Participation from above and below: Brand community and the contestation of cultural participation

Abstract

This article draws on work in communication and marketing studies to develop a theory of cultural participation as fundamentally contested, between cultural producers who aim to steer and manage the activity of participants via the brand community ( participation from above) and participants who have the potential to resist and challenge the producers’ direction ( participation from below). It develops this theory empirically with reference to a cultural form in which audience participation plays a central part, professional wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment aims to direct and contain participation within sanctioned parameters, both online and offline, while fans retain the capacity to develop and voice an effective critique of existing storylines through those same venues. By sampling and examining the key storylines building to World Wrestling Entertainment’s marquee event, Wrestlemania, from 2014 to 2016, I show how the logics of participation from above and below interact, and how, ultimately, the production and reproduction of brand community are fundamentally contested.

Negative brand meaning co‐creation in social media brand communities: A laddering approach using NVivo

“…“Management failures can take a number of forms. Fans can simply express boredom and indifference” (Yeritsian, , p.7). “Online customer and brand communities rarely exist in substantial or meaningful ways and there is little evidence of their practical functionality for marketing management” (Bradshaw & Zwick, , p.3).…”

“…On the other hand, it dimensionalizes negative co‐creation even further, by introducing a sharper distinction between relevantly negative comments, irrelevantly negative comments, and outright indifferent ones. To add interpretive depth to brand meaning co‐creation in SMBCs, I apply the laddering technique in a critical vein with a view to encapsulating adverse aspects of co‐creation “from below” (Yeritsian, ). The laddering technique is particularly attuned to the exploration of instances of negative brand evaluation (Woodside, ), and concomitantly of negative co‐creation, while it seeks to unearth how, why and in what situations a brand is rejected either on a particular dimension with regard to attributes, benefits, values or across the board.…”

“…This form of non-collaborative behavior has been identified as a significant feature of interactions between brand owners and stakeholders. Although the community branding mantra that is suggestive of a streamlined centering around a focal brand is regularly evoked (Dessart, Veloutsou, & Morgan-Thomas, 2015), often the specific and quite dissonant, contested (Lee & Soon, 2017;Weijo, Hietanen, & Mattila, 2016;Yeritsian, 2018) and outright messy ways whereby such focalizations are attained remain under-explored.…”

Hang with Me—Exploring Fandom, Brandom, and the Experiences and Motivations for Value Co-Creation in a Music Fan Community

“…O'Reilly, Larsen and Kubacki (2013) explore music brands and fandom from a consumption perspective. To further elaborate on the term in cultural industry, but more specifically to build on the distinction between brandom and fandom, we find it important to understand the fan perspective of taking part in this and to create and understanding of the sociological dimension of emotions of fandom and brandom (Yeritsian, 2018). Some argue that a 'new economy of fandom' (Galuszka, 2015, building on Fiske, 1992 has emerged due to new conditions for online fan brand communities, empowering and giving fans new roles as stakeholders, sponsors, investors, filters and co-creators of value.…”

Fã cínico: falando a verdade descaradamente

“…Os fãs -definidos como consumidores especializados -foram investigados em pesquisas de consumo como membros de tribos de consumidores (B. Cova et al, 2007;Goulding et al, 2013) ou de comunidades de marcas (Guschwan, 2012;Muñiz & O'Guinn, 2001;Yeritsian, 2021). Mais recentemente, foram associados ao prossumo visto que colaboram com outros agentes de marketing (Chen, 2021;Souza-Leão & Costa, 2018;Sugihartati, 2020) acerca da sua própria experiência de consumo (Ay & Kaygan, 2022;Fuschillo, 2018;Seregina & Weijo, 2017).…”