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Empowerment within brand communities: Overcoming the Achilles’ Heel of scale-free networks

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  • Matthew Katz
  • Bob Heere

Abstract

•In newly formed brand communities, group leaders play an important role facilitating the empowerment of other group members.•Empowering consumers can help alleviate the Achilles’ Heel of scale-free networks.•The evolution of a newly formed, leader-centred community of consumers into a sustainable long-term brand community is marked by the increased empowerment of followers.This study explored how consumer interactions evolve within an emerging brand community. Since newly formed brand communities are marked by the presence of scale-free networks, an ethnographic study among individuals in their second year of tailgating at American football games was conducted to examine whether group leaders were able to empower their followers and alleviate the Achilles’ Heel of scale-free networks. The authors investigated whether member empowerment led to a more balanced network of consumers, whereby individual group members increased their involvement and loyalty towards the group itself and the larger brand. Social network theory was used to examine the changes in relationships among individual consumers within the brand community, specifically focusing on the construct of centrality. Marketing implications associated with the changes and developments of these evolving brand communities are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Katz & Bob Heere, 2015. "Empowerment within brand communities: Overcoming the Achilles’ Heel of scale-free networks," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 370-383, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:18:y:2015:i:3:p:370-383
    DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2014.10.001
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Baker, Bradley J. & Zhou, Xiaochen & Pizzo, Anthony D. & Du, James & Funk, Daniel C., 2017. "Collaborative self-study: Lessons from a study of wearable fitness technology and physical activity," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 114-127.
    2. Katz, Matthew & Ward, Rose Marie & Heere, Bob, 2018. "Explaining attendance through the brand community triad: Integrating network theory and team identification," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 176-188.
    3. Habiba Ben Ameur & Kaouther Saeid Ben Rached, 2022. "Impact of Consumer Empowerment on Satisfaction in an Online Brand Community: Mediating role of the Online Experience Toward the Brand," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 12(6), pages 44-54, November.
    4. Rundio, Amy & Dixon, Marlene A. & Heere, Bob, 2020. "“I’m a completely different person now”: Extraordinary experiences and personal transformations in sport," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 704-718.
    5. Yuan, Denghua & Lin, Zhibin & Filieri, Raffaele & Liu, Ran & Zheng, Mengqin, 2020. "Managing the product-harm crisis in the digital era: The role of consumer online brand community engagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 38-47.
    6. Kim, Jeeyoon & Kim, Yukyoum & Kim, Daehwan, 2017. "Improving well-being through hedonic, eudaimonic, and social needs fulfillment in sport media consumption," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 309-321.
    7. Lock, Daniel J. & Funk, Daniel C., 2016. "The Multiple In-group Identity Framework," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 85-96.
    8. Adam R. Cocco & Matthew Katz & Marion E. Hambrick, 2021. "Co-Attendance Communities: A Multilevel Egocentric Network Analysis of American Soccer Supporters’ Groups," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.

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