– The purpose of this paper is to link the notions of brand community, loyalty and promise as a reminder to marketers of the importance to brands of keeping their commercial promises to brand community members.
– The paper reports on a questionnaire survey (n=500) of members of a sport brand community as part of an investigation into the relationship between brand community and brand loyalty.
– Brand loyalty was predicted by age, frequency of attendance, motivations for joining the brand community and the degree to which expectations built by the brand promise are met.
– In common with many inquiries in the area of brand community, this is a single case study. It is primarily a cross-sectional study, with a minor longitudinal element.
– Branding practitioners and consultants with responsibility for brand community management issues need to balance the consumer-to-consumer dimensions of community with a careful understanding and operationalisation of the brand promise.
– This is the first paper to integrate the constructs of brand community and brand loyalty with that of brand promise.
