User Generated Branding: Integrating User Generated Content into Brand Management

476 Pages·2010·19.578 MB·English

by  Ulrike Arnhold (auth.)

Ulrike Arnhold
User Generated Branding
GABLER RESEARCH
Innovatives Markenmanagement ®
Herausgegeben von
Professor Dr. Christoph Burmann,
Universität Bremen,
Lehrstuhl für innovatives Markenmanagement (LiM®)
Professor Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg,
HHL – Leipzig Graduate School of Management,
Lehrstuhl für Marketingmanagement
Marken sind in vielen Unternehmen mittlerweile zu wichtigen Vermögenswerten
geworden, die zukünftig immer häufi ger auch in der Bilanz erfasst werden können.
Insbesondere in reiferen Märkten ist die Marke heute oft das einzig nachhaltige
Differenzierungsmerkmal im Wettbewerb. Vor diesem Hintergrund kommt der
professionellen Führung von Marken eine sehr hohe Bedeutung für den Unter-
nehmenserfolg zu. Dabei müssen zukünftig innovative Wege beschritten werden.
Die Schriftenreihe will durch die Veröffentlichung neuester Forschungserkenntnisse
Anstöße für eine solche Neuausrichtung der Markenführung liefern.
Ulrike Arnhold

User Generated Branding

Integrating User Generated Content
into Brand Management
With a preface by Prof. Dr. Christoph Burmann
RESEARCH
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografi e;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Dissertation University of Bremen, 2010

1st Edition 2010
All rights reserved
© Gabler Verlag | Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2010
Editorial Offi ce: Ute Wrasmann | Stefanie Loyal
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ISBN 978-3-8349-2324-0
Preface
The increasing relevance ofthe internet has broughtaboutsignificantchange in me
dia consumption, communication and social behaviourand thus evoked a debate in
both business studies and practice. Brands, in particular, are affected bythe devel
opmentsin and aroundthe internetsincetheystimulateand shapesuch behavioural
patterns. Therefore, how to manage a brand in the era ofthe internet has been a
topic ofdiscussion for quite some time. First, successfactors ofso called "virtual e
brands" were searched for, then "internet-based brand management" was explored
and finallyone was acknowledged asan "expert" byonlyusingthe buzzword "brand
managementinWeb2.0." Manyofthe papersand books publishedatthattime, how
ever, dealt only superficially with the subject, distinguishing themselves through se
quencesofemptywordsratherthan in-depth knowledgeofthematter. Unfortunately,
this even led to the case thatthe editorofatopic related Special Issue ofthe "Mar
keting Science" joumal preselected all submitted manuscripts according to the fact
whetherhepersonallylikedordislikedtheusedterminology.
Against the background ofthis situation ofas much shallowness as sUbjectivity, Dr.
Ulrike Arnhold analyses the state ofthe art of research within her dissertation with
greatcare and intellectualfinesse. She revealsthat manyofthe brand management
insights claimed as "new" in the era ofsocial media by those alleged experts have
beenactuallyknown in businessstudiesforalongtime- eventhoughunderdifferent
terms. Having truly identified the open and relevant research problems, Dr. Amhold
focuses on the conception and conduction of an extraordinarily complex and chal
lenging empiric study in orderto respond to the raised questions. She thereby col
laborates with three brand-owning companies: FRoSTA, a very successful medium
sized frozen food producerfrom Bremerhaven; Germany; InBev, theworldwide lead
ing brewery; and one ofthe biggestcarmanufacturers in the world which prefers to
stay anonymous in this study. For all three industries and brands, Dr. Arnhold con
ductsmultipleface-to-faceconsumerinterviewsbothofflineandonline.
Theconsiderable depth and breadth ofthisempiricstudyreflectsto myknowledge a
uniqueaccomplishmentinthis researchfield. Hence,theresultsofthedissertationat
hand have in fact an exceptionally high level of explanatory power. In the end, the
veryhighqualityofthepresented results istheoutcomeofthejustasunusualasim
pressing curriculum vitae ofthe author. Iam notallowedto reveal moreatthis point.
Theinterestedreadermightfind itouthim-orherself.
The PhD thesis at hand represents Volume 21 ofthe edited book series entitled
"Innovative Brand Management" published by Gabler (Deutscher Universitats-
v
Verlag). These book series document research projects conducted by Germany's
firstand onlyChairofInnovative Brand Management(LiM®)atthe UniversityofBre
men and the Chair of Marketing Management at Leipzig Graduate School of Man
agement (HHL). Ourgoal is to stimulate further research on innovative brand man
agement topics and evoke a vivid exchange ofexperiences. My co-editor Prof. Dr.
ManfredKirchgeorg and Iarelookingforward togettingalltypesoffeedback(please
[email protected]@t-online.de). Also infuturewe in
tend to publish atleastthree dissertations perannum within these bookseries in or
derto revitalisethe growing interestin"innovativebrand management"topicsbypre
senting newideasinshortsequence.
Finally, Iwish the thesis of Dr. Arnhold avery broad distribution in theory and prac
tice given the excellentconceptual and empiricquality ofthis study. The publication
in English language will surely facilitate the circulation and maybe even motivate
some foreign academic colleagues to read through it (even ifthe one orotherterm
usedbytheauthordoesnotmeettheirpersonaltaste).
Univ.-Prof.Dr. ChristophBurmann
VI
Foreword
"Markets do notwant to talkto flacks andhucksters. They wantto participatein the
conversationsgoingonbehindthecorporatefirewall."
TheCluetrain Manifesto(1999),Thesis62
This provocativethesiswas raised inTheCluetrain Manifestoalreadyadecadeago.
The authors anticipated a developmentwhich breaks the paradigm ofbranding and
opens up a new world - user generated content. In the participatory world of
Web2.0 millions ofcommon people have started publishing own brand related con
tent. As evidenced by YouTube videos, Facebook groups, Twitter messages,
Wikipedia articles, Amazon book reviews and other social media activities, such
amateur pieces may achieve significant reach and thus represent serious brand
touch points to consumers - with or without the consent ofthe brand-owning com
pany.
In order to cope with this emerging phenomenon of consumer created brand mes
sages, brand managers have basicallyfourchoices: Theycan fightagainstit,justig
nore it, somehow monitoritoractivelyexploitthecreative powerofconsumers. The
last is the focus ofthe thesis at hand. The study shows how brand-owning compa
nies may involve consumers in interactive programmes such as corporate blogs,
brand communitiesand onlinechallenges inordertostrengthentheconsumer's rela
tionshiptothebrand. Thethesistherebyintroducestheterm usergenerated brand
ing (UGB) understood as the management ofsuch brand related artefacts created
byconsumers. Itdocumentsnotonlythetheoretical basisofUGBbutalsothedevel
opmentandempiricvalidationofanexplanatoryUGBmodel.
Though penned through my own hand, completing this thesis would not have been
possible withoutthe contributionsofvarious people. Firstofall, Iwould like to thank
my PhD adviser Prof. Dr. Christoph Burmann from the University of Bremen who
granted metheopportunitytopursueadoctoralthesisin myfavouritespeciality.With
his unwavering support of my innovative PhD topic, he allowed a very efficient and
effective research and graduation process. Many thanks also to the assistants and
PhD students ofthe Chair of Innovative Brand Management who made me feel at
home.
Iwould also like to express my gratitude to my reviewer Prof. Dr. Marcus SchOgel
from the UniversityofSt. Gallenwho inspired mewith hiscompassion forinteractive
branding topics. Special thanks also to my former employerThe Boston Consulting
Group and notably Senior Partner Dr. Antonella Mei-Pochtler who opened up the
VII
field ofbrandingtome inthefirst placeaswell asto mycurrentemployerSwarovski
and SeniorVPMarkusD. Lampeforletting meapplymybranding knowledgetodaily
business.
Furthermore, I am indebted to the companies and managers which allowed me ex
ploring theirWeb2.0communication initiativesas 'real life' studyobjects: Iwould like
tothankthe ownerofFRoSTAFelixAhlersforhisoutstanding willingnesstocooper
ate; Kathe Reichert and Dr. Markus Zellerfrom AB InBev(Beck's) fortheir straight
forward supportaswell asthe online marketing unitofourautomotive research part
ner.
Aspecialtoastto myspouseAki Hardarsonforpromoting myinspiringvisittoJapan
and supporting me in all moods and circumstances. Anothertoastto my brother Ivo
Amhold and my Berlin friends Axel Sommer, Mareike Jung and Susan Schagen for
spendinghappyafter-workhourswith me.
Last but not least I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents
Reinhard and Steffi Arnhold who never let meforget my promise to pursue doctoral
education.Tothem, Idedicatethisbook.
Dr. UlrikeArnhold
VIII
Contents
Preface V
Foreword VII
Contents IX
xv
Indexoffigures
Indexoftables XIX
Indexofabbreviations XXIII
Indexofsymbols XXVII
A Usergenerated branding(UGB)asafield ofstudy 1
1 RelevanceofUGB 2
1.1 Majorshiftsinthebrandingenvironment.. 2
1.2 UGBasanewchallengeforbrand management.. 9
2 Needforresearch 13
3 Objectivesofthestudy 17
4 Outlineofthestudy 20
5 Placementofthestudyin researchtheory 22
B TheoreticalbasisforthedevelopmentofaUGBreference
framework 24
Usergeneratedcontent(UGC)asthesubjectofthisstudy 25
1.1 Notionofcontent 25
1.2 DefinitionofUGC 27
1.3 Definitionofbrandrelated UGC 31
2 Identity-basedbrand managementapproachasthetheoretical
frameworkofthisstudy 34
2.1 Basicmodeloftheidentity-based brand managementapproach 35
2.1.1 Brand identity 35
2.1.2 Brand image 37
2.1.3 Consumer-brand relationshipasthereferencepointofthisstudy 40
2.2 Identity-basedbrandmanagementprocess 44
2.3 IntegrationofUGBand brand related UGCintotheidentity-based
brandmanagementapproach 47
3 Relationshipmarketingasthepractical referenceofthisstudy 51
3.1 Relationshipmarketing 51
3.2 Interactivemarketing 52
3.3 IntegrationofUGBand brand related UGCintorelationship
marketing 54
4 Web2.0andthedigitalworld ascontextfactorsofthisstudy 56
4.1 Advancementsindigitaltechnology 56
IX
4.2 Web2.0 57
4.3 Emergenceofthedigitalcommunity 58
4.4 Facilitationoflegalschemes 59
5 Discussionandsummaryofthetheoreticalbasis 62
C SpecificationofUGB 64
1 Slateoftheartofresearch ofUGBrelated concepts 65
1.1 Userinnovation research 66
1.1.1 Prosumers 66
1.1.2 Leadusers 68
1.1.3 Opensource 71
1.2 Collectiveintelligenceresearch 74
1.2.1 Wisdomofcrowds 74
1.2.2 Wikinomics 75
1.3 Wordofmouth research 77
1.3.1 Offlinewordofmouth 77
1.3.2 Onlinewordofmouth 81
1.3.3 Organicversusamplifiedwordofmouth 83
1.4 Communityresearch 87
1.4.1 Brandcommunities 87
1.4.2 Onlinecommunities 95
1.5 UGCresearch 96
1.5.1 Motivationsforcreatingandconsuming UGC 97
1.5.2 Usergeneratedadvertising 99
1.5.3 Fanfiction 105
1.5.4 Citizenjoumalism 106
1.6 UGBresearchinabroadersense 108
1.6.1 VigilantemarketingbyMUNIZ/SCHAU 108
1.6.2 eTribalizedbrandingbyKOZINETS 112
1.6.3 OpensourcebrandsbyBERTHON/PITTIWATSONetal 116
1.7 Discussionandsummaryoftheliteraturereview 123
2 UGBdefinitionanddifferentiationfrom related concepts 126
2.1 DifferentiationofUGBfrom neighbouringterms 126
2.2 ElaborationofdetailedUGBdefinition 127
2.2.1 Non-sponsoredUGB 127
2.2.2 Sponsored UGB 129
3 ApplicationofUGB 131
3.1 UGBforthepurposeofapplied marketresearch 132
3.1.1 Social mediamonitoring 133
3.1.2 Ideasoliciting 134
x