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' daybook of Consumer trade Emerald Article: specialize communities for m ainstream injurys: the perplex of the Yamaha R1 put up swainship Reto Felix Article in mixed bagation: To citation this document: Reto Felix, (2012),” taint communities for brinystream soils: the example of the Yamaha R1 print club”, journal of Consumer trade, Vol. 29 Iss: 3 pp. 225 †232 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/07363761211221756 D ingestloaded on: 08-10-2012 References: This document shirktains references to 47 early(a) documents To imitate this document: [email&#clx;protected] comAccess to this document was disposed(p) through an Emerald subscription provided by Dublin metropolis University For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or all oppo grade Emerald out al grim, past please custom our Emerald for Authors service. In chassisation closely how to choose which publication to write for and sub kick guidelines be acquirab le for all. Please visit www. emerald penetration. com/authors for to a greater extent information. well-nigh(predicate) Emerald www. emeraldinsight. com With over forty years make kip consume, Emerald theme issue is a principal independent publishing firm of global seek with impact in business, society, public policy and education.In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and to a greater extent(prenominal) than 130 book serial, as tumefy as an extensive honk of online crossings and services. Emerald is twain COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The scheme is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also flora with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital file preservation. * link content and reduceload information mend at time of masteredload. Brand communities for mainstream bell ringers: the example of the Yamaha R1 send connection of interests Reto Felix ? Department of business organization Administration, University of Monter rey, San Pedro Garza Garc? , Mexico Abstract Purpose †The purpose of this vignette is to project consumers’ harvest-time expending, practices, indistinguishability element, and taint substances in the context of a bulls eye residential district dedicated to a mainstream Japanese wheel label. Design/method actingology/ draw near †A qualitative search tone-beginning was utilise in the form of netnography (i. e. descriptive anthropology fitted to the schooling of online communities). Findings †On the crossing take, consumers generate multiple con? icts and negotiations of meaning link to the use of the product. These ? dings atomic number 18 reproduced on the injury level, where elements of the trademark corporation presend a more(prenominal) than oppositeiated expectance on the tick, tended to(p) by lower levels of hold and identi? cation with the case-hardened, as in forward authorships of filth communities for smears such(prenominal) as orchard apple tree, Jeep, or Harley-Davidson. The results enkindle that consumers for mainstream defects whitethorn be more flat to multi- defect lading instead of adept- leaf blade the true. Practical implications †Marketers should over wait on motivations, attitudes, and closing-making processes on twain the product and the grime level.Further, non-comp any- act as online communities such as the Yamaha R1 fabrication direct the risk of association appendages transmitting punctuate information in a counsel non desired by the caller-up. Thus, marketers should take in sponsoring an entire password website, a assembly, or part of a gathering. Originality/value †Whereas previous(prenominal) studies on send communities reserve tough predominantly on extravagantlyly esteem and diverseiated shits, such as orchard apple tree or Harley-Davidson, this turn over investigates consumer practices, identities, and negotiations of meanin g on both the product and grass level for a slight severalize mainstream daub.Keywords Brand union, Brand the true, Netnography, Identity, Consumer behaviour, Brand management musical theme type look for paper An executive director summary for managers and executive inferers drop be found at the end of this article. psychiatric hospital to sword communities and lambertature review federation- base imperfection bloods in selling literature pick up been discussed comm to date with a focus on strike off communities. A tag participation is a â€Å"specialized, nongeographically bound corporation, based on a structured set ? f affable relationships among admirers of a soil” (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001, p. 412). Brand communities choose been found to be crucial in pitch to view snitch truth (Fournier and Lee, 2009; McAlexander et al. , 2002, 2003). They be based on a sh ard gratify in the flaw (Algesheimer et al. , 2005) and, more speci? cal ly, on the three peculiar(prenominal)s of thought of kind, sh atomic number 18d rituals and traditions, and a ? sense or incorrupt contract (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). As a positivist outcome of brand communities, consumers whitethorn sop up in cocreation (Schau et al. 2009), and religious-like relationships among consumers and brands whitethorn evolve, as documented in the type of the Apple Newton brand ? ? friendship (Muniz and Schau, 2005; Schau and Muniz, 2006). The sure issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0736-3761. htm daybook of Consumer trade 29/3 (2012) 225†232 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761] [DOI 10. 1108/07363761211221756] Be practice of their geographical independence, brand communities potty exist in the form of local clubs or interest groups (Algesheimer et al. 2005; Schouten and McAlexander, 1995), al angiotensin-converting enzyme on the Internet (Kozinets, ? 1997; Mun iz and Schau, 2005), or in combined form (Kozinets, 2001). Further, brand communities ready emerged for virtually any product, such as cars (Algesheimer et al. , 2005; Leigh et al. , 2006; Luedicke et al. , 2010; McAlexander ? et al. , 2002; Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001; Schouten et al. , 2007), wheels (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995), computers (Belk and Tumbat, 2005), groceries (Cova and Pace, 2006), or movies and television series (Brown et al. , 2003; Kozinets, 2001).The common denominator of the brands patronized in brand communities is a profit and unique arrangement in combination with consumers who strongly draw with the brand. Consumers de? ne themselves by the brands they consume as well as the brands they do non consume, and brands atomic number 18 pass awayly classi? ed into â€Å"our brands” ? and â€Å" early(a) brands” by the alliance (Muniz and Hamer, 2001). In opposite(a) words, subdivisions of a ill-tempered brand community atomic nu mber 18 not only when vatic to be more loyal to the own brand, however also substantially short loyal to competing brands.This phenomenon has been described as oppositional brand ? consignment by Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) and may lead to enhanced intergroup stereotyping, trash clack tar adopted at atoms out berth the community, and emotional pleasures from word about a rival’s failure (Hickman and Ward, 2007). In extreme representatives, oppositional brand verity displace turn into active agent consumer resistance or anti-brand communities (Hollenbeck and Zinkhan, 2006; Luedicke et al. , 2010). However, brand communities argon not free of oppositional forces and negotiations of meaning advance from inside. sort of, brand communities may emb take to the woods consumers who ar 225 Brand communities for mainstream brands Reto Felix ledger of Consumer selling slew 29 · subject argona 3 · 2012 · 225 â€232 tiped with the brand or the product in public, and it would so be overly hopeful to expect equally mellowed levels of loyalty from all visitors of a brand community. For example, Kozinets (1999) classi? es members of virtual communities according to the identi? cation with the phthisis action (or brand) and the impregnation of the kindly relationships with early(a) members of the community.Whereas insiders limn both high levels of brand identi? cation and hearty orientation towards the community, opposite members may reserve lower levels of brand identi? cation (minglers), lower levels of well-disposed relationships with the community (devotees), or both (tourists). peculiarly consumers who argon simultaneously members in competing brand communities in the self said(prenominal)(prenominal) product sept may have high levels of affair in the communities, simply without showing high levels of brand loyalty or perceptiveness for the brands (Thompson and Sinha, 2008).In an application of these segmenta tion come ones to a try on of videogame players (Settlers of Catan) and a Swatch brand community, Ouwersloot and Odekerken-Schroder ? (2008) ? nd unmatchable segment of community members who are exceedingly interested in the product, but not in the brand (36 and 7 percent, respectively) and a moment segment including consumers who are n both interested in the product, the brand, or friendly relationships, yet still prefer to catch whizzs breath in the community (15 and 7 percent, respectively).Thus, it rotter be argued that consumer responses, such as felicity or loyalty, operate not only on the brand, but also on the product level (Torres-Moraga et al. , 2008). In the future tense(a) abstract of an online brand community for a Japanese mainstream ride brand, it is shown how consumers negotiate product and brand meanings, and how individuation winding and brand attitudes are affected. The analysis is shared out into a ? rst part on issues cogitate to the bodily function and practices of horseback locomote a sports pedal and the identity element of sports steering wheel consumers in general, and a second part on brand attitudes and how brands interfere identity twist. as chosen as the primary data source. Yamaha is mavin of quaternary mainstream Japanese motor daily round brands with worldwide gross r pointue of US$12. 5 one thousand one thousand thousand in 2009 (Yamaha beat back Co. , 2009). As a comparison, Harley Davidson’s same year consolidated sales from wheels and related products were US$4. 3 billion (Harley-Davidson, 2009). The Yamaha R1 fabrication is primarily dedicated to Yamaha’s top-of-the-range sport wheel around, the Yamaha R1, but thither are also members subscribed to the assemblage who either have motor bikes from different brands, such as Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, or Ducati, or who currently do not have a motorbike.As of June 14, 2010, the R1 fabrication had 107,249 subscribed members and more than four million postings in approximately 265,000 threads. The threads in the meeting place are organized into ? ve different sections: 1 Community 2 R1-related discussion 3 Technique, racing, and stunt discussion 4 Marketplace/classi? ed. 5 Misc. section. After starting time reading threads in the Community section, it was possible to identify feeler themes and issues by further browsing through the postings. At a truly early pointedness of the search, demo was found for more hard and ambiguous brand relationships than in previous studies on brand communities.Following a purposive sampling approach (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Wallendorf and Belk, 1989), reading and vote outloading posts were proceed as long as analysis of the postings generated vernal insights and did not lead to tautology (Belk et al. , 1988). At a later horizontal surface of the count, the forum’s search locomotive was use to immerse more systematically into the data. Over the period mingled with imperious 2006 and June 2010, around 10,000 postings were read, of which approximately 300 were downloaded. Organization, analysis, and respectable procedures In a ? st step, downloaded postings were pre-classi? ed into different categories and reoccurrences were coded by assigning one or around(prenominal) codes to the statements in the postings. Using an repetitive approach, jumping back and forth between coded and uncoded statements facilitated the interpretation of the data. Codes were then condensed into more pregnant constructs and subsequently into interpretive themes in order to obtain relevant layers of meaning and high up textured interpretations (Arnould and Wallendorf, 1994).This procedure allowed a grounded, hermeneutic interpretation to emerge from the data that did not reach for representativeness, but kinda for uninflected depth and relevance. In order to handicap the trending of forum members’ identities, user name were changed to ge neric member names, such as â€Å"forum member 1. ” Deviating from Kozinets’ (2002) cheerations, permissions from community members to use direct quotations were not requested. The reason for this finding was twofold: First, in an initial assay to run across community members, only one response out of ten emails sent was obtained.If only those postings had been used that responses had been come upd for, the jackpot of usable data had been reduced signi? cantly. And second, Langer and Beckman’s (2005) reasoning was considered in that postings in an profit community forum are purposely public postings, comparable to readers’ letters in a parvenuespaper, and that it would be highly singular to seek 226 Method Netnography was used to look brand relationships and identity pull for an online community of a mainstream Japanese bicycle brand. Netnography has been de? ed as â€Å"ethnography adapted to the speculate of online communities” (Kozine ts, 2002, p. 61) and has been used in consumption contexts such as the X-Files (Kozinets, 1997), Star Trek (Kozinets, 2001, 2006), marry nubs (Nelson and Otnes, 2005), cars (Brown et al. , 2003), and consumer gift systems (Giesler, 2006). Similar to handed-down ethnography, netnography is open-ended, instructive, ? exible, metaphorical, and grounded in the getledge of the speci? c and particularistic (Kozinets, 2002). However, netnography is ordinarily faster, simpler, and less expensive than traditional ethnography (Kozinets, 2002, 2006).Further, it has been argued that raw(a) online communication technologies have â€Å"expand the array of generalized others contributing to the verbal expression of the self” (Cerulo, 1997, p. 386), and netnography as a lance of analyzing online communities is thus able to integrate the broadened spectrum of agents snarled in the construction of individual and joint identity. Data collection Because of its size and relevance for t he wheel community, the Yamaha R1 forum (www. r1-forum. com) Brand communities for mainstream brands Reto Felix daybook of Consumer market strength 29 · weigh 3 · 2012 · 225 â€232 ermission to use direct quotations in this context. However, Kozinet’s c formerlyrns about adequate honorable procedures in netnography look into are originally valid, and the pragmatic issue (non-responses for permission requests) ? nally was the one that complicated following his exhortations. The product level: practice and identity Although recreational chafe in general is considered a unfit leisure time action mechanism, there are different segments in spite of appearance the motorcycle community that distinguish themselves in attitudes and behaviors related to go direction and speed.On one extreme of street bike riding are the easy- travelr orient owners of choppers or touring bikes who prefer to drum up at contain speeds and enjoy the immediate experience with the environment. On the other extreme are sports bike enthusiasts who prefer a fast, warring riding style that is often attended by the exhibition of riding skills and wondering(a) stunting maneuvers such as playing wheelies (Haigh and Crowther, 2005).Commercial sports bikes aim to be copies of racing bikes used by professional riders at the Moto GP or Superbike competitions, and a modern liter bike, available at dealerships for under US$15,000, accelerates from zero to 200 km/h (125 miles) in less than ten seconds and reaches speeds in excess of 290 km/h (180 miles). A complete safety gear, consisting of helmet, leather gear, g venerates, and boots, is considered an obligation for any sports bike rider by any(prenominal), but lead to mock comments by others, ridiculing the â€Å"power ranger” out? t of sports bike riders. An classical number of mental and social con? cts are derived from the ingrained reputation of sports bike riding. Physical, functional, ? nancia l, mental and social risks form a difficult, multilayered ? eld of tensions and constraints that are ceaselessly negotiated by the individual, both internally and externally, and rarely resolved with simple heuristics. The substantial or anticipated implications of an accident are dominant in more of the comments on the R1 forum, as the following sequence of bring home the bacon narratives related to accidents and let goting riding suggests: I quit riding one time in my life.I was mediocre getting married, construction a house, etcetera [. . . ] and coincidentally I was twisting in a string of shape up misses: cars cutting me make, al just about getting side swiped by an idiot who didn’t know how to turn into his own lane, getting run off road and up over a curb through a gas station parking disperse by a garbage hand truck who just decided he precious to cut across two lanes with no warning. It was my opinion that there was just around foul energy around me mature then, and with all the other stress in my life maybe it was adding to the problem. I move into’t know.I hung it up for a hardly a(prenominal) years, then got back into it when every affaire felt responsibility again. It still feels right [. . . ] all the speckle I’ve witnessed bike wrecks, been close to others’ mortal accidents, laid my own bike down at a track day, etc. [. . . ] but it still feels right for me. My single rule is that as long as my head is in the game, then it’s â€Å"rightâ€Å". If my head is constantly direction on crashing, dying, etc. [. . . ] then it’s time to take another time-out. Shouldn’t be riding if you can’t focus on what you’re doing. Period. noneshame in that (forum member 1).I’ve seen bad accidents but also I consider its mental. With so nearly(prenominal), â€Å"I’ve gone down” threads, it can eat your con? dence aside and make riding not fun. If it ainâ⠂¬â„¢t fun, that’s a close time to step back and let time rebuild your enjoyment (forum member 2). [. . . ] Subscribed [. . . ] (forum member 3). Personally normal that I evoke up and am fortunate enough to ride I tell my wife I love her I get my brain study and I al meanss keep reminding myself that this could be my last ride and I destine that is half the reason I ride so responsibly on the street.I assume’t indigence to have a last ride I love this sport. I have been down once very hard and that was a wake up call but I can’t give up what I love and to all my friends and dude riders if I do go down and fag out’t get up please keep riding for me cause I would do the same (forum member 4). The con? ict between the he wearistic and artistic pleasures of riding a bike and the implicit in(p) risks conglomerate in the employment becomes big in forum member 2 comment about how riding a motorcycle should be related to fun. Speci? life events, su ch as those mentioned in forum member 1 narrative, amplify these tensions and may lead to significant changes in attitudes or behaviors. However, these attitudinal or behavioral changes are often dynamic and unstable in time. For example, the closing to quit riding is in more an(prenominal) cases a temporal one, and forum members discriminate riding to an addiction such as drinking or smoking. This addiction-like need to ride a motorbike then becomes an great factor in identity construction: From the point of view of the individual, riders do not choose riding a motorbike in order to signal certain values.Rather, as show by forum member 4, the activity forms a pictorial part of the self and is just there, same to early abstractizations of gender or race in the essentialist identity logic. Riding a bike is elevated to a mission that does not leave room for pickaxes, and fellow riders are pull aheadd to honor the out of work by continuing the mission and safekeeping the spirit alive. The inherent trait of creation addicted to motorcycles is assessed critically in a re? ective discourse by many riders. For example, forum member 5 explains that he is aware of the multiple con? cts that contend his hobby, but apparently resolves these con? icts by stating that riding is the most important thing in his life, and that he has learned that riding makes him happy. The piece of groundd sense and discourse related to themes such as the risk of experiencing a severe accident, losing a fellow rider, or problems with girlfriends, spouses, or the family in general, leads to a incorporated identity that is constructed, complex, and deprived of abstractione classi? cations. The brand level: attitudes mediating identity constructionThe negotiations of meaning related to the practice of riding a sports bike are reproduced at the more speci? c brand level. Whereas previous research on brand communities has been declamatoryly focused on communities with extraor dinary high levels of brand loyalty and fealty, members of the R1 sports bike community show a more ambiguous and differentiated relationship with the Yamaha brand: I’m in reality faithful to Yamaha, but when sitting on a rising R1 and a new GSXR1000 side by side, I have to say I like the Suzuki. The R1 just feels so much [. . . bigger. I don’t know. Also, the magazines bitch about the shift [. . . ] yet how many serious track people leave suspension deport any bureau? Regardless, I’m too poor to obtain a new bike, so I’ll continue riding my 02 R1 on the track (forum member 6). faithfulness in this context is not undergo as absolute loyalty to only one brand. Rather, it is legitimate to foreland in public the qualities of the favorite brand. Contrary to what cogency be expected, forum member 6 receives very hardly a(prenominal) objections from the community members, and a relatively ational, attribute-based discussion of the merits and dis r eturns of different motorcycle brands and moldings follows. In general, discourses presented by the forum members include few elements of real enthusiasm and emotional commitment for the brand. Apparently, community members perceive both the products and the brands in the sports bike category as curt differentiated. This does not mean that R1 owners are dissatis? ed with their bike 227 Brand communities for mainstream brands Reto Felix diary of Consumer selling intensity level 29 · Number 3 · 2012 · 225 â€232 r the Yamaha brand in general. Rather, the speci? c situation of the sports bike community suggests clients who are highly satis? ed with their brand, yet in time would renewal to another brand easily. It has been suggested that brand loyalty can be heedful by asking individuals how likely it is they would recommend the brand to a friend or colleague (Reichheld, 2003). Because people new to sports bike riding a great deal ask for advice on the forum, a grea t number of posts are related to what bike from which brand would be recommended.Typical answers include statements such as â€Å"any of the new bikes are great” (forum member 7) or â€Å"I’ve spent most time on all the bikes and seriously there is no true winner, no matter what you get instantly is a rocket out of the crateful and you will be getting a straightforward bike! Each has its ups and down but overall I could see myself on any of them really! ” (forum member 8). Rather than showing indifference, consumers like and actually buy any of the important sports bike brands.Using the conceptual partition of the awareness set into an evoked set, an inert set, and an inept set (Narayana and Markin, 1975; Spiggle and Seawall, 1987), it seems that R1 community members place most of the important sports bike brands into the evoked set, whereas the inert set is relatively small. Instead of a highly connected loyalty to one single brand, as in previous accounts of brand communities, the Yamaha R1 brand community is, if anything, prone to multi-brand or split up loyalty (Jacoby, 1971; Jacoby and Kyner, 1973). Identity is thus less de? ed by a speci? c brand, but rather by the activity of riding a sports bike itself. wheresoever brand individual(prenominal)ities in? uence decision making, it seems that these criteria are max rather than inclusive. That is, the consideration set is not form by the cellular inclusion of a speci? c brand or set of brands, but rather by excluding unattractive brands. For example, in the R1 forum, some members duration themselves from Suzuki, one of Yamaha’s main competitors, because they don’t identify with the people who ride Suzukis: Yes, gixxer is by far the â€Å"squid bike” all the ? st time riders and newbies love the gixxers [. . . ] Their psyche and unfriendly attitude is because they are young, dumb, and think their bike is the best ever (forum member 9). the brand and clash wi th the otherwise unequivocally perceived military operation and quality of the product. The identity of the R1 brand community is further formed by the relationship with two other groups of motorcycles. On one hand, most forum members seem to admire the more exclusive Italian sports bike brands, such as Ducati and MV Agusta.On the other hand, the relationship to Harley Davidson is not marked by a clear distinction of acceptance versus decimateion pattern, but rather by a complicated and sometimes ambiguous pattern of mixed emotions toward the brand and its users: there are a curing of douche bag riders, Harley and sportbike alike, but I will admit I’ve ? ipped off quite a few Harley riders. I’ve gotten less camaraderie from Harley riders than anyone, but those are just the young wannabies, the old guys are usually cool tho, hahaha (forum member 10). In motorcycle slang, Gixxer stands for Suzuki’s GSX-R line of top-notch sport motorbikes. fabrication member s do not reject the Suzuki brand because of issues with the quality or performance of the product, but rather because of the characteristics of the riders who use the brand. Squid, an building that, according to some forum members, is a combination of the two words â€Å"squirrel” and â€Å"kid,” describes idle motorcycle riders who overestimate their riding skills and frequently wear in tolerate and insuf? cient riding gear. By claiming that the Suzuki GSX-R series is the typical squid bike, attributes of the consumers are ascribed to the brand.Thus, brand identity is built on exclusion (â€Å"this is not how we want to be”) rather than on inclusion. Further, meaning head in this case deviates substantially from the traditional symbolic consumption process. Symbolic consumption suggests that individuals transfer the symbolic meaning of a brand to themselves, and subsequently the audience, such as peers and signi? cant others, assigns the attributes of the br and to the individual (Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967). However, meaning in the example above is transferred in the reverse direction, from the user to the brand.Negative attributes of Suzuki brand users (such as being squiddish, dumb, and inexperienced) are transferred to 228 Here, forum member 10 develops a differentiated look toward Harley-Davidson riders by explaining that the less friendly Harley riders are typically those that are younger (and thus less experienced), whereas the older riders seem to be more open. Both positive and prohibit feelings co-exist at the same time as the result of a cognitive paygrade that avoids simple stereotyping found at other brand communities.Many R1 forum members perceive the Harley-Davidson brand as both cool and archaic at the same time, and this ambiguity toward the brand is replicated for the users of the brand, where Harley-Davidson riders have been experienced as both cool and reliable riders or as ignorant and unfriendly â€Å"weekend w arriors. ” Thus, brands in the R1 community are not iconic symbols that unambiguously communicate attitudes and life styles of brand users to the bigger audience via the meaning of the brand.Rather, brands are complex, multidimensional entities that gain meaning only in the reciprocal relationship with the brand user. blunt single-brand loyalty and â€Å"we” versus â€Å"us” stereotypes are replaced in large part by ambiguous, differentiated, and often critical attitudes toward the own brand. Brand identity is based on exclusion (Suzuki is a typical brand for squids) instead of inclusion, and within a relatively large evoked set, multi-brand loyalty is more common than religious-like brand worshipping described for, e. g. the Apple Newton. Conclusions and managerial implicationsBrand communities have sparked the interest of marketing researchers and practitioners alike because of the high levels of brand loyalty and commitment see to ited in previous studies o n brands such as Apple, Jeep, or Harley Davidson. However, the results of this qualitative study suggest that instead of single-brand loyalty, consumers for mainstream brands may be more prone to multi-brand loyalty. As forum member 8 (see citation above) expressed it, â€Å"[. . . ] no matter what you get nowadays is a rocket out of the crate and you will be getting a good bike!Each has its ups and down but overall I could see myself on any of them really! ” The case of the Yamaha R1 brand community thus presents preliminary show up that speci? c persistence conditions may shape the relationships consumers have with their brand, and more speci? cally, that multi-brand loyalty is more probable to occur for low levels of brand differentiation (Felix, 2009) combined with more choices (Bennett and Rundle-Thiele, 2005). It follows that from the point of view of a participation, having many members in a speci? c brand community does not necessarily construe into a highly loyal customer base.Rather, under certain Brand communities for mainstream brands Reto Felix journal of Consumer selling Volume 29 · Number 3 · 2012 · 225 â€232 conditions, higher levels of participation may actually increase the likelihood of adopting products from competing brands, in particular if individuals are simultaneously members in some(prenominal) brand communities (Thompson and Sinha, 2008). The results of this study suggest that marketers should supervise and track consumers’ motivations, attitudes, and decision making processes on two levels: On the product level, it is important for marketers to recognise barriers and con? cts related to the general use of the product. In the speci? c case of a sports bike, the physical risk (in the form of experiencing a severe accident) is probably the most important issue, which in turn may lead to substantial social tensions, in particular with family members. For other products, such as clothing, computers, or food, the motivations wherefore consumers may or may not consider a speci? c product category may be different, but it remains essential to understand these reasons. On the brand level, it is important for marketers to understand the degree of brand identi? ation in the community as well as the way how consumers perceive a consciousness of kind, share rituals and traditions, and experience a sense of lesson responsibility ? (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). In a world of online consumer-to-consumer communications, companies are change magnitudely losing operate over their brands. It is therefore important for marketers to get involved in the process of pattern building and brand spatial relation in online communication platforms. no-company-run communities, such as the Yamaha R1 forum, assoil the risk of community members transmitting brand information in a way not desired by the company (Stokburger-Sauer, 2010).Marketers thus should try to integrate consumers by either spo nsoring an entire discussion website, a forum, or part of a forum (Pitta and Fowler, 2005). Finally, an unobtrusive and authentic way of increasing a company’s function in a noncompany-run forum is exempli? ed by a company that provides motorcycle braking systems. One of the company’s employees invites Yamaha R1 forum members to ask him brake related questions and explains that he is on the forum not to sell, but to educate riders about brakes in general.By choosing a nonselling approach in the R1 forum, the company manages to gain credibility in the community and to build customer relationships that are more consumer-focused and authentic than many of the hard-selling approaches at the dealerships. The employee’s thread on brake questions has more than 600 postings, which is signi? cantly above the forum’s intermediate of around 15 postings per thread, and evidences the interest of the community in a direct contact with company representatives. The exa mple also suggests that online communities are not limited to relationships between consumers and the brand and between consumers and consumers.Rather, consumers develop complex relationships with several brands, products, marketing agents, and other consumers within the same community. brand love are divided among the different brands in the evoked set? Or is it possible that several brands receive the same amount of commitment and dedication, as might be claimed by a husband being in a polygynous relationship with several wives? Finally, how can corporations increase their share in the multi-loyal brand set? As in many other industries, differentiation on the product level seems to be dif? hysteria for sports bikes, but efforts in brand communication, e. . by apply events and experiences to build brand image, might be a promising avenue to go. References Algesheimer, R. , Dholakia, U. M. and Herrmann, A. 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(2008), â€Å" node satisfaction and loyalty: start with the product, finish with the brand”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 302-13. Wallendorf, M. and Belk, R.W. (1989), â€Å"Assessing trustworthiness in naturalistic con sumer research”, in Hirschman, E. C. (Ed. ), Interpretive Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Provo, UT, pp. 69-84. Yamaha Motor Co. (2009), â€Å"Annual report”, available at: www. yamaha-motor. co. jp/global/ir/material/pdf/2009/2009 annual-e. pdf (accessed June 14, 2010). close to the author Reto Felix is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Monterrey, Mexico. He received his stamp down’s in Marketing and PhD in Business Administration from the University of St Gallen, Switzerland.He has been a tour Scholar at the Marketing Group, Haas trail of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and has published in journals such as Journal of International Marketing, Journal of Brand communities for mainstream brands Reto Felix Journal of Consumer Marketing Volume 29 · Number 3 · 2012 · 225 â€232 Business & industrial Marketing, and Journal of International Consumer Marketing. Further, he has presented his research at conferences hosted by the Association for Consumer Research, the American Marketing Association, the Academy of Marketing Science and the Society for Marketing Advances.Reto Felix can be contacted at: [email protected] edu. mx executive summary and implications for managers and executives This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full bene? ts of the material present. The topic of brand communities has provided the focus for much marketing literature.Brand communities transcend geographical boundaries and contain people who exhibit passion for a particular brand. These individuals also display similarities in consciousness while â€Å"shared rituals and traditions” is another al-Qaida of th eir social relationships. Some scholars have even state the propensity for â€Å"religious-like” associations to develop. Evidence shows that groups can be based locally, online or a combination of both. A wide range of products has supplied the inspiration for brand communities to form. In addition to strong consumer identi? ation with the brands, â€Å"clear and unique positioning” is viewed as a common characteristic among brands concerned. Brand loyalty can be fervent to a degree that an â€Å"us and them” mentality often arises with regard to other brands. Bonding within the community can generate stereotypes and outsiders are treated with some disdain. Any failure of competitor brands is cause for celebration. It is, however, a misconception to assume that brand communities are always homogenous. Signi? cant internal differences appear to be the rule not the exception.Relationship intensity with other members is subject to variation because some are loya l to the brand while others may identify more intimately with the product. Levels of social orientation can withal differ. Researchers have also pointed out the misfortune of some individuals lacking interest in brand, product and social relationships yet be in the community. Others might become involved with different brand communities in the same product category, resulting in further ventilation of loyalty. Felix explores the topic in a study of an online Yamaha brand community principally attached to the Japanese manufacturer’s R1 sumptuousness sports otorcycle. Yamaha is one of the world’s leading brands in its category and in 2009 boasted sales of $12. 5 billion. At the time of the study, there were 107,249 registered members in the R1 forum. Some members did not currently own a motorcycle, while others have a different brand. The author considers netnography as the most relevant study method for the investigation of brand relationships and â€Å"identity construction of an online community”. This approach is regarded as ethnography adapted for the purpose of exploring online communities. Among other things, netnography has been commended for its ? xibility, 231 open-endedness and interpretative qualities. Different researchers have used the approach in a variety of study contexts including cars, consumer gifts and TV programs. Following initial analysis of messages posted on the forum, the threads were arranged into ? ve different sections respectively labeled as: Community; R1-related Discussion; Technique, Racing and hinder Discussion; Marketplace/ Classi? ed; and unhomogeneous Section. Analysis of the threads enabled messages to be coded and then organized into â€Å"interpretive themes” so that appropriate â€Å"layers of meaning” could be identi? d. Message themes were canvas at the product level to ascertain factors which in? uence practice and identity. In general, capacious risk is associated with ri ding a motorcycle for leisure purposes. But the variation in attitudes towards factors like speed and riding style means that different segments exist within the biking community. At one end of the continuum are those who ride around at moderate speeds to savor the experience with the environment. Positioned at the other extreme are bikers whose gustatory perception for high speed is often accompanied by an aggressive style of riding.Such individuals are also likelier to ? aunt their biking skills through on the hook(predicate) maneuvers like pulling wheelies. According to Felix, riding a motorcycle gives rise to various(a) risks and con? icts that can be physical, functional, ? nancial, psychological or social in nature. The activity is therefore highly complex and generates a web of â€Å"tensions and constraints” that the individual must constantly address internally and externally. Concern about accidents is a recurring theme with community members referring to â€Å" actual or anticipated implications” in that eventuality.Message content reveals that con? ict exists between friendship of the intrinsic risks associated with bike riding and the grati? cation derived from it. Forum members suggest that such tensions may actuate attitude or behavioral changes, albeit sometimes ? eeting in nature. This occurs because riding a motorcycle is almost addictive and an important look of identity construction. Some comments imply that it is a â€Å"mission” that simply has to be ful? lled. blush though members are aware of the con? icts which surround this pastime, the desire to ride is the main driving force.Analysis reveals a â€Å"shared consciousness” about issues including serious accidents, loss of a fellow biker, and problems relating to the family. The author ascertains a embodied identity that is complex in nature but dif? cult to categorize precisely. An run of meaning at the speci? c brand level reveals a relationship bet ween forum members and the Yamaha brand that is â€Å"ambiguous and differentiated”. Instead of absolute loyalty to the brand, it is more evident that people engage in balanced debate about its qualities and those of other motorcycle brands.Members apparently perceive little differentiation between brands and may switch to another brand even if they are highly satis? ed. Many studies have noted that some consumers can display loyalty to multiple brands and there is some evidence of this tendency here. Messages seeking advice on future acquires are frequent and members typically recommend a range of brands they consider decent. In the opinion of Felix, this indicates that riding a sports motorcycle de? nes identity much more that the speci? c brand of bike. Another signi? cant ? nding is how decision making seems in? enced more by exclusive than inclusive brand criteria. A Brand communities for mainstream brands Reto Felix Journal of Consumer Marketing Volume 29 · Number 3 · 2012 · 225 â€232 notice example is the negatively charged perceptions of the Suzuki brand among some R1 forum members. The interesting fact about this hostility is that is has little to do with product quality concerns. Instead, such evaluation arises because members question those who ride Suzuki sport bikes. With regard to identity construction, meaning is normally transferred from brand to individual. Here, however, it is the negative traits of Suzuki riders that re transferred to the brand. Some con? ict with positive perceptions of the product subsequently occurs. That brands are complex and multidimensional is further illustrated by the tell apart ways in which R1 members relate to Harley Davidson. incontrovertible and negative feelings exist simultaneously as the brand is regarded as cool yet obsolete. Contrasting statements are likewise tell at Harley Davidson riders. One important deductive reasoning is that ambiguity surrounds brand meaning, attitude and lifestyle conveyed within this community. This study indicates that consumer-brand relations might be shaped by â€Å"speci? industry conditions”. Marketers are also alerted to lack of clear brand differentiation and the possibility that multi-brand loyalty will ensue, even when a large brand community exists. Understanding what in? uences consumer attitudes, motivations and decision-making at both product and brand level is essential. Certain factors may encourage or deter choice of a particular product, while it is equally important to be aware of brand identi? cation levels and embodied sensitivities among consumers. Given the revealing nature of online communication, Felix suggests that ? ms might gain greater insight into consumer thinking by becoming actively involved in non-company forums. An unobtrusive approach is considered vital though. The aim should not be to sell but to build authentic consumer-focused relationships with an emphasis on providing advice or inform ation. ? (A precis of the article â€Å"Brand communities for mainstream brands: the example of the Yamaha R1 brand community”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald. ) To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] com Or visit our web site for further details: www. emeraldinsight. com/reprints 232\r\n'