the influences of satisfaction and brand community integration

Loyalty: The Influences of Satisfaction and Brand Community IntegrationAuthor(s): James H. McAlexander, Stephen K. Kim and Scott D. RobertsSource: Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Fall, 2003), pp. 1-11Published by: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40470114 .

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LOYALTY: THE INFLUENCES OF SATISFACTION AND BRAND COMMUNITY INTEGRATION

James H. McAlexander Oregon State University

Stephen K. Kim Oregon State University

Scott D. Roberts Northern Arizona University

This paper empirically explores the relative impacts of satisfaction, brand community integration, and consumer experience on customer loyalty as expressed by future purchase intentions and behavior. Data drawn from qualitative research and a survey of 1000 patrons of a Native American casino who indicate a willingness to engage informal marketing relationships indicate that satisfaction yields to brand community integration as a key driver of loyalty. We discuss important implications of the findings for marketing theory and practice.

INTRODUCTION

That loyalty is a key marketing goal is so widely accepted that its value has been deemed to be "self-evident to every business person" (Reichheld 1996, p.35). With such importance, it is not surprising that loyalty is the focus of a significant body of literature in marketing. Within that literature, marketers have generally shared a fundamental understanding of what loyalty means and how it is created. Loyalty has been traditionally understood to be reflected by repeat purchase behavior and/or the expression of a favorable attitude toward such behavior (Jacoby and Chestnut 1978). To achieve loyalty, marketers have emphasized the need to provide and improve customer

satisfaction (Jacoby and Kyner 1973; Jones and Sasser 1995; Szymanski and Henard 2001). In the last several years, however, the marketing literature has begun to reveal evidence that challenges some of the fundamental tenets of loyalty (cf. Fournier 1998). Of interest to the current research are questions pertaining to the antecedents of loyalty. These issues have importance to both our theoretical understanding of loyalty and the managerial challenges of strengthening it.

LOYALTY: BEYOND SATISFACTION

There is a growing body of research that indicates loyalty is developed in ways that are more dynamic and complex than

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reflected in the common "satisfaction builds loyalty" models (Fournier 1998; Oliver 1999; Chaudhuri and Holbrook 2001). Investigations that focus on the experiences associated with product use (or consumption) have been especially influential by uncovering important variations in the loyalty equation ( Mittal et al. 1999; Licata et al. 2001; Mittal et al. 2001). As customers repurchase and use products, new and unanticipated benefits (and, sometimes, costs) that have an impact on both satisfaction and loyalty may be revealed. Ownership and/or use may lead to interactions with the product, marketers, and other customers that influence impressions of functionality and yield important personal and social meanings that can bear upon satisfaction and the nature and strength of loyalty (Price, Arnould and Tierney 1995; Fournier 1998; Fournier and Mick 1999; Oliver 1997, 1999).

In a provocative paper with implications for both theory and practice, Garbarino and Johnson (1999) find that, in some situations, overall satisfaction has no significant influence on future purchase intentions. Building upon prior work that examines the developmental processes of relationship formation (Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987; Berry 1995), they find that for customers who exhibit a strong relationship with a company, trust and commitment supplant satisfaction as drivers of loyalty. They conclude that the management of satisfaction is most effective for developing loyalty among customers that are not inclined toward establishing enduring relationships.

In the last few years scholars have offered conceptual and empirical research that complements and extends these developments. Oliver (1999), for example, presents an evolutionary model in which satisfaction makes important contributions to repurchase early in the ownership cycle. In this model, as customers gain experience, a "convergence of product, personal, and social forces" (p. 42) can lead to the emergence of "ultimate loyalty." Brand community, a concept recently introduced into the marketing literature (Muñiz and O'Guinn 2001), offers a complementary perspective. Muñiz and O'Guinn (2001, p. 423) define brand community as a "specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among users of a brand." They observe that the social bonds built through brand consumption may have implications for loyalty and brand equity.

In their exploration, McAlexander, Schouten, and Koenig (2002) observe that brand community can situate the consumer in a "complex web of relationships" (p. 39). Extending the work of Muñiz and O'Guinn (2001), McAlexander and his colleagues broaden the conceptualization of relevant community members to include fellow customers, the brand itself, the products as experienced by the customer, and, at various levels, the marketing institutions responsible for producing, distributing, and communicating about the products. They note that it is through consumer experience that the existence and benefits of brand community

2 Journal of Marketing THEORY AND PRACTICE

relationships unfold. Of particular importance to the current research is their observation that these relationships can develop synergistically, strengthening interpersonal ties, and enhancing appreciation for the product, the brand, and the facilitating marketers in ways that integrate customers into the brand community and that bear upon loyalty.

THE CURRENT RESEARCH

The current research offers a multi-method exploratory study that extends prior research that has questioned the central part that satisfaction plays in building loyalty (Garbarino and Johnson 1999; Oliver 1999). Unlike previous studies, this paper will explore the relative contribution of brand community integration (BCI) to the customer loyalty equation. This is an issue that has not been previously explored. Prior work that focused on branded goods (i.e. Jeep, Macintosh, Saab) has indicated that the concept of brand community integration can provide marketers with fresh insights into building loyalty. It has not, however, examined the relative roles that satisfaction and brand community can play in building loyalty.

Previous research on brand community has emphasized its applicability to the consumption of experiential goods. We chose to focus our efforts on people engaged in the consumption of an experientially oriented service. The research setting, a medium sized Native American casino, provides an opportunity to extend our understanding of brand community and its relevance to loyalty to the service sector. Gaming operations in the U.S., whether run by states (e.g., lotteries), private business, or Native Americans, have shown tremendous growth in the last decade (Ferber and Chon 1994; King and Mclntire 1998; Lew 1998). What follows is a description of our conceptual framework and hypotheses, a review of the research methods and setting, a presentation of our analysis, and a discussion of implications for theory and marketing practice.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES

Our conceptual framework integrates the recent contributions of McAlexander et al. (2002) and Garbarino and Johnson (1999) as they relate to building customer loyalty. We conceptually model the influences of brand community integration (BCI), relationship orientation, satisfaction, and consumer experience on loyalty as expressed by indicators of purchase behavior and repurchase intent. Figure 1 displays the conceptual framework from which our hypotheses are developed. Informed by Garbarino and Johnson's (1999) findings, our conceptual model focuses on consumers who have expressed a willingness to engage in a marketplace relationship. In our case, we identify consumers who have enrolled in a relationship marketing program (the Gamers Club) as "relationship oriented." As indicated by McAlexander et al. (2002), we approach brand community integration as the cumulative connections of consumers with



the product, the brand, other consumers, and the company. We find the arguments regarding the influential role of customer experience (Garbarino and Johnson 1999; Oliver 1999) to be compelling and we explicitly integrate aggregate customer experience as an element of our conceptual model.

FIGUREI BRAND COMMUNITY INTEGRATION, SATISFACTION,

AND LOYALTY A. Less Experienced Group

J General L S satisfaction '

H2a(^X I J 'Hia(+)

Í Comity L - ~~~ J Customer I Integration I

- ~~~ 1 *****

B. More Experienced Group

J General L yS satisfaction N.

H2b(^X I ) 'Hib(0)

I H3b(+) T Customer j

ÍBrand

Community _ J Loyalty Integration j I J

Hypotheses

Our model leads to several hypotheses that pertain to the relationships that exist among customer experience, satisfaction, brand community integration, and loyalty. Our initial set of hypotheses, Hu and Hlb> reexamine and extend Garbarino and Johnson's (1999) work that challenges the contribution of satisfaction to loyalty for relationship-oriented consumers. By explicitly examining the effect of experience on the satisfaction/loyalty equation for relationship-oriented consumers we integrate Garbarino and Johnson's work with the conceptual work of Oliver (1999). We anticipate that the impact of satisfaction on loyalty will diminish as relationship- oriented customers gain experience:

Hla: General satisfaction is associated positively with customer loyalty for less experienced relationship-oriented consumers.

Hlb: General satisfaction is not associated with customer loyalty for the more experienced relationship-oriented consumers.

Brand Community Integration, satisfaction, and loyalty. Our second and third sets of hypotheses empirically explore and extend the assertions of McAlexander and his colleagues (2002) regarding the impact of brand community integration upon loyalty.

First, we hypothesize that brand community integration will be positively related to customer satisfaction. This hypothesis comes from the observation that those who enroll in relationship programs sometimes anticipate benefits that pertain to aspects of brand community. For that reason, as indicated by the large body of work in the comparison- standards paradigm commonly applied in satisfaction related research (Fournier and Mick 1 999; Oliver 1 997), the degree to which an expectation of community-related benefits is successfully achieved should have a bearing upon overall satisfaction. Moreover, with the experiences gained through consumption, additional benefits unfold which may also have a bearing on satisfaction. Next, we examine directly the relationship between brand community integration and loyalty.

H2: Brand community integration is associated positively with satisfaction for (a) less experienced relationship- oriented consumers and (b) more experienced relationship- oriented consumers.

H3: Brand community integration is associated positively with brand loyalty for (a) less experienced relationship- oriented consumers and (b) for more experienced relationship-oriented consumers.

Indirect effect of brand community integration on customer loyalty through satisfaction. Our final set of hypotheses integrates prior conceptual and empirical work that indicates that the accumulation of customer experience impacts the way in which satisfaction and brand community bear upon customer loyalty (Oliver 1999; Garbarino and Johnson 1999; McAlexander, et al. 2002). We propose in H^ that the effect of satisfaction on customer loyalty differs between the less experienced group (significant effect) and the more experienced group (non-significant effect). We also maintain in H2 and H3 that brand community integration is related positively to satisfaction and loyalty for both the less experienced group and the more experienced group. Tying these hypotheses together, we anticipate that brand community integration has both a direct effect and indirect effects through satisfaction on customer loyalty for the less experienced group, but that the indirect effect of BCI through satisfaction wanes with the accumulation of additional experience. For that reason, we expect that it is only the main effect of brand community integration that drives customer loyalty for the more experienced group. Therefore, we hypothesize that:

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H4a: Satisfaction mediates the effect of brand community integration on customer loyalty for the less experienced relationship oriented consumers. H4b: Satisfaction does not mediate the effect of brand community integration on customer loyalty for the more experienced relationship oriented consumers.

METHOD

The empirical exploration of the model consists of qualitative and quantitative research using the gaming industry as the focal point. Qualitative work affords the opportunity to explore the applicability of the brand community concept to the research setting, and to examine the nature of relevant relationships and their bases of formation. We ground our quantitative work in the qualitative research experience.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative work included participant observation and depth interviews conducted at the Shadow Mountain Casino (disguised). Participant observation research consisted of three full days (one weekday and one full weekend) spent by a two- person research team in the casino. The research team participated in all games offered (e.g., blackjack, poker, bingo, and slots), ate meals in all restaurants and the bar, and attended a scheduled concert. Participant observation research was supplemented by exploratory depth interviews with twelve casino patrons. Interviews were video-recorded. Informants were selected using a convenience sampling method, based upon a desire to interview a sample that was diverse with regard to games played, gender, and age.

Community in the Casino

Our experiences in the casino uncovered the existence of a vital brand community. We noted multiple dimensions of brand community as discussed by Muñiz and O'Guinn (2001) and evidence of the formation of the relationships described by McAlexander et al. (2002). We found, for example, that the casino is a very socially-oriented environment for many gamers. As an element of brand community, these intercustomer relationships add pleasure and value to the gaming experience. We noted camaraderie among blackjack players and friendly competition among poker players. In the large bingo hall we found intricate rituals as groups of players assembled their different daubers and good luck tokens, arrayed their bingo cards and got serious about playing bingo and being with one another.

The existence of a strong customer to company relationship was demonstrated repeatedly as casino staff cordially interacted with us and other gamers as we entered the casino and engaged in casino activities. When asked how the casino staff impacted her gaming enjoyment, a female informant described the ways in which staff can be integral to her experience:


"The dealer makes it enjoyable. She's there to enjoy herself and she would like you to enjoy yourself while you are losing your money."

We observed that a strong bond to the casino was directly tied to feelings of consciousness of kind and moral responsibility (Muñiz and O'Guinn 2001). For example, we found these expressions of community as patrons reported their defense of the casino to a local community that had vehemently fought its introduction. Many prominent members of the local community viewed the introduction of a casino as morally destructive. Further, they were unhappy that it was being built on a site that had been commercially productive and a significant source of "family-wage" employment.

As well as verifying the applicability of the brand community concept and existence of relevant relationships in the casino, the qualitative work further emphasized for us the importance of gauging the impact of experience on the development of community and loyalty. We found that some who enroll in the Gamers Club loyalty program intend to experience the casino often. We found others who enroll in response to specific short-term inducements (i.e. meal discounts).

Measure Development

Our qualitative research was also important to the development of the survey measures that we used for quantitative research. We developed multi-item measures for each construct as indicated from interviews with casino managers, employees, and players. Our measures were also informed by prior academic empirical studies and trade publications and concordant with the recommendations by Churchill (1979). Measurement items are reported in the Appendix.

Customer loyalty. We define customer loyalty as the extent to which a customer patronizes the casino and desires to maintain an ongoing relationship with the service provider (Singh and Sirdeshmukh 2000). We operationalize it as a formative scale with a respondent's patronage behavior and future intention to return to the casino. We measured customer patronage by the proportion of the number of visits to Shadow Mountain Casino out of the total number of visits made to casinos in the last three months (an indicator of a the casino's share of a customer's visits). We measured future intention by asking the respondent's desire to return to Shadow Mountain Casino. Two items of Likert-type scale (1: strongly disagree - 7: strongly agree) were used for this purpose.

Customer satisfaction. We defined customer satisfaction as a respondent's overall evaluation of the experience with the casino and operationalized it as the extent to which the respondent is happy with the overall casino experience and whether the experience exceeds his/her expectations. These items have been used extensively in prior research (see Oliver 1997 for a review of measures). Two Likert-type items (1:



strongly disagree - 5: strongly agree) were used for this purpose.

Brand community integration. Following the lead of McAlexander, Schouten, and Koenig (2002), we conceptualized brand community integration as a multi- component construct: a customer's relationship with brand, product (casino services in this case), company (casino workers and management), and other customers. We developed multi-item measures for each component of brand community integration. The brand component reflects the brand associations that informants conveyed to us in the qualitative work as well as an indicator of the consumers willingness to identify with the brand. The brand associations revealed to us include what consumers perceive as unique qualities of the casino, such as a welcoming feeling. We operationalize identification with the brand as a desire to wear casino branded apparel. Five Likert-type items (1: strongly disagree - 5: strongly agree) were used for this purpose.

The product component we operationalized as a customer's attribute-based experience with the casino services. Twelve attributes of casino service were identified and respondents were asked to evaluate each attribute on a five-point scale (1 : poor - 5: outstanding). The company component we operationalize as a customer's perception of friendliness and fairness of staff and employees at the casino. Three Likert-type items (1: strongly disagree - 5: strongly agree) were used for this purpose. The other customer component concerns the extent to which a customer enjoys the company of other customers at the casino. We used two Likert-type items (1: strongly disagree - 5: strongly agree) for this purpose.

Sampling and Data Collection

The sampling frame was a list of players who enrolled in the casino's loyalty program. A random sample of 1000 players was selected from the list. Data collection began with a letter to the chosen players that introduced the research project. A few days later, the first wave of questionnaires was sent with a cover letter. The cover letter offered an incentive of a free dinner for two in appreciation for survey participation. A follow-up questionnaire was sent three weeks later to those that had not responded to the original questionnaire. The final response rate was 41.5% (415 out of 1000 sent). After eliminating some of the returned questionnaires because of such things as incomplete information, 372 responses were used for analysis.

Nonresponse bias check. Nonresponse bias was assessed in two ways. First, according to Armstrong and Overton's (1977) procedure, no significant differences were found (p > .10) between the early respondent group and the late respondent group for any of the constructs in the model. In addition, the response group was compared with the nonresponse group on demographic characteristics such as age and income. No significant differences were found between the two groups.

These results offer evidence that nonresponse bias is not a significant problem for this study.

Measure Validation

The measurement items were subject to validation process in accordance with the recommendations by Gerbing and Anderson (1988). They were first examined in terms of their item-to-total correlations. For the four components of brand community integration, all inter-component correlations are larger than .31 and significant at p <.001. Therefore, four components are summed to develop a brand community integration score for each respondent. The correlational matrix among brand community integration, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty suggests that brand community integration and general satisfaction are highly correlated (y = .72, p < 001), but the correlation is still significantly different from unity.

Reliability of each measurement scale is also examined and reported in the Appendix. Coefficient alpha for every multi- item scale is above .70, which is the typical cutoff point (Nunnally 1978). A detailed report of the scale properties and Pearson correlations is provided in Table 1.

TABLE 1 CORRELATION MATRIX

Brand Community General Customer

Mean S.D. Integration Satisfaction Loyalty

Brand 3.97 .58 1.00 Community Integration (BCI)

General 3.71 .83 .72 1.00 Satisfaction

Customer 4.30 .82 .39 .25 1.00 Loyalty

Validity check. The convergent validity of the measurement scales was tested by checking correlation between measurement scales and convergent items. For example, the customer loyalty measure is correlated with an item ("I will recommend that my friends visit the casino") and the correlation is .33 (p < .001). For customer satisfaction, the measure is correlated with a convergent item ("I am happy with the services I have experienced at the casino") and the correlation is .70 (p < .001). For brand community integration, the measure is correlated with a convergent item ("The casino makes a positive contribution to the local community") and the correlation is .42 (p < .001). These results support the convergent validity of the measurement scale items. The discriminant validity of the measurement scales was checked through exploratory factor analysis of the scales. The measurement items were summed and average values were computed for model estimation purpose.

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TABLE 2 MODEL ESTIMATION RESULTS

Less Experienced More Experienced Relational Consumers Relational Consumers H,: General Satisfaction ■» Customer Loyalty .45b ( .21 *) -.04 ( .08)

H2: BCL -» General Satisfaction 1.06* (.08) 1.12*(.O8)

H3: BCI ■» Customer Loyalty .61b (.31) .43' (.13)

Covariate Distance to the casino ■* General Satisfaction .00b (.00) .00c (.00)

Distance to the casino ■» Customer loyalty -.01" (.00) -.01* (.00)

*:p<.0l;b:p<.05 *: standard error

FIGURE 2 MODEL ESTMATION RESLTS

A. Less Experienced Group

Brand Community Integration on loyalty: total effect 1.09*" ■» (a) direct effect: .61**: (b) indirect effect .48**

J General L 1.06- /'

Mtisfaction '

/ ' ) '¿5"

Brand j A1M ( '

Community '

. Customer

Integration I : Loyaty

*:p<.10;**:p<.05;***:p<.01

B. More Experienced Group

Brand Community Integration on loyalty, total effect .38** •» (a) direct effect .43***; (b) indirect effect: -.OS

J General L / satisfactìon N.

'A7rms' ' ) N. -.04

I cJOSL. uxnmunlty I -43#" | Customer ) uxnmunlty h * Lovaltv Uïyany I Integration I h * Lovaltv Uïyany

•: p < .10; **: p < .05; ***: p < .01

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Descriptive analysis. We examined demographic characteristics of the respondents. 77% of the respondents are over 50 years old and 61% of the respondents are female. 58% of the respondents had a gross income of $35,000 or lower. The distance between the casino and a respondent's home


ranges from one to 125 miles and the median value is eight miles.

Model estimation. The proposed model was estimated by the path analysis option of LISREL 8 with a covariance matrix as an input matrix. The respondents were divided into two groups the "more experienced relationship oriented consumers" and "less experienced relationship oriented consumers" on the basis of frequency of patronage for the last three months (i.e., median value of eight was used because of skewed distribution of responses). To account for the influence of geographic proximity to the casino upon patronage, we incorporate the distance between home and the casino into the model as a covariate. The hypothesized model was estimated through a two-group analysis. Using a two- group analysis affords two major advantages over other estimation methods: estimation of direct and indirect effects and the test of coefficient equality across the two groups (Bollen 1989). The estimation results are reported in Table 2 and Figure 2.

Effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. We predicted that customer loyalty should increase as customer satisfaction increases for the less experienced group (Hla), but not for the more experienced group (Hlb). The estimation result suggests that customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer loyalty (b = .45, p < .05) in the less experienced group, but its effect in the more experienced group is insignificant (b = -.04, n.s.). Therefore, Hla and Hib are supported fully.

Effects of brand community integration on satisfaction. We hypothesized that customer satisfaction should increase as brand community integration strengthens for both groups (H^ and H2b). The estimation results indicate that satisfaction is associated positively with brand community integration for both the less experienced (b = 1.06, p < .01) and more experienced (b = 1.12,/? < .01), in support of H2a and H2b.

Effect of brand community integration on loyalty. We hypothesized that customer loyalty should go up as brand



community integration increases for both the less experienced group and the more experienced group. The model estimation results suggest that integration in the brand community is associated positively with customer loyalty for both the less experienced (b = .61, p < .05) and more experienced (b = .43, p < .01) as was hypothesized. Thus, H3aand H3b are supported and the direct effect of brand community integration on customer loyalty is positive for both groups.

Indirect effect of brand community integration on customer loyalty through satisfaction. The total effect of brand community integration on customer loyalty was calculated to unravel the indirect effect from the direct effect. The total effect of integration in the brand community on customer loyalty was 1.09 (p < .01) for the less experienced group and .38 (p < .05) for the more experienced group. Out of these total effects, the direct effect is .61 (p < .05) and the indirect effect is .48 (p < .05) for the less experienced group. Therefore, our hypothesis (H4a) that brand community integration has both a direct effect and an indirect effect through satisfaction on customer loyalty for the less experienced group is fully supported. For the more experienced group, the total effect is .38, direct effect is .43 (p < .01) and indirect effect is -.05 (n.s.). Therefore, our hypothesis (H4b) that integration in the brand community does not have an indirect effect and only has a direct effect on customer loyalty for the more experienced group is also supported.

DISCUSSION

Our findings contribute to marketing theory and have implications for marketing practice. With regard to theory, we provide additional evidence that the accumulation of consumption experience among customers that express a willingness to engage in marketing relationships leads to a shift wherein other forces, in this case brand community integration, become more powerful in building loyalty than does overall satisfaction. This evidence, in combination with prior research, provides a strong challenge to conventional understandings regarding the antecedents of loyalty.

To marketing managers, our findings challenge the accepted assumption that to build loyalty one must focus on managing customer satisfaction. As Oliver (1999) contends, satisfaction is of greatest importance among inexperienced customers. Loyalty creation, however, is an evolutionary process driven by experience. With experience, customers have the opportunity to develop the additional and meaningful connections of brand community that can provide a strong bond that affects satisfaction and loyalty. The possibility of building the type of loyalty that can come from the bonds of brand community provides impetus for managers to carefully consider the creation and maintenance of a suitably supportive service-delivery environment. As a marketing challenge, providing that supportive environment requires attention to the holistic consumption experience. The conceptualization of brand community provides marketers a model from which they

can identify the relevant elements of brand community and gauge success in fostering those relationships.

By situating our research in a service setting our analysis provides additional evidence of the transferability of the concepts of brand community and brand community integration. Moreover, that the brand around which this community forms differs considerably in nature from the iconic and mature brands that have been studied previously offers evidence that the impact of the brand community concept may have relevance beyond such brands.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

The work reported here suffers from the limitations typical of empirical survey research. We have, for example, examined only one casino, and therefore it is suspect to generalize our findings to other casinos or settings. The measures, while derived from the qualitative work and suitable for this type of exploratory research, need refinement. The multiple research objectives associated with this survey constrained our latitude to more fully develop measurement items. To date, scale development in the realm of brand community research is still in its infancy. Significant opportunities exist to extend and refine appropriate measures. There are other important opportunities in which this work should be extended. We next discuss some of those.

An obvious extension of this work is that the findings be tested in other marketing settings. Research is necessary to establish the boundaries that may relate to the brand community conceptualization. As noted by Muñiz and O'Guinn (2001), we find a brand community in a setting in which consumption is publicly visible. Future research might explore the applicability of brand community to a more privately consumed product.

A challenge facing marketers is how to encourage or create and support brand communities around their offerings. Future research should explore the kinds of community that can be replicated credibly in different settings. Also, research could assist in identifying the existence and implications of such possible pitfalls of cohesive communities as the communication of rumors or the orchestration of boycotts. As Muñiz and O'Guinn (2001) indicate, cohesive communities of consumers may create environments that foster potentially damaging market dynamics.

Another issue worthy of examination is to identify the characteristics of consumers that prompt them to seek brand community or avoid it. Clubs and other consumer communities do not work for everyone. Who stays outside and why? What needs are consumers fulfilling when communities are successful? Are consumer communities a substitute for family or other, more "naturally-occurring" communities? Putnam reports a general trend in the U.S. against joining or participating in organizations and communities such as

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political parties, bowling leagues, and social clubs, such as the Elks (Putnam 2000). Does this social trend of "bowling alone" bode well or ill for marketers attempts to build community?

Additional research is also necessary to examine the long-term implications for brand community. The literature (McAlexander et al. 2002; Schouten and McAlexander 1995)

has suggested that integration in a brand community can build important exit barriers (e.g., friendships formed around brand consumption, integration of the product into extended self concept) that would tend to move a consumer toward long- term engagement. Longitudinal research would be a valuable tool for assessing the longevity of brand community.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

James H. McAlexander, (Ph.D., University of Utah) is professor of marketing and coordinator of the marketing program at Oregon State University. Prior research has appeared in such publications as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Research in Consumer Behavior and the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. His most recent research interests include the examination of brand community and customer loyalty.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Stephen K. Kim, (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is associate professor of marketing at College of Business, Oregon State University. His research interests include noncontractual interfirm governance, channel interaction strategies, and response surface analysis. His research has appeared in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and other journals.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Scott D. Roberts, (Ph.D. , University of Utah) is associate professor of marketing and master of science in management program director at Northern Arizona University. Prior research has appeared in such publications as the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Economic Psychology, Research in Consumer Behavior and Consumption,Markets & Culture. His most recent research interests include the Mexican and Mexican-American consumer behavior and marketing efforts to these subcultures.




Appendix Measurement Items

I. Brand community integration 1. Brand : (c-alpha = .73) (1: disagree strongly - 5: agree strongly)

I feel welcome at the casino. I feel comfortable at the casino. I find the casino's atmosphere exciting. The casino is clean. I like to wear clothing with the casino logo.

2. Product: Please provide your overall evaluation of the services you have experienced while at the casino and the resort (1: poor- 5: outstanding)51

a. Restaurant g. Bingo b. Slots h. Blackjack c. Poker i. Hotel Package d. Motorcoach Trip j. Sandwich Shop e. Concert & Events k. Weekend Dancing f. Loyalty Club 1. Bar

3. Company (c-alpha = .71): (1: disagree strongly - 5: agree strongly) The staffai the casino is friendly. The people who work at the casino add to the experience. I am treated fairly at the casino.

4. Company of others: (1: disagree strongly - 5: agree strongly) I enjoy company of others at the casino. The casino is too crowded.

II. General Satisfaction (c-alpha = .77) (1: disagree strongly - 5: agree strongly) 1 . The casino exceeded my expectations. 2. I am generally satisfied with the casino.

III. Loyalty: (1: disagree strongly - 5: agree strongly) How many times have you visited casinos? Visited Shadow Mountain Casino? . I will return to the casino.

a Product component of brand community is a formative scale and c-alpha is not calculated. b This item is dropped in the model estimation.

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the influences of satisfaction and brand community integration

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customer loyalty

antecedents of loyalty

key driver of loyalty

fundamental tenets of

marketing literature

influences of satisfaction

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