Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the use of online brand communities helps sporting goods brands in building brand loyalty.
Frame of Reference: The frame of reference begins with a presentation of brands leading upto brand equity and subsequently brand loyalty.
The second part of this section begins with a presentation regarding marketing communication,the promotional mix and online communities. Finally, brand loyalty and online community is merged together into a presentation of brand loyalty in online brand communities.
Method: The purpose is examined through comparing secondary data with quantitative collected data about community members’ purchasing behaviour prior and after joining a sporting goods brand community.
Empirical Framework: In this part the results of the online questionnaire is presented.
Conclusion: The survey concludes that sporting goods brands’ online brand communities have a positive impact and suggestions on further research are presented.
Source: Halmstad University
Author: Benson, Caroline | Hedrén, Martin