Constructing and co-constructing brand culture

Accepted for publication in Journal of Marketing Management

2015

Online brand communities: Constructing and co-constructing brand culture

Sharon Schembri1 Assistant Professor, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Department of Marketing College of Business and Entrepreneurship, 1201 West University Drive, Edinburg, Texas 78539-2999 T. +1 (956) 929-9283 (Direct) T. +1 (956) 665-5007 (Dept) F. +1 (956) 665-2085 [email protected] Lorien Latimer Freelance Consultant Queensland, Australia [email protected]

Sharon Schembri, Dr. Schembri is Assistant Professor at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA. With a research focus on branding, brand consumption, and brand culture, Dr. Schembri has previously reported on high profile brands such as Harley-Davidson and James Bond. Her research versatility is demonstrated in the various studies she has successfully completed that include ethnographic research, visual ethnography, phenomenology, phenomenography, hermeneutics and semiotics. Her work to date is published in Journal of Business Research, Marketing Theory, Psychology & Marketing, and the International Journal of Marketing Semiotics.

Lorien Latimer Lorien Latimer graduated with First Class Honors from Griffith Business School, Australia. She studied with Dr. Sharon Schembri and this paper is based on her Honors research. As a diligent student with an adventurous personality, Lorien has travelled throughout South America working along the way for a number of volunteer organisations. Now back in Australia, Lorien is continuing to develop her marketing and research career as a freelance agent.

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Corresponding author

Word Count: 8,088 (excluding references)

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Online brand communities: Constructing and co-constructing brand culture

Abstract Consumers act and interact via social media networks and online brand communities, collectively generating brand culture. In this context, organisations have the opportunity to develop a cultural following. The respective task for brand managers and marketers is to understand how consumers collectively generate online brand culture? Using active and overt netnography and investigating the specific context of the Behance Network, the findings presented here demonstrate that online brand community members collectively generate brand culture in variant ways: through construction of self, emotional relationships, storytelling, and ritualistic practices. Pragmatically, this work demonstrates that online brand community members are curators of online brand culture and netnography offers a window through which to identify what actions and interactions need to be facilitated and fostered.

Keywords: online brand community; brand culture; netnography; overt observation; constructionism; co-construction.


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Summary statement of contribution

This work demonstrates online brand community members are curators of online brand culture. Astute brand managers and marketers can choose to facilitate and enable community members as curators of online brand culture. Methodologically, this work provides brand managers and marketers an investigative process to identify and describe the generation of online brand culture. Brand managers and marketers choosing to investigate online brand culture in this way will therefore have the opportunity to facilitate and foster online brand culture for the purposes of developing a cultural following.


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Introduction The evolution of marketing has shifted from a transaction orientation to a relational approach (Gummesson, 2002) and the one-to-one relationship has evolved into many-to-many networks (Gummesson, 2006). Accordingly, the contemporary task of marketing is turning towards more of a community oriented approach (Arsel & Thompson, 2011; Fournier & Avery, 2011; McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, 2002; Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; Muñiz & Schau, 2011, 2007; Peñaloza, Toulouse, & Visconti, 2012; Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011; Schau, Muñiz, & Arnould, 2009). This evolution of marketing towards a community orientation is highly evident in the form of social media (Adjei, Noble, & Noble 2010; Brodie et al., 2013; Cova & White, 2010; Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2010; Labrecque et al., 2013; Schau & Muñiz, 2006; Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011; Quinton, 2013; Zaglia, 2013). In this online market space of social media, consumers are increasingly performing the role of producers of organisational value through online collectives (see, Berthon et al., 2012; Cova & Dalli, 2009; Cova, Dalli, & Zwick, 2011; Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011; Schau et al., 2009; Weijo, Hietanen, & Mattila, 2014). Online consumer collectives are unifying around particular interests including specific brands (Cova & Pace, 2006; Weijo et al., 2014; Zaglia, 2013), as brand communities for example (Cova & Pace, 2006; Cova & White, 2010; Healy & McDonagh, 2013; Kozinets, 2006; Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011; Stokburger-Sauer & Wiertz, 2015; Weijo et al., 2014). Consumer interests such as specific possessions or brands, enable consumers to construct a particular sense of identity (Ahuvia, 2005; Belk, 2013, 1988; Firat, Dholakia, & Venkatesh, 1995; Hamouda & Gharbi, 2013; Levy, 1959; Healy & McDonagh, 2013; Schau & Gill, 2003; Schembri


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2009; Schroeder, 2009) and tell stories about their consumer experience of that product or brand (De Valck & Kretz, 2011; Hsu, Dehuang, & Woodside 2009; Martin & Woodside, 2011; Schau & Muñiz, 2006; Woodside, Sood, & Miller, 2008). Consumers are also utilizing possessions to display symbolic meaning (Firat & Venkatesh, 1995; Kozinets et al., 2004; Firat & Dholakia, 2006), to enact life narratives (Arnould & Price, 2000; Anould, 2005; Bardhi & Arnould 2005; Lee, Woodside, & Zhang 2013), to create an extended self (Belk, 1988), and create/co-create the symbolic meaning of consumption (Cova & Pace, 2006; Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; Schau et al., 2009; Schembri, 2009). Within online social networks, consumers are exchanging information, sharing opinions and ideas, and continuously redefining what products and brands mean in their lives (La Rocca et al., 2014; Morandin, Bagozzi, & Bergami, 2013). In this way, online action and interaction enables consumers to display meaning, tell stories, create an extended digital self (Belk, 2013), and at the collective level generate an aggregate extended digital self (Belk, 2013), or collaborative self (Turkle, 2012). Consumption choices such as particular brands enable consumers to experience meaningful brand relationships (Bagozzi et al., 2012; Brown, Kozinets, & Sherry, 2003; Fournier, 1998; Morandin et al., 2013; Schau et al., 2009). Consumer-brand relationships include emotions such as love and passion (see for example, Albert, Merunka, & Valette-Florence, 2008; Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2012; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Muñiz & Schau, 2007; Woodside, Megehee, & Sood, 2012). Imbued with emotion, consumer stories about brands generate a creative force behind the brand (Gensler et al., 2013; Nelson & Otnes, 2005). And while branding literature has recognised storytelling as a powerful strategy, the emergence of social media has shifted the consumers’ role in storytelling from passive listener to active participant (Singh & Sonnenburg,


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2012) in the construction and co-construction of brand meaning. Consumers as active participants share these symbolically rich stories about consumption experiences (Ihamäki, 2014; Muñiz & Schau, 2007; Schau & Muñiz, 2006) and consequently engage others (Singh & Sonnenburg, 2012), facilitate social cohesion (Cova & Carù, 2007; Woodside et al., 2008), and build brand community in a cultural manner (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Carah 2014 Holt, 2004; Schau & Muñiz, 2006). In this way, consumers are cultural curators and the question of how is the research focus here. Interaction within online social networks, form or manifest cultures that indicate the learned beliefs, values, and customs of that culture (Kozinets, 2010). The ways in which online brand community members collectively generate brand culture, however, is yet to be investigated. This research on how brand culture is generated in an online brand community provides marketers with an insight on how organisations can effectively encourage and facilitate brand community participation and foster a particular brand culture. To that end, the following discussion reviews brand culture literature. From there, the netnographic methodology is detailed and findings presented as four variant ways in which online brand community members collectively generate brand culture: through construction of self, emotional relationships, storytelling, and ritualistic practices. Brand culture Brand communities have powerful cultures reinforced with rituals, traditions, and complex behaviours (Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; Schroeder & Salzer-Mörling, 2006). This action and interaction generates a shared meaning of a brand that connects consumers (Cova, 1997;


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Schembri, 2009; Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001) both to the brand (Morandin et al., 2013) and to other consumers (Adjei et al., 2010; Mathwick, Wiertz, & de Ruyter, 2008; Muñiz & Schau, 2011; Noble, Noble, & Adjei 2012). Beyond the organisation and the brand therefore, interconnected relationships are culturally established (Zaglia, 2013; Schroeder, 2009) with evidence of interplay at cultural and sub-cultural levels within (Cova, Pace, & Park, 2007; Muñiz & Schau, 2007; Schroeder & Salzer-Mörling, 2006). Accordingly, brand communities are potentially rich sources of innovation (Gebauer, Füller, & Pezzei, 2013; Nelson & Otnes, 2005; Belz & Baumbach, 2010). As well, brand communities constitute insightful and useful marketing and customer relationship management tools (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Zaglia, 2013). Brand communities can be offline, online, or both. The various forms of social media where brand communities form are classified by Kaplan and Haeniein (2010) on two evaluative criteria: social presentation/self-disclosure and social presence/media richness. With high selfpresentation and self-disclosure, social networking sites such as Facebook are distinguished relative to the low social presence of blogs and high social presence of virtual social worlds such as Second Life (Kaplan & Haeniein, 2010). With low self-presentation and self-disclosure, Kaplan and Haeiein (2010) suggest that content communities such as YouTube are distinguished relative to the low social presence and media richness of collaborative projects such as Wikipedia and the high social presence and media richness of virtual game worlds such as World of Warcraft. However, as with the physical world, the online world is a dynamic space and therefore the evaluative criteria used to classify social media may need to be reconsidered accordingly. Focusing online, Wirtz et al. (2013) suggest online brand communities are delineated on three dimensions: brand orientation, internet-use, and funding and governance.


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An offline brand community such as Harley-Davidson (Schembri, 2009; Schouten & McAlexander, 1995) is an example of an organisationally sponsored brand community that has chosen to expand into the online world (Cova & White, 2010). Other online brand communities that are fully online such as Bronies (fans of the animated series My Little Pony) (Alvarez, 2013) are not necessarily governed by an organisation and are instead consumer driven. Ritualistic practices uninhibited by organisational control create value in brand communities (Cova et al., 2007; Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001; Muñiz & Schau, 2007; Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011; Schau & Muñiz, 2006; Schau et al., 2009). Seemingly insignificant actions but ritualistic practices, such as greeting other Saab drivers on the road with a flash of headlights, function to maintain consciousness of kind (Muñiz & O’Guinn, 2001). This ritualistic greeting of a fellow Saab driver reinforces the collective cultural value of respect for others and for choosing the Saab brand. Practices that maintain community culture within online brand communities include consumer generated narrative threads, as identified within the Apple Newton brand community (Schau & Muñiz, 2006). Narrative play comprises playful linguistic exchanges and contributes to community culture by way of response and support for fellow members (Schau & Muñiz, 2006). Reporting on collective value creation within brand communities, Schau et al. (2009) identify a common set of value creating consumer practices within online brand communities that begin with moving beyond customisation, seeding consumer action, and making customer engagement the organisational priority. Derived from a consumer-centric perspective, Schau et al. (2009) aim for generalisability and present a taxonomy of common collective practices that


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can be replicated in terms of organisational action. More specifically, Schau et al. (2009, p. 41) advise organisations to ‘give consumers the opportunity to construct brand communities and the freedom to modify their products.’ However, consumers are building brand communities and creatively consuming products, regardless of organisational strategy. Online brand communities afford organisations the opportunity to act as non-invasive enablers of ritualistic exhibition. The Nutella online brand community studied by Cova and Pace (2006) for example, invites members to negotiate and appropriate the Nutella brand meaning. Yet, consumers actively creating value in this way may instigate the potential dark side of co-creation as with the SPAR Bag Design Contest reported by Gebauer et al. (2013). Inviting amateurs and professionals alike, the SPAR organisation requested bag design contributions but consumers took the opportunity to express dissatisfaction and complaints rather than submit bag designs. The caution here is that double exploitation may damage both meaning and value of the brand (Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011). Reinforcing the notion of the power shift away from the organisation towards the consumer (Fournier & Avery, 2011; Labrecque et al., 2013), consumers are forming empowering relationships that create, organise, and manage the coconsuming group (Pongsakornrungsilp & Schroeder, 2011), and sustain the collective self (Turkle, 2012). Notably, this consumer action, interaction, and appropriation happens despite organisational strategic intent. Also focusing on co-creation within online consumer collectives, Healy and McDonagh (2013) identify co-creative consumer roles. The consumer roles identified by Healy and McDonagh (2013) are: voice, loyalty, exit, twist, entry, non-entry, and re-entry. The opportunity for voice empowers the individual, but loyalty, entry, and exit are functionally oriented towards the


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organisation and therefore quite limited in providing insight on how online community members build brand culture. Other past research as reviewed here focuses on cultural roles and cultural practices in online brand communities rather than the generation of online brand culture, which prompts further inquiry. Given the question central to this research of how online brand communities generate brand culture is both significant and unattended, the following discussion considers the rigor of a netnographic methodology. Considering netnographic rigor Anthropologists study culture using ethnography (Mead & Métraux, 2000) with traditional ethnographic studies typically involving some combination of participant observation and field interviews (Schembri 2009; Schembri & Boyle, 2012). Traditionally therefore, the purpose of an ethnographic research design is for researchers to bring stories back from the field (Van Maanen, 2011). Like ethnography, netnography is conducted in a naturalistic setting, where

researchers become immersed in the cultural context for purposes of observation and active participation (Kozinets, 2012, 2010). More precisely, traditional ethnographic studies are typically field studies and netnography has developed in response to the emergence of the online world as a social and cultural context (Kozinets, 2012, 2010, 2002). Given this research seeks to investigate culture, specifically brand culture within an online brand community, a netnographic approach is deemed most appropriate. As a methodology designed for online application, netnographic studies necessarily incorporate technocultural artifacts in a way that ethnographic studies do not (Kozinets, 2012, 2010, 2006). While ethnographic studies feature extensive, highly time consuming, and potentially expensive


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fieldwork, the abundance of online interactions, forums, and communities, radically transforms the opportunity to conduct research in a timely manner (Kozinets, 2010, 2002; Lee & Broderick, 2007). Analysis of historical archives of online interactions, forums, and communities, further opens the online world for investigative purposes (Xun & Reynolds, 2010). However, in shifting ethnographic methods online, one of the major limitations is the careful and informed interaction between research and participant traditionally recognised as one of the strengths of rigorous ethnographic investigations (Beneito-Montagut 2011). Accordingly, Beneito-Montagut (2011) emphasises the role of the researcher conducting an online ethnography as necessarily reflexive and sensitive. She argues that the lack of physical presence of the researcher hinders the documentation of intricate and idiosyncratic details that a traditional ethnographer in the field may accurately capture. To counter this shortcoming, Beneito-Montagut (2011) advocates a multi-site, multi-media, and user-centered research design. However, Miller and Slater (2000) counter this potentially limiting aspect of nethnography with an alternative approach. As Miller and Slater (2000) highlight, the internet is not one place or one technology, but a diversity of people interacting in multiple ways and therefore online researchers must be duly sensitive to these inherent complexities. More specifically, Miller and Slater (2000) argue that ethnographic research conducted via the internet is predominantly an investigation of how a specific culture makes itself in a transforming communicative environment and therefore focusing on a specific culture is advantageous. The research goal of doing ethnography online according to Miller and Slater (2000) therefore is not about extensiveness nor generalisability, but rather online ethnography is a rigorous research method that enables an understanding of the varying social and technical possibilities that have developed as a consequence of internet technology.


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In line with Miller and Slater (2000), Kozinets (2012, 2010, 2006, 2002) considers netnography to enable a depth of understanding of the diverse, increasingly globalised online brand communities through detailed and accurate descriptions of social behaviour Various terminologies are being used in this regard including digital ethnography (Murthy, 2008; Pink, 2013; Ranfagni, Guercini, & Camiciottoli, 2014), virtual ethnography (Cooke, 2008; Dominguez et al., 2007; Watson, Morgan, & Hemmington 2008), online ethnography (Beneito-Montagut 2011; Catterall & Maclaran, 2002), cyberethnography (Rybas & Gajjala, 2007), webnography (Puri, 2007), and netnography (Kozinets, 2012, 2010, 2006, 2002). Yet, netnographic methods in market research are still largely undeveloped relative to the increasingly high consumer usage of the internet (Xun & Reynolds, 2010). Developments of netnography include integration of online and offline research activity (see for example, Adjei et al., 2010; Belz & Baumbach, 2010; Beneito-Montagut 2011; Brodie et al., 2013; Fernandez, Brittain, & Bennett, 2011; Gebauer et al., 2013; Kozinets, 2006; LaRocca, Mandelli, & Snehota, 2014; Martin & Woodside, 2011; Mathwick et al., 2008; Muñiz & Schau, 2007, 2005; Murthy, 2013, 2008; Russell & Schau, 2014; Schau et al., 2009; Xun & Reynolds, 2010; Weijo et al., 2014). In contrast to a mixed methods netnographic approach, other research demonstrates the benefit of a stand-alone and rigorous netnographic approach (Braunsberger & Buckler, 2011; Cova & Pace, 2006; Healy & McDonagh, 2013; Hsu, Dehuang, & Woodside, 2009; Kozinets et al., 2010; Nelson & Otnes, 2005; Medberg & Heinonen, 2014; Zaglia, 2013). In line with Kozinets (2002), Nelson and Otnes (2005) highlight netnography allows researchers to access, observe, and analyse online consumer interactions and communications from publicly available online discourse. Another benefit of netnography is the access that researchers have to spontaneous, natural, real, and heartfelt consumer talk


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(Zaglia, 2013). As well and in contrast to other qualitative approaches, netnography allows timely research that is less expensive to conduct and complete (Braunsberger & Buckler, 2011; Kozinets, 2010, 2006; Lee & Broderick, 2007). However, participants in netnographic research may post anonymously and this aspect of netnography is potentially disadvantageous in terms of research rigor (Mkono 2011). Anonymous posts, avatars, and username handles may disguise the real identity of participants (Kozinets, 2010, 2006). Question or skepticism around trustworthiness, participant authenticity (Xun & Reynolds, 2010), and the lack of social and demographic cues can be countered some, by considering the unit of analysis as the act of online consumer behaviour rather than the individual themselves (Braunsberger & Buckler, 2011; Kozinets, 2010, 2002). Methodological considerations also include the participatory role of netnographic researchers as spanning from a non-participatory role where researchers adopt a complete outsider perspective, to an insider perspective where researchers are either participating as a passive observer or active and full participant (Agafonoff, 2006; Boote & Mathews, 1999; Kozinets, 2010). Netnography may also be autobiographical (Belz & Baumbach, 2010). Advocating non-participant observation, most tourism researchers have adopted a passive lurker approach (Mkono, 2011). More specifically, Langer and Beckman (2005) demonstrate the usefulness of covert observation for sensitive topics. However, Oliver and Eales (2008) advise that covert observation is a research method based on deception. As with traditional ethnographic fieldwork and in line with Kozinets (2010), Puri (2007) advises netnographers must necessarily immerse themselves in the virtual space. Active and overt participant


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observation is suggested by Gummesson (2007) to be the ultimate in observational methods because of the fully disclosed research purpose and active researcher involvement. Variations of fully online and overt netnography include the textual analysis of blogs (Murthy, 2008; Kozinets et al., 2010), YouTube (Sumiala & Tikkan, 2013), message boards and forums (Muñiz & Schau, 2005; Nelson & Otnes, 2005; Mathwick et al., 2008; Russell & Schau, 2014), chatrooms (Masten & Plowman, 2003), virtual communities (Braunsberger & Buckler, 2011; Catterall & Maclaran, 2002; Schröder & Hölzle, 2010), brand communities (Healy & McDonagh, 2013), and brand communities within social network environments (Zaglia, 2013). This netnographic study of how an online brand community generates brand culture comprises overt participant observation with full disclosure of the research purpose and process with access enabled by Comment [A1]: Can you please confirm that the participants are fully aware that they may be identifiable from their quotations used in the paper?

Behance administrators. The Behance context Behance is a business unit within the Adobe organisation with the stated mission to empower creatives and aid the shift of control from bureaucracy into the hands of creative industry professionals. More specifically, Behance is a design centric technology team, specialising in the development of brand run think tanks, task management systems, and branded stationary and software that is tailored for professionals working within the creative industry. In 2006, Behance established the Behance Network (www.behance.net); a branded online community space for creative industry professionals that brings together members from diverse cultural backgrounds. Regardless of this cultural diversity of members however, there is a distinct and apparent culture within the Behance Network community. With more than 63 million views in an average month, members interact and share their creative work with fellow professionals,


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Comment [A2]: This research was undertaken after gaining IRB clearance and being approved by Behance administrators. Those approval processes involved the researchers fully disclosing presence and purpose. Behance members were made aware of the research being conducted by way of a site announcement. As well, participants identities have been obscured by removing any original names or Behance user handles. Any non-consenting Behance users were not included in the study.


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potential employers and clients, top creative companies, and editors. While Behance administrators determine the design and layout of this online branded community space, members control the content and tone of the site through participation and contribution. Members create a profile page to display their creative fields and areas of expertise, awards and achievements, qualifications, and biographical information. Members also upload folios of their creative work, which are referred to as projects. Member projects are accessible to the Behance Network community members as well as to visitors to the Behance site. Visitors are restricted however, in terms of contributing to the community. Unlike visitors, members can comment on another member’s projects as well as on other member’s profile pages. Members may also create lists of admired members; referred to as a watch-list. Creating a watch-list allows a member to follow other members over time as new projects are uploaded. Members can also generate smaller communities within the wider Behance Network community; referred to as an inner circle. Members of an inner circle are informed through transmission feeds about fellow inner circle members’ actions and achievements. In this way, Behance enacts the mission of empowering creative professionals who contribute to a virtual space. In seeking to understand the cultural intricacies and orientations within the Behance Network community, one of the authors as the primary researcher integrated as an active Behance Network member. Adopting Kozinet’s (2010) netnographic method which entails the steps of cultural entrée, evidence collection and analysis, evidence interpretation, research ethics, and member checks, this research featured active participatory observation with full disclosure of the research purpose and process. Potential participants were therefore aware of the researcher’s presence and continuously had the opportunity to decline participation. Participants were also


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provided the opportunity to comment on the study findings, where the goal was feedback more than approval from members. In the first instance however, covert observation was used during the entrée stage of the netnography. Entering the research site This research began with three weeks of covert observation. This initial stage of cultural entrée involved browsing through member profiles, member projects, circles, observing the diversity of groups, as well as extensive observation of comments throughout the site. The time invested in those initial weeks of cultural entrée provided insight on the voice, style, and structure of the Behance Network community, including the identification of gatekeepers, opinion leaders, and the diversity of members. From there, the researcher communicated with Behance administrators with a request for research access. Once access was granted, the process of cultural immersion commenced and spanned over 11 weeks. During this cultural immersion process, analysis of archived content within the Behance Network occurred in conjunction with active community participation. The researcher created a profile page, two projects, exchanged comments, and established an inner circle with 13 other members. Evidence including member comments, visual evidence, project descriptions and profile information was collected and compiled into a spreadsheet. The evidence collected was arranged into abstract themes around which similarities and differences to other themes were examined. Throughout this analytical process and as per the steps set out by Kozinets (2010), an understanding of the richness and subtleties of the Behance Network community began to emerge. The textual and visual evidence was analysed with respect to the question of how online brand culture is generated. This manual analytical process entailed continued shifting, sorting, and resorting of the text and


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visual evidence from which four distinct themes emerged: construction of self, emotional relationships, storytelling, and rituals. The following discussion specifically addresses each of these themes in turn, with respective quotes extracted from various online posts. Construction of self In the context of the Behance Network, the findings of the netnographic study show this online brand community is a resource for the symbolic construction of self. The self is constructed by members in a variety of ways including the public display of awards, achievements, and client portfolio. The self is also constructed through the sharing of biographies and personal narratives. Evidence of these actions and activities demonstrating construction of self is presented with member quotes from various posts illustrating the theme. The public display of awards and achievements act as a means through which members deliberately construct and present a certain credible self. For example, the profile page of a Taiwanese New York based designer presents his awards as an impressive list, broken down into several creative fields to show the breadth of his expertise. In addition to listing awards and achievements, the Taiwanese designer also lists international exhibitions in which his work has featured. The length of this designer’s list of awards and exhibitions demonstrates his standard of work and socially constructs a high achieving and accomplished creative self. As well as listing awards and exhibitions, a Polish digital artist names past clients and brands he has created work for. This artist is a veteran of the creative industry and partner in his own creative agency based in Warsaw, Poland. Over the years, this Polish digital artist has become recognised for his uniquely colorful style of digital artistry and has consequently built a highly


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esteemed global reputation. The Polish digital artist’s list of past clients stretches the entire length of his profile page and features an impressive collection of globally recognized brands including Nike, Coca-Cola, Converse, and Warner Bros. Public display of client work enables members to highlight their success, experience, and competitiveness within the creative industry. Further evidence of how the member’s self is constructed in this community is found by way of the sharing of biographies and narratives as the following quotes show. I'm a freelance illustrator and designer from Malaysia where I was born and raised with love (for almost 26years). My artworks are mostly inspired by nature and each of them are like my journal: they carry some of my emotions from time to time and each have their own stories to tell :D [Malaysian picture book illustrator] Rather than the isolated subjects of my earlier work, I became interested in the strength of relationships, often times using personal environments to amplify those conditions. My photographs of Alison, because of the nature of our relationship, are very much a father-daughter collaboration with Alison permitting me access to private moments of our life, which might, under different circumstances, be off-limits to a parent. [Portrait photographer from Baltimore]

This second narrative presents the Baltimore photographer in relation to his photographic subject and provides an introduction to the creative project. The quote also expresses how he has developed professionally as a photographer, moving from taking isolated portraits to Word Count: 8,088 (excluding references)

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becoming a highly connected photographer of his chosen subjects. This narrative example demonstrates the social construction of the Baltimore member as an experienced photographer, a perceptive photojournalist, in addition to being a dedicated father. This quote also touches on a more personal and emotional construction of self. This member action of constructing a certain self is suggested here as generating the online brand culture for Behance as a culture of original and recognised artists. More specifically, this evidence of professional development is considered indicative of how the online brand culture of Behance is generated. Beyond the individual construction of self and collective construction of Behance culture, there is also evident co-construction via member-brand relationships and member-member emotional relationships. Emotional relationships This netnographic analysis of the Behance Network community has revealed the presence of different forms of emotional relationships. These different forms of emotional relationships are evident between individual members and Behance (member-brand relationships), as well as emotional relationships between community members (member-member relationships). Evidence demonstrating member-brand relationships is found in comments such as, ‘I ♥ Behance‘ [Young Singaporean web designer] and more explicitly, ‘ilove Behance‘ [Hong Kong artist] as well as other statements such as, I am privileged to be in Behance. The level of quality and talent is the best in the world, there is simply no better network for professionals. I view my own work differently and aim higher as a result of being in the network. It's simply amazing!


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[New York cinematographer] While the Singaporean web designer and the Hong Kong artist indicate a love relationship with the Behance brand, the New York cinematographer describes involvement in the Behance Network as a privilege; each of these three quotes offer evidence of the member-brand relationships that contribute to and constitute the Behance culture. In addition, the New York cinematographer indicates the associated professionalism interpreted for creative individuals in being involved with Behance. This explicit expression regarding involvement with Behance relative to professional development sets Behance membership as an informal benchmark in the creative industry. Also, this evidence of member action and interaction between members and the Behance brand shows how members enact respect for achievement and creativity. More than that, the interaction and relationships between members and the Behance brand collectively generates the brand culture of respect for achievement and creativity. In this way, Behance culture is generated through the member construction and member-brand coconstruction. As well as member-brand relationships, emotional relationships are also evident between members of the Behance Network community. Member-member relationships exhibit both supportive and encouraging qualities, as well as expressed negative emotions ranging between a respectful envy and sarcastic hatred. This paradoxical nature of the emotional membermember relationships reveals an inherent conflict between community members; a struggle between needs of self-promotion and collective belonging. The degree of support and encouragement between Behance Network members is evidence of the Behance cultural orientation. Behance Network members commonly express support and encouragement


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towards one another. Specific examples as per the following quotes come from three different member comments posted below a Russian illustrator’s project featuring a series of hand drawn illustrations depicting ancient battles, mythological creatures, and fantasy worlds. ‘More, we want some more …You are a genius!’ [Altanta-born illustrator]

‘The first image is the cover of a book which I bought totally based on how sick the cover looked! Keep up the amazing work.’ [Argentinean photographer]

‘[Artist’s name] your stuff is amazing... I’ve been studying your work for years. Enjoy it to the fullest.’ [Californian web designer]

Yet, this evidence of the supportive and encouraging nature of member-member relationships is also influenced by an undercurrent of paradoxical emotions as shown by an Irish landscape photographer’s complementary but envious expression of, ‘…this is a masterpiece. I envy you for your artistic and manual talent’ More than envy, a Californian art director expresses his jealousy while simultaneously admiring the work with the comment, ‘Beautiful! I’m so jealous, what a great idea’ More strongly again, but maybe sarcastically, an American advertiser states, ‘I hate you for having so many awesome ideas.’ Similarly, a Polish toy designer confesses, ‘Can I hate you for doing this piece so professionally?’


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This evidence of emotional paradox brings to light the inherent conflict present in Behance members’ relationships to one another. That is, despite having a supportive community, undercurrents of envy, jealousy, and sarcasm expose the reality that members are also competitors within the larger creative professional industry. This member-member interaction and evidence of emotional relationships and paradoxical connections is presented as demonstrative of how the brand culture is generated. More precisely, just like the member action constructs the brand culture and the member-brand interaction co-constructs the brand culture, the member-member relationships also co-construct the online brand community culture of expressiveness. Another means of expressing emotions is evident in the stories shared by members about being part of the Behance community. Storytelling The stories shared by Behance members provide an insider perspective on Behance culture. Member stories are reported here as covering three experiential areas: creating a project, viewing a project, and receiving project feedback. The experience of creating a project for the Behance Network is shared through stories in both narrative and visual form. In sharing a story about the project creation process, members provide an insight on the journey involved in arriving at a completed project. An example comes from a French photographer who recently moved to Norway in search of new adventures. Like many other members, he shares a short narrative about the creation of his project. Small series with my daughter, a funny 2am session with her just before sleeping time... there was a very low light, just an IKEA lamp... plus one or two ambient lights in the room. You can see the light reflecting on the


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shades. I tried to use between f.2 and f.2.8 to get a bit of sharpness...(in 800/1000 iso, very limited on D200 1600iso is very crappy) the speed was 1.60s ...But you know it was just for fun, a 10 min session... [French photographer in Norway] This story provides insight on the project including the location, time, and lighting details. Consequently, the project is no longer just photographs of a young girl, but rather the story of a sleepy and much loved daughter adds depth to the context of a captured image. Storytelling that adds depth and insight is also evident in the way members create side projects. Side projects are designed to accompany and inform a final project by detailing behind the scene production detail and provide insight on the experiential process of project creation. An example of this form of storytelling is demonstrated by a New Jersey based photographer who includes process photos and descriptions of how his final project was created and captured. Figure 1 presents one of the New Jersey photographer’s finished images. Accompanying the New Jersey photographer’s final project featuring the image in Figure 1 is a side project, shown here as Figure 2. The side project (Figure 2) consists of process photos and descriptions, visually depicting how the photographer captured such landscapes as shown in Figure 1.


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Figure 1: Finished project by New Jersey photographer

Comment [A4]: We had permission as researchers to document the Behance community. The researcher’s presence and purpose was announced on the site and Behance users were given the opportunity to opt out. The researcher integrated into the Behance community as an active member and interacted with Behance users in the research process. The research had an emphasis on voluntary participation throughout. However, written individual consent was not required either from the IRB or Behance. Contact details of the research participants were not collected. Also, we understand that the figures will appear in color online but only black and white in print.


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Figure 2: Side project by New Jersey photographer

Comment [A6]: We understand the figures will be color online but black and white in print


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The process photographs in Figure 2 reveal to the viewer that the sweeping grass plains in Figure 1 are actually a faux fur rug. Furthermore, as illustrated in Figure 2, the pinkish clouds in Figure 1 are a lighting illusion created with suspended cotton wool and studio lights which hang over piles of sifted tile grout. As Figure 2 illustrates, the New Jersey photographer details the immense time and intense effort that goes in to each of his finished images. In providing these details, the viewer is provided with processual insight that deepens the appreciation of the final project. Evidence of a shift in how the viewer reacts to the final project after viewing the accompanying side project is demonstrated by a Japanese graphic artist with the comment: ‘Big pat on the back...I thought for a minute 'yawn' yet more artistic photography...How wrong...yet so B******** cool...loving the use of foodstuffs etc etc!!!!!..Great work!’ [Japanese graphic artist]

Side projects accompanying final projects therefore generate a shift in how viewers respond to a posted final project with the side projects depicting the depth of process detail, as expressed by a Finnish member with the following comment: ‘Impressive! They all look so real! Explaining the materials was a great thing, makes a real difference in how people react to your work! Simply amazing!’ [Finnish member]

The experience of viewing a project also evokes memories, emotions, and physical responses which are shared amongst Behance community members through stories. For example, a


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Swedish animator now living in New York views a project featuring a collection of photographs of a demolished playground in Stockholm, comments with the following meaningful response: ‘They are demolishing our memories...i remember my grandma used to bring me here when I was a kid.’ [Swedish animator] Another Swedish designer still living in Stockholm adds to the animator’s story with: ‘It’s sad, I recognize most of these and I get the same sadness when I see the photos of them as I do when I drive past them on a cold winter afternoon.’ [Swedish designer in Stockholm] These quotes provide evidence for both the memory evoking and emotion arousing power of viewing a project. The animator nostalgically recalls her childhood whereas the designer writes of his emotional experience and connection to the playground. Members also share stories of emotional responses to viewing a project such as the following comment from a young web designer from Colorado in reference to a collection of fine art portraits posted by an award winning English photographer: ‘Dude your work leaves me breathless!!! It’s absolutely AWESOME Congrats!!’ [Web designer from Colorado]


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The experience of receiving feedback on a posted project is another aspect of member storytelling given that posting a project on the Behance site opens the member to scrutiny as per the following Swedish designer’s post: ‘When people write comments on your work, you get that thrill and it just feels good. You just want to do more and more and keep pushing.’ [Swedish designer] Another member from the United Kingdom, shares his experience as a new member receiving feedback: ‘Just yesterday I told my girlfriend how great it felt to be admired by wonderful creative people, because when I found out that somebody ‘appreciated’ my work, well… I genuinely smiled, all over.’ [New member from UK] Gaining positive feedback from fellow professionals in this way encourages members to continue developing their creative talent. This evidence shows therefore that storytelling contributes to a deeper understanding of how members participate and interact online within the Behance community and in doing so, generate brand culture. In other words, the member stories about creating a project, viewing a project, and receiving project feedback generates a culture of expressiveness and sharing. More precisely, the cultural practice of member storytelling is part of creating, viewing, and critiquing a project. This action and interaction of member storytelling collectively generates the Behance culture, where that storytelling is strongly ingrained in the community ethos and described here as ritualistic.


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Behance rituals Beyond storytelling, ritualistic behaviour observed within the Behance community includes the recurrent and frequent posting of context specific acronyms and language vernaculars. These actions and interactions include offering congratulations, scoring of projects, and identifying favorite images. For example, Behance members consistently post comments of a congratulatory nature to fellow members upon the uploading of a project. Common posts include comments such as ‘Simply brilliant ~ congratulations’, or ‘Wow!!! Congrats! Amazing works, luv it :)’ The frequent occurrence of members congratulating each other indicates the ritualistic nature of this action, which serves to both create and reinforce the supportive and motivating qualities of the Behance brand culture. In addition to the ritual of offering congratulations, members ritualistically score other member projects. While there is no official community scoring system in place, members engage in informal scoring by way of acronyms including stars, plus signs, numbers, and other sign notations. For example, a member posts the comment ‘Respect! Your score: 1000000 points’ and another member adds, ‘Niceeeee... ++++.’ The use of this informal scoring ritual

demonstrates the numerical value of the score as irrelevant, with value symbolically expressed instead. Practicing this scoring ritual is a means of communicating approval and admiration of another’s project. Similar to the scoring ritual is the stating of favorites. This ritual involves a member posting a comment beneath another project deeming a favorite image in the project as per the following comment: ‘Interesting series, 5 and 8 are my favorites...peace!’ In addition to the described rituals of congratulating, scoring, and stating favorites, many members visit the Behance site on a daily basis.


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The ritual of daily visitation embodies the experiential meaning of the virtual space for members. A Belgian photographer for example, describes the Behance community as his daily inspiration which keeps him ‘sharp and fresh.’ Similarly, a Romanian web designer describes Behance as ‘a place we like to wander around whenever we have a spare second.’ More than a place to visit, a young French illustrator admits she is addicted to checking the site at least twice a day. In other words, the daily ritualistic action of visiting the Behance site, in conjunction with the interactive rituals of congratulating, scoring, and stating favorites, generates the supportive and expressive characteristics of the Behance brand culture. More precisely, this evident ritualistic action constructs the Behance culture and the evident ritualistic interaction collectively co-constructs the Behance brand culture. Discussion Netnographic investigation of the Behance Network community dialogue, actions, and interactions has provided a depth of insight into how this online brand community generates brand culture. The findings show four variant ways in which online brand culture is constructed and co-constructed within the Behance context: construction of self, emotional relationships, storytelling, and ritualistic practices. This work therefore demonstrates that in these four ways, brand culture is generated through member actions and collective member interactions both with the brand and other members. As an interpretive study and in contrast to previous research such as Schau et al. (2009) however, these four ways of generating online brand culture are not presented as generalisable, nor as an exhaustive account as to how brand culture is generated within online brand communities. Rather, these four variant ways are


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presented as a context dependent depth of insight particular to this account of the Behance Network. Contextualised, customised, and market oriented organisational strategy is wise and profitable as well as dynamic. Shifting into the online world, the evolution of interactive technology has fundamentally changed consumer behaviour including demonstration of the extended self (Belk 2013, 1988). As per Belk (2013), the evidence reported here shows that members use symbolic objects such as noted achievements and awards to construct a digital self, confirming Schau and Gilly’s (2003) argument that possessions steeped in sign value are tightly integrated into sense of self. The Behance members’ construction of self generates a culture of originality and artistic recognition. This work therefore confirms Belk’s (2013) theory of the digital extended self and offers an extension of that theory through a demonstrated connection between the construction of self in the digital context and the generation of online brand culture. In other words, member efforts to construct a digital self, constructs the Behance brand culture of originality and artistic recognition. Furthermore, there is evidence of emotional relationships that include co-construction of the digital self. As active members in the Behance community, members form emotional relationships with the brand and with other members. Member-member emotional ties reported here range from dedication and love through to respectful envy. As Belk (2013) suggests, while much online activity can be conducted in solitude, social media thrives on interaction and digital involvements. The Behance community demonstrates well the solo activity of posting, building, and constructing a profile, as well as online interaction and digital involvement. Members


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construct the digital self in solitude but member-member interaction shows the Behance community to be highly social in nature. This evidence of established relationships and member-member interaction further demonstrates Belk’s (2013) co-construction of the digital self. At the aggregate level of a community, this co-construction of the digital self supports Turkle’s (2012) collective self. The evidence put forward in this research therefore confirms this collective self but goes further to show the construction of self and co-construction of the collective self in terms of actions and interactions that generate online brand culture. The formation of social ties as observed within the Behance community also confirms the linking value of consumption (Cova, 1997) and the social capital of an online community (Mathwick et al., 2008). As well, the collective action of members confirms Cova and Dalli’s (2009) theory of working consumers applies in the Behance context. Active membership constructs the Behance Network and member-member interaction co-constructs a shared connection. Beyond the construction and co-construction of the Behance Network, online consumer action and interaction generates a brand culture of respect for achievement and creativity. Behance members ritualistically encourage, support, and praise each other for their various achievements and for their creative displays. More specifically, Behance members deliberately construct watch-lists and inner circles as well as receiving unsolicited comments and follows. This action and interaction facilitates the generation of a culture of respect for achievement and creativity. In this way, the virtual and emotional experience of membermember relationships is revealed and most especially so in the form of shared stories.


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As shown in the work of Cova and Carù (2007), community members relive experiences through stories and this netnography of Behance provides evidence to support that theory. The stories shared by Behance members include stories about the devotion involved in creating projects, to memories evoked from project images, and the emotional experience of receiving community feedback. The multiple experiential aspects of brand consumption communicated through members’ stories, brings multiple and overlapping meanings to a brand (Holt, 1995). Sharing stories is an important way through which community members experience the culture of the community (Schau & Muñiz, 2006). As well and as established by Morandin et al. (2013), consumers find meaning in their lives through the mutual experience of a brand within brand communities. More pertinently however, as Banet-Weiser and Lapansky (2008, p. 1249) argue, ‘we organize our lives within brand culture.’ Member stories detailed how member lives were indeed organised around being an active Behance member. For example, Behance members openly shared experiential stories related to initial posts, project creation, receiving feedback, viewing others’ project, and daily visitation, that included detail far beyond actual posts and projects. The prevalence of shared stories in the Behance community and more specifically the sharing of memories confirm Woodside et al.’s (2008) argument that storytelling is an enjoyable and nostalgic means of generating cultural meaning. Behance members generate the meaning of the Behance brand through the open sharing of stories about posts, projects, memories, life experiences outside Behance, and stories about the experience of Behance. In essence therefore, storytelling is a way in which the open and sharing culture of Behance is generated. As well as storytelling, the evidence of rituals practiced by Behance Network members is a means of strengthening and reinforcing the supportive connection between members. Just as


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Cova and Dalli (2009) suggest that consumers are producers of cultural value that is beyond organisational control, this work confirms that consumers are generating cultural value through the demonstrated ritualistic member action and interaction such as contextualised exchange and narrative play. Notably, this value is indeed outside of organisational control. In facilitating and enabling member ritualistic behaviour in a non-invasive manner (Cova & Pace, 2006; Schau & Muñiz, 2006), Behance is enabling the collective generation of brand culture. As well as facilitating and enabling member ritualistic behaviour and in turn the collective generation of brand culture, Behance is also facilitating and enabling consumer production of organisational value, which is in line with Schau et al. (2009). The anatomy of procedural norms and rules, skills, abilities, and knowledge, as well as demonstrated emotional commitments (Schau et al. 2009) details the common practices evident across brand communities that create organisational value. While Schau et al. (2009) identify generalisable value creating practices, this work assumes context dependency and focuses on the specific detail of how the Behance online brand community generates brand culture. While Schau et al. (2009) identify rituals such as welcoming newcomers into the fold and advises organisations to cede control to customers, this research goes further to demonstrate the active role of members as curators of brand culture. As the findings illustrate, members of the Behance Network community are primarily responsible for generating the Behance brand in a collective manner. Rather than the traditional organisationally driven means of production, Behance member action constructs the brand and member interaction co-constructs the brand, which in turn generates an online brand culture through active and collective participation. As such, ritualistic consumer action


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and interaction, actively curates the Behance culture. Without the members actively participating in a ritualistic manner, Behance as a brand would hold nominal cultural evidence. As reported here therefore, the members generate culture through the enactment of cultural rituals. In other words, members as active participants ritualistically enact the brand, which generates and demonstrates the constitution of the Behance brand culture. Bringing together brand community literature with conceptions of consumers as producers, this research identifies and describes how the growing role of consumers as curators of culture takes shape within an online brand community context. In this way, this research contributes a theoretical understanding of the context dependent variant ways in which an online brand community generates brand culture. These findings also hold important implications for brand marketers and managers. Practical implications Human behaviour is greatly altered with the dynamic, ubiquitous, and often real-time interaction enabled by social media. Technological evolution is changing the landscape of opportunities for consumption, marketing, and marketing research. Through detailed attention and analysis of the member perspective, brand managers and marketers are provided a depth of insight on how online brand culture is generated in the particular context of Behance. Behance as the organisational host facilitates and enables the variant ways that the online brand culture of Behance is constructed and co-constructed. Therefore, the variant ways of online brand culture generation reported here are not presented as generalisable to other online brand communities. Rather, this work shows that detailed attention and analysis of


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members’ perspective can reveal how online brand culture is generated in a particular context. More pragmatically, this work shows the investigative process that effectively uncovers insight on how brand culture is constructed and co-constructed within a particular brand context. This demonstrated process is the practical value that can be generalised across contexts and different brands. As this context specific research shows, in considering online brand community member action and interactions and recognising the wealth of cultural information demonstrated through active participation, marketers can gain a valuable cultural branding insight. Furthermore, by understanding member activity and interactivity, brand managers and marketers can effectively realise what they need to facilitate and how. In this way, community members are driving the constitution of the community culture, instead of the organisational host prescribing. For example, brand managers and marketers can foster member-brand relationships by providing structural support rather than enforcing monitoring and control. Structural support may include the provision of an online space which facilitates the uninterrupted ritualistic behaviour such as sharing of stories, the ability to form member-member relationships, as well as the construction and co-construction of self. Similarly, facilitating rather than controlling the community allows the evolution of brand culture through mutual experience and collective effort. In this way, the community becomes a meaningful experiential space, whereby the community members are curators of the brand and generators of online brand culture. Accordingly, the construction and co-construction of the brand culture is derived from the ground up rather than as decided by organisational administrators and/or executives.


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To arrive at this insight, netnography applied as a specific set of rigorous procedures includes consideration in terms of the technological context of investigation, identification and authenticity of participants, public accessibility of online forums, and the respective abundance of potential research opportunities afforded through online interactions (Kozinets, 2012, 2010, 2006, 2002). However, netnography is evolving in terms of design with regards the inclusion of mixed methods and the degree of participatory observation. While some researchers highlight the benefit of unobtrusive non-participatory observation, this research demonstrates that usefulness of active and overt netnographic participant observation. The position adopted in this work is that researchers have an obligation to gain informed consent from participants. Accordingly, overt participant observation was adopted that comprised fully disclosed research purpose and active researcher involvement (Gummesson, 2007). Essentially, therefore this work addresses the question of how online brand communities generate brand culture, in the specific context of Behance, using an active and overt netnographic methodology. In doing so, this research demonstrates a means by which to identify the variant ways that online brand culture is constructed and co-constructed. The depth of detail afforded of such an approach enables a customised instrument that brand managers and marketers can use to facilitate and enable an enhanced cultural following. Conclusion This work demonstrates online brand community members as curators of online brand culture. This research also shows that organisations can choose to facilitate and enable community members as curators of online brand culture. More specifically, this research shows that the Behance community constructs and co-constructs brand culture in variant ways: through the Word Count: 8,088 (excluding references)

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construction of self, through the formation of emotional member-brand and member-member relationships, through storytelling, and through ritualistic practices. These findings have been identified through an active and overt netnographic methodology and while these findings are particular to the Behance context, other organisations and online brand communities are provided a methodological pathway through which to identify how consumers as cultural curators construct and co-construct online brand culture. References Adjei, M. T., Noble, S. M., & Noble, C. H. (2010). The influence of C2C communications in online brand communities on customer purchase behavior. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 3(5), 634653. doi: 10.1007/s11747-009-0178-5 Agafonoff, N. (2006). Adapting ethnographic research methods to ad hoc commercial market research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 9(2), 115-125. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13522750610658766 Ahuvia, A. A. (2005). Beyond the extended self: loved objects and consumers’ identity narratives. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(1), 171-184. doi: 10.1086/429607 Albert, N., Merunka, D., & Valette-Florence, P. (2008). When consumers love their brands: Exploring the concept and its dimensions. Journal of Business Research, 61(10), 1062-1075. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.09.014 Alvarez, Alex (2013). Living Dolls, Furries, Otherkin, Oh My: 8 Online Subcultures. Accessed May 10, 2015 from http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Entertainment/subcultures-strong-onlinepresence/story?id=18511594#6 Arnould, E. (2005). Animating the big middle. Journal of Retailing, 81(2), 89-96. doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2005.03.001 Arnould, E. J., & Price, L. L. (2000). Authenticating acts and authroirative performances: Questing for self and community. In Huffman, Cynthia, Mick, David Glen, and Ratneshwar (eds) The why of consumption: Contemporary perspectives on consumer motives, goals and desires, 1, 140-163, Routledge: London. Arsel, Z. & Thompson, C. J. (2011). Demythologizing consumption practices: how consumers protect their field-dependent identity investments from devaluing marketplace myths. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(5), 791-806. doi: 10.1086/656389 Baggozzi, R. P., Bergami, M., Marocchi, G. L., & Morandin, G. (2012). Customer-organisation relationships: Development and test of a theory of extended identities. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 63-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024533


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