"Pop Culture": An Exploratory Study of the Consumer-Firm Relationship in the Popchips Facebook Community

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Date
2012-06-01
Authors
McDougall, Katelyn
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Publisher
University of Guelph
Abstract

The importance of consumers’ active engagement in a firm’s online brand community in social network sites has received increasing attention from both academia and industry. The study applied a Netnography of the official Popchips Facebook community to provide a baseline understanding of the consumer-firm relationship in this type of environment. Unlike more traditional studies that focus on brand communities for niche or luxury brands, this study dealt with a convenience product called Popchips. It is also one of the brands that utilized a strong social media strategy to communicate to its consumers. Findings suggested four classifications of a fan signifying their relationships with the company: ‘pending relationship status’, ‘it’s complicated’, ‘in a relationship’ and ‘married’. This study provides useful managerial implications for marketers who want to tap into this new marketing communication tool and medium, for the purpose of building stronger relationships with their consumers.

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Keywords
Brand Community, Social Media
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