Online Brand Communities - a Route to Brand Loyalty?

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the use of online brandcommunities 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 thissection begins with a presentation regarding marketing communication,the promotional mix and online communities. Finally, brand loyalty andonline community is merged together into a presentation of brandloyalty in online brand communities. Method: The purpose is examined through comparing secondary data withquantitative collected data about community members’ purchasingbehaviour 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 brandcommunities have a positive impact and suggestions on further researchare presented.