How does a Virtual Brand Community Emerge?
Some Implications for Marketing Research
Abdelmajid AmineIAE Rouen, CREGO, University of Rouen, France.
Lionel SitzUniversity of Paris 12 – ESA, France.
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, marketing literature largely admits that the complexity of consumption behaviors cannot be completely captured through the multi-attributes individual approach (Holt, 1997) because behaviors are embedded within a social organization (Costa, 1995) as well as within a cultural environment (McCracken, 1988).
Marketing researchers have long emphasized the influence of the cultural system on consumption (Henry, 1976; McCracken, 1988; Ward, 1974). More recently, cultural approaches stressed the systemic nature of...