The impact of sense of duty on brand community outcomes

• Date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1368
• Author: Katharina Goellner,Tanya Mark,Jennifer Alvarado
• Published date: 01 December 2017

The impact of sense of duty on brand community

outcomes

Katharina Goellner

University of Guelph

Tanya Mark*

University of Guelph

Jennifer Alvarado

University of Guelph

Abstract

Research suggests that three markers are essential for a

successful brand community: a sense of belonging, rituals

and tradition, and a sense of duty toward the community.

The f‌irst two of these markers have been empirically vali-

dated; however, the third marker, sense of duty, has yet to

be empirically investigated. From a marketing perspective,

this is important because there is a need to understand the

marketing levers that inf‌luence favourable behavioural out-

comes. We f‌ind that sense of duty is a decisive mediator of

brand community behaviours and social identity. In addition,

we f‌ind that sense of duty is a multidimensional construct

consisting of three distinct components:new member integra-

tion, mentorship, and member retention. C opyright © 2016

ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: brand community, sense of duty, community

markers, brand management

Résumé

D’après la rec herche, troi s marqueur s sont indi spens-

ablesausuccèsd’une communauté de marque: le sens

de l’appartenance, les rituels et les traditions et le sens

du devoir envers la communauté. De ces trois marqueurs,

seuls les deux premiers ont déjà été empiriquement validés.

Cette étude porte sur la validation empirique du troisième

marqueur. Du point de vue du marketing, ce marqueur est

d’autant plus important qu’il importe de cerner les leviers de

marketing qui inf‌luencent les résultats comportementaux

favorables. L’étude montre que le sens du devoir est non

seulement un médiateur déterminant des comportements de

communautédemarqueetdel’identité sociale, mais aussi un

construit multidimensionnel comprenant trois composantes

distinctes à savoir : l’intégration des nouveaux membres, le

mentorat et la rétention des membres. Copyright © 2016

ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mots-clés : communauté de marque, sens du devoir,

marqueurs communautaires, gestions des marques

Brand-loyal consumers are important to companies for

many reasons. These loyal consumers enhance a brand’s

marketing efforts by endorsing the brand to their network

of contacts. This in turn creates higher brand recognition that

may translate into new sales. Additionally, strong brands are

also less likely to be delisted from stores or dropped by dis-

tributors. And, unlike paid spokespeople, loyal consumers

are usually intrinsically motivated to promote the brand.

Consumers who have an aff‌inity toward a brand want to

share their experiences with like-minded individuals. Compa-

nies can benef‌it by building long-term relationshipswith con-

sumers and fostering their interactions by supporting brand

communities. A brand community is def‌ined as a “specialized

non-geographically bound community, based on a structured

set of social relationships among admirers of a brand”(Muniz

&O’Guinn, 2001, p. 412). The relationship structure is com-

monly described in the brand community literature as a triad

model that consists of three components: consumer, brand,

and other consumers (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001). Fournier,

Sele, and Schögel (2005) argued that brand communities not

only enable a company to build and maintain relationships

with its consumers, but also provide a company with a com-

petitive advantage. Advances in technology, high internet

adoption rates,and social media have contributed to removing

barriers of geographically dispersed consumer bases and

enabling brand communities to thrive.

Companies however, are not the only ones that can gain

from the advantages of brand communities. From a consumer’s

*Please address correspondence to: Tanya Mark, Associate Professor of

Marketing, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario,

Canada, N1G 2W1. Email: markt@uoguelph.ca

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration

34: 416–428 (2017)

Published online 15 February 2016 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1368

Can J Adm Sci

34(4), 416–428 (2017)Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 416