International Journal of Engineering Business Management

Special Issue on Innovations in Fashion Industry

The Effects of Online Brand
Communities on Brand Equity
in the Luxury Fashion Industry

Regular Paper



Stefano Brogi
1
, Armando Calabrese
1
, Domenico Campisi
1
,
Guendalina Capece
1
, Roberta Costa
1,*
and Francesca Di Pillo
1

1 Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
* Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected]

Received 1 June 2013; Accepted 15 July 2013

DOI: 10.5772/56854

2013 Brogi et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Abstract Quoting the fashion genius Coco Chanel:
Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.
Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do
withideas,thewaywelive,whatishappening.Thisis
even more true today than it was back then. Indeed,
Web 2.0 technologies have made luxury fashion more
accessible to everyone. Nowadays, consumers can
instantly access a wide variety of fashion goods on the
Internet and share brand experiences with other
consumers. In this scenario, Online Brand Communities
(OBCs) allow fashion customers to communicate with
each other without any restrictions of time and place.
Forthisreason,OBCsareviewedbyfashionmarketers
as powerful instruments to influence customers
purchasing behaviour. The aim of the current study is
toanalysetheeffectsofOBCdynamicsonbrandequity.
The proposed research model is applied to eight
spontaneousOBCsoftheluxuryfashionindustry.

Keywords Online Brand Communities, Web 2.0

Technologies, Online Marketing, Brand Equity, Luxury
FashionIndustry
1.Introduction

The transition to a knowledgebased economy and the

enormous development of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) are driving
companies to find innovative approaches to marketing
andtobusinessingeneral[14].Inparticular,withtherise
ofnextgenerationInternettechnologiescommonlyknown
as Web 2.0, such as video sharing, blogging, social
bookmarking and social networking, the interaction
between consumers has undergone huge acceleration,
facilitating their aggregation and participation. Web 2.0
describestheevolutionfromtheWeb1.0technologies(i.e.,
staticwebsitesupdatedonlybythewebmasterandclosed
to external editing) to participationbased web
technologies(i.e.,chatrooms,newsgroups,wikis,forums,
social networks, etc.), that allow users to interact and
collaborate with each other as creators of usergenerated
contentinavirtualcommunity[56].

Inthiscontext,itisclearthatmarketersneedtorethink
marketing strategies, using innovative approaches
Stefano Brogi, Armando Calabrese, Domenico Campisi, Guendalina Capece, Roberta Costa and Francesca Di Pillo:
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ARTICLE
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based on the new communication technologies,
alongside the classic systems of corporate propaganda
(e.g., advertising campaigns in traditional media such
as TV, radio, newspaper, etc.). The most promising
innovative marketing practices that leverage on Web
2.0 technologies are: viral marketing, buzz marketing,
tribalmarketingandsocialmediamarketing.Inthelast
case, marketing activities exploit social media such as
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The common
characteristic of these innovative marketing techniques
is the exploitation of the wordofmouth phenomenon
in an online environment (playfully renamed wordof
mouse by Internet marketers). In particular, the
importance of the wordofmouth promotion is
amplified for social media users, who benefit from
news, information and entertainment in an online
community, and consider suggestions and
recommendations from friends as an important source
of information [7]. In this scenario, Internet marketers
focus their attention on OBCs [810], which are the
webbased evolution of traditional brand communities
defined by Muniz and OGuinn [11] as a specialized,
nongeographically bound community, based on a
structured set of social relations among admirers of a
brand.ThemainaspectsofOBCsthatmarketershave
to consider are connectivity and participation of social
networkmembers[12].Followingthislead,weanalyse
OBC dynamics and their implications on brand equity
and, consequently, on brand management. In
particular, we propose a research model to investigate
OBCdynamicsintheluxuryfashionsector,anindustry
characterized by highvalue brand assets [13]. Finally,
the research model is applied on a sample of eight
spontaneous(i.e.,fanmade)fashionOBCs.

2.LiteraturereviewonOBCs

OBCs have the potential to become a key marketing

instrument and for this reason they introduce relevant
managerial implications [14]. Indeed, Internet
marketers should view OBCs as amazing business
opportunities: they are effective means to influence
customers purchasing behaviour [15] and they allow
companies to increase their understanding of
customers by monitoring their opinions, information
andsuggestions[1617].

2.1OBCdefinitionsandcharacteristics
OBCs are specialized brand communities that take
placeinavirtualsettingwheremembersinteractionis
primarily Internetmediated [10]. OBCs differ from
traditional online communities because of their
commercial nature and their members common
interest, admiration, sympathy and even love for a
specific brand [18]. The fundamental peculiarity of
OBCsresidesintheabilityoftheirmemberstointeract
with each other, exchanging information and
knowledge on the brand or simply expressing their
passion for it, thus influencing their relationship with
the brand [19]. The trigger factor for the birth of an
OBC is the brand itself, but eventually an OBC will
grow due to the relationship among members [20].
Typically, OBCs present three key factors that also
characterize traditional brand communities:
consciousness of kind, shared rituals and traditions
and moral responsibility [11]. The consciousness of
kinddescribesthefeelingofOBCmembersofhavinga
solid connection to the brand and an even stronger
connection toward one another. The members perceive
what Bender [21] calls weness, a shared feeling of
belonging that creates a differentiation and separation
betweenusersofabrandandtheusersofotherbrands
[11, 2224]. Perpetuating consciousness of kind often
implies two social processes: legitimacy and
oppositional brand loyalty. The former describes the
behaviour by which members, who are real knowers
and appreciators of the culture, history, traditions and
symbols of the brand, tend to marginalize those who
arenot;thelatterdefineanddelimitwhatthebrandis
notandwhatthebrandcommunitymembersarenot,
characterizing the antagonism toward competitive
brands[11,25].Throughsharedritualsandtraditions,
OBC members maintain, reinforce and diffuse, within
and beyond the community, the culture, the set of
values, norms, behaviours, the specific language, signs
and symbols, myths, history and consciousness of the
community itself [11, 26]. In addition, moral
responsibilityisasenseofmoraldutywhichleadsthe
OBC members to feel committed toward other
community members and the community as a whole
[2627]. Muniz and OGuinn [9] note that the moral
responsibility manifests itself through the OBC
members attitude toward retaining old members and
toward integrating new ones supporting them to
enjoyameaningfulbrandexperience.

2.2OBCsandWeb2.0technologies

OBCs come into being in a computermediated

environment that allows members to interact at will
with each other, exchanging and sharing information
and emotions in a virtual setting. The Web 2.0
technologiesfacilitateOBCmembersparticipationand
interaction: multiple virtual connections among
memberssupporttheminbuildingrelationshipsandin
sharing content and interests on brands [28]. Buttons
such as those to share or like on Facebook, which
are available to the one billion users of social media
[29], testify to the enormous potential of social media
for marketing purposes. From this perspective, OBCs
are brand communities embedded in online social
networks, characterized by ease of applicability, access
to unbelievable numbers of consumers, at high speed,
Int. j. eng. bus. manag., 2013, Vol. 5,
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at low cost [30]. Actually, Web 2.0 technologies have
caused market power to shift from marketers to
consumers: unsatisfied consumers can easily network
together, spreading negative wordofmouth and
determiningahighpotentialriskforthebrand[28].

2.3MostrelevantaspectsofOBCs

OBCsarecharacterizedbyanumberofrelevantaspects
related to the behaviour of the community members.
Corporate managers should understand these aspects
in order to be able to achieve desirable outcomes from
the exploitation of business opportunities related to
OBCs. One of the most relevant aspect of OBCs is the
level of participation and interaction of members, i.e.,
the degree of social involvement in the OBC, that
directly impact on the production of content in the
community, such as comments, opinions, suggestions,
etc. [31]. Another important factor is the level of
identificationintheOBC,thatis,thedegreetowhicha
consumer feels himself or herself to be part of the
community [3132]. In addition, the quality of the
communication and, consequently, the relevance of the
content published in the OBC is of great importance
[15]. All the previous factors influence positively the
process of brand promotion and increase the brand
loyalty of members [31]. Moreover, the process of
participation in an OBC involves human capital
exploitation in a collaborative environment leading to
the creation of brand knowledge, which is positively
associatedwiththeprocessofbrandinnovation[3334].

2.4CriticalaspectsofOBCs

Customer loyalty, positive wordofmouth and

resilience to negative company news, depend on the
customer perception of the companys socially
responsible behaviour [3537] and, from this
perspective, OBCs can play an important role in
enhancingpublicawarenessaboutthecompanyssocial
commitment. Indeed, the externalities deriving from
companies activities in the local environment and in
society, with respect to the regional economic growth
and the local communities interests [3840], can lead
consumers to reconsider the sustainability of the
current business approaches, making them more
responsible and sensible toward environmental and
social issues [27] and reinforcing the importance of
OBCsindevelopingethicalcontrolovercompanies.
Moreover, OBCs have a considerable impact on
company relational capital. A companys relational
capital consists of, to a large extent, the quantity and
qualityofthecompanyrelationshipswithitscustomers
(e.g., quality of services) and it involves the company
image[4142].Forthisreason,OBCdynamicscanhave
a huge influence on the enhancement or deterioration
ofthecompanysrelationalcapital.
ThepreviouslydescribedaspectsofOBCsappeareven
more critical if we consider that Web 2.0 technologies
allownegativeconsumercommentstoeasilyspreadon
thenetworkwiththeriskofalienatingotherconsumers
anddamagingthecompanyimage[28].

3.OBCsintheluxuryfashionindustry

Just a decade ago, luxury fashion companies were

supported by considerable brand assets and reliably
regularcustomers.Nevertheless,thelatestentriesinthe
luxury fashion market of numerous new fashion
brands have led to fierce competition and unforeseen
changes in a previously sheltered market [13]. Indeed,
globalization and ICT progress have made luxury
fashionevenmoreaccessible.Consumerscannowshop
at will on theInternet, accessa widevarietyof fashion
goods and instantaneously exchange brand
experiences. Consequently, the average online fashion
consumer has become wellinformed, demanding and
hardtoget.Luxuryfashioncompanieshaveundergone
a technological evolution along with their consumers,
leading to innovative forms of emarketing. In
particular, Web 2.0 technologies have hugely affected
different aspects of fashion, beauty and luxury retail
industries [43]. In this landscape, many fashion OBCs
appeared and expanded on the Internet, allowing
members to make comments, display designs and
communicate ideas and ideals of fashion. Undeniably,
OBCsareeffectivetoolsthatluxuryfashionbrandsshould
exploit to build stronger relationships with their
consumers. There are two main typologies of OBCs:
spontaneousOBCsandofficialOBCs.AspontaneousOBC
isafanmadeonlinecommunitycomposedofenthusiasts
ofaspecificfashionbrand.Inthiscase,OBCmembersjoin
voluntarilyandoftenspontaneouslytothefashionrelated
community. An official OBC is opportunely created and
sponsoredbythefashioncompanyitself,withtheaimto
proactively enable members to exchange fashion
opinions while educating them on the brand offerings
[44]. The official OBC congregates users with common
interests and goals in a collaborative community that
thrives on serving both the consumers and the brand
itself[45].

Following this lead, many luxury fashion companies

created their Twitter accounts or Facebook pages and,
simultaneously, many fashion enthusiasts made their
own OBCs. OBCs allow fashion brands and their
customerstocommunicatewitheachotherwithoutany
restriction in time, place and content, revolutionizing
the old oneway communication into an innovative
interactive twoway direct communication. Moreover,
OBCs can have a dramatic impact on brand reputation
and fashion companies that do not use social media as
part of their online marketing strategy are definitely
missinganopportunityofcompetitiveadvantage[46].
Stefano Brogi, Armando Calabrese, Domenico Campisi, Guendalina Capece, Roberta Costa and Francesca Di Pillo:
The Effects of Online Brand Communities on Brand Equity in the Luxury Fashion Industry
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EventhoughbothofficialandspontaneousOBCsareof
great interest for their managerial implications, in this
paper,wearemoreinterestedinthestudyoffanmade
OBCs. In fact, spontaneous OBCs are not managed or
controlled by companies and, from this perspective,
theycanrepresentawildcardforfashioncompanies
marketingstrategies.

4.Theresearchmodel

Theprincipalobjectiveofthepaperistocreateamodel
capable of explaining the effects of OBC dynamics on
brandequity,i.e.,thevalueofthebrand[4749].

The variables that we consider for the formulation of

our model are those inherent to OBC members
behaviour and their perception of the brand. From the
analysisofthescientificliteratureonbrandsandOBCs,
we select six OBC and brandrelated variables to
analyse the relation between brand equity and OBC
dynamics(Figure1):
Brand community participation takes into
account the level of participation in the OBC and
the degree of interaction among OBC members,
i.e., the degree of social involvement in the OBC
[3132].
Perceived brand quality describes the OBC
membersperceptionofthebrandquality.Itisthe
OBCmembersopinionofabrandsabilitytofulfil
theirexpectations[32,50].
Brand communitys generated content takes
into account the content generated by OBC
members that can significantly influence both
theirperceptionofthebrandandtheirsubsequent
purchasebehaviour[5152].
Brand loyalty describes the OBC members
commitment to repurchase or otherwise continue
using the brand, which is associated to positive
behaviours such as wordofmouth advocacy [32,
53].
Brandassociationsdescribesthefeelings,beliefs
and knowledge that OBC members associate to
the brand. It is anything which is deepseated in
the members minds about the brand, such as
symbols,images,celebrities,etc.[4748].
Brandawarenessdescribesthebrandrecalland
thebrandrecognitionbyOBCmembers[4748].

Inthecurrentstudy,thepurposeoftheresearchmodel
(Figure1)istoverifythefollowinghypotheses:
H1:Agreaterlevelofparticipationandinteraction
in the OBC (brand community participation)
leads to a greater perception of the brand quality
(perceivedbrandquality).
H2: A greater perceived brand quality
determinesagreaterbrandloyalty.
H3: The level of participation and interaction in
the OBC (brand community participation)
positivelyinfluencebrandloyalty.
H4: Greater brand community participation
pushes members to generate more brandrelated
content being shared in the OBC (brand
communitysgeneratedcontent).
H5: The brand communitys generated content
positively influences the OBC members brand
loyalty.
H6: Greater brand community participation
determinesagreaterbrandawarenessamongthe
OBCmembers.
H7: Higher brand awareness determines greater
brandloyaltyamongOBCmembers.
H8: Greater brand community participation
positively stimulates brand associations among
theOBCmembers.
H9: Higher brand associations induces a greater
brandloyaltyamongtheOBCmembers.

Figure1Theresearchmodel

5.AnapplicationtofashionOBCs

In this paper, we consider only spontaneous OBCs,

created by consumers which are driven by their
commoninterestandtheirpassionforaspecificfashion
brand and for the products marketed by the brand.
Therefore, in our study we do not consider official
OBCs directly influenced and managed by a fashion
company.

In fact, fashion marketers are interested in

understanding what motivates fashion consumers to
BRAND
COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION
BRAND
ASSOCIATIONS
BRAND
AWARENESS
BRANDCOMMUNITYS
GENERATEDCONTENT
PERCEIVEDBRAND
QUALITY
H8
H6
H3
H9
H1
H4
H2
H5
BRANDLOYALTY
H7
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join an OBC, where members share both a common
fashion style and an emotional relationship with the
fashionbrand.TheirinvolvementinthefashionOBCis
sopowerfulthattheyarewillingtodevotetheirleisure
timetomaintainthisvirtualsocialgathering[44].

Fashion OBCs are characterized by both emotional

factors, closely related to the shared passion for a
brand, and sociocultural factors, which are drivers of
social integration. Potentially, spontaneous fashion
OBCs are customers aggregations that may arise
around any fashion brand, even though most of them
are developed around a fashion brand with a famous
and established image [43]. The dialogues developed
within OBCs affect the everyday lives of the
individuals, are important drivers of a brand culture
and help to perpetuate its history. Storytelling on
fashion brands creates an independent knowledge,
oftenveryarticulate,whichisbeyondthecontrolofthe
officialsourcesofthefashionbrandcompanies[4345].

Worldwide,in2011,90millionpeopleweremembers
ofOBCs,withanincreasingtendency[54].Giventhe
importance of OBCs in modern society, fashion
companies have to understand their influence on
fashionconsumers.Itisevenmorecrucialtoidentify
the internal dynamics of spontaneous OBCs and
their impact on brand equity, because they are not
directly under the control of the fashion companies
[17].

In order to study the OBC dynamics in the luxury

fashion sector, a statistical survey was carried out by
collecting data through structured interviews. The
questionnaire was delivered electronically to a sample
of users of spontaneous fashion OBCs which were
established in relation to eight international luxury
fashioncompanies(Table1).

Variable Category Frequency

%ofthe
sample
Sex
Female 350 76.75%
Male 106 23.25%
Age
under18 24 5.26%
1830 290 63.60%
3150 125 27.41%
over50 17 3.73%
Brand
Armani 27 5.92%
Burberry 88 19.30%
Chanel 40 8.77%
Gucci 40 8.77%
Hermes 16 3.51%
LouisVuitton 101 22.15%
Prada 48 10.53%
RalphLauren 96 21.05%
Table1.Univariateanalysisofthesample.

The questionnaire included a total of 13 questions

concerningbrandequityvariables(brandloyalty,brand
associations and brand awareness) and variables
related to OBC dynamics (brand community
participation, brand communitys generated content
and perceived brand quality). It also collected socio
demographic information (gender, age, etc.) of the
respondents.Eachrespondentwasaskedtoreplytothe
statements in the questionnaire on a onedimensional
Likertscale(afivepointscalewasused).

The analysed sample is composed of 456

respondents belonging to spontaneous OBCs, of
which76.75%arefemale(Table1).Infact,interestin
the Haute Couture sector has always been a
prerogative of the female gender. With regard to the
age of the respondents, the majority of them are
aged between 18 and 30 years (63.6%). Respondents
aged between 31 and 50 years account for 27.41% of
the total sample, while those under 18 and those
over 50 represent the lowest percentages (5.26% and
3.73%respectively).

Withregardtothebranddistributionofthesample,the
respondents belong mainly to: Louis Vuitton (22.15%),
RalphLauren(21.05%)andBurberry(19.30%).

6.Theresults

Statistical analysis of the collected data was conducted

by means of standard Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) packages. The questionnaire consisted
of13multiplemeasurementitemsrelatedtoeachofthe
sixvariables/constructsintroducedinsection4.

The internal reliability of each construct isanalysed by

means of the Cronbachs index that describes the
reliabilityoffactorsextractedfromdichotomousand/or
multipoint formatted questionnaires or scales. In Table
2, all Cronbachs coefficients score higher than 0.6,
which is the recommended lower bound reported in
thescientificliterature(see[55]fordetails).

Inthispaper,thevalidityofthesixconstructsistested
by means of factorial analysis (Tables 3 and 4). In
particular, a principal component analysis, using the
Varimax with Kaiser normalization oblique rotation
[56],isperformedonthe13items.Rotationconverges
in ten iterations. Data are pooled across the six
constructs, for a total of 456 observations. From Table
4, it is possible to observe that the results show that
eachofthesixitemsloadondistinctfactors(boldtype
evidences the relevant values). For this reason, only
the first six factorial components have been fully
reported.

Stefano Brogi, Armando Calabrese, Domenico Campisi, Guendalina Capece, Roberta Costa and Francesca Di Pillo:
The Effects of Online Brand Communities on Brand Equity in the Luxury Fashion Industry
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Construct N.items
Cronbachs
alpha
Mean
Std.
Dev.
Brandloyalty
(BL1,BL2)
2 0.79 3.52 0.74
Brandcommunity
participation
(BCP1,BCP2)
2 0.92 3.60 0.81
Brandassociations
(BAs1,BAs2,BAs3)
3 0.74 3.66 0.86
Perceivedbrand
quality
(PBQ1,PBQ2)
2 0.69 4.41 0.49
Brandawareness
(BAw1,BAw2)
2 0.70 4.15 0.52
Brandcommunitys
generatedcontent
(BCGC1,BCGC2)
2 0.90 4.12 0.77
Table2.Reliabilityassessment.

Items
Initial
eigenval
ues
Rotation
sums
of
squared
loadings

Total Variance
(%)
Cumulative
(%)
Total Variance
(%)
Cumulative
(%)
BL1 4.41 33.96 33.96 2.76 21.22 21.22
BL2 2.56 19.66 53.62 2.13 16.41 37.63
BCP1 1.51 11.63 65.25 1.64 12.65 50.29
BCP2 1.04 7.97 73.22 1.64 12.64 62.93
BAs1 0.84 6.44 79.66 1.50 11.52 74.45
BAs2 0.78 6.02 85.68 1.46 11.23 85.68
BAs3 0.50 3.81 89.49
PBQ1 0.44 3.40 92.89
PBQ2 0.40 3.08 95.97
BAw1 0.17 1.35 97.31
BAw2 0.15 1.15 98.47
BCGC1 0.11 0.86 99.32
BCGC2 0.09 0.68 100.00
Extractionmethod:PrincipalComponentAnalysis.
Table3.Componentsandexplainedvariance.

The next step of our analysis is to utilize standard

regression analysis in order to test the hypothesis
described in Section 4. Figure 2 shows that all of the
hypothesesaresignificantlyverified(p<0.01,wherepis
the level of significance). The significance of the
correlationsconfirmsthehighimpactofOBCdynamics
onbrandloyalty.

Brand community participation has a positive

influence on perceived brand quality (H1 accepted),
which is positively correlated with brand loyalty (H2
accepted). Moreover, brand community participation
hasastronginfluenceonbrandloyalty(H3accepted).

Items
Comp
onent

1 2 3 4 5 6
BL1 .120 .872 .083 .323 .131 .079
BL2 .478 .702 .172 .016 .192 .004
BCP1 .921 .111 .060 .164 .070 .011
BCP2 .856 .273 .021 .152 .222 .099
BAs1 .014 .039 .090 .041 .089 .960
BAs2 .148 .014 .633 .046 .185 .655
BAs3 .071 .082 .126 .127 .134 .901
PBQ1 .089 .067 .538 .031 .685 .021
PBQ2 .087 .080 .060 .039 .912 .148
BAw1 .020 .092 .039 .926 .037 .090
BAw2 .268 .086 .213 .776 .021 .148
BCGC1 .207 .628 .631 .016 .073 .045
BCGC2 .039 .602 .650 .087 .145 .148
Extractionmethod:PrincipalComponentAnalysis.
Rotationmethod:VarimaxwithKaiserNormalization.
Rotationconvergedinteniterations.
Table4.Rotatedcomponentmatrix.

Figure 2 The estimated model (correlation values are

representedonthearrows,**standsforsignificancep<0.01).

Indeed, OBC members sense such a strong attachment

to the brand and to the OBC that they publically
demonstratethisattachmentonavoluntarybasis.Their
sharedenthusiasmincitesbrandloyaltyinpeoplewith
whomtheyinteractonlinethroughtheOBC[13,32].

BRAND
COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION
BRAND
ASSOCIATIONS
BRAND
AWARENESS
BRANDCOMMUNITYS
GENERATEDCONTENT
PERCEIVEDBRAND
QUALITY
0.12**
0.29**
0.54**
0.19**
0.24**
0.66**
0.29**
0.64**
BRANDLOYALTY
0.32**
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Moreover, the higher the participation and interaction
of OBC members (brand community participation),
the greater the content shared in the OBC (brand
communitys generated content) (H4 accepted). In a
virtualsocialenvironmentsuchasOBCs,anincreasein
members interaction involves, at the same time, an
increaseintheproductionofbrandrelatedinformation
[5,3132].

Additionally, the growth of brandrelated content on

the OBC (brand communitys generated content)
enhances the brand loyalty of the OBC members (H5
accepted). Overall, the brand communitys generated
content is able to increase various loyalty behaviours,
such as repurchase intentions, positive wordofmouth
andconstructivecomplaints.

Inthisscenario,OBCshaveempoweredtodaysfashion
consumers, because brand loyalty is highly influenced
(both positively or negatively) by their online shared
opinions, perspectives, insights and opinions about
fashion brands [50]. Customers preferences expressed
on OBCs should be considered and weighted by
companies in order to increase comprehension of
marketneeds[57].

By becoming OBC members, fashion consumers are

evolving into fashion prosumers [58], meaning that
they simultaneously: consume and produce
information on the fashion brand through their
interaction on the OBC [59]. Following this lead, the
application to fashion OBCs of our research model
shows that a greater brand community participation
determinesagreaterbrandawareness(H6accepted).
The relationship between brand awareness and
brand loyalty is also positive and significant
(H7accepted).

In addition, H8 is accepted because a greater

interaction between OBC members (brand community
participation) enforces the brand associations, like
thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences,
beliefs and attitudes, that become linked tothe fashion
brand in the minds of the OBC members, because of
theirsharedbrandexperienceontheweb.

Finally,brandassociations,thatareincreasedbyOBC
membersparticipation,haveapositiveeffectonbrand
loyalty(H9accepted)[4748].

All the significance values are very high (p<0.01)

indicating that OBC dynamics (participation, content
production and quality perception of OBC members)
have a significant positive impact on brand equity
(brand loyalty, awareness and associations). However,
the correlation values are different for the various
hypothesesofthemodel(min0.12max0.66),showing
that some variables are more strongly correlated than
others(Figure2).Themostrelevantresultsconcernthe
directinfluenceonbrandloyaltyoftheparticipationin
the OBC (H3: correlation 0.54**) and of the production
of shared content by OBC members (H5: correlation
0.64**). Moreover, the participation and interaction of
OBCmembershasaconsiderableimpactonthecontent
sharedintheOBC(H4:correlation0.66**).

The last result is of great importance for fashion

companies marketing strategies: spontaneous OBCs
arenotmanagedorcontrolledbycompaniesand,from
this perspective, they represent a wild card. They
must be considered as an unpredictable and
uncontrollable factor of success or failure in terms of
fashion online marketing, because a positive or a
negative wordofmouse could cause either a
competitive advantage or disadvantage for the fashion
brand.

7.Conclusions

This paper examines the effects of OBC dynamics on

luxury fashion brands in terms of brand equity (brand
loyalty,brandawarenessandbrandassociations).

From a marketing perspective, OBCs seem to be an

innovativegroundforimprovingbusiness.Ourfindings
show that OBC dynamics (brand community
participation, brand communitys generated content,
members perception of the brand quality) positively
influence brand equity. Considering brand equity as a
strategic asset for luxury fashion firms, marketing and
brand managers should exploit effectively the
opportunitiespresentedbyOBCs.Inparticular,thelevel
of OBC members participation and the production of
shared content directly influence brand loyalty
behaviours. These OBC characteristics are boosted by
Web 2.0 technologies such as social networks like
Facebook or Twitter. In this context, marketers could
gainadvantagesfromcarefulmonitoringofspontaneous
OBC dynamics as a whole, especially taking note of
members ideas and suggestions. In fact, OBC members
represent the most involved stakeholder groups and
developingtheirideasmightraisecorporatevalue.

From a managerial point of view, it is important to

point out that in the Web 2.0 scenario, luxury fashion
firms,characterizedbyhighvaluebrandassets,cannot
refrain from dealing with spontaneous OBCs. Due to
theirunpredictablenature,togetherwiththecapability
to aggregate a stunning number of consumers,
allowing them to interact and share opinions,
spontaneousOBCscanrepresentbothaseriousmenace
andanamazingopportunityforbrands.
Stefano Brogi, Armando Calabrese, Domenico Campisi, Guendalina Capece, Roberta Costa and Francesca Di Pillo:
The Effects of Online Brand Communities on Brand Equity in the Luxury Fashion Industry
7
www.intechopen.com
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Stefano Brogi, Armando Calabrese, Domenico Campisi, Guendalina Capece, Roberta Costa and Francesca Di Pillo:
The Effects of Online Brand Communities on Brand Equity in the Luxury Fashion Industry
9
www.intechopen.com