Building Global Brand Communities: Consumer Practices and Creolization

Abstract

Traditional brand management perspectives are changing rapidly as evidence grows that consumers build stronger brand connections when they are able to infuse their own meanings and uses into the brands they encounter (O'Guinn and Muniz 2009). This emerging "bottom up" perspective is found in research on self-generated attitudes versus externally-modified attitudes (Tesser 1979); consumer ‘co-creation’ (Vargo, Maglio and Akaka 2008); brand and self-integration (Ahuvia, Batra and Bagozzi 2009); integration of iconic brands in life stories (Diamond, Sherry, Muniz, McGrath, Kozinets and Borghini 2009); brand community practices such as customization (Schau, Muniz and Arnould 2009); the growth of "open source" software and hardware (Pitt, Watson, Berthon, Wynn and Zinkhan 2006); the study of creolized forms of indigenized music, fashion, food, film and literature (Cohen 2007; Cowen 2002; Kajeldgaard and Ostegaard 2006); and most recently, customer engagement (Verhoef, Reinartz and Krafft 2010).