Tensions between Value Capture and Value Slippage: The Case of Brand Communities

Abstract

With the development of intangibles, the issue of value capture has become of paramount importance, especially for firms that have a community of users gathered around their brand. While the notion of utilizing communities may be appealing, transforming the relationship between firms and communities into profit for the firm is less obvious. The dual challenge for firms is capturing the value created by the brand community, while avoiding any kind of value slippage to another actor. From a re-examination of five cases of value creation with brand communities in different industries, we delineate three assemblages of actors and episodes manifesting value slippage, and two manifesting value capture by virtue of the attitudes and behaviours of the firms that own the brands. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.