Consumers and their brands: Acting out personal mythologies in a global brand community

Abstract

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ABSTRACTCONSUMERS AND THEIR BRANDS: ACTING OUT PERSONALMYTHOLOGIES IN A `GLOBAL? BRAND COMMUNITYYenLFLR÷OX0%DVNÃQPh.D., Department of ManagementSupervisor: Prof. Dr. Güliz GerSeptember 2006Brand communities have been theorized to be a crucial source for marketers tobuild long-term customer centered brand loyalty and a place where consumers canexperience the long lost traditional community. Despite this significanceconsumer research is yet to study the global and the mundane aspects of the brandcommunity concept. This research aims to fill that gap through a qualitativeethnographic study of Harley Davidson brand community in Turkey. The data ispresented on two interconnected levels. Through the lived level analysis Ichallenge the extant literature by portraying brand community as a veryheterogeneous formation where traditional community structures only formedthrough the everyday experiences of consumers with each other. I introduce thepersonal mythologies metaphor as a way in which consumers form strongemotional attachments with brands within their mundane realities. Finally, I showthat brand communities travel internationally as structured set of relationshipsonly on a believed level as a supposition in consumers? minds. I also discuss thetheoretical implications of these findings for consumer culture theory research.Key words: Brand Community, Everyday Life, Global