Building a Brand Community Online During a New Product Launch



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Maribel Carvalho Suarez
Flavia Luzia Oliveira da Cunha Galindo
Vaclav Soukup Filho
Rafael Machado

Abstract

This article presents an investigation of the building process of an online brand-associated community. It uses netnographic methods to investigate an automotive community, created months before a new model was actually launched. The study highlights the motivation to gather information and to influence product launch as factors to mobilize community existence. Category involvement, aspirational positioning of the corporate brand and revolutionary promises for this product also seem to be relevant to promote the community. The research presents a typology of community members based on two dimensions: information about the category and user experience with the brand/model. The typology distinguishes between newbies (low information and low experience), theoretical (high information and low experience), pragmatic (low information and high experience) and experts (high information and high experience). The paper highlights logics that stratify members´ interactions, explaining community formation dynamics and evolution processes.

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How to Cite
Suarez, M. C., Galindo, F. L. O. da C., Soukup Filho, V., & Machado, R. (1). Building a Brand Community Online During a New Product Launch. Journal of Contemporary Administration, 19(spe2), 117-136. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-7849rac20151507
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