Brand Community Consumers and the Culture Pertaining

Question: Discuss about theBrand Community for Consumers and the Culture Pertaining. Answer: Introduction: The brand communities tend to arise out of conglomeration between the brand, the consumers and the culture pertaining to the consumers. In terms of dynamics, brand communities are difficult to be evaluated and classified onto. On most occasions, what is perceived to be brand communities owing to the inherent set of properties that are identical to that of brand communities, but turn out to be more akin to being subcultures or hobby communities. The brands trademark sign or symbols tend to act as a totem for symbolising a community that has arisen out of that brand. The concepts concerning the characteristics and definitions pertaining to brand communities tend to have anthropological and sociological roots due to the similarities between them and the tribal communities. Discussion: The brand community, unlike that of a tribal community, is not dependent upon the geographical distances of its members. Thereby, the continuity of the existence of the community is not dependent upon the community members immediate surroundings. Moreover, there is fine line that differentiates between the brand enthusiast and the brand community. The usage or consumption of a certain brand is considered the criteria in terms of a brand enthusiast (Goh, Heng and Lin 2013). However, in order to become a member of a brand community, a consumer requires having affiliation pertaining to fellow enthusiasts of the same brand. Thereby, it can be construed that brand enthusiast is not similar to that of being a brand enthusiast. However, it is prerequisite for being a brand community member that the member is brand enthusiast. Social interactions and the relationships formed out of admiration and enthusiasm for a particular brand, despite the community having features such as sparsed or geographically non-bound, can be considered as Brand Community (Jeong, Ha and Lee 2016). Moreover, it can also be noted that likeminded admires pertaining to the same brand, despite having limited or negligible social interaction amongst each other are construed to be close knit as a sense of community. Further, Marzocchi, Morandin and Bergami (2013) claimed that in case of brand community, the affiliations pertaining to the brand is paramount to any form of communal interaction between its members. In the context of evaluating the degree of alignment between subcultures and brand communities, it is inferred that subcultures continue to have longer life cycle periods as compared to brand community. For instance, the culture pertaining to using aircrafts as a means of logistics and transportation shall not cease to exist despite Boeing facing bankruptcy or liquidation. It can be observed that the different social figuration arising out of demographic factors, subcultures, brand community and professional networks etc tend to overlap (Kuo and Feng 2013). This is owing to the fact that a brand community member has a certain demographical features (such as male or female), and can be attributed to subcultures as well (such as being a skydiving enthusiast). The conformance to mainstream ideology can be construed to be a relevant characteristic pertaining to the brand community (Skln, Pace and Cova 2015). Moreover, such conformance is a significant parameter at identifying whether a social group or follower of a particular brand can be construed as a brand community. For instance, an avid Nike enthusiast has to have likening for sports or healthy lifestyle. In the above illustration, being an enthusiast cannot be construed to being a member of brand community of Nike unless the mainstream ideology of having a fit lifestyle is present. The recent dissemination pertaining to characteristics of brand community have identified several factors that were overlooked in previous academia researches. The characteristics that are presently attributed to brand community can be classified into governing, emphasizing, justifying, documenting and commoditizing amongst other properties (Zhang et al. 2013). However, in terms of attributes, such properties tend to be inclusive of social communities and not particularly restricted to brand communities. Therefore, a community that contains aforementioned characteristics cannot be construed as brand community. Symbols play a significant role in identification of a certain brand community, just as they do in terms of identifying social communities (Skln, Pace and Cova 2015). For instance, a cross may represent the Christian community, whereas on the other hand an apple may represent the Apple Corporations community. Thereby, cultural markers that are shared in case of brand community members. Moreover, it can also be inferred that the existence pertaining to the brand ceases to exist once the brand becomes nonexistent. The dynamics pertaining to the brands are such that the marketing department of the brand has to put in additional efforts to ensure that the brand community is sustained. In order to strengthen the relationship pertaining to the cohesiveness between brand and community members, the role of top-level management and marketing team remains pertinent. Strengthening of brand community can be beneficial in multiple ways, the primary factor being that a strong brand community can r eciprocate into enhanced revenue generating ability. The other reasons can be sustainability of a consumer base that are highly loyal to the brand and whose lifestyles has been intertwined with the products that the brand offers. Moreover, brand communities can be construed as a reflection of core values pertaining to the society as a whole and acts as representation of dominant ideologies that are dominant in the society. However, it is relevant to note the fact that the brands that cater to large set of consumer segments are less enduring that those catering to small niche segments. Thereby, the sustainability of brand community is dependent upon the positioning that the brand currently has or seeks to have. Conclusion: The current study displays the different set of factors that can be attributed to formation of brand community. The derivation of brand community has arisen out of multiple factors primary among them being enthusiasm for the brand, alignment to mainstream ideologies etc. Moreover, it can be observed that there are overlaps in terms of social fragments. This is in the sense that a brand community member tend to be have certain demographical features. Moreover, such member can also be traced to be a participant in sub-cultures. Its relevant to note the fact that brand positioning is relevant for existence of brand community. References and Bibliography: Brodie, R.J., 2017. Commentary on Working consumers: Co-creation of brand identity, consumer identity, and brand community identity.Journal of Business Research,70, pp.430-431. Brodie, R.J., Ilic, A., Juric, B. and Hollebeek, L., 2013. Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis.Journal of Business Research,66(1), pp.105-114. Goh, K.Y., Heng, C.S. and Lin, Z., 2013. 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