Creating and managing participative brand communities: the roles members perform

Veloutsou, C. and Black, I. (2020) Creating and managing participative brand communities: the roles members perform. Journal of Business Research, 117, pp. 873-885. (doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.06.032)

Abstract

The success of brand communities as social structures that facilitate the co-creation of brands depends on the nature of their members' participation. Existing research provides limited insights into the roles brand community members perform. In response, this study, using role theory as its theoretical foundations, explores the roles members play. Ethnographic data were collected primarily from a brand community where highly involved working consumers interacted both off and online. The analysis reveals that there are categories of roles performed which are necessary for the development and long term prosperity of the community; it also identifies specific roles within each category and elucidates how these structure and manage the community as an entity. The study contributes to knowledge and practice by elucidating the variety and complexity of roles members need to play in order to secure an active and healthy brand community and develops further evidence to support that brand communities are primarily self-managed entities.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Veloutsou, Professor Cleopatra
• Authors: Veloutsou, C., and Black, I.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Journal of Business Research
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0732-5029
• ISSN (Online): 0148-2963
• Published Online: 11 July 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 Crown Copyright
• First Published: First published in Journal of Business Research 117: 873-885
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy