Presentation given at the 1st International Consumer Brand Relationships Conference, www.consumer-brand-relationships.org Copyright by Marie-Agnès Parmentier Eileen Fischer

1. Consuming Wannabes
Towards an Understanding of Relationship Formation
Between Consumption Communities and Aspiring
Celebrities
Marie-Agnès Parmentier, HEC Montréal
Eileen Fischer, York University

2. Consumption Communities
and Brands
 Collectives of consumers who come together
based on a common interest for a consumption
object, practice or brand.
 Communities matter because:
 Shape the meanings of a brand or an object
(Kozinets, 2001)
 Foster social relationships (McAlexander et al., 2002)
 Enforce brand loyalty (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001)
 Offer potentially empowering modes of collective
consumption (Jenkins, 2006)
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3. Brands and Relationships
 Relationship theory (e.g., Fournier 1998)
 Relationship theory and person-brand
 Individual consumers’ attachment to ‘well-known’
person-brands (Thomson 2006)
 Person-brand
 Those who are ‘well-known’
 Established celebrities
 (e.g., Martha Stewart [Fournier and Hermann 2006])
 Those who seek but who are not yet well-known
 Aspiring celebrities or wannabes
 (e.g., reality TV contestants [Hearn 2008])
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4. Research Focus
 Prior research on CBR:
 Between individual consumers and brands (e.g.,
Fournier 1998)
 Between individual consumers and established
person-brands (Thomson 2006)
 Between collectives of consumers and brands (e.g.,
Muniz and O’Guinn 2001)
 Gap:
 Relationships between collectives of consumers and
person-brands, including wannabes
 Relationships between collectives of consumers and
certain wannabes, but not all
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5. Fashion Modeling Reality TV
Online Community
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6. Methodology
 2 years ‘netnography’
 Adapting ethnographic research techniques to the
study of cultures and communities emerging through
computer-mediated communications and using
information publicly available on online forums
(Kozinets, 2002)
 E.g., Giesler (2006); Muniz and Schau (2005);
Kozinets, Brown and Sherry (2003); Kozinets (2002;
2001); Muniz and O’Guinn (2001)
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7. Fieldwork
Time Periods Research Phases Research Methods
April 2007- June 2007 Exploratory phase
Familiarization with the setting
Identification of the most active
online sites
• Preliminary offline depth interviews
with fans and producers
• Non-participatory observation
July 2007-
January 2008
Phase 1
Identification of practices and
concepts that are prominent in
the setting and relevant to the
literature
• Offline and online depth interviews with
fans
• Participant observation
January 2008- April 2009 Phase 2
Conceptualization of properties of
core concepts
• Participant observation
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8. Data Analysis
 Iterative process of coding and
constant comparison between:
 Relevant literatures
 Individual postings
 Chunks of postings
 Entire threads
 Interview data
 Field notes
 And emergent understanding of the entire data set
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9. Findings (1)
 Formation of relationships with aspiring celebrities
by a community cannot be disentangled from
the formation/maintenance of relationships
between members of the community
 Visibility an aspirant achieves and the meanings
invested in that person-brand are a by-product
of the process of community practices
 E.g., Playing, communing, socializing, spoiling, and
gossiping
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10. Example
 Gossiping
 Conversing about a third party who is not present
(Foster, 2004);
 Evaluative social talk that provides network
formation and group solidarity (DiFonzo and Bordia,
2006).
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11. Example
 Playing
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12. Findings (2)
 Process of meaning creation for aspiring celebrities is influenced
both by what consumers perceive the focal aspirant to be or
do and by what others with whom they are compared are
perceived as being or doing
 Kanine Oct 4, 2007 @ 2:49 pm: After waves of wishy washy bitches (Renee
[C8]), mildly unpleasant and matronly ones (Melrose [C7]) and downright
insane ones (Monique [C7]), Bianca's levelheaded, icily strategic evil is
fabulous. She's hella entertaining. I hope she tears Saleisha [C9] to shreds in
the next episode.
 goblyn Oct 9, 2007 @ 3:55 pm: Bianca might be really bitchy, but she owns
the bitchiness, which can't really be said for most of the other bitches this
show has had (Renee's [C8] constant backpeddaling, Melrose's [C7] forced
edit, Honique's [Monique C7] simpering sweetness at judging, Jade's
insistence that her confidence was misinterpreted...do I need to go on?).
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13. Findings (3)
 Dimensions along which a consumption
community’s relationship with an aspiring
celebrity varies
 E.g., Coaching, ridicule, empathy, admiration,
fascination, hatred
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14. Relationship Formation Between
Consumption Communities and
Wannabes
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15. Conclusion
 Implication for the relationship literature
 Some new dimensions to CBR which may or may not be unique to
relationships with person-brands
 New dimensions emerge as new brands emerge
 Implication for the community literature
 Refined understanding of value-creation in communities of
consumption
 New brands come into being
 Community members are actively inventing these new brands
 Implication for the celebrity literature
 New look at celebrity creation through consumers pro-activeness
rather than the media’s and traditional producers’
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