How Brand Collecting Shapes Consumers’ Brand Meanings

Abstract

This paper explores the phenomenon of collecting a plethora of memorabilia associated with a specific brand – in this case, the British Royal Family (BRF) brand. We explore the lifeworld of “Elizabeth,” an über-collector of BRF memorabilia, and describe how her collection can be interpreted as extensions of three separate identities – Collector, Business Owner, and Media Expert. Within these three identities, Elizabeth expressed different emergent roles to the various social networks within whom she interacted (e.g., as a collector, she often acted as “Rescuer,” taking in others’ BRF collections in order to preserve them). We illuminate these different roles and offer suggestions for future research.

Citation

Otnes, C.C. and Shapiro, E.N. (2007), "How Brand Collecting Shapes Consumers’ Brand Meanings", Belk, R.W. and Sherry, J.F. (Ed.) Consumer Culture Theory (Research in Consumer Behavior, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 401-419. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2111(06)11016-9