Social Media in the Marketing Context

Chapter 3

Online Brand Communities

Abstract

Online brand communities (OBCs) have been encouraged by the characteristics of social media that have allowed fragmented groups of consumers to culminate into niche groups. This chapter begins by detailing the importance of OBCs, followed by an outline of their distinction from traditional communities. This is followed by a discussion on engagement and interaction, which is facilitated by these online communities, as well as an outline of how these communities are becoming more heterogeneous. Finally, consumption values and consumer characteristics are discussed, followed by what motivates consumers to participate within these communities, ending with a discussion of the key points, future research directions ...