In today’s globalised world, characterized by individualism, there is a trend
“backwards” to community building, as human beings are increasingly looking for a
social link. These communities of the twenty- first century are held together through
shared emotions, style of live, and consumption practice. Applying this to the field of
marketing might provide marketers a better understanding of customers’ wants and
needs, namely that of communal feeling. This idea is the basis for the underlying
study, which extends on previous research of brand communities. It contributes to
earlier studies by exploring brand communities in a different setting. Moreover, it
contributes by investigating upon relationship marketing characteristics and their
existence in brand communities.
A brand community can be defined as a specialized, non-geographically
bound community, based on four distinct relationships a focal customer engages in.
These are customer-product, customer-brand, customer-company, and customercustomer
relationships. A brandfest, where customers of a brand come together in
order to ‘celebrate’ the brand and share their common interest, can provide the social
context, and geo-temporal concentration, which adds meaning to the customers’
consumption experience and thus enforces or reinforces relationships. In order to truly
benefit from brand communities, the relationships therein should be characterised by
trust, affect, and commitment, and should lead to sustainable loyalty.
In order to find out whether brand communities exist in a different product
category than automobiles, the board game Kolonisten van Catan was chosen. The
automobile product category is characterised by both high pleasure potential (hedonic
value) and high functional value (utilitarian value). In contrast, the toys product
category (to which Kolonisten van Catan belongs) has a high pleasure potential, and a
low functional value, and is therefore useful to determine whether there are
differences due to the product category. The relationships mentioned above were
examined in the context of a brandfest; the Dutch National Kolonisten van Catan
competition. The participants were questioned about their relationships with the
product, the brand, the company, and other customers, in order to find out whether
those are positive. [...]
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 NEW PERSPECTIVES OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
1.1.1 Problem Statement
1.1.2 Subquestions
1.2 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.3 CONTRIBUTION
1.3.1 Theoretical Contribution
1.3.2 Practical Contribution
1.4 CHAPTER OUTLINE
2 BRAND COMMUNITIES
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 BRAND COMMUNITIES
2.3 THE KOLONISTEN VAN CATAN COMMUNITY
2.4 SUMMARY
3 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 ASPECTS OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING
3.2.1 Relationship Marketing Definitions
3.2.2 Summary Relationship Marketing Definitions
3.3 TRUST
3.4 COMMITMENT
3.5 SUMMARY
4 BRANDING
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 BRANDS VS. PRODUCTS
4.2.1 Products
4.2.2 Brands
4.3 CUSTOMER-BRAND RELATIONSHIPS
4.3.1 Conceptualisation
4.3.2 Determinants of Brand Relationship Quality
4.3.3 Hypotheses Development
4.4 BRAND TRUST AND BRAND AFFECT
4.5 BRAND LOYALTY
4.5.1 Components of Loyalty
4.6 SUMMARY
5 RESEARCH DESIGN
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND RESEARCH APPROACH
5.3 RESEARCH DESIGNS
5.3.1 Descriptive Research
5.3.2 Survey Method
5.3.3 Sampling Plan
5.3.2 Questionnaire Development
5.4 SUMMARY
6 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
6.3 ANALYSIS
6.3.1 Analysis of Relationships
6.3.2 Analysis of Differences Between Events
6.3.3 Analysis of Differences With Respect to the Experience Level
6.3.4 Analysis of Antecedents of Brand Trust and Affect
6.3.5 Analysis of Consequences of Brand Trust and Affect
6.4 SUMMARY
7 CONCLUSION
7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.2 OVERVIEW
7.2.1 Overview of Theoretical Findings
7.3 MATCH OF PRACTICAL FINDINGS WITH THE THEORY
7.4 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
7.5 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis examines the existence and characteristics of brand community relationships within a product category distinct from the automobile industry, specifically focusing on the board game Kolonisten van Catan. The primary objective is to evaluate whether brand community relationships and relationship marketing strategies—defined by factors like trust, affect, and commitment—can be effectively applied in this new setting to foster sustainable brand loyalty and competitive advantage.
- Theoretical exploration of brand communities and their role in relationship marketing.
- Empirical analysis of customer relationships with products, brands, companies, and other customers.
- Evaluation of the influence of hedonic and utilitarian product values on brand trust and affect.
- Assessment of the impact of brandfests on customer loyalty and integration.
- Development of managerial recommendations for leveraging brand communities as a strategic tool.
Excerpt from the Book
Brand Communities
One author discussing consumption communities and their effect is Oliver (1999). He discusses the effects of social bonding as well as satisfaction, and personal determinism on loyalty. In his article “Whence customer loyalty” he determines the effects of consumption communities on loyalty. “When these additional factors [social bonding and personal determinism] are brought into account, ultimate loyalty emerges as a combination of perceived product superiority, personal fortitude and social bonding and their synergistic effect” (Oliver, 1999, p.33). He goes beyond the cognition-affect-conation concept, where true brand loyalty will involve three decision-making phases by introducing new perspectives on customer loyalty, which are less vulnerable to competitive action than the concepts above:
the brand attribute beliefs must be preferable to competitive offerings (cognitive loyalty)
this information must coincide with an affective preference (attitude) for the brand (affective loyalty)
consumer must have a higher intention (conation) to buy the brand compared with that for alternatives (conative loyalty)
Oliver (1999) argues that the degree of personal fortitude (low, high) will affect loyalty, as customers with high degree of personal fortitude will more easily fight off competitor’s persuasion to switch. Additionally, low and high phases of community and social support will affect loyalty; in other words, community provides the stimulus to remain loyal. The lowest, most vulnerable state of loyalty is the one, which simply relies on product superiority (as this can be easily attacked by competitors) where the customer has a low level of personal fortitude and there is no social support when consuming this product. The highest level of loyalty is the one where personal fortitude and social bonding are both high. Here “the consumer finds a natural match with both the consumable and its environment” (Oliver, 1999, p.40). The consumer will see the product/service as a part of him and regards it as embedded into his lifestyle.
Summary of Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION: This chapter introduces the research context, highlighting the management of customer relationships and the significance of brand communities as a marketing strategy.
2 BRAND COMMUNITIES: This chapter reviews literature on consumption communities and defines brand communities, emphasizing the customer-centric model of relationships.
3 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING: This chapter explores the theoretical aspects of relationship marketing, focusing on trust and commitment as the core building blocks for long-term loyalty.
4 BRANDING: This chapter discusses branding concepts, distinguishing between products and brands, and examines the impact of hedonic and utilitarian values on brand trust and affect.
5 RESEARCH DESIGN: This chapter outlines the methodology, justifying the choice of a descriptive research design and a structured survey approach to validate hypotheses.
6 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS: This chapter presents the empirical findings gathered from the survey, testing hypotheses through factor analysis, reliability tests, and regression models.
7 CONCLUSION: This chapter synthesizes the theoretical findings and empirical results, providing managerial implications and suggestions for future research.
Keywords
Brand communities, Relationship marketing, Customer loyalty, Brand trust, Brand affect, Hedonic value, Utilitarian value, Event marketing, Brandfests, Kolonisten van Catan, Consumer behavior, Marketing strategy, Customer retention, Brand engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The work primarily investigates whether the theory of brand communities—originally developed for the automobile industry—can be applied to different product categories, specifically the board game Kolonisten van Catan.
Which central themes are explored?
Key themes include relationship marketing, the role of trust and commitment, the distinction between hedonic and utilitarian product values, and the impact of brandfests on customer loyalty.
What is the primary research goal?
The aim is to determine the extent to which brand community relationships exist for non-automobile products and whether relationship marketing can be considered a consequence of building such communities.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The study uses a descriptive research design, utilizing structured face-to-face surveys conducted during actual brandfests to collect data, followed by statistical analyses like factor analysis and regression.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers theoretical frameworks for branding and relationship marketing, followed by an empirical section that analyzes survey data to validate hypotheses regarding customer-product, customer-brand, and customer-company relationships.
What characterize the key terms?
Key terms such as brand loyalty, trust, and community integration are defined through the lens of psychological attachment and behavioral repurchase intentions, differentiating between attitudinal and behavioral components.
How does the product category influence the results?
The research concludes that the high hedonic value of the board game significantly influences brand affect, which in turn leads to stronger loyalty compared to products primarily driven by utilitarian functional value.
What is the significance of the brandfest findings?
The study demonstrates that brandfests serve as vital "meaning-filled episodes" that nurture relationships, increase community integration, and provide a competitive advantage by creating context-rich experiences for consumers.
- Quote paper
- Katja Hellberg (Author), 2002, Communities in the 21st Century - Fact or Fiction, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/15591
