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“How do experiential activities influence

affective commitment to the brand?”

Master thesis - final version

Milena Kuzmanova - 10998225

6/24/2016

Supervisor: Dr. Marco Mossinkoff

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Statement of originality

This document is written by Student Milena Kuzmanova who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Acknowledgments

First of all, I want to thank my supervisor Marco Mossinkoff for guiding me trough this wild adventure and for his kind attitude toward this time-consuming and scary process. His valuable guidelines and support encouraged me to give my best in my first significant attempt in writing scientific paper.

I would also like to take on the opportunity to express my gratitude to my respondents, who agreed to participate in this study, for the time they spent and for the valuable and interesting information they provided me.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents for all the support they provided and the fact they never stopped believing in me and my capabilities. Even from thousands of kilometers away, they never stop reminding me what love can do.

Milena Kuzmanova

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Table of contents:

Abstract……….………..6

1. Introduction……….………7

2. Literature review……….………9

2.1 Changing landscapes……….………9

2.2 Commitment……….………...10

2.2.1 Building affective commitment to the brand………...….12

2.2.2 Outcomes of affective commitment………..13

2.3 Experience economy and defining experience………....14

2.4 Experiential marketing……….16

2.5 Establishing bonds………...……18

2.6 Research gap………21

2.7Conceptual framework………..23

3. Methodology………..…...25

3.1 Case study design………...….25

3.2 Sample………..………27

3.3Data collection………..27

3.3.1 Netnography………..28

3.3.2 Semi-structured interview……….30

3.4 Description of research strategy………..31

3.4.1 Content analysis………32

3.4.2 Interpretative phenomenological analysis……….34

3.5 Evaluation of the case……….37

4. Results………..37

4.1 Engagement……….……38

4.2 Interactions………..43

4.3 Affective responses……….47

4.4 Motivation……….……..50

4.5 Outcomes……….…53

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5. Conclusions……….58

5.1 Scientific relevance and managerial implications………..60

5.2 Limitations of the study………..61

5.3 Recommendations for future research………62

APPENDIX:

Table participant 1………..……….1

Table participant 2………..……….2

Table participant 3………..……….3

Table participant 4 ………..………4

Table participant 5………..……….5

Interview 1………..………..………6

Interview 2………..………..………10

Interview 3………..………..………15

Interview 4………..………..………21

Interview 5………..………..………27

Bibliography………..………

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Abstract

In the past years, more attention has been given to understanding of the relationships built between the brands and consumers (Fournier S. , 1998). As the focus moves from simply functional characteristics of the products and the concept of consumers as predominantly rationale decision makers, to exploring symbolic meaning of the brands and the emotional aspects of the relationships established (Keller, 2001), more attention has been given to the concept of experience and its role in establishing bonds (Carù & Cova, 2003). Despite the growing interest in the topic, efforts for defining experience have been limited to the consumption process. In this paper we argue that the notion of experience should be revised and explored from more emotional perspective, which is intact with the concept of post-modern consumers and their needs and wants. This paper seeks better understanding of experience from a marketing perspective and builds on the theory of Experiential marketing (Schmitt B. , 1999) and the existing understanding of experience in its dimensions (Carù & Cova, 2003). The study is conducted using qualitative multiple case study with holistic research design. Data is collected through netnography and semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that the understanding of experience should not be limited to the consumption process. Instead, brands that want to establish strong bonds with the consumers should focus on emotional aspects of the relationship, as well as on the symbolic meaning of the brand.

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1. Introduction

As the notion of the consumer as living human being not completely led by rational decisions has been growing rapidly in the past decades, resulting in multiple studies in the field of marketing and consumer behavior, more psychological and cultural approach to understanding and satisfying consumers needs was adopted (Carù & Cova, 2003). The consumer is no longer perceived as a customer that chooses products based only on their functional characteristics, but as a human being (Fournier S. , 1998) part of a social system and culture that influence their needs and choices (Mossinkoff, 2012). Furthermore the emergence of this understanding suggested that more attention should be given to the emotional dimension of the brands, if companies want to step closer to the consumers and establish relationship with them (Fournier, 1998; Aaker, 1997; Ismail, Melewar, Lim, & Woodside, 2011). In order to adequately cope with the new demands on the market, brands could no longer be in their passive role (Aaker, 1997), instead they have to turn into living partners to the consumers (Fournier S. , 1998), in order to establish deeper bonds and become part of their world.

And as the marketing trends constantly shift through times, market - oriented companies try to cope with the changes on the market (Achrol & Kotler, 2012) and in their efforts to provide unique and valuable experience to the consumers (Ismail, Melewar, Lim, & Woodside, 2011), a lot of the strong brands span their branding strategies beyond the horizon of the traditional marketing thought and methods, providing unique and memorable experiences that incite a lot of emotions and bring together not only the individual consumer and the brand, but also consumers gather around the brand, led by their admiration for it (Muniz Jr & O’Guinn, 2001).

In this paper we are diving deep into the understanding of consumer experience, seeking answers of how does it influence the consumers and whether it brings them closer to the brand. We will go further

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than the traditional marketing understanding of experience, related only to the consumption of products (Carù & Cova, 2003), and will explore the influence of company initiated activities, focused on the emotional necessities of consumers. Thus, the research question that guides this study is: “How do experiential activities influence affective commitment to the brand?”

In order to provide answer to this question, we begin this chapter with an overview of the existing literature on commitment, experience, and experiential marketing, as well as consumer-brand relationships. This review leads to the formulation of conceptual framework that illustrates the main concept of this study. Data is collected through netnography and semi-structured interviews with participants in the Red Bull Soapbox initiative. Content analysis and phenomenological interpretative analysis were conducted, so insights can be gained on the phenomenon examined. The paper is concluded with results, theoretical and managerial implications and recommendations for future research. Our findings suggest that there is another dimension of experience that is not limited to the consumption process but encompass encounters with the brand in a setting staged by the company.

This research paper has important theoretical and managerial implications. The study explores existing academic knowledge on the experience marketing and further discovers and defines the experiential activities companies use to engage their customers. Valuable practices of experiential activities are researched an attempt for creating theoretical framework as a logical continuation of the theory of experiential marketing. Furthermore, this research introduces new exciting and interesting psychological perspective on affective commitment and managerial tools for establishing it by using experiential type of activities. The discoveries provided in the paper can serve as a tool for managers to deepen their relationship with the customers and also provide them with valuable knowledge and better grasp of how techniques that are focused on the experience can enhance the value of the two way communication between the companies and the consumers.

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2. Literature review

The aim of this chapter is to provide theoretical basis on the phenomenon examined, as well as understanding of the major marketing trends with a focus on commitment, experience, experiential marketing and brand-consumer relationship. The chapter begins with an overview of the existing literature encompassing the mentioned components and seeks further understanding of the definition of experience. We conclude with concept framework that summarizes the main goals and understanding that lead this study.

2.1 Changing of landscapes

The dynamic nature of Marketing as a discipline has led to numerous changes over the years (Achrol & Kotler, 2012), encompassing not only the main focus of the discipline, but the practices as well (Kumar, 2015). Among the factors influencing the changes in the traditional marketing are the globalization of business, as well as the growing body of evidence regarding the importance of customer retention, market economies and last but not least, the customer relationship economics; these trends demand different approach to marketing, a relationship oriented one (Grönroos, 1994). However, the concept of relationship marketing is certainly facing some limitations, as the consumers mostly perceive the marketing efforts as invasive, thus new ways must be seek for reaching to the consumers (Mossinkoff, 2012). As a result, many scholars claim the traditional methods of communication used to establish dialogue with the consumers are becoming obsolete and inefficient (Pitta, Weisgal, & Lynagh, 2006).

One of the first scholars laying theoretical foundation on the consumer-brand relationship is S. Fournier, comparing it with human relationships, dynamic by nature, in which consumers are encouraged to express their aspirations and reveal more about their personality (Fournier, 1998). Companies are part of system determined by complex relationships between the consumers that take into consideration the

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connections between the individuals and their culture, where the brand has certain meaning to the consumers and serves as glue between them and the brand (Mossinkoff, 2012). But as more admirers of the brand gather and form brand communities, establishing their own traditions and rituals, sharing consciousness and having moral responsibility both to the brand and to the others in the community (Muniz Jr & O’Guinn, 2001), one logical question emerges - whether the marketers should try establishing connections with the individual or with the communities (Mossinkoff, 2012).

In his customer-equity based model, Keller discusses the establishment of relationship between the consumers and the brand as vital for building strong brand. He focuses not only on the repurchase intentions and engagement with the brand, but also on more emotional aspect - attitudinal attachment and sense of community, as criteria for consumer – brand relationship (Keller, 2001). Mossinkoff also argues that the idea of the consumer as only rational decision maker does not provide understanding that is full enough of how preferences are formed. Observing these interactions and functioning of the system as a whole, allows us to obtain clearer view of their dynamics (Mossinkoff, 2012).

2.2 Commitment

As branding strategies shift their focus to establishing relationships and creating value, more attention has been given to the brand experience (Achrol & Kotler, 2012) and commitment to the brand (Mattila, 2006), due to their acknowledgment as antecedents of brand loyalty (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014). Brand commitment is central for building strong relationship, as well as inciting positive feelings in consumers (Erciş, Ünal, Candan, & Yıldırım, 2012).

Early attempts to define the term commitment can be linked to Moorman et al, who define it as an “enduring desire to maintain a valued relationship” (Moorman, Zaltman, & Deshpande, 1992, p. 316). Attempts to conceptualize a framework giving more psychological perspective of the term commitment are made mainly in the organizational management field, distinguishing three main types of commitment – affective, continuance and normative, that create the three – component model (Meyer & Allen, 1991).

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However, some authors criticize the usage of this model in the marketing field and claim it as irrelevant (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014). Even though at the earliest researches the term was widely used mainly in the organizational research field, its role in the marketing field is constantly growing in the past few years (Roxenhall & Andrésen, 2012). In the marketing literature, affective and calculative commitment are identified (Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011; Fullerton, 2003; Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006), due to the fact that calculative and normative commitment tend to overlap and it is hard for the researchers to draw a line to distinguish them (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014).

In the marketing literature we distinguish the following components:

 affective – if the consumer has established strong affective commitment, they try to maintain their relationship with the brand (Meyer & Allen, 1991); it is also related to strong sense of identification (Erciş, Ünal, Candan, & Yıldırım, 2012), as well as involvement with the brand and is of crucial importance for sustaining strong relationship with consumers (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014).

 calculative – also called behavioral or continuance (Menon & O'Connor, 2007) is related to consumer’s feeling of obligation to maintain relationship with the brand for particular social and economic reasons (Roxenhall & Andrésen, 2012). This type of commitment is driven by consumers’ buying inertia, insufficient alternatives or high switching costs (Menon & O'Connor, 2007).

Due to the emerging relationship concept and the emotional component, more attention has been given to the affective commitment in the past years (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014). Furthermore, affective commitment is based on the social and psychological dimensions of the relationship between consumers and the brand (Nyadzayo, Matanda, & Ewing, 2015) and usually comes as a consequence of consumers’ previous positive experiences with the brand, as well as the strong bonding they established with the brand (Shukla, Banerjee, & Singh, 2016). Fournier claims that these feelings of attachment and identification with the brand that come as a consequence of affective

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commitment also result in a partnership between the brand/company and its customers (Fournier S. , 1998). Furthermore, according to Menon and O’Connor, companies that effectively manage to build affective commitment have higher chances of turning their customers in their “true friends”, resulting in long-term relationship and higher level of satisfaction (Menon & O'Connor, 2007, p. 165).

2.2.1 Building affective commitment to the brand

Having said that affective commitment is crucial for understanding the emotional relationship between the brand and the consumers (Morrison & Crane, 2007; Roxenhall & Andrésen, 2012; Erciş, Ünal, Candan, & Yıldırım, 2012), more marketers are concentrating on effectively building affective commitment to the brand (Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011). Numerous methods serve them in order to influence and incite affective commitment of their customers; some of them use indirect methods like loyalty rewards, so they can build attitudinal loyalty and use it as an affective commitment building tool (Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006), while others concentrate on direct methods, encompassing social setting, interactions and value sharing (Menon & O'Connor, 2007). Technologies can be used as a mediator for communication (Menon & O'Connor, 2007) and one way to use them is building online community for consumers, so they could interact and exchange experiences with the company and the other users of the brand (Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006). However, providing social activities in an offline setting is believed to be even more beneficial for strengthening the level of commitment, due to the close contact of the brand established with consumers, as well as the interactions appearing between customers and the opportunity for the consumers for immersion with the environment (Menon & O'Connor, 2007).

Affective commitment is considered one of the most important antecedents of customer loyalty and repurchases intentions (Verhoef P. , 2003). If the focus of the communication strategy of the company should be aimed to enhance affective sources of true loyalty, the investments in advertising should be focused on establishing congruence between the consumers self image and the personality of the brand (Aaker, 1997) and emphasized on marketing programs with strong accent on brand’s identity with the

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customers (Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006). Additional goal to such strategy aimed to enhance affective commitment, is building brand personality that is likeable and incite warm feeling in consumers toward the brand. The importance of role of building or strengthening brand personality is due to the fact that consumers use brands to express their values or social status (Aaker, 1997). By doing this, consumers create strong bonds, resulting in more durable relationship and higher customer retention (Menon & O'Connor, 2007). This is particularly true for brands that are focused on their symbolic meaning or consumer’s desire for self-expression (Aaker, 1997). Thus, focusing the strategy on brands with symbolic meaning should help marketers enhance the affective commitment to the brand, by relating consumers to particular group or image (Park, Jaworski, & MacInnis, 1986).

2.2.2 Outcomes of affective commitment

Affective commitment is linked to many positive outcomes (Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006; Fullerton, 2003; Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011), among them are: positive effect both on loyalty (Shukla, Banerjee, & Singh, 2016; Roxenhall & Andrésen, 2012), as well as on purchase intentions (Erciş, Ünal, Candan, & Yıldırım, 2012). It is also linked to higher customers retention level and is more financially beneficial for the organizations than obtaining new customers (Anderson & Mittal, 2000; Grönroos, 1994). While affective commitment garners a significant share of customer spending, it also attracts the favor of preferred brands, resulting in advantageous allocation (Mattila, 2006).

Another important advantage that comes as a consequence from affective commitment is that consumers can be used as a reference for the company or the brand and even help, due to their attachment to them (Harrison-Walker, 2001). Furthermore, affective commitment is said to establish stronger emotional connection between the consumers and the brand, making it more unlikely for them to change the chosen brand (Fullerton, 2003). This type of established relationship leads to consumers feeling protective toward the brand (Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann, Niessing, & Meffert, 2006) as well as to positive brand advocacy (Menon & O'Connor, 2007). Gustafsson et al also claim that commitment can

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sustain consumers’ loyalty to the brand even in cases when the satisfaction levels are low (Gustafsson, Johnson, & Roos, 2005). Mattila reports on experiment that showed high affective commitment to the brand results in consumers considering the brand as a first choice, as well as positive word of mouth to their surroundings (Mattila, 2006).

Affective commitment will be of particular interest in this research due to the fact that it is related to the emotional aspect of the connection between consumers and the brand and is of significant importance for retaining this relationship (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014).

2.3 Experience marketing and defining experience

As the market trends shift from the idea of satisfying consumers needs with good - quality products and services, to additionally supplying customer experience (Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014; Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011), simply providing products with good quality is no longer considered sufficient for creating value (Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011; Maheshwari, Lodorfos, & Jacobsen, 2014). Furthermore, scholars claim that creating and taking care of customer experience nowadays is crucial for obtaining competitive advantage (Ismail, Melewar, Lim, & Woodside, 2011) as well as for building strong brand (Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011).

Pine and Gilmore suggest that experience should be considered as a different type of economic offering, distinguished from the products and services, claiming the companies have already realized the importance of providing experience to the consumers will be only growing in the following years. (Pine & Gilmore, 1998). Despite the growing evidence, not too many efforts are put into developing guidance to financially benefiting from the emerging experiential economy. Instead, efforts of the marketing we know it, had been mainly linked to the industrial age, but not to the revolutions in the sphere of branding and communications (Schmitt B. , 1999).

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However, even though there is a growing interest in the topic, there is no clear definition of experience in the marketing field (Carù & Cova, 2003; Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011). The first attempts in defining experience are made by Holbrook and Hirschman; according to the authors experience is a personal phenomenon perceived as important by consumers, that comes as a consequence of the interaction between the consumer and the products and services consumed (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). By adopting brand management viewpoint, Klaus and Maklan suggest that experience is formed in consumers mind after encounters with a brand (Klaus & Maklan, 2007). Both marketing and economic practices understand 'experience' as (at the very least) a noteworthy, additional feature added to some product, service, or piece of merchandise, which is aimed solely at the “postmodern consumer” (Carù & Cova, 2003, p. 272). Further, this experience is memorable and exceptional, involving the emergence of the consumer in a certain staged activities or interactions leading to engagement. It results in emotions that are said to have transformational power over the individuals. Still, this experience is limited to the consumption process and the recall of the experience (Carù & Cova, 2003). In this paper we argue with this understanding and additionally to the marketing definition, we adopt the idea of another dimension of experience, concerning the encounters with the brand in situations outside the consumption context, but in a staged by the company environment where the main goal is providing experience via carefully crafted marketing initiatives.

In the theory of experience marketing, Pine and Gilmore approach experience as two-dimensional construct consisting of customer participation and connection. The former differs from passive participation, where the customer does not affect the outcomes, to active customer engagement, where the customer is of great importance when creating both the experience and the event. The two opposites of the connection dimension are “absorption” and “immersion” (Pine & Gilmore, 1998, p. 101); they define the relationships established between the customers (Pine & Gilmore, 1998). Further, these authors distinguish four types of experience and state the most fruitful experiences are combination of the four possible variations:

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1. Entertainment – are characterized with passive participation and absorption; this category includes concerts, shows or watching television

2. Educational – even though the consumer has active role, they are still not immersed; activities in this category is visiting workshops, participating in classes, etc;

3. Escapist – they involve both entertainment and educational component, and require stronger customer immersion; in this category fall acting, playing any kind of musical instrument, etc; 4. Esthetic – consumers are immersed in an activity, but they role is not affecting the event; under

this category fall activities such as sightseeing and visiting museums and galleries;

According to Pine & Gilmore, when designing memorable experiences for their consumers, companies should make sure that that consumers have an idea what to expect, that positive cues are consistent with the theme and reassure the consumers in the nature of the experience, as well as deface cues that contradict the theme or distract consumers. Additionally they mention the products consumers buy in order to elicit certain memories like souvenirs and engaging all five senses – all the stimulus should be intact with the theme and provide support for it (Pine & Gilmore, 1998).

2.4 Experiential marketing

The idea that marketers have to introduce more to the consumer than simply functional characteristics of the products is included in the theory of experiential marketing as well (Schmitt B. , 2010; Smilansky, 2009). This is due to three main market trends: on one hand, the rapid growth and change in all media channels, providing not only the companies, but as well the consumers with access to information they did not have before; On another, a strong brand presence, ruling the market and making supreme functional characteristics is insufficient for providing consumers with experience. Further, as a result of the brand dominance, the role of communications and providing entertainment to the customers have become one of the main goals for marketers, that are trying to keep up with the market trends (Schmitt B. , 1999).

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In the recent years experiential marketing seems to receive increasing attention due to the assumption that experience that is deliberately managed or designed, can add value to the offerings and also result in a business success (Schmitt B. H., 1999). Experiential marketing can be defined as a process through which customer needs, as well as aspirations are identified and satisfied in a profitable for the company way. This is achieved by establishing two-way communications that create livelier brand personality and add value to the customers (Smilansky, 2009). It is considered that the value derived from a positive experience is related to differentiation, better positioning, but it also comes in handy for establishing valuable dialogue with the audience targeted (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009). Providing consumers with memorable experience is also vital for customer retention and acquisition (Yelkur, 2000).

The experiential marketing differs from the traditional one mainly by the concept of consumers being emotional and rational beings that aim to gain variety of experiences. In contrast, the traditional marketing concept perceive the consumers to be making rationally-based decisions and be interested mostly in the functional characteristics of the product (Schmitt B. , 1999). The customer experience involves the cognitive, emotional, social and physical response to the retailer. This construct is holistic and relates to the total experience of consumers on every step of their journey – searching for information, purchasing products, consumption and after-purchase experience (Verhoef, Lemon, Parasuraman, Roggeveen, Tsiros, & Schlesinger, 2009).

The idea of the experience standing in the center of the concept of the experiential marketing is due its ability to change consumers’ perceptions and accordingly, their reaction to the different stimulations. Companies often stage variety of experiences for consumers by using different layouts, various environments and atmospheres (Yuan & Wu, 2008). Experiences can be derived from repetitive process that requires exploring, scripting and staging capabilities (Pine & Gilmore, 1998). The strategic framework for experience management incorporates two big concepts. The first one is experience providers (ExPros), includes tools for implementation of SEMs and includes media, communications,

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environments, co – branding, people etc. The second one - Strategic Experiential Modules (SEMs), can be used so managers can provide their consumers with variety of experiences. The later includes the following (Schmitt B. , 1999):

 Sense marketing – main goal is providing sensory experiences to the consumers

 Feel – marketing whose object is the creation of affective experiences

 Think - marketing engages the consumers creatively by providing them with cognitive experiences

 Act - marketing focused on physical experiences, providing alternative lifestyles and interactions;

 Relate – marketing contains a bit of all of the above; connects the individual with the outside world

This framework underlines the importance of the focus on the emotional nature of the consumers, so the companies can create ultimate consumer experience (Schmitt B. , 2010).

2.5 Establishing bonds

As the marketing discipline tries to adequately respond to the changing market trends (Achrol & Kotler, 2012), more attention has been given to the establishment of relationships between the consumers and the brand (Gruen, Summers, & Acito, 2000) that are believed to result in many positive outcomes for the company related to enhanced sales and profits and opportunities for growth (Palmatier, Dant, Grewal, & Evans, 2006).

Even though certain human qualities are assessed to the brand, it is still not perceived “as thinking, feeling entity” (Fournier S. , 1998, p. 345). Personal experience with the brand, along with the specific meaning it has for the consumer result in establishing bonds (Turri, Smith, & Kemp, 2013). On one hand, in order to be acknowledged as a partner, the brand should be more than personification and start having more active role. On another hand, focusing on such active brand behavior assists both the

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creation, as well as determination of the bonds established between the brand and the consumers. Brands are brought to life by marketing efforts incorporating this idea of the brand’s behavior and as a result, consumers acknowledge the brand as an active partner in the relationship (Fournier S. , 1998) that can satisfy consumers needs and assist their decision–making process by providing certain assets (Turri, Smith, & Kemp, 2013). In order to have a better grasp of the relationship, one needs to understand what is meaningful to the person involved in it through the sociocultural, psychological and relational factors that modify its importance. Identifying the activity that serves as a basis for the relationship provides better insight of the psychological dimension of the relationship (Fournier S. , 1998).

Fournier questions our understanding of loyalty, presented and limited to repeat purchases and long – term relationship, as it fails to encompass and acknowledge other forms of partnerships that shed better light on bonds established between the brands and consumers (Fournier S. , 1998). That leads to insufficient knowledge on what type of relationships consumers seek to establish with the brands when what is of value for them (Webster & Frederick, 1992). To help reaching understanding, Mossinkoff introduces the concept of “Glue value” that provides information about the nature of the relationship between the consumers and the brand, how the companies can establish these relationships and what is the result (Mossinkoff, 2012).

According to Mossinkoff, the solution about the clash between the marketing traditions can be summarized in two main concept: hypermodern – models should be improved and developed, so that companies reach better insight and control over their customers; and postmodern – due to the fact the practices used up till now proved to be not sufficient, a new theoretical and practical concept, incorporating the changes and trends, must be developed. The author acknowledges approaches situated in between them, where most of the marketing communication is happening. As one moves forward from hypermodern to postmodern approaches, we distinguish five HyPo dimensions. The Glue Value concept developed by Mossinkoff suggests that The HyPo dimension gives information of whether the connection established between the brand and the consumers is initiated by the marketing effort of the company to

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recognize and satisfy customer needs or by the customers themselves. The HyPo dimension is focused on type of marketing approach, where HyPo I are functionally oriented and as they move forward to the HyPo V, they concentrate on the symbolic values. As we move from the left to the right side of the continuum, we distinguish different types of approaches – from the company with leading role and even manipulating consumes, to consumers having active and leading role (Mossinkoff, 2012).

 HyPo I – companies manipulate the perceptions of consumers, and this is believed to lead to change in their behavior;

 HyPo II – companies aim to manipulate consumers perceptions led by the hope it will change their behavior

 HyPo III - the company and the customers are interacting, but identification with each other is not necessarily established;

 HyPo IV – consumers have active role, which is not limited only to purchasing the product and giving feedback. Company’s offerings are facing reaction and consumers are interacting with each other;

 HyPo V – control over the brand is given to the consumers, but the company remain consistent in its responsibilities

In this paper, we adopt the model of Mossinkoff, where the brands are categorized in five different categories in the Glue Value qualifier in order to better understand the communication and the established relationship between consumers and the brand (Mossinkoff, 2012).

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Figure 1: Glue Value Qualifier (Mossinkoff, 2012, p. 69)

The horizontal dimension of the concerns the HyPo dimensions and to what extent the connection established between the consumers and the company is initiated by the company understanding of consumer needs and wants or by the consumers and how is it established. As we move towards the bottom of the table and we discover the social and cultural aspects of glue value, and what are the results of the established relationship (Mossinkoff, 2012).

2.6 Research gap and research question

Many of the most successful companies nowadays (Coca Cola, Harley Davidson, GoPro etc.) use marketing activities that are concentrated on engaging consumers’ attention via creating memories for the consumer, and engaging them in an emotional, physical and intellectual way (Smilansky, 2009).

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Despite the growing interest to consumer experiences and the evidence of it as an important aspect of consumer research, still little research is done to develop a theory and valuable managerial tools (Schmitt B. , 2010). Therefore, there is no further theoretical development and understanding of what kind of activities related to the experiential marketing exist and how can they influence not only the consumption process and experience, but mainly serve as tool for providing exciting experiences aimed to establish valuable connection between the consumer and the brand in a long - term.

In this paper we introduce the term “experiential activities” to define marketing activities, related to the creation of experiences to the consumer not limited to the consumption processes but aimed for creating memorable experience to the consumers and associations between them and the brand; these activities serve to establish valuable connection and warm feelings toward the brand via introducing consumers with an excitement component. We will use the theory of experiential marketing and experience economy as a basis to dive deep into the understanding of the implications of the experience component for consumers, in order to make a clear categorization of the different type of experiential activities and discover the psychological aspects of how this type of activities can enhance affective commitment to the brand. In order to distinguish the type of brands using the experiential activities and group them in a specific context, we need a clear brand categorization.

On the basis of the theories presented, we distinguish the following elements of experience:

 Affective response – the activities should elicit cognitive, as well as affective reaction in the consumers. In our theoretical framework, attention will be given mainly to the affective responses elicited as consequence from encounters with the brand in situations staged and initiated by the marketing efforts of the company (Verhoef, Lemon, Parasuraman, Roggeveen, Tsiros, & Schlesinger, 2009; Iglesias, Singh, & Batista-Foguet, 2011).

 Memorability - In theory of experience economy, experience is created by companies staging their services, so they can individually engage the customers and create event that will be memorable for them (Pine & Gilmore, 1998; Yelkur, 2000).

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 Engagement – according to Keller, the strongest evidence for customer brand loyalty is their willingness to actively engage with the brand in situations not restricted only to purchasing or consuming the product (Keller, 2001). Experiences are personal and are present only in the mind of the consumer, engaged on cognitive, affective and even spiritual level (Pine & Gilmore, 1998).

Therefore, the following research question can be formulated:

“How experiential activities influence affective commitment to the brand?”

Sub questions that will be further considered and analyzed in this research are:

1) How can we categorize these activities, so we can create a theoretical framework and also create a managerial tool for better reaching the customers to a more emotional extent?

2) Seen from a more psychological perspective, what are the outcomes of these activities and can they enhance the affective commitment to the brand? Can these activities enhance the relationship value?

2.7 Conceptual framework

Based on the notion of the influence of the experience component in the marketing activities on the affective responses and by adopting Carù and Cova understanding of the experience from a marketing perspective, being “extremely significant and unforgettable” (Carù & Cova, 2003, p. 273) we suggest additional dimension related to encounters with the brand in an environment staged by the companies and related to marketing activities focused on the emotional notion of consumers. We argue that experiential activities consist of the following three components – Affective response, Engagement and Memorability. By providing experiential activities to consumers, higher engagement will be achieved, affective response will be elicited and the occurrence will be remembered. Further we expect that these elements in a company staged environment, will lead to consumers identifying with the brand and aspiring to maintain relationship with it, so as to affective commitment to be created.

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Figure 2 illustrates our conceptual framework

2.8 Conclusion

In our effort to provide more theoretical information about the existing gap, in this chapter we argued with the understanding of experience as limited only to the consumption process of products and services and we adopted the understanding that it can come as a consequence of encounters with the brand in a company staged environment. Furthermore, we chose to focus on affective commitment to the brand due to the fact that it is related to the emotional aspects of the relationship build between the consumers and the brand. Additionally, we sought to provide definition of the term experience from marketing perspective which is in line with the post-modern consumers’ needs. We adopted the model of Mossinkoff, in order to obtain clear view about the nature of the relationship between consumers and the brand, that focuses on the social and dimensions. The chapter was then concluded with conceptual framework, which illustrates the main concepts that guide this study.

3. Methodology

Despite the growing interest in the notion of experience in the marketing field (Carù & Cova, 2003), little or no research attention has been given to the dimensions of experience that are not limited to the consumption of the products and services. The aim of this study is to fill this gap by discovering how the marketing initiatives focused on the symbolic meaning of the brand and elicit affective responses, can

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lead to establishing bonds between the consumers and the brand. Thus, our study seeks an answer to the question: “How do experiential activities influence affective commitment to the brand?”

In this chapter we discuss the methodology adopted in the study. We start with the multiple-case research design employed as well as the sample of the study. Next, we elaborate more on the research instruments and procedures and we conclude the chapter with description of the analyses conducted.

3.1 Case study design

The use of qualitative case study is an approach that allows deep and broad understanding of a certain phenomenon, based on multiple sources of information (Baxter & Jack, 2008). This research is based on explanatory multiple case study design with holistic unit of analysis, due to our attempt to explain cause - effect relationship between the experiential activities and the affective commitment to the brand (Yin, 2003). Theoretical generalizations can be used for theory building and using multiple cases is often a signal of more compelling, trustworthy evidence (Yin, 2003). This qualitative research uses interpretative approach to bring the subject of matter, which adopts relativist assumption about the reality, focused on the revealing and explanation of specific meanings (Gephart, 2004). Furthermore, interpretative research explains how these meanings are created and sustained among different people and groups, by using the concept of the people as social actors, as a basis for analytic induction (Gephart, 2004).

The unit of analysis is the influence of experiential activities on the affective commitment to the brand. The cases were selected on the following criteria: first, the companies should apply marketing activities that call for affective response (Verhoef, Lemon, Parasuraman, Roggeveen, Tsiros, & Schlesinger, 2009), involve high level of engagement (Keller, 2001) and are memorable to the participants (Pine & Gilmore, 1998); second, there should be enough information available, that allows the analysis to be conducted. Therefore, activities of Red Bull, in particular Soap Box and Flugtag will be object of this study, due to the congruence between the criteria and the nature these activities, whereas the subject of the study will be the participants in the events and the online communities on Facebook and Twitter.

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Red Bull Flugtag is an initiative organized by the international company Red Bull. The goal of the competition is for participants to gather a team, design and build self-made vehicle that can fly without engine, which implies that the vehicle should be driven by physical power and gravity. The competitions take place at the harbors of different cities over the world, where the people gather to watch the funny crashes and the creative projects of the participants.

Red Bull Soapbox is a competition where the people that want to participate are supposed to gather a team, sign up for the event, come up with an idea for design of a vehicle similar to car and built it without an engine. All participants’ creations are then competing on a specifically chosen and prepared track. The goal is for the participants to manage to finish without their “soaps” falling apart. It has entertaining goal and includes a lot of crashes that people find fun.

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3.2 Sample

In order to build the case, the information from Facebook and Twitter that is already available to the public was used and interviews with participants from Red Bull Soapbox were conducted. Our sample consists of 176 Tweets and 157 Posts from Twitter and Facebook related to the initiatives – Soapbox and Flugtag, of the Red Bull company. It encompasses data from the following locations – England, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Ireland and Bulgaria. These locations were specifically selected, due to the researcher’s ability to speak fluently these two languages – Bulgarian and English. Non – probability, purposive sampling was used for acquiring the data through interviews, due to the specific nature of the research area and limited number of people that have certain expertise in the field (Teddlie & Yu, 2007). We contacted the organizers of the event Bulgaria to seek their assistance, which resulted in five male respondents at the age of 27 (n=2), 28 (n=2) and 31 (n=1).

3.3 Data collection

The instruments used in this research are netnography and semi-structured interview. Data was collected from Facebook and Twitter communities organized around the events; the process continued until enough data is generated to reach an understanding of the phenomenon under examination (Kozinets R. V., 2002). Semi-structured interviews were used in order to provide deeper understanding of a certain phenomenon within its context. This flexible data collecting method is known for its flexibility and the opportunity it provides to the researcher to approach respondents in a different way but by still covering the same topics of interest (Jacob & Furgerson, 2012). The collected data was then transferred to the software NVivo 10, which assists the analysis and allows the researcher to create database and keep record of the notes created (Walsh, 2003).

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3.3.1 Netnography

Experience is something personal that happens to an individual and researchers can not directly access (Carù & Cova, 2003). As Kozinetz states, the netnography as a qualitative method provides the researcher with an opportunity to investigate the human experiences expressed via communication in the online communities (Kozinets R. V., 1998). Netnography is an online qualitative research methodology that provides deep understanding of cultures and communities through observation of the online communication between consumers (Kozinets R. V., 1998). Furthermore, it allows the researcher to obtain the information in a completely unobtrusive way that is cheap and time-efficient method (Kozinets R. V., 2002). For the purpose of this case study, two events of the Red Bull company were analyzed – Red Bull Soapbox and Red Bull Flugtag. This data collection process goes through the following steps recommended by Kozinets (Kozinets R. V., 2002):

Making cultural entrée

Making entrée involves the process of identifying which online communities will be suitable for the topic of interest and obtaining information about them (Kozinets R. V., 2002). The form of netnography that was used in this particular study is non – participant, due to the fact that the amount of information about experiences described and communicated by the consumers is sufficient and readily available on the websites, which were subject of investigation. Furthermore, presenting the researcher as a non-participant eliminates the possibility of being perceived as an outsider or having influence on the behavior of the people in the community (Elliott & Jankel-Elliott, 2003).

Due to the nature of the study and the research question investigated, focus of the analysis, have been groups and official pages from Facebook and Twitter. Such social media platforms give access to a vast amount of user generated content that can be source of insights for the marketing practitioners (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).

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Gathering and analyzing data

According to Kozinets, two types of information are used during netnography – 1) written or downloaded information reflecting the communication of the participants in the online community and 2) the field notes of the researcher – including descriptions, analysis and observation notes, taken during the research process. The gathering of the data happens continuously until enough information is gathered, so it allows the researcher to reach conclusions (Kozinets R. V., 2002).

In this research, direct copy from the computer-mediated communications of online community members were gathered and analyzed. For the analysis of Red Bull Soapbox the data contained 114 tweets and 76 Facebook posts and for Red Bull Flugtag, the data analyzed contained: 81 Facebook posts and 62 tweets, all posted between 2013 and 2016. Additionally, through the whole process, field and observation notes were taken, in line with the recommendations given by Kozinets (Kozinets R. V., 1998).

Analyzing and interpretation

Once the information was gathered in accordance to the research questions and research purposes, data analysis was conducted, with the assistance of the qualitative data analysis software NVivo 10. This software was used for conducting the analysis due to the program’s abilities accelerate and assist the coding process, as well as the establishment and the visual representation of valuable connections (Kozinets R. V., 2002)

Research ethics

This step is concerned with the identification of the researcher and asking for consent to use the information available (Kozinets R. V., 2002). However, due to the fact that the information gathered is not on sensitive topic (Kozinets R. V., 2002) and is already freely accessible and available to the public, as recommended by Haggerty, no ethical review is needed (Haggerty, 2004). Further, Langer and Beckman claim that informing the participants about the presence of the researcher, is unnecessary also because revealing the researcher’s agenda would harm the participants’ behavior and they will oppose the research

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(Langer & Beckman, 2005). The current study focuses on the communication between members in open Facebook groups and Twitter pages, thus the identification as a researcher was not needed.

Members check

This last step of providing the participants with the information and collecting feedback, as suggested by Kozinets (Kozinets R. V., 2002) is not necessary in this research. As stated by Langer and Beckman, if the information is collected in an unobtrusive manner, which is the case in this study, and the analysis and interpretation of the results lead to the end of the study (Langer & Beckman, 2005).

3.3.2 Semi - structured interview

Conducting interview is particularly suitable for examining human experiences (Jacob & Furgerson, 2012). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, because they call for the emergence of new concepts and ideas, due to the not fully structured nature of the method (Aira, Kauhanen, Larivaara, & Rautio, 2003).

Script was developed, so it can guide the questions and prompt the researcher to give details about the nature of the study, what is it about and how it is going to be used. Questions were open-ended, as to allow new thoughts to emerge and get deeper understanding of the phenomenon examined (Jacob & Furgerson, 2012).

In order to assist the data collection process, interview protocols were created, consisting of explanation of what is going to be the goal of the interview, asking for consent and the conclusion of the interview. The questions were prepared in accordance with the topic of interest of the study and the theoretical ground from the literature review. The topics covered in the interviews were related to the research purpose of the paper and include participant’s overview of the event, emotional response to the event, social stimulation and establishing connection with the brand.

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The interviews were started with polite greetings and small talk and then we proceeded with request for the consent of each participant to record the interview and use the material after that with the goal of analyzing it and including it in the study. Further we started with basic questions, allowing establishment of warmer connection between the researcher and the interviewees, as well as to collect more personal information about the participants (Jacob & Furgerson, 2012). Due to geographical constraints, interviews were conducted via Skype computer software, using video conversation and the audio was recorded with specialized software Amolto call recorder. The video conversation allowed the researcher to observe participants reactions, gestures, as well as expressions and that contributed to obtaining better understanding of the participants’ responses.

We started from easier questions and gradually moved towards to more complicated ones; during that time the participants were constantly encouraged to share their opinion on the topic with expressions like: “would you say…”, “tell me more about it”, which are considered appropriate for this type of interviews and allow the interviewer to guide the process (Jacob & Furgerson, 2012). Each interview was concluded with thankfulness for the participation. The interviews were conducted in Bulgarian and subsequently translated in English, transcribed and all the data available was gathered in NVivo 10 and prepared for analysis.

3.3. Description of the analysis strategy

In order to reach new insights on the phenomenon studied, we are going to use a combination of methods – Content analysis and Interpretative phenomenological analysis (Shenton, 2004). By adopting these two research strategies, we ensure in the credibility of the data that can be later generalized with theory building purpose (Yin, 2003).

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3.4.1 Content analysis

On this step, inductive content analysis was conducted. This analytic method is particularly suitable when there are no previous studies regarding this phenomenon (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008; Vaismoradi, Turunen, & Bondas, 2013). Furthermore, the outcomes of this analysis are related to providing new insights about particular phenomenon within its context (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). The analysis was conducted for Red Bull Soapbox and Red Bull Flugtag, as the methodology was replicated for both of the cases. We adopted Elo and Kyngäs methodology for conducting inductive content analysis which implies generating codes while analyzing (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008), and that includes the following steps:

1.Preparation – The preparation process includes selecting unit of analysis, as well as careful familiarization of the researcher with the data collected (Vaismoradi, Turunen, & Bondas, 2013). The unit of analyzis of this study was the influence of experiential activities on the affective commitment to the brand. Widely adopted understanding is that without immersing in the data, the researcher cannot reach insights or obtain holistic view on the problem investigated (Polit & Beck, 2004; Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). All the information was thoroughly read multiple times, until understanding of the topic was reached. This step was followed by consideration whether inductive or deductive approach will be adopted. In this study we adopt inductive approach, due to the lack of literature and models from previous studies related to this phenomenon. By adopting this approach we adopted the perspective of moving towards from specific to general, which implies careful analysis of every entity, and merging the findings until general undertanding is reached (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008).

2.Organizing – This step is related with the process of open coding, categorization and abstraction (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). The material was read once again and with the help of NViovo 10, headings were created in order to give clear idea of the content. Once all the texts received headings, they were transferred to a coding sheet and categories were generated freely (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008).

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3. Reporting - This last step was concerned with the representation of the results and introducing them in certain categories, concepptual models with the usage of graphic help – pictures, diagrams and schemes (Vaismoradi, Turunen, & Bondas, 2013). Figure 2 and Figure 3 illustrate the categories, found after the research and will be explained later in the results section.

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Figure 3: Findings of categories derived from the content analysis

3.3.2 Interpretative phenomenological analysis

For the analysis of the interviews, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (from now on IPA) was conducted. This type of analysis allows the exploration of the subjective experiences of the people and provides understanding of how they assign meaning to certain experience within its context and is mostly applied to data gathered from semi-structured interviews (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008). That makes the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis particularly suitable for this study.

The method follows certain iterative steps that will be discussed in detail:

1. First encounter with the text – Due to the fact that IPA is related to close inspection of the text and re-reading (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008), all the texts were carefully examined and read

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several times. Notes were taken, reflecting any observational thoughts and comments that were later used for gaining additional insights into the experienced phenomenon and participants’ reflection of the event. At this stage it was vital any assumptions of the researcher concerning the event to be disregarded (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008).

2. Identification of preliminary themes – at this stage the texts were examined again, so themes that capture essential concepts of the interviews were created from each part of the texts. After identifying themes, possible connections between them were considered (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008).

3. Creating clusters by grouping themes – this stage included the actual grouping of the themes into clusters and the identification of hierarchical relationship between them (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008). (The table for each respondents can be found in Appendix)

4. Presenting themes in summary table – The last step of the process concerns the development of overall representation of the results concerning the main concepts identified in each of the interviews (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008). The tables represented evidence from the interviews, by using quotations that accurately describe the statement/concept and their position in the text, so it could be easier to navigate through the texts.

Table 1 on the next page provides the results from this finals step. The first number in each sell represents the number of the page, where as the second number represents the number of the line in the interviews.

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Table 1:

Themes identified Respondent 1 Respondent 2 Respondent 3 Respondent 4 Respondent 5 1.Engagement Interest in the brand Effort

Making comparisons Reflecting

Sharing stories

Distinguishing true fans

7.24 8.13 7.10 6.16 8.3 8.17 20.12 11.5 10.14 14.16 13.9 14.11 20.21 16.6 17.22 18.22 20.1 16.10 23.13 22.13 23.19 21.17 25.22 26.11 27.11 28.9 28.12 29.17 31.6 29.2 2.Interaction With friends With new people With family With the brand

6.21 7.8 7.14 6.15 10.19 11.17 12.7 16.20 19.9 18.3 22.5 22.8 21.16 27.11 28.21 30.22 3.Affective response Pleasure Fun Feeling proud Excitement Feeling recognized Surprised Regret Worry 8.4 8.7 8.4 8.2 11.11 11.17 10.19 13.12 11.17 15.19 17.11 15.21 17.24 16.13 22.20 26.1 21.17 26.9 23.6 28.17 29.13 24.19 27.21 27.12 4.Motivation Competitiveness Seeking originality Having fun Seeking experience Sending a message Pleasure 7.2 8.20 8.9 8.19 12.2 13.20 10.21 10.20 11.3 10.21 18.7 17.22 16.8 18.8 18.7 21.14 23.14 28.5 27.18 31.8 28.8 31.8 5.Outcomes Identification Intentions Recommendation Affection Memorability Brand support Established bonds 8.9 8.9 8.2 7.23 10.22 12.8 14.20 12.23 13.14 13.1 19.13 18.19 18.22 19.18 18.5 19.15 24.1 25.4 25.4 23.19 25.1 23.22 24.4 Mm Mm Mm mm mm Mm

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3.5 Evaluation of the case

The main limitation of this study is that limited cases that were used. In order to

The method of triangulation was applied, that strengthens the credibility of the data (Shenton, 2004) and examines the phenomenon from different perspectives, by encompassing data collection from multiple sources, and the usage of multiple analyzing methods (Baxter & Jack, 2008). Thus, in the data collection process we used netnography and semi-structured interviews, to strengthen the credibility of the data and we used two methods for analysis – Content analysis and Interpretative phenomenological analysis. Further, the method of triangulation also enhances the confirmability of the cases, as it promotes more objective judgment to the researcher (Shenton, 2004). In order to ensure transferability, sufficient description of the data collection and analyses methods was provided, so we provide future researchers with an opportunity to replicate the study within analogous context (Shenton, 2004). In order to enhance the dependability of this study, all the data collected, via netnography and semi-structured interviews, along with the researcher’s notes and additional documents, were gathered into a common database with the assistance of the qualitative data analysis software NVivo 10.

4. Results

In the previous chapter we focused on the research design and the methodology of the present study. In chapter four, we present the findings from the analysis section in an effort to provide deeper understanding of experiential activities, it main components, dimensions, as well as the outcomes of participation in such activities.

At first, with Content analysis (from now on CA) we distinguished two types of responses – affective and cognitive. We discovered that the affective responses corresponded in the social networks are the following: Excitement, Anticipation, Gratitude, and Feeling of pride. Evidence was found, that the

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cognitive responses involve: Reflecting, Making comparison, Recommendation, Intentions and Brand support.

Later, we discovered that the participation in the event is associated with high engagement people demonstrate. In this category we included two subcategories; the first one - Effort as people put in order to participate, related to the preparation process, travelling in order to participate or watch the event, as well as seeking access to the event, due to the fact it is not free in every country. Further, we included the Interactions that appear in the context of the preparation process and the event: Provide support, Exchange materials, Seek support, Feedback.

Shortly after, with Interpretative phenomenological analysis (from now on IPA) we discovered multiple additional aspects of the phenomenon. Integration of the knowledge obtained by the first study, together with the knowledge provided from the second analysis, present sufficient understanding of the phenomenon. On one hand, the findings from IPA enriched the insights derived from study one, on another, CA provides us with deeper understanding about some of the categories discovered by IPA, in particularly, the Interactions, from the perspective of the online setting. Thus, the results will be incorporated in a framework, for deeper understanding of the phenomenon under discussion. At the end we discovered five major concepts that incorporate all the information gathered by the analyses – Engagement, Interaction, Affective response, Motivation and Outcomes. In this chapter they will be presented and thoroughly discussed.

4.1. Engagement

This first category is related to the higher engagement that the activities and the competitions require. The participants are supposed to form a team and sign for the competitions in advance, with prepared plan for the vehicle. After that, usually the preparation process is long - months or weeks, followed by regular meetings to discuss technicalities. During that time a lot of interactions take place; they will be carefully explained later. We discovered that the engagement encompasses six different ways

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in which surprisingly all of the participants were engaged in physical or psychological activities and we will elaborate on each of them. For all of the elements describing the Engagement section, evidence was found by all respondents in the interviews (Table 1, n=5/5) and additionally CA provided us with proof on the following elements: Effort, Reflecting and Comparison.

4.1.1 Interest in the brand

After the IPA, we discovered that all of our respondents had either previous experience or interest in the brand before the competition. The respondents introduced us to information about the brand activities, values, the types of competitions the company Red Bull organizes. They defined themselves as “fan” or “super fan” and some of them even felt curious about the “company’s culture and policies”. We discovered that the participation in the event had influence on the level of interest in the company “After

competition like this one, the interest in Red Bull as a company grows a lot for sure”. Thus, participation

in the initiatives leads to higher interest in the brand not only limited to the activities Red Bull organizes, but it also encompasses the values, culture and the involvement of the company and its participation in other spheres like airplane competitions and Formula 1.

4.1.2 Effort

Due to the fact that the participation involves a lot of effort from the participants to come up with a plan and build their “soapboxes” and all of them (n=5/5) mentioned it was a time-consuming process, that involves the process of applying for the competition, come up with an idea for the design of the vehicle and also construct and test the

The participants get so involved, that even feel guilt if they think they are not giving the best they can in order to assure their good performance “I even feel a bit guilty, because we had not started with the

preparations and we need some time for it.”

After the content analysis we discover that the effort is additionally related to the preparation process, travelling and seeking access to the event. We found evidence that a lot of people are willing to travel

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