicated relationships which is not easy for analysis and research. equivalentwise, this model strengthens brands core position, neglect customers playing an important role in brand building.3.4. Focal customer model Based on Muniz and OGuinns brand community theory (2001), McAlexanderSchouten and Koening (2002) put forward Focal Customer Model. This model emphasizes brand, product, customer and marketer are important factors to co mpose brand community, and bring quaternary relationships into brand community customer and enterprise, customer and product, customer and brand, customer and customer. This models feature is bring out the focal customer playing linking role in brand community. Besides Munizs relationship among customers, they added product, brand and marketer. Although this structure is more comprehensive, it has drifted brand community raised by Muniz, which analyze the relationship among customers.McAlexanders opinion in truth is another closely related topic-brand relationship. A research specialist in brand relationship field, Fourier (2001), expended the relationship between brand and customer to four relations as McAlexanders model. Based on new product diffusion theory, focal customer is playing an opinion leader during product diffusion process, they are the base of enterprise. So, when enter worths want to attract new customers, also should pay more attention to focal customers satisfact ion and loyalty.3.5 conclusions The premise of research on brand community is better understanding of brand community models. From the focus of the study,Munizs and McAleXanders models focus on customer, while Upshaws model focus on brand, the difference is that former model analyse the role customer playing in brand building, the later studied all the factors can influence brand. From the range of the study, Upshaws mode is real comprehensive, but too complex it is difficult to consider all types of relations in one study at the same time. That is the reason wherefore it is seldom used.Munizs and McAlexanders models are more useful, but from the logicality of study, their models did not distinguish the importance of all types of relations, that is to say, they did not tell us which relation playing an important role in brand community. 4 Case study The success and failure of StarbucksFounded in 1971, Starbucks has the fastest produce rate of any follow in the history of retail ing. (George and Pierce, 2007)Starbucks sells mainly coffee, and even were it the best coffee in the world it would still only be coffee. The question spontaneously arises, however, why is Starbucks today a brand to be counted among the elite of mythical brands? What has made the consumer pay a premium price for something they would normally have paid significantly less for? The answer can be found in the fact that Starbucks marketing approach goes uttermost beyond the tangible component of the product by infusing coffee with new symbolic set and brand community. A high quality of coffee, far-flung locations and commercial partnership agreements have undoubtedly contributed to the companys growth, but these elements are not sufficient to make a brand a global myth, an authentic icon of postmodern society.An exchange from the movie duplex rear illustrates the bohemian image Starbucks has acquired as a place where writers and other intellectuals are welcomed as part of a specific community. In the film, a five-year-old wife, played by Drew Barrymore, turns to her writer husband and says Well, what if you got out of the house for a little while and went to write at, like a Starbucks or something? It would be nice not to have to write at Starbucks with all the other novelists, replies the young man, played by Ben Stiller.It is precisely this which is the true centre of Starbucks a place which evokes symbolic values and brand community values which go beyond coffee and the products sold and which makes a sign a metropolitan legend. It is feeling part of a community like that of the writers sounding for success quoted in the film, and many morebesides,which makes consumers identify with a place where, when it unfeignedly comes down to it, what you mostly do is just drinking coffee.A person who habitually goes a sort of community to do so not just to drink a cup of coffee but to admission price a sort of community where they find values, models and behavio rs which they tend to recognize themselves in. While Starbucks continued to enrich its context with new meanings and values, other competitors continued to solely sell coffee (Shu-pei Tsai, 2005), Starbuckss performance demonstrates how, by enhancing the atmosphere and do the place of consumption a space linked to trendsetters and not the nonage fringe of the population, by creating a sense of belonging and community, it is possible to strain success even when satisfying routine needs.As Volli says, Starbucks is together unlikable and secret but also open and public, it shows and hides at the same time, it at the same time exercises modesty and seduction, the secret and the recall(Volli,1998).Starbucks has known how to invest a new way of communication ,strongly centered on the communicative processes among members of its brand community and between its members and the outside world.There is no perfect in the world,with the development of society,economy and many other aspects,S tarbucks also should face with some shortage and challenge.The greater standardization of the structures has slowly made them lose the bohemian charm which the first points of sale had, and that aroma of coffee which represented the heart of the brand community offering in Starbucks has progressively weakened. The sensory connotation which immediately hits you when you enter a Starbucks and which creates around it a relaxing atmosphere similar to that matte up in a club of people who share the passion for coffee, is bit by bit getting weaker.But the problem is not limited to reduced olfactory involvement, if anything it involves the fact that the chain is losing its soul of the past, becoming more and more like a conventional chain and losing that atmosphere which was so dear to its conk out of a small neighborhood ship, whose emotive warmth can pass particularly intense experiences. We could say that this is one of the risks which companies which have been able to build real co mmunities around their brands find them having to face. When the brand becomes as developed as Starbucks, its audience widens and new consumers, with characters different from those of the communitys original members, take possession, thus reducing the initial followers feeling of belonging.Infact, belonging to a community satisfies the desire of individuals to share common aspects with other individuals and in that way express their distinctiveness from other social groups. When those very people they are trying to distinguish themselves from try to become part of the community, it is necessary to know how to manage this process by trying to preserve the symbolic accord of the brand rather than adapting it to the new context. This is a natural process the company does not live so as to remain in the ghetto of the niche it is in development a growth that we find the preservation of its zippy functions, but the process must be handled with extreme care, avoiding compromising the g ood and the unique that has been built.