Brand-Consumer relationship: from attractiveness to commitment

The paper develops from a literature review on brand scope and goals. Brand is considered both a traditional vehicle of symbolic information and an appropriate tool to boost a company’s social capital and therefore the customer’s degree of social identification. The paper aims at building a theoretical model or framework for the study/ analysis of the consumer-brand relationship, taking into account the increasing social role played by brands. A case study analysis will provide empirical evidence to support the conclusions reached through the framework. The model being presented is based on the following assumption: the brand-consumer relationship is evolving from a “dyadic” form, very much based on mutual trust and knowledge, to a “triadic” one, where consumers are fully integrated within groups/communities through their identification with a brand. The article attempts to describe the evolution of the brand- consumer relationship identifying three different stages: (1) “attractiveness”, which is about mutual compatibility between the company/brand and the consumer: it is reached when consumers not only get to know the brand, but also feel the brand itself can help them to express themselves better both inside and outside a group/community; (2) “identification”, when the company is tuned in to consumers’ needs and has managed to establish a durable relationship with consumers based on trust; (3) “resonance/commitment”, when consumers move towards active integration within the brand community, taking part in the relational dynamics both with other community members and between the community and the brand/company. Brand communities, being the result of social dynamics, are changing the traditional approach to segmentation, targeting and positioning in marketing management. Companies need to know how to communicate with brand communities in order to get valuable feedback. This study aims therefore at describing the most appropriate marketing tools (of analysis, evaluation and decision) and the actions companies should undertake in order to be successful. The steps described in the framework might help companies to understand better the dynamic of factors behind the creation of a durable relationship, being above all a vehicle of valuable information, for brand communities.