Typology of virtual brand communities’ members

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify types of members of virtual brand communities on the basis of chosen criteria, and to present the main characteristics of those types. The author applied method of virtual ethnography and observed users’ behaviors in virtual brand communities of 23 brands from various sectors. Eight distinctive types of members have been identified, based on the level of activity on fanpages, loyalty to the brand, the reasons for belonging to the group (practical or image-related) and in the context of their behaviors toward the brand and other community participants.