The Role of Brand Communities on Brand Loyalty

Year 2018, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 95 - 117, 24.10.2018

Nurhan Babür Tosun Sezgi Turfanda

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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