Fans of Brands - The revival of fan clubs
Fan clubsFansIKEA FAMILYLoyaltySocial groupingsManagement of enterprisesFöretagsledningManagementBusiness and Economics
Our purpose is to display the meaning of fan clubs and further reveal the potential value of fans. This study has an abductive approach with a qualitative data collection, where empirical material has been collected through a micro netnographic study along with qualitative interviews. IKEA and IKEA Family have been applied together with virtual fan clubs to study the fan club phenomenon. The study is based on prior literature concerning loyalty, customer clubs and brand relations. This theoretical framework was chosen to fulfil the purpose of unveiling the meaning of fan clubs and the potential value of fans. The empirical data is based on qualitative expert interviews, observations of online fan clubs and qualitative interviews with IKEA fans from different countries (face-to-face, e-mail, telephone). Fan clubs are highly related to social groupings, which further implicates that they are a key driver of loyalty. Due to this strong resemblance, corporation can utilize this tool to get a stronger brand-consumer relation. Nevertheless, fan clubs is the tool, while it is the fans that are the core value. Wherefore it is crucial for companies to acknowledge their fans by implementing a fan club as a loyalty program, which will create a win-win situation for both parties.