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This study aims to examine the relationship between social influence and consumers’ self-expression through brands. It considers susceptibility to interpersonal influence and social network influence on self-expressive brands and brand tribalism. The study examines whether self-expressive brands and brand tribalism influence brand loyalty and word of mouth (WOM).

A cross-sectional online survey was carried out with members of Generation Y in Ireland. Data from 675 complete responses were analysed using SPSS 20 and AMOS 20. A structural model tested nine hypothesised relationships.

Findings indicate that both online social network influence and susceptibility to interpersonal influence are antecedents of tribalism and self-expressive brands. Consumers of self-expressive brands are loyal and offer positive WOM. By contrast, those who seek tribal membership have less brand loyalty and offer less WOM than other consumers. Findings suggest that consumers may be loyal to tribes, rather than to brands. This informs our understanding of the role of tribes for consumers and brand outcomes.

This study is limited to Generation Y consumers within Ireland.

This is the first study to explore the effect of consumers’ perceptions about online social network influence on brand tribalism. In addition, their views about the influence of the social network on self-expressive brand consumption, and brand outcomes, are identified. This paper highlights consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence on their brand choices and brand tribalism. In addition, it is shown that brand loyalty and WOM are not always a consequence of tribal membership. By contrast, self-expressive brand consumption enhances brand WOM and brand loyalty.

This study aims to empirically demonstrate the direct impact of brand tribalism on brand loyalty, revealing how the intrinsic elements of brand tribalism operate within an arena of high self-expressive brands.

A quantitative survey was carried out. A structured questionnaire was applied to active members of motorcycle clubs. It was obtained 336 responses and structural modeling was applied to test a hypothetical model.

This research shows that community and lineage were significantly related to brand loyalty, with a sense of community demonstrating the most decisive influence. Therefore, the study reveals that loyalty can be built through brand tribalism across strategies that foment collective social identity and friendship sentiments among brand consumers.

To increase brand loyalty, managers should associate their brands with the sense of community of tribe members and create associations within the brand and its consumers through brand communication and experiences, reinforcing brand owners’ lineage’s singularity.

This is the unique study demonstrating how to forge brand loyalty through brand tribalism’s multidimensional perspective, presenting findings on how its intrinsic factors can boost loyalty within self-expressive product brands.

Companies should move beyond product attribute positioning to fostering affective-laden relationships with customers, as customers often want to feel engaged with the brand they purchase. These brand tribal members share something emotively more than mere brand ownership. As measures of brand engagement continue to evolve, proven instruments measuring brand tribalism and studies investigating its explanatory power are limited. The purpose of this paper is to help fill this research fissure by offering a three-study approach, leaning on Sahlin's anthropological theory of segmented lineage.

In Study 1, the authors develop and evaluate the measurement properties of a brand tribalism scale. Using survey data in Study 2 and Study 3, the applicability of brand tribalism on brand-response variables across two technological contexts is examined.

Data drawn from ordinary brand users confirm scale validity while questioning the efficacy of communal social structures to affect brand attitude and repurchase intentions.

Moving consumers from occasional brand users to members of their brand tribe should be one of many company objectives. The studies here offer acumen as to why such objectives should be pursued and how they can be met.

The data from the three studies lend insight to the importance of brand tribalism, its measurement properties, and raise issues regarding its effect on key brand-related outcomes.

Understanding consumer engagement in brand-centric collectives remains a critical area of interest in the branding literature. Although various antecedents have been examined in prior research, members’ perceptions regarding how society evaluates such collectives remain under-explored. Focusing on brand tribes as the focal brand-centric consumer collective, the aim of this research is to examine and replicate the effects of inferences regarding societal approval (i.e. reputation, stigma and legitimacy) on members’ commitment to the tribe and brand tribalism.

Two distinct video game communities – one typically described in research and media as mainstream (Study 1; N = 242) and the other as deviant (Study 2; N = 926) – are used for data collection. Structural equation modeling is used to test hypotheses.

Interestingly, the significance and the direction of the paths differ meaningfully for these samples. For the mainstream community, reputation relates positively to legitimacy, while stigma relates inversely to both legitimacy and commitment. For the deviant community, reputation relates positively to legitimacy, while stigma relates positively to both legitimacy and commitment. For the mainstream community, reputation relates positively to commitment; for the deviant community, this relationship is non-significant. In turn, positive effects are found for legitimacy and commitment on brand tribalism (mainstream community) and for commitment on brand tribalism (deviant community).

Using data from video gamers within mainstream and deviant communities may constrain external validity. As effect sizes in this setting are cognized, researchers have additional benchmarks for future brand tribalism research.

Perceived societal approval influences engagement in brand communities, albeit in different ways depending on the type of community. Therefore, perceptions of societal approval among current and potential brand community members must be acknowledged and understood by marketers. Within mainstream and deviant video game communities, such tribal-laden following exists. By further understanding determinants of brand tribalism, marketers and brand managers are in a better position to devise adroit strategies that appeal to targeted consumers, thereby boosting brand value.

Conceptualizing brand tribalism anthropologically, this study adds to the branding literature by examining cardinal, brand community/tribe-linked antecedents of brand tribalism, whereas previous study explores brand tribalism from the perspective of members’ evaluation of focal brands and existing community members. This investigation is fixated on members’ perceptions of societal impressions of the brand tribe, offering novel insight to brand tribe formation. Further, although pure replication is pursued, the results of the path analysis between the mainstream and deviant community samples vary, suggesting not all tribes are formed equally even within the same industry/context.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and replicate the indirect effect of smartphone brand tribalism on purchase intent via brand pride and brand attitude.

Using survey data from 190 US (Study 1) and 432 Qatari (Study 2) smartphone consumers, path analysis is used to evaluate the hypotheses.

For these disparate samples, only the defense of the tribal brand dimension of brand tribalism influences brand pride, which in turn leads to a sequential process of brand attitude and purchase intention.

Using only smartphone data from the USA and Qatar may hinder external validity. As effect sizes in this context are understood, researchers have additional benchmarks for future brand tribalism and brand pride research.

The psychological underpinning and presence of brand tribes in society cannot be overlooked by strategists. Such tribal-laden following is too evident within smartphone communities. By further understanding the effect of brand tribalism on brand pride and subsequent attitudinal response and behavioral intent, marketers and brand leaders are in an improved position to develop strategies that appeal to targeted customers, ultimately growing and strengthening their brand value.

Supported by the anthropological view of brand tribalism, this paper contributes to the branding literature by examining the indirect effect of brand tribalism on purchase intention via brand pride and brand attitude. The posited model, previously untested and replicated here across two ethnically diverse samples, shows more explanatory power for defense of the tribal brand on brand pride as compared to the other brand tribalism dimensions. A novel and valid, multi-item brand pride measure is also developed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the indirect effect of smartphone-brand tribalism on the need for achievement.

Using survey data from 272 South Korean respondents, path analysis is used to evaluate the hypotheses.

Only the sense of community dimension of brand tribalism affects brand pride (P_RIDE), which in turn leads to a sequential process of brand attitude, purchase intention, and need for achievement (N_ACHIEVE).

South Korean data may confine generalizability. As effect sizes in this context are understood, researchers have an additional benchmark for future brand tribalism and P_RIDE research.

The psychological underpinning and, the presence of brand tribes in society cannot be overlooked by strategists. Such tribal-laden following is also evident within smartphone communities. By further understanding brand tribalism outcomes, marketers and brand leaders are in an improved position to develop strategies that appeal to targeted customers, ultimately growing and strengthening their brand tribes.

Supported by the anthropological view of brand tribalism, this research contributes to the branding literature by examining the indirect effects of brand tribalism on the N_ACHIEVE through brand-related attitudes and behavioral intentions. Where previous research using westerners indicates the explanatory power of defense of the tribe on brand-related factors, no effect in this regard is found here using eastern smartphone consumers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents and consequences of halal brand personality in the hospital industry by comparing Muslim and non-Muslim Islamic hospital visitors.

Online questionnaires were distributed to 113 Muslim and 100 non-Muslim Islamic hospital visitors using a purposive proportional sampling technique. The structural equation modelling (SEM) method was used, which is appropriate for complex model testing. SEM was used for both the second-order model and multigroup analysis to compare Muslim and non-Muslim visitors.

Self-expressive value was significantly affected by halal brand personality. Self-expressive value was a direct antecedent of brand tribalism, which affects brand loyalty. Brand tribalism positively affected brand loyalty. No differences between Muslim and non-Muslim visitors were found, indicating that halal is a universal concept, particularly in the hospital brand personality context.

Islamic hospital marketing managers should empower visitors to build strong brand advocacy. These strategies may lead to new hospital visitors and can be achieved by creating user-generated content distributed via social media. User-generated content is a powerful form of brand advocacy, as non-customers do not view it as marketing.

This study provides insightful empirical contributions to brand literature by showing that halal is a universal and inclusive concept, relatively accepted by consumers regardless of their religious background. This study also offers managerial insights for hospital policymakers in developing strategic programs to strengthen Islamic hospitals' halal brand personalities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of functional (perceived quality) and symbolic (personality congruence, user imagery congruence, brand prestige and brand tribalism) brand associations in attitude and brand loyalty of Generation Y’s consumers towards two categories of luxury fashion brands.

A structural equation modeling method is employed in this research based on data collected from 450 individuals born between 1977 and 1994 in Iran. Watches and sunglasses are two luxury product categories chosen in this study.

The findings of the study reveal that perceived quality is the better predictor of brand attitude and brand loyalty. Personality congruence (mediated by perceived brand quality), brand prestige (mediated by perceived brand quality and brand attitude) and brand tribalism (mediated by brand attitude) have an indirect positive effect on brand loyalty.

Due to the historical delay in the entrance and publicity of modern information and communication technologies in Iran compared with the western societies, the studied generation in this paper might not be completely conformed to the mentioned characteristics of Generation Y in terms of using media.

This study combines consumer-based and community approaches of creation and management of brand to examine loyalty towards luxury fashion brands in Generation Y’s consumers as an attractive segment for luxury brands.

The purpose of this paper is to adopt the uses and gratifications theory (Katz et al., 1974) to understand the phenomenon of relationship building on Facebook. In addition to company-related uses and gratifications, self-related uses and gratifications – expressing self-concept and seeking social interactions and entertainment – were identified. Company reputation and tribalism were incorporated in the theoretical model as underlying mechanisms to explain the effect of the company Facebook page usage on relationship building and engagement behaviors.

A survey was conducted in a Southeastern university in the USA with 459 college students. A three-phased model was proposed and analyzed using structural equational modeling.

The study results demonstrated that the use and gratification of expressing self-concept led to better perceptions of company tribalism and improved relational outcomes (trust and satisfaction). Company-related uses and gratifications, on the other hand, increased trust and satisfaction by increasing perceived company reputation. Satisfaction was found to significantly encourage individuals’ word-of-mouth activities about the company as well as Facebook engagement.

Although extensive research has been conducted on the topic of companies’ social media pages, most prior studies focused on company communication practices and strategies. This study explored this phenomenon from the public’s perspective regarding various usage motivations and patterns. Company tribalism, as a relatively new concept, was introduced to explain how expressing self-concept through companies’ social media pages could benefit relationship building and eventually result in engagement behaviors.