The central topic of my research project is online brand communities. By definition, an online brand community is a specialised non-geographically bound community based around admirers of a brand. It is specialised because at the heart of the community is a brand. More loosely and as we know it, an online brand community is a type of online social community where members unite because they are fans or loyal consumers of a brand. The topic of online brand communities is obviously very broad. However, I am particularly interested in the differences between online brand communities for one brand generated by consumers and online brand communities for the same brand generated by marketers or brand owners.
1. How are online brand communities generated by consumers different from online brand communities generated by marketers or brand owners?
Probe: Why/when what?
Probe: Can you clarify please/elaborate on/explain further/tell me a bit more Probe: Can you give me an example/What makes you say that?
2. How do you (or your clients) judge or measure the success of a brand in an online brand community?
Probe: Success for example may be measures of consumer loyalty to the brand, preference, liking, word of mouth recommendations etc.
Now let’s just think about the way consumers participate in the community.
3. If we had two online brand communities for the same brand, one generated by the marketer/brand owner and the other generated by consumers; what differences might we see in the way consumers participate in the online community?
Probe: Can you think of an example of how you as the brand owner/marketer (or your clients), may have influenced the way consumers participate in the online brand community?
4. If we had two online brand communities for the same brand, one generated by consumers and the other created by the brand owner/marketer; what differences might we see in the way consumers form a relationship with the brand?
Probe: Different relationships with the brand may mean different attitudes towards the brand, different emotional responses, different behaviours etc.
Probe: Can you think of any examples of how you as the brand owner/marketer (or your clients) may have influenced the way consumers form a relationship with the brand in the online community?
Sometimes we see online brand communities created by brand owners/marketers pop up and a short while later, consumers also create an online brand community for the same brand. Other times, consumers are the first to create an online brand community for a brand and a while later the brand owners/marketers then introduces an official online brand community for the same brand.
5. How is online brand strategy influenced by what happens in a consumer generated community? Probe: For example, is online brand strategy reactive/dynamic/proactive to changes in the online environment as it relates to a given brand?
Probe: For example are consumer generated communities observed in detail first before creating a brand sponsored community?
Probe: Why/what benefits are there in this/Would you say this is typical?
6. How are online brand communities created by consumers influenced by brand strategy?
Probe: For example, are online brand communities created by consumers reactive to brand strategies?
Probe: Why are they reactive/benefits?
Online brand communities can obviously centre on any brand and there are many online brand communities for goods such as cars and computers. However, there are also many online brand communities for services such as airlines, hotels, cellphone providers, as well as for sports teams like the All Blacks.
7. How do online brand communities for goods differ from online brand communities for services or sports brands?
Probe: For example, what differences might we see in the way consumers participate in the online community?
Probe: What differences might we see in the way consumers form a relationship with the brand?
Online brand communities are a relatively new and dynamic way of communicating and we have seen lots of developments in this area in the past few years.
8. How do you think online brand communities will evolve in the future? Probe: For example, what are the trends of online brand communities?
Probe: How do you think the role of a consumer and the role of a marketer/brand owner in an online brand community will change in the future?
Probe: How will online brand communities evolve differently for goods versus for services?
9. What new strategies or techniques might be introduced (or suggested to your clients) to drive the effectiveness of online brand communities in the future?
10. In the future, what do you see as the most crucial factor in driving the success of online brand communities going forwards?
Probe: Is this the same for all online brand communities or does this different across consumer generated and brand sponsored communities?
Probe: Does this differ across online brand communities for goods versus for services? Thank You.