Online brand communities: constructing and co-constructing brand culture

ABSTRACT

Consumers act and interact via social media networks and online brand communities, collectively generating brand culture. In this context, organisations have the opportunity to develop a cultural following. The respective task for brand managers and marketers is to understand how consumers collectively generate online brand culture? Using active and overt netnography and investigating the specific context of the Behance Network, the findings presented here demonstrate that online brand community members collectively generate brand culture in variant ways: through construction of self, emotional relationships, storytelling and ritualistic practices. Pragmatically, this work demonstrates that online brand community members are curators of online brand culture and netnography offers a window through which to identify what actions and interactions need to be facilitated and fostered.

KEYWORDS:

• Online brand community
• brand culture
• netnography
• overt observation
• constructionism
• co-construction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sharon Schembri

Sharon Schembri is Assistant Professor at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA. With a research focus on branding, brand consumption and brand culture, Dr Schembri has previously reported on high-profile brands such as Harley-Davidson and James Bond. Her research versatility is demonstrated in the various studies she has successfully completed that include ethnographic research, visual ethnography, phenomenology, phenomenography, hermeneutics and semiotics. Her work to date is published in Journal of Business Research, Marketing Theory, Psychology & Marketing and the International Journal of Marketing Semiotics.

Lorien Latimer

Lorien Latimer graduated with First Class Honours from Griffith Business School, Australia. She studied with Dr Sharon Schembri, and this paper is based on her Honours research. Lorien has since continued to develop her marketing and research career as a freelance consultant and as editor for a marketing firm.