1. Marketplace Cultures

2. Marketplace Cultures
What is the key research question driving this program of research?
How does the emergence of consumption as a dominant human practice reconfigure the foundations of culture, and vice versa?
The consumer is conceived of as a culture producer.
CCT explores the heterogeneous distribution of meanings and the multiplicity of overlapping cultural groupings that exist within the broader socio-historic frame of globalization and market capitalism. This distributed view of cultural emphasizes the dynamics of fragmentation, plurality, fluidity, and the intermingling (or hybridization) of cultural traditions and ways of life

3. Example
In his foundational work, Hebdige (1979) showed how subcultural consumption exhibits an ongoing structured opposition to dominant culture as well as internal oppositions between socially approved behaviors and negatively sanctioned stereotypes
Kates (2002) showed subcultural consumption is a sort of ongoing socialization process, and conspicuously conscious. Further, status is achieved not through adherence to monolithic consumption norms, but through the combinatorial inventiveness and semiotic playfulness.

4. Brand Community
ALBERT M. MUNIZ, JR. THOMAS C. O’GUINN

5. Definition
A brand community is a specialized, non-geographically bound community,
based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brand.
It is specialized because at its center is a branded good or service.
Like other communities, it is marked by a shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of moral responsibility.
Each of these qualities is, however, situated within a commercial and mass- mediated ethos, and has its own particular expression.
Brand communities have an active interpretive function, with brand meaning being socially negotiated.

6. Brands inspiring community
Brand communities may form around any brand, but are probably most likely to form around brands with a strong image, a rich and lengthy history, and threatening competition.

7. Significance of the Research
The research joins larger questions of social theory:
How will community be manifest in (post)modern times?
Is community really dead, or could it actually flourish on the very ground on which consumer culture formed and fomented?
What is the nature of this new community?

8. Consciousness of kind
Members share what Bender (1978) describes as “we-ness.”
Members feel an important connection to the brand, but more importantly, they feel a stronger connection toward one another.
Members feel that never met.

9. Legitimacy
Donald: During the 80’s the yuppie attitude was really talked about quite a bit. A lot of people actually purchased the cars who I feel shouldn’t have purchased them. There’s a certain type of owner who is proper for the car and people who buy one just because it’s something that they really don’t have intentions of keeping for a long time.

10. Oppositional brand loyalty
More than one Macintosh page features an altered picture of Bill Gates (of Microsoft) that includes devil-style horns and is entitled “Save us from the Gates of Hell.”
ManyMac users comment on the wide market acceptance of Windows by noting that much of what makes Windows successful are things that it “stole” from the Mac.
More than one Web page states that “Win95 p Mac 1984.”

11. Rituals and Traditions
Good reminder:
Rituals and traditions are also evident in our brand communities.
Rituals and traditions represent vital social processes by which the meaning of the community is reproduced and transmitted within and beyond the community.

12. Welcoming/greeting ritual
George: If you drove a Saab, whenever you passed someone else driving a Saab on the road, you beeped or flashed your lights.
Mark: Or you’d wave at each other. I did it today, I was driving around downtown Kenosha, and it was a four-door, nothing special, but that’s OK, Hey, how you doing? Yeah I still flash my headlights at people.

13. Rehearsing brand history
Appreciation of the history of the brand often differentiates the true believers from the more opportunistic.
Knowing these things is a form of cultural capital (Bourdieu 1984; Holt 1998) within the brand community. It demonstrates one’s expertise, secure membership status, and commitment to the larger community.
Advertisements play an important role in brand community rituals and traditions. Members are particularly concerned with ads as they represent the brand to those outside of the community, as well as to themselves.

14. Moral Responsibility
Moral responsibility is what produces collective action and contributes to group cohesion.
The moral responsibility to provide assistance not only manifests itself in helping fix problems, it is also apparent in the sharing of information on brand-related resources. These resources contain preventative materials, devices to enhance the performance of the product or brand promotional materials such as images or information.
SAAB owners:
George: I get off the interstate and I see this car sitting there I drove him into the gas station and had club cards with me and said, “Here, you want one of them?”
Mark: Yeah, we see another Saab on the side of the road, we pull over to help, no matter what it is.

15. Community Benefits
Agency
Information
Social benefits

16. Managerial Implications
Positive implications for firms?
for brand building active loyalists
for relationship marketing -- mediator of relations with firms
relational ties add brand value
Carry out important functions on behalf of the brand, such as sharing information, perpetuating the history and culture of the brand, and providing assistance.
Negative implications for firms?
Lose of control
Competitive snooping
Brand marginalization

17. Practices & Consumer Value Creation
Hope Schau, Al Muniz, & Eric Arnould

18. Research Questions
To what extent are participants in on-line brand communities willing and able to co-produce value?
How do pro-active, brand-based, on-line (and real world) consumtion communities come to be?

19. Co-Creation
Production and consumption of goods and services are commingled, simultaneous (Firat & Venkatesh 1995)
Firms alone cannot create value but rather through collaboration with consumers they “create unique value,” (Prahalad & Ramaswamy 2004)
Co-creation is moving toward the firm and customer together co- creating the entire marketing program (Lusch & Vargo 2006)
Democratizated user innovation (von Hippel 2005)

20. Practices
Practices are routinized behaviors which consist of three interconnected elements:
Behaviors: intersection of schema and material resources
Performances: behaviors + “appropriate” Others; and
Representations: evocation of presumptively shared meaning

21. Practices
Behaviors: off-line/on-line activities involving the brand or product
Performances:
Organized, routinized, ritualized behaviors involving the brand or product
Done with and done for participants
Evolve via participant interaction
Normatively sanctioned
Representations: on-line descriptions, evocations, illustrations, dramatizations, symbolizations

22. “Anatomy” of Practices
Practices link behaviors, performances and representations through:
procedures:
explicit rules, principles, precepts and instructions, what is sometimes called discursive know-that knowledge
understandings:
knowledge of what to say and do; skills and projects, sometimes called know-how (i.e., tacit cultural templates for understanding and action)
Actors share a practice if their actions are appropriately regarded as answerable to norms of correct or incorrect practice (Rouse 2001, 190

23. “Anatomy” of Practices
emotional engagements:
that is, ends and purposes, which are emotionally charged, in the sense that people are attached to or committed to them (Duguid 2005; Warde 2005);
that is, they are intentional and
they are normative

24. Instances in Prior Research
Muñiz and Schau (2005): Newton users, welcoming
McAlexander, Schouten and Koenig (2002): Jeep owners “welcoming” next gen; customize for brandfests
Schouten and McAlexander (1995): Harley owners “un-welcoming” wrong people
Muñiz and O’Guinn (2001): Saab drivers, empathizing with stranded owners
Leigh, Peters and Shelton (2006): MG owners empathizing gurus
Mathwick, Wiertz and deRuter (2008): P3 community governing with norms
Schau and Muñiz (2007a): TPATH fans governing, insist on norms related to drug use
Muñiz and Schau (2007b): Newton users, preaching the gospel
Kozinets (2001): Star Trek fans, rationalize their devotion; critique commodification
Giesler and Pohlmann (2003): Napster community, justifying file sharing
Martin, Schouten and McAlexander (2006): Women Harley riders stake distinction
Sherry et al (2001): ESPNZone roles, staking roles, e.g., cheerleaders
 Peters (2004): Winnebago –Itasca enthusiasts stake with distinctive vocabulary
Arnould and Price (1993): River rafters kiss the rock, milestoning
52 articles published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Consumption, Markets and Culture, and Advances in Consumer Research that explicitly claim to examine collective consumer behavior and/or “practices.” None of these studies expressly dealt with collective value creation and did not use the constructs of collaborative behavior uniformly or systematically. Nonetheless, using four coders to achieve inter-coder agreement on interpretation, we identified 37 articles (71%) containing sufficient material to code collective practices. In 13 (35%) of these articles we did find some evidence of practices consistent with our current data set.

25. Data Nine brand communities across product categories
3Com Audrey (Internet device)
Apple Newton (personal digital assistant)
BMW MINI (car)
Garmin (GPS device)
Jones Soda (carbonated beverage)
Lomo and Holga (cameras)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (musical group)
StriVectin (cosmeceutical)
Xena: Warrior Princess (episodic action television program)

26. Research Engagement Brand community Research engagement 3Com Audrey
16 months of naturalistic observation
8 in-depth interviews with key members
Apple Newton
5 years of naturalistic observation
2.5 years of participant observation
82 in-depth member interviews
Garmin
1.5 years naturalistic observation
10 months participant observation
4 in-depth member interviews
Jones Soda
2.5 years naturalistic observation
8 in-depth member interviews
Lomo and Holga
3 years naturalistic observation
MINI Cooper
5 months of naturalistic observation
Tom Petty
and the Heartbreakers
22 years naturalistic observation
12 years participant observation
67 in-depth interviews
StriVectin
6 in-depth member interviews
Xena: Warrior Princess
11 years naturalistic observation
28 in-depth interviews

27. Online Data Summary Focal Brand Forum Threads 03/31/07 Posts Views
Apple Newton
NewtTalk
32,228
132,726
N/A
Garmin
GPA Passion
1,870
12,153
1,025,607
StriVectin
E-make-up
188
15,876
658,145
Skin Care
116
984
261,548
Jones Soda
Jones Soda Message Board
3,531
60,861
Lomo
Lomo.us
8,218
59,178
Toy Cameras
ToyCamera
781
5,515
81,706
Xena: Warrior Princess
Talking Xena
5,316
589,062
15,186,133
Xenaverse
63,784
2,951,236
TPATH
TomPetty.com
20,196
418,290
18,875,439
MINI Cooper
Northamericanmotoring.com
94,879
1,486,701
26,598,234
MINIcooperforums.com
460
1664
202,359

28. The Apple Newton

29. Consumer created consumption constellation

30. The 3Com Audrey

31. Xena: Warrior Princess

32. BMW Mini

33. Brand Communities Brand Community Description 3Com Audrey
3Com is an Internet-only device released in October of 2000, based on the Palm operating system. It is designed to be a simple and elegant way to access the Internet, check and sync with Palm Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The Audrey had a rushed release, tried to carve out a new product category, and failed to connect with consumers (Kanellos and Wong 2001). After a little over seven months on the market, 3Com discontinued the Audrey in June of 2001 and offered full rebates to purchasers. 3Com no longer provides any support for the Audrey. Numerous sites sell new and hacked Audreys and there are several user forums where users can find assistance in repairing and extending the functionality of their Audreys.
Apple
The Apple Newton (PDA) was introduced in The had a rushed release, tried to carve out a new product category and failed to connect with consumers. was far from bug-free. These widely reported problems, coupled with a high price, discouraged most potential adopters. Despite these barriers, a strong and fiercely-loyal brand community formed around the (Wagner 1998; Muñiz and Schau 2005). The lost its lead in the emerging PDA category to the Palm Pilot in 1996 and was officially discontinued by Apple in February of Since it was discontinued, users have come to rely on themselves, as well as the larger community, in order to keep their operating. Numerous websites sell new and hacked and there are several forums where users can find assistance in repairing and extending functionality.

34. Brand Communities Garmin
Garmin produces a variety of global positioning system (GPS) devices, including the Nuvi, Quest and Streetpilot lines. These devices allow users to pinpoint their exact location in real time and plot directions to any geographic destination. They have a worldwide community consisting of users and company employees. The community manifests online and offline. The community is truly global in nature with multiple languages used on the message boards. The offline community is more travel based where people interested in certain destinations or dwelling in certain destinations meet to exchange use experiences and travel experiences.
Jones Soda
Jones Soda is a carbonated beverage firm that solicits customer co-creation from a community of devoted fans. The firm gives its year old target consumers input into product innovations (flavors), packaging (labels, cap quotes), promotions (stickers, web content, price points) and advertising. Through the Jones Soda website, consumers are asked to rate suggested new flavors and are invited to submit photos and copy that would fit in advertisements and on the packaging. A mobile Jones promotional vehicle arrives at events like the X Games, malls and school campuses to give away promotional material and have consumers try and rate Jones soda products. The promotional vehicle stocks flavors of interest (new and experimental) and actively solicits consumer feedback. As of 2005, Jones Soda used nearly 4,400 consumer generated photos in its marketing (Business Week 2005).
Lomo and Holga
Lomo and Holga are cheaply made cameras, Russian and Chinese, respectively, with inexpensive lenses and few adjustable options. Users simply point and shoot. The international origins, inexpensiveness, and simplicity of these cameras have made them both the subject of active community followings, most centered on one joint community ( Lomography has come to stand for a lo-fi, no-rules and no-pretense school of photography that stresses creativity and spontaneity. Members create modifications and additions for the cameras, enabling them to do things the manufacturer never intended. The Lomo and Holga brand communities have over time merged creating one dual brand community, based around these toy cameras.

35. Brand Communities Mini Cooper
The BMW Mini was introduced in in It is a retro brand distinguishable from nostalgic brands (Morris Mini) by the element of technological updating (BMW). It is “a brand new, old-fashioned offering” (Brown, Kozinets and Sherry 2003, 20). The brand is introduced and sustained with a marketing communications campaign that creates an iconoclastic, high style, high cultural capital image for the brand that builds off the retro, populist narrative associated with the old British Morris Mini. Through numerous local chapters and its elaborate website, the North American community promotes chat, discussion of all aspects of the various Mini models, frequent group road trips and rallies, customization of interiors and exteriors, and racing, and facilitates both lateral recycling of parts and supplies and limited after market sales by qualified vendors.
Tom Petty
and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is a Grammy Award winning rock act with a career spanning over three decades. TPATH successfully leveraged the music video art form, earning an MTV Music Video Award and a place on various compilations of the most influential music videos. Their ‘Greatest Hits’ album was certified 10xplatinum in 2003, while their debut release continues to sell globally; new fans emerge across generations and around the world. In 2006, ABC contracted with TPATH to use their song ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’ to promote the NBA Finals ( As indication of their enduring popularity, TPATH performed at the Super Bowl XLII halftime show. TPATH fans are active attending concerts, hosting tailgates and concert parties, tuning into the radio show, posting on the online forums and participating in fan chats.

36. Brand Communities StriVectin
StriVectin is a cosmeceutical, or a high-end cosmetic with pharmaceutical properties, that treats skin imperfections (stretch marks, wrinkles and scars). The tag line for StriVectin’s advertising campaign for the last three years is, “Better than Botox,” focusing on its age defying results. The ad text claims that StriVectin has clinically proven attributes that effectively repair skin and vastly improve skin’s appearance. There is a lively community centered on StriVectin, composed mostly, but not exclusively, of women. The members meet online on message boards sponsored by the producer, as well as on online forums dedicated to beauty and “youth endurance” or sites devoted to waging war against the signs of aging. The members are evangelical in their support of the product and tout the effectiveness of the product through the telling of highly personal testimonials.
Xena: Warrior Princess
The Xena character began as a guest role on the Hercules TV program in Xena: Warrior Princess became a successful spin-off melodrama that ceased production June It is now in syndication on various networks. The show has lucrative syndication agreements, on and off-line cottage industries revolving around the fan culture of costuming, fan fiction, and conventioneering, fits squarely within existing organizations (Society for Creative Anachronism) devoted to medieval reenactments and fairs, and in many respects appeals to other fantasy fan communities like those revolving around Star Trek (Jenkins 1992), Star Wars (Brown et al 2003) and the X-Files (Kozinets 1997).

37. Know-that, Discursive Knowledge
By stringing together a host of unrelated web functionalities, participants are able to track the physical movement of the vehicle including the use of factory, port, and canal cameras, and GPS ship tracking systems along with tracking of production numbers through the factory, and through and telephone exchanges with BMW technical staff.
(e.g., Go here: for a listing of the WW ship schedule. CooperB, 2nd Gear, Georgia [Production Week 37]).

38. Know-how, Tacit Elements of Virtuoso Performance
Participants exchange
rumors (when will the ship leave port);
information (confirmation that a production number has been assigned, that a vehicle has left the factory, for example), and
empathic communications about the wait (socially constructed as an anxious time) for a first viewing, and driving of the new arrival.
Naming and other anthropomorphizing performances are encouraged.
Finally, owners commonly engage an additional possession ritual, final pre-delivery customizing at the MINI dealer (e.g., “Hopefully Fish, my '08 MCc in Yello Tang (that's Mello Yello to those of you who don't keep saltwater fish, lol) will make it throught the VPC quickly and then it's a short trip to Ft. Lauderdale for some black sport stripes and some fun in the sun.” (SubieDriver, 1st Gear, Sylvania, OH; [Production Week 37])

39. Emotional Engagement
By following threads over the weeks from ordering to delivery, it is also easy to track the evolving emotional engagement of participants who develop a special dialect and speak about the impending “birth” of the baby and encourage one another to create “baby books” that document the new arrival’s every move.
Hey Everyone! I'm a "Week 39-er" too! I just checked online and it says my car is at the VDC!! YEA! I've been calling and checking online all weekend and it kept saying "En Route" on the website but when I would call, it would tell me that the car was "Awaiting Transport". I have an estimated delivery date of 10/21 and I know the online tracking is not the most current so I'm hoping I can take delivery somtime this coming week! I've already got my new wheels and a bunch of other mods have been ordered and should be here sometime next week as well. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the wait is KILLING ME! LOL (2nd Gear, No ID, Production Weak 39)

40. Emotional Engagement
I must say that this last week of waiting is the worst. Not knowing exactly where your car is. I know it was discharged, but that's it. It was nice being able to track the boat and know right where the car was on it's voyage. I think they need to integrate the scanning/inventory equipment at the VDC to automatically update the tracking on the owners lounge (2nd Gera, Detroit, Production Week 31).
Originally Posted by MPIII***
It's finally here! Hooray.
Congrats looks great! (neutral, Troy, MI, Production Week 31)
Nice. Glad you finally got it home. Now go out and drive around will ya! (4th Gear, Maryland, Production Week 31)

41. “Physiology” of a Consumer Practice
Commoditizing
Distancing or approaching the marketplace. This is a valenced behavior with regards to the marketplace. May be directed at other participants; e.g., you should sell that; you shouldn’t sell that. May be directed at the firm either via explicit link or via resumed monitoring of the site; e.g., you should fix this; do this; change this.
Know-that (Procedures)
Consumers post detailed instructions on how to protect the Garmin’s face in transit or between uses. The community deems the brand produced carrying cases inferior to the user created “snugglies.” Users who have the talent to sew microfiber fabrics, esp. with artistic flair, are encouraged to sell snugglies.
Know-how (Understandings)
Garmin consumers anthropomorphize their devices and discuss concerns over protecting their faces (think baby faces). This is not a manufacturer assertion. Unlike eye glasses which consumers liken the Garmin display to be, the Garmin’s screen is touch-driven, or made for tactile manipulation. As such, it is not objectively fragile or easily scratched.
Emotional Engagement
Consumers create an understanding of fragility and an imperative to protect Garmin, just as Garmin protects them from getting lost etc.

42. “Physiology” of a Consumer Practice
Cleaning
Caring for the brand or systematizing optimal use patterns.
Know-that (Procedures)
Consumers advise one another to extract StriVectin from the tube with a clean implement other than a finger tip. Most often this is suggested as a make-up sponge. After the bottle is opened, consumers advise one another to be sure to clean the tube tip before recapping to avoid cream debris/residue on the tube. Consumers even suggest the tool to remove excess cream from the tube should be a clean q-tip straight from the box to avoid germs. The manufacturer does not have such recommendations.
Know-how (Understandings)
The knowledge the consumers share concerns the affect of dirt (Mary Douglas’ notion of “matter out of place”) and germs on the active ingredient in StriVectin. It situates the product into the cleansing and skin care category (highlighting medicinal and curative associations) as opposed to a beauty cream. The skin surface should be clean and dry before application and the product itself should be extracted by clean, even sterile, implements.
Emotional Engagement
The procedures and understandings position the use of StriVectin into a scientific understanding and perhaps enhance the consumer’s perception of effectiveness. The emotional engagement rests in the consumers’ faith in science as a solution, where a restorative cream, fountain of youth, is scientifically going to improve the skin’s appearance (Tissiers-Desbords and Arnould 2005).

43. Consumer Practices Category Practice Description Social Networking
Welcoming
Greeting new members, beckoning them into the fold and assisting in their brand learning and community socialization. Welcoming occurs generally into the brand community and locally as members welcome one another to each practice Welcoming can also be negatively valenced as in discouraging participation in the brand community and/or a specific practice.
Empathizing
Lending emotional and/or physical support to other members, including support for brand related trials (e.g., product failure, customizing) and/or for non-brand related life issues (illness, death, job). Empathizing can be divisive if the emotional support is in regards to intragroup conflict.
Governing
Articulating the behavioral expectations within the brand community.
Impression Management
Evangelizing
Sharing the brand “good news,” inspiring others to use and preaching from the mountain top. It may involve negative comparisons to other competing brands. Evangelizing can be negative (annoying, off-putting) if extreme.
Justifying
Deploying rationales generally for devoting time and effort to the brand and collective to outsiders and marginal members in the boundary. May include debate and jokes about obsessive compulsive brand-directed behavior.

44. Category
Practice
Description
Community Engagement
Staking
Recognizing variance within the brand community membership. Marking intragroup distinction and similarity.
Milestoning
Milestoning refers to the practice of noting seminal events in brand ownership and consumption.
Badging
Badging is the practice of translating milestones into symbols.
Documenting
Detailing the brand relationship journey in a narrative fashion. The narrative is often anchored by and peppered with milestones. Documenting includes the MINI birth stories of the car assembly and distribution; customization efforts; grooming practices.
Brand Use
Grooming
Caring for the brand (washing your MINI) or systematizing optimal use patterns (clean skin before applying StriVectin).
Customizing
Modifying the brand to suit group level or individual needs. This includes all efforts to change the factory specs of the product in order to enhance performance. Includes fan fiction/fan art in the case of intangible products.
Brand Use (Incisive )
Commoditizing
Distancing/approaching the marketplace. A valenced behavior regarding marketplace. May be directed at other members; e.g., you should sell shouldn’t sell that. May be directed at the firm via explicit link or via presumed monitoring of the site; e.g., you should fix this; do this; change this.

46. Example: Badging Practice Procedures Understandings
Emotional Engagements
Badging
MINI
Badges provide symbols of experiences associated with the brand or the collectivity. North American Motoring community badges are consistent in shape and style. Knowledge of how to make them is shared online. Badges refer to car colors, to model, to geographic club or to real world performances, such as driving a particular rally route in the Rocky Mountains or South Carolina.
Badges are displayed horizontally. Group badges are supplemented by personal emblems. These typically include a humorous or ironic cartoon of car and owner’s handle. Northamericanmotoring.com also generates individual badges that vary from “neutral” to “sixth gear,” and that are understood to represent depth of engagement with the community.
Rally badges reflect achievements. “Justacooper” badges reflect a “little engine that could” ethos.
Regional club badges speak to more general consciousness of kind and moral commitment.

47. Example: Milestoning Practice Procedures Understandings
Emotional Engagements
Mileston-ing TPATH
TPATH fans are encouraged to explicitly mark their concert events anniversaries and there is a protocol for concert story-telling. The concert stories are real life events and the concert must be explicitly interwoven into the fan’s larger life narrative. Unlike documenting which focuses on the use journey, milestoning focuses on an episode of use and how it is situated into the consumer’s life.
The understanding here is that TPATH is not just a band with catchy music, but provides the soundtrack of fans’ lives. TPATH events anchor the life narratives of fans. TPATH fans who engage in this milestoning practice, have an understanding of how to convey their concert stories. They have a jargon, a phrasing, and a manner of interweaving lyrics into life events.
The emotional engagement involves bringing TPATH into the fan’s life in an intimate and compelling way. TPATH music is clearly distinguished from background music as a central component in the life stories of fans.

49. Discussion
What a practice is, what counts as a performance of the practice, is bound up with its significance, with what is at issue and at stake, to whom or what it matters and hence with how it is appropriately described.

50. Discussion
We achieve a taxonomy of common collective actions that are present across many communities centered on a broad range of products and services;
using practice theory we catalogue the collective actions in our data and prior published studies, which have three integrative anatomical parts (understandings, procedures and engagements);
We show where and how subjectively realized consumer value is produced

51. Discussion
Vital, healthy brand communities have a presence in all practice areas and a depth within practices that allow for prolonged engagement.
The most successful brand communities continuously evolve, encouraging collaborative brand engagement and practices that stagnate are modified or replaced by practices that are vibrant and dynamically enacted.

52. Managerial Implications
Development of a practice frequently follows the identification of a thwarted need
The practice reveals the desire
The practice reveals ways of satisfying it
Needs evolve from low to higher “fidelity”
To manage:
Provide forums both on and off-line
Encourage customizing
Seed underdeveloped practices
Link practices, e.g., milestoning and badging
Relax control
Participate

53. Future Research
Do stronger brand communities present a more diverse constellation of practices than weaker brand communities?
Are the practices of stronger brand communities more complex; do they require more insider knowledge than the practices of weaker, less cohesive brand communities?
What explains the varied emphasis on particular practices in particular communities?
Are the hosting of online and real world interaction spaces necessary antecedents to vitality?
What is the right balance of control and freedom in managing brand communities?