The Social Capital of Brand Communities

This article breaks new grounds by exploring brand communities as a source of social capital understood here as social networks, connections, norms and trust. Evidence from several sources suggests a strong decrease in social capital and thus severe consequences in civic engagement (Putnam). In this context it has become essential to investigate alternative sources of social capital. In the network society, brands have clearly become important means of self-expression by carrying stories, symbols and myths, which consumers consider valuable in constructing their identities (Holt). Recent studies (Muniz & O' Guinn, Schau, Cova, Kim) have brought to attention the importance of brand communities - defined as a specialized, non-geographically bound communities based upon a structured set of relationships among admirers of a brand. Thus in a world where global brands become icons and brand communities spring up online and offline, a new, different form of social capital might be arising, the social capital of brands. This article is an attempt to explore the complex relationship between global values, brands, brand communities and social capital by including one important factor, the Internet, as main source of (social) networks. Are brand communities a source of social capital? What is the mechanism of building social capital within brand communities and more important who benefits from it? By taking one step further, this study aims to investigate also some of the potential effects of brand communities at collective level that is whether social change such as poverty alleviation, women empowerment, equality of opportunities etc. can be enacted by engaging the brand community members in pursuing shared goals. That is to say, can social brand capital be translated into civic engagement and if so what is the role of (global) values attached to the brand? The ultimate purpose of this article is to show that brand communities should be regarded as social innovation ecosystems and could thus serve to both multinational companies and international organizations as a resource in their sustainable development strategies and goals.