The Role of Brand Communities on Brand Loyalty

Abstract

Depending on development of technology, as well as it is seen that the companies carry their communication activities to the Internet and consumers spend most of their time in online environments. Consumers who benefit from the opportunities provided by the Internet are no longer a passive user and become an active user who produce the content. In this context, it is seen that the brand communities that are created by consumers have an important place in terms of brands are now online. These communities which is called as virtual brand communities can be defined as a specialized, non-geographically bound group of consumers with a common interests in a brand, based on structured set of social relationships among each other on the Internet. Since consumers can share their brand experiences through these communities they have established, it can be said that virtual brand communities help consumers establish a deep relationship with the brand. Accordingly, this study examined the influence of virtual brand community integration by four levels of relationships include those between the consumer and the brand, between the consumer and the firm, between the consumer and the product in use and between the consumer and the fellow consumers on brand loyalty by two levels include those attitudinal (by commitment) and behavioral (by repurchase).

Keywords

• Branding,Virtual Brand Community,Brand Loyalty

Sanal Marka Topluluklarının Marka Sadakati Üzerindeki Rolü

Abstract

Rekabetin yoğun olduğu günümüzde firmalar, gerek tüketicileri ile güçlü ilişkiler kurabilmek gerekse marka sadakatini güçlendirmek adına birçok iletişim çalışması gerçekleştirmektedir. Teknolojinin gelişimine bağlı olarak hem firmaların günümüzde iletişim çalışmalarını İnternet ortamına taşıdığı hem de tüketicilerin zamanlarının büyük bir bölümünü çevrimiçi ortamlarda geçirdiği görülmektedir. İnternet’in sağlamış olduğu imkânlardan yararlanan tüketiciler artık pasif birer kullanıcı olmaktan çıkıp aktif birer içerik üreticisi haline gelmiştir. Bu bağlamda, tüketicilerin oluşturduğu  ve markalar açısından önemli bir yere sahip olan marka topluluklarının da günümüzde çevrimiçi ortama geçtiği görülmektedir. Sanal marka toplulukları olarak adlandırılan çevrimiçi bu topluluklar, belli özelliklere sahip, coğrafi açıdan birbirinden bağımsız, bir markaya karşı ortak ilgi duyan bir grup tüketicinin, birbirleri ile İnternet aracılığıyla kurdukları sosyal ilişkiler dizisinin yapısal temeline dayalı topluluklar olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Tüketicilerin markaya ilişkin deneyimlerini kurmuş oldukları bu topluluklar aracılığıyla paylaşabilmelerinden ötürü sanal marka topluluklarının tüketicilerin marka ile derinlemesine bir ilişki kurmalarına yardımcı olduğundan söz edilebilmektedir. Bu doğrultuda, bu araştırmada tüketicilerin sanal marka topluluğuna, tüketici-marka ilişkisi, tüketici-firma ilişkisi, tüketici-ürün ilişkisi ve tüketici-tüketici ilişkisi bağlamında katılım düzeylerinin, markaya tutumsal ve davranışsal  olarak sadık olma düzeyleri üzerindeki etkisi belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır.

Keywords

• markalama,sanal marka topluluğu,marka sadakati

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