The Role of Brand Communities on Brand Loyalty

Depending on development of technology, as well as it is seen that the companies carry their communication activities to the Internet and consumers spend most of their time in online environments. Consumers who benefit from the opportunities provided by the Internet are no longer a passive user and become an active user who produce the content. In this context, it is seen that the brand communities that are created by consumers have an important place in terms of brands are now online. These communities which is called as virtual brand communities can be defined as a specialized, non-geographically bound group of consumers with a common interests in a brand, based on structured set of social relationships among each other on the Internet. Since consumers can share their brand experiences through these communities they have established, it can be said that virtual brand communities help consumers establish a deep relationship with the brand. Accordingly, this study examined the influence of virtual brand community integration by four levels of relationships include those between the consumer and the brand, between the consumer and the firm, between the consumer and the product in use and between the consumer and the fellow consumers on brand loyalty by two levels include those attitudinal (by commitment) and behavioral (by repurchase)