Surfing the Instagram Wave : How surf brands can use Instagram to communicate with the surf tribe

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Surfing the Instagram Wave

How surf brands can use Instagram to communicate

with the surf tribe

MASTER THESIS WITHIN: International Marketing NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15

AUTHORS: Jean Ragg and Philipp Sieben JÖNKÖPING May 2020

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Master Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Surfing the Instagram Wave – How surf brands can use Instagram to communicate with the surf tribe

Authors: J. Ragg and P. Sieben Tutor: Darko Pantelic Date: 2020-05-18

Key terms: Tribal Marketing, Consumer Tribes, Social Media Brand Communication, Instagram, Surfer, Surf Brands

Abstract

Background: The communication between brands and customers has shifted from traditional media like television to social media. This led to the emergence of social media brand communication. One of the best known and fastest-growing social media platforms is Instagram. Furthermore, social media enabled users to form online communities like consumer tribes, who group around a shared activity or passion. However, these consumer tribes are self-willed and need their own marketing approach.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore how social media brand communication of surf brands on Instagram is experienced by the surf tribe. For this purpose, it is investigated whether Instagram is a suitable medium and which characteristics define the surf tribe. Then it will be examined how social media brand communication on Instagram has to be designed in order to create successful communication strategies.

Method: This research followed an explorative research design. The research approach combined desk research for the literature review and qualitative semi-structured interviews with 15 participants of the surf tribe. Snowball sampling was used to identify participants. The empirical data was analysed with the approach of thematic analysis. Conclusion: Instagram is a suitable platform to reach out to the surf tribe. The surf tribe shares common characteristics in terms of Instagram usage and consumption behaviour, which are relevant for creating appealing marketing messages. Surf brands should use firm-generated content that focuses on the activity of surfing and encourage their followers to create and share user-generated surf content to increase their popularity and reach amongst the tribe.

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Acknowledgements

First of all, a special thank you is owed to our supervisor Darko Pantelic for his careful supervision during our master thesis. We would like to thank him for his great patience, valuable advice and sharp remarks. “It’s not personal. It’s business.”

Also, we would like to say a big thank you to our seminar partners Corinna Dahmen and Madeleine Prüfer for their inspiring feedback and stepping up our game.

We would also like to express our gratitude to our participants. Without their openness, honesty and personal opinions shared with us, we would have never received such valuable insights into the emotional world of the surf tribe.

In this sense: “When in doubt, paddle out!” Jean Ragg and Philipp Sieben

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Figures

Figure 1: Linear marketing communication and extended interactive marketing

communication model ... 8

Figure 2: The three different Instagram posts from the brands Deeply, Hurley and Volcom. ... 35

Figure 3: Participant overview of the in-depth interviews. ... 40

Figure 4: Involvement with the surf tribe and consumed brands. ... 44

Figure 5: Deeply Instagram post. ... 53

Figure 6: Hurley Instagram post. ... 55

Figure 7: Volcom Instagram post. ... 57

Appendices

Appendix 1: Interview guide ... 77

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Thesaurus

Brand Community: A brand community is a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brand (Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001).

Consumer Tribe Member: Consumer tribe members are part of the same consumer group who share similar consumption values by which they connect with each other. They use the linking values of preferred products and create communities to express their self-identity (Cova, 1997; Mitchell & Imrie, 2011).

Firm-Generated Content: Firm-created content in the context of social media communication is completely designed and controlled by the company and does not include any input from the community users (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016).

Linking Value: Tribes are held together through their linking value, which can be defined as shared beliefs, emotions and preferred brands. The linking value of a product or service refers to its contribution to establishing and/or reinforcing bonds between individuals. It is rarely intentionally embedded in the use-value of a product or service. But, the stronger the contribution of a product or service to the development and strengthening of the tribal bond, the greater the linking value will be (Cova & Cova, 2001).

Postmodernism: Postmodernism is a movement that began in the late 20th century in philosophy and literary theory that generally questions the basic assumptions of Western philosophy in the modern period. Postmodern philosophy is characterized by general scepticism and a common suspicion of reasons (Featherstone, 2007).

Seed Networks: These are fluid and interdependent networks of people, places, brands, objects, discourses, myths and feelings where consumers assemble a playful, passionate, and entrepreneurial community around the linking value of multiple products and services (Canniford, 2011).

Social Media: Social media are platforms that enable users to share information in the form of text, image, sound or video. Compared to the traditional content of the Internet, which visitors use primarily to consume media, social media also offer the possibility for

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users to create, modify, share and discuss content themselves (Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, & Silvestre, 2011).

Social Networking Site (SNS): Social networking sites are also known as social networking services and are defined as websites that facilitate the creation of a network of contacts to share different types of content online. The functions and contents contained therein vary from website to another (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

Surf Brand: Surf brands are mostly known as clothing manufacturers and reflect the values of surf culture. Famous surf brands are specialized in the production of surf equipment such as surfboards and wetsuits as well as clothing influenced by the surf culture. The most distinctive brands are presented in the appendix (see Appendix 2). Tribe (or consumer tribe): Is a concept in consumer behaviour. In differentiation to brand communities, tribes locate their socialization around more than on one brand. They are less concerned with the brand per se and establish connections with a variety of brands, products, activities, and services (Canniford, 2011). Tribes concentrate on the bonding or linking element that keeps individuals in the group. They are interlinked by a shared passion or emotion. Thus, membership arises from a shared experience of reality (Cova & Cova, 2001).

User-Generated Content: User-generated content in the context of social media communication is completely created by the users of a platform and thus cannot be controlled by a company (Cheung, Guilherme, Rosenberger & De Oliveira, 2019). It is known for being an efficient and popular marketing tool to better involve consumers, include feedback, and increase the range in the target group (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016).

WEB 2.0: The term Web 2.0 describes a variety of web sites and applications that allow users to create and share their own created content online. There exist various types of web 2.0 applications such as social networking, video platforms, wikis, blogs, or podcasting services. As an effect of Web 2.0, the boundaries between producers and consumers have been dispersed and co-creation gained on importance (Cova & White, 2010).

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1 Introduction

______________________________________________________________________ The introduction gives a short overview of the main concepts of this work, from social media brand communication to tribal marketing and the surf tribe. It starts with social media and the importance it has for companies. Afterwards the tribal marketing approach is presented, and it is explained why there is still a need for research in this area. Then the research questions and the methodology to answer them are discussed. The chapter continues with the delimitations and limitations that provide the framework of the work and ends with the contribution.

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1.1 Justification

In the course of the 21st century, the communication between people and brands has strongly shifted from traditional media like television to the internet or more specific, social media (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). This has led to the situation that companies had to adapt to new communication channels, with their own rules and procedures. Whereas traditional media such as TV or radio allows only very limited interaction with customers, social media enables feedback in real time (Baines, Fill, & Page, 2013). At the beginning of 2020, 49% of the worldwide population used social media, with an increasing tendency (Social Media Report, 2019). And not only the number of users has grown, but also the average time users spend on social media has increased. While the average time a user spent on social media was 90 minutes per day in 2012, it is now 144 minutes per user (GlobalWebIndex, 2020). These findings have caught the attention of companies that have recognized the potential of social media to connect with their customers. To utilize these benefits, companies have tried to incorporate social media into their communication strategies, which has led to the emergence of social media brand communication. This development was important, as the correct use of social media can contribute significantly to the success of a company in terms of awareness, equity, loyalty or sales (Smith, Fischer, & Yongjian, 2012; Erdogmus & Cicek, 2012; Schivinski &

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Dabrowksi 2016; Ekhlassi, Moghadam, & Adibi, 2018). An inadequate social media brand communication, on the other hand, can cause considerable damage to a brand and, in the worst case, can threaten its existence (Kietzmann, et al., 2011). The examples of failed communication on social media are numerous and prove that this complex topic is still relatively new and demands further research.

Furthermore, social media has enabled users to form online communities, which significantly empower the role consumers inherit in the relationship with their favourite brands. (Uncles, 2008). One form of these communities are consumer tribes. They do not only exist in the context of social media, but social media has furthered their emergence even over long distances, enabling their worldwide spread (Silva & Santos, 2012). Consumer tribes are groups of emotionally connected individuals who group around a shared activity or passion, e.g. in-line skating (Cova & Cova, 2001). The concept and possibilities of consumer tribes have also been discovered by marketers in recent years (see e.g. Cova 2001; Cova & Cova 2002; Godin 2008; Mitchell & Imrie, 2010). Where traditional marketing approaches divide customers into market segments, consumer tribes allow consumption to be viewed within a social context and thus widen the perspective of consumers (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). This provides the opportunity for brands to create meaningful and symbiotic relationships with consumer groups that share consumption preferences and actually connect with each other (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). In times when consumers are bombarded by advertising messages and measures, tribal marketing offers a promising marketing approach.

1.2 Problem and Purpose of Research

There are different social media sites that differ in their range of functions and target group. One platform that has become increasingly important for brands in recent years is Instagram. Instagram is an online photo and video sharing platform for private users, brands and influencers (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016). It is one of the fastest-growing platforms in terms of users and the second most used platform by marketing professionals (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016; Social Media Examiner, 2019). This underlines the importance of the platform for brands to connect with their customers. In the context of tribal

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marketing, one often mentioned consumer tribe is the tribe of the surfers with its unique rituals and culture (see e.g. Fletcher, Bell & McNaughton 2004; Cova, Kozinets & Shankar, 2007; Moutinho, Dionisio & Leal 2007). Surfing has been constructed and appropriated by marketing and media as a fierce and freedom-affirming activity, to enrich products with a sense of otherness, escape, and excitement (Canniford & Shankar, 2007). Consumers strive to assimilate these attributes by consuming these products. According to Torgovnick (1990), these primitive remains represent a powerful ideal in western cultures as they provide a counterpoint to urban civilized life. And surfing booms in popularity, with an estimated 20 million-strong continuously growing community (Engle, 2015). Marketing with the image of surfing has been a successful formula upon companies as diverse as Tommy Hilfiger, Toyota, Guinness, Breitling or PricewaterhouseCoopers (Canniford & Shankar, 2007).

However, consumer tribes are creative, self-willed and require a specific approach to be targeted (Cova & White, 2010). In the too obvious attempt of marketers to exploit tribes for marketing purposes, they can destroy the relationship with the tribe and consequently reduce the attractiveness of their brand (Canniford, 2011). But although the concept of consumer tribes has been studied extensively by Bernard Cova (see e.g. Cova 1999; Cova & Cova 2001, 2002) and is even sold as the “holy grail” by management gurus like Seth Godin, little research has been done on how social media brand communication affects them (McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, 2002, p. 38). Especially for the platform Instagram in combination with consumer tribes, the research is very limited. Hence, the purpose of this thesis is to explore how surf brands can use Instagram to communicate with the surf tribe. This shall be achieved through investigating how social media brand communication of surf brands on Instagram is experienced by surf tribe members. The surf tribe is especially interesting from a marketing perspective, as it has significantly shaped the recent consumer culture in terms of fashion and lifestyle. By gaining knowledge of how social media communication is experienced by certain consumer tribes, companies can formulate more appealing marketing messages and optimize their interaction with tribes. Furthermore, the tribal marketing approach is

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highly relevant to modern brands, who no longer want to rely on segmentation by demographics, but rather by interests that unite their possible consumers.

1.3 Research Questions

The research questions are based on a comprehensive literature review and are designed to develop a deeper understanding of the consumer tribes of surfers and to explore the use and impact of the social media platform Instagram on the tribe. Therefore, the three following research questions are proposed:

RQ1: What are the characteristics and beliefs of surf tribe members?

It lies in the nature of consumer tribes to group around a shared activity or passion. Furthermore, tribe members usually share similar characteristics and preferences. This research question helps to find out what it takes to belong to the surf tribe and how the different levels of involvement are reflected in the members' preference for brands. To be aware and understand the preferences of the members helps brands to gain a better understanding of the whole tribe. With this knowledge, brands are better capable to position themselves and formulate more appealing marketing messages.

RQ2: How and for what reasons do surf tribe members use Instagram?

This research question aims to explore how and for what reasons Instagram is used by the surf tribe members. It aims to build an understanding of the members' online behavioural and usage patterns. Furthermore, the question is supposed to discover whether they follow brand and surf influencer accounts. This information is of interest in order to answer if Instagram is a suitable platform to reach out to the tribe and to derive specific actions from it on how the platform is best used by brands.

RQ3: How do surf tribe members experience the social media brand communication of surf brands on Instagram?

The third research question connects the topic of Instagram with the specific behavioural characteristics of the consumer tribe of surfers. It contributes to developing an understanding of how single, targeted actions of social media brand communication are perceived by members of the surfing community. Thereby the research distinguishes

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between firm-generated and user-generated content and evaluates how different social media brand communication is perceived by the surf tribe members.

1.4 Methodology

Regarding the research questions and the fact that the previous literature on Instagram and consumer tribes is very spare, interpretivism was chosen as the most appropriate research philosophy. This approach allows creating new and richer interpretations of social worlds, to which consumer tribes can be counted. The thesis follows an exploratory research design to initially investigate this topic. It uses a qualitative research approach that combines a literature review and semi-structured interviews with 15 participants who perform surfing in different degrees of intensity. After conducting the interviews, the empirical data was transcribed and analysed with the approach of thematic analysis, to search for recurring patterns that enable the authors to answer the research questions.

1.5 Delimitations and Limitations

The thesis is delimitated on the surf tribe. This is due to its iconic position within the subject of tribes and its influence on fashion and media. Thus, the findings apply only to the specific surf tribe, although it can be assumed that the results will also apply, at least in part, to other similar board sports tribes like the skate or the snowboard tribe. Tribes have the characteristic of multiplicity, which allows its members to be part of several tribes, and the findings show that surfers often do related types of sports. Besides that, the investigation of several tribes would be to the disadvantage of the depth of this work or even exceed the scope of it.

This reason also applies to the selection of Instagram as a social media platform. Although the examination of several platforms would highly contribute to the understanding of how tribes make use of social media, this would have exceeded the scope of this thesis. The authors acknowledge the different application areas of various social media platforms and thus chose Instagram as the most suitable and interesting

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research subject. This is due to the importance of Instagram for brands nowadays and the way the platform allows communication, which is mainly via pictures and short videos. Hence, this study is delimitated to this one specific social media platform.

Since the participants for interviews were selected according to their existing surfing experience and the regular use of the social media platform Instagram, the sample was limited to a certain group of participants. However, apart from this, no further restrictions have been made on the sample.

Future research can extend this research to related consumer tribes or test it on entirely new groups, expand the research to other social media networks or verify the findings in quantitative research.

1.6 Contribution

This thesis will contribute to the theoretical research of tribal marketing and social media brand communication on Instagram and at the same time provide valuable recommendations for the practical application. It will enrich the theoretical body of social media brand communication, especially for the platform Instagram. Furthermore, it will build a first understanding of how this channel and the communication on this platform is perceived by surf tribe members. This adds social media brand communication to the tribal marketing approach, which had barely played a role in consumer tribes research before and is therefore still underdeveloped. The findings from this work support marketers in addressing consumer tribes correctly and show how communication must be designed. The results apply in particular, but not exclusively, to brands that want to address the surf tribe. But as explained above, surf culture is an important part for companies from various industries. Thereby not only surf brands are addressed, but also all other companies that use surf-culture for their marketing strategies or want to get a first understanding of Instagram in connection to consumer tribes.

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2 Literature Review

______________________________________________________________________ The following chapter contains an overview of relevant previous research and is divided into three parts. The first part is designed to provide an orientation of the relevant communication models and explains how social media communication has developed as a result of technological progress. The second part introduces consumer tribes in the respective context. An explanation of the origin of the term is given as well as a differentiation to similar terms. This part also explains the relevancy of consuming brands for self-expression reasons and describes the principles of the tribal marketing approach. The third part focuses on the surf tribe in particular and investigates how social media brand communication should be designed. Concluding, the relevant facts are compiled and put in context to craft the research questions.

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2.1 Change of Communication Models

Over the last decades, communication models have changed substantially. This chapter introduces different communication models and discusses the relevance of social media for brands. Building upon this, a literature review of success factors for social media brand communication is conducted. The chapter closes with an introduction of the social media platform Instagram which will be further examined in this research.

2.1.1 From One-way Advertising to Social Media Marketing

In the course of the 20th_{century, brands have succeeded in becoming globally known} through the dissemination of advertising messages via mass media such as nationwide television (Fill & Turnbull, 2016). However, communication was mainly one-way, from the company to the audience. This aligns with the linear marketing communication model developed by Schramm (1955). According to this model, communication is linear (i.e. one-way) and consists of a source (the organization or individual sending the message), the message itself, and the recipient (who is receiving the message). In this model, the marketer creates the message and communicates it through traditional media

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like television or radio to a mass audience (Thomas, Peters, Howell, & Robbins, 2012). It is not intended to create a conversation with the customer or at least the response options allow only a delayed and limited reply of the customer (Fill & Turnbull, 2016). This is shown in Figure 1 on the left side.

Figure 1: Linear marketing communication and extended interactive marketing communication model (according to Hollsensen 2017, p.665).

However, in contemporary society, consumers have shifted away from traditional media like television and radio and mainly use the internet and social media to search for information (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). This change led to the creation of interactive models of communication, where marketers and companies no longer have the sole control of the message (Thomas et al., 2012). Hollensen (2017) refers to this as the extended interactive market communication model, which can be seen on the right side of Figure 1. In this model, companies use non-traditional media like social media to attract attention and build brand awareness. Besides the high interaction between the customers, there is also extensive feedback to the company itself. This differentiates it from the linear model, as all parties of the model can interact with each other and the communication flows among all the members. This is regarded as a communication network (Baines et al., 2013). In this model, the company has proactively chosen to act as a co-player in the discussion by participating in different social media sites. The company aims to strengthen the interaction with its customers in a positive direction to

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influence their customer behaviour (Hollensen, 2017). The next chapter will define social media and will discuss its relevance for marketers in terms of brand communication.

2.1.2 Social Media and the Importance for Brands

As mentioned above, the emergence of the internet - especially social media - is the driver of the development of interactive communication models. There are myriad of definitions of social media emphasizing different aspects. For this research, the authors decided to use the definition of Kietzmann et al. (2011, p. 241): “Social media employs mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms via which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content.” Examples for social media include Facebook, Instagram or Twitter (Mahoney & Tang, 2017). This definition highlights the possibility of creating communities and emphasizes the interaction with each other. This interaction leads to the consequence that companies have no longer the exclusive control of brand communication, as user-generated content is prevalence on these platforms (Li & Bernoff, 2011). Especially the possibility to create communities empowers consumers significantly in their relationship with their favourite brands (Uncles, 2008). According to Ferguson (2008), social media has changed the dyadic relationship between the company and its consumers into a triadic relationship. The relationship is now between the company, its consumer and the community the consumer belongs to.

Social media has not only changed the communication models but also offers new ways for companies and consumers to engage with each other (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). One of them is social media brand communication, which can be firm-created or user-generated (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016). Firm-created social media brand communication is guided by a marketing strategy and is completely controlled by the company (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016). Companies added this tool as an elemental part of their promotion mix (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). This is due to the positive aspects that the right usage of social media provides, and which is confirmed by numerous studies. Mahoney and Tang (2017) even argue that social media is the most important tool for marketers when shaping consumer behaviour. Social media offers the opportunity

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for companies to cooperate with consumers and, thus, increase the visibility of their brands (Smith et al., 2012). Erdogmus and Cicek (2012) proved the positive influence of social media for companies on building and maintaining brand loyalty of their consumers. The presence on social media paired with a clear strategy to engage consumers is found to have a positive impact on brand equity (Ekhlassi et al., 2018). Although Schivinski and Dabrowksi (2016) could not confirm that it influences brand equity directly, they state that it affects consumers' attitude towards brands. Furthermore, it can create a viral response of users, which facilitates the distribution of the message to a larger audience. Thus, the objective of this communication is to increase the brand awareness of consumers and to positively influence their brand attitudes (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016).

At the same time, there is user-generated social media brand communication which is created by the users of a platform and cannot be controlled by the marketers (Cheung et al., 2019). Social media sites facilitate user-generated content and allow users to create powerful communities with common interests (Winer, 2009). Previous studies conclude that users contribute user-generated content for reasons like intrinsic enjoyment, a desire to change public perception and self-promotion (Berthon, Pitt, & Campbell, 2008). User-generated content can be utilized by marketers to receive ideas of engaged customers while having relatively low communication costs compared to traditional advertising channels (Krishnamurthy & Dou, 2008). This form of communication is also perceived as more trustworthy by consumers, which makes it more influential than traditional media (Christodoulides, 2012). This aligns with the findings of Schivinski and Dabrowksi (2016), who add that user-generated communication has a greater effect on consumer’s overall perception of brands than firm-created communication and that it positively influences both brand equity and brand attitude. Furthermore, the research of Shang, Chen and Liao (2006) has shown that experiences made in virtual communities (such as social media) may significantly shape the consumer’s experience of a brand. The research of Rachna and Khajuria (2017) concluded that user-generated content on social media can create and increase brand equity and attract customers. This aligns with the findings of Schivinski and Dabrowski (2016), who also detected a positive influence of the content

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of user on brand attitude. However, they also highlight the fact that social media sites like Facebook are often unregulated communities, where consumers engage in open conversation with each other. This can result in negative word-of-mouth and unpleasant content from users (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016). Thus, these platforms need a concrete strategy to be handled effectively.

Although firm-created and user-generated social media communication provides several positive benefits for companies, it is still a relatively new approach for marketers that needs further research (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016). This approach is a good fit to be viewed from the perspective of consumer tribes, as these gather increasingly online and are used to create user-generated content.

2.1.3 Aspects of effective Social Media Brand Communication

In the previous chapter, the importance and the differences between firm-generated and user-generated brand communication have been explained. This chapter is dedicated to the question of how this communication needs to be designed to create appealing marketing messages. There are several aspects which the authors found out to be effective regarding the social media communication of brands. One important work in this field is from Schivinski and Dabrowksi (2016). They state that in order to create successful firm-created social media communication, the most relevant brand characteristics that influence the consumer's attitude towards the brand need to be emphasized. This means that a brand like Harley-Davidson should highlight brand associations like freedom and passion whereas Apple should stress associations like originality and innovation. Besides, they elaborated that marketers should focus on building positive brand associations. They advise that the goal of firm-created social media content should be to increase consumers’ brand awareness and their brand attitudes. Furthermore, marketers should encourage users to generate content that reflects the support for the brand and its products. Muniz and Schau (2011) advise marketers to encourage their customers to participate in their social media campaigns by providing relevant content and by stimulating the generation of user-generated content by interacting with them. This aligns with the view of Malthouse et al. (2016). They recommend user-generated content as a potentially

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powerful engagement tool. Also, they found out that social media contests to generate user-generated content that require low cognitive efforts are far less effective in producing consumer engagement. Therefore, they advise designing social media contests where customers are encouraged to elaborate on how the brand manages to help them achieve their personal goals. This view is shared by Roncha and Radclyffe-Thomas (2016), who advise from a managerial perspective, that marketing on platforms like Instagram needs to create an environment of trust that enables users to participate, combined with facilitating creativity through the use and sharing of brand values. They state that the company has the task to develop mechanisms to enable consumers to contribute effectively. Rachna and Khajuria (2017) even advise companies to prioritize user-generated content for social media marketing and highlight the importance of opinion leaders. However, they also warn of the power and negative effects of electronic word-of-mouth, as it can be equally fatal as it is useful. Thus, brands need to proactively monitor and manage user-generated content. Given this situation, it has been shown how crucial it is nowadays to communicate authentically and to hit the right tone when participating in the social media communication. In the next part, the focus is placed on Instagram, and the possibilities it offers for brands to communicate to consumer tribes before the tribal marketing approach is examined more closely.

2.1.4 Instagram as Social Media Platform for Brands

There are different social media platforms, ranging in their functionality and terms of their scope. Facebook and Instagram, for example, are for the general masses, whereas platforms like LinkedIn are focused on professional networks (Kietzmann et al., 2011; Sheldon & Bryant, 2016). This research focuses on the social media platform Instagram. On the one hand, because the examination of several platforms would burst the scope of this thesis. On the other hand, Phua, Jin and Kim (2017) state that Instagram is the most relevant platform when users search for inspiration of new fashion trends and has the highest brand community engagement. They further indicate that Instagram users are most likely to participate in brand-related activities and show high loyalty and belongingness towards brand accounts they follow. Furthermore, Sheldon and Bryant (2016) found four motives why Instagram users use this platform which relates to the

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characteristics of consumer tribes. The strongest motives were surveillance and knowledge about others, which means that many people use Instagram to keep up with their friends or gain knowledge about others. Another reason was self-promotion and gaining popularity, which reflects the need of Instagram users to belong to a group. The next reason was documentation of moments, which is possible due to the function of Instagram to post and archive pictures. The last reason was creativity, which can be expressed by using different filters on the photos or sharing creative posts (Sheldon & Bryant 2016). All these factors align with the research topic of consumer tribes, which are led by their passions and social contact with others.

Instagram is the second-biggest platform with over 1 billion active users worldwide and part of the Facebook incorporation (Instagram, 2020). Instagram is one of the worldwide fastest growing social media platforms and the app, where many users spend most of their time online (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016). It uses visual media like pictures and short videos for communication, product visualization and brand enhancement (Doyle, 2016). Instagram (2020) describes itself as a platform that aims to inspire people and helps them to discover things they care about. Further, they promise companies to help them to “tap into people’s passions to create deeper relationships with your business” (Instagram, 2020). Instagram proved to be an effective marketing tool for brands to connect with their consumers by offering the possibility to create an account that Instagram users can follow (Roncha & Radclyffe-Thomas, 2016). This aligns with the fact, that an increasing number of companies are using Instagram to create engagement and communicate with their consumers, to increase their sales (Chen, 2018).

Furthermore, Instagram is an effective platform for connecting brands with consumers. 53% of Instagram users are following their favourite brands. That is more than on any other social networking site (SNS) (Weise, 2015). Instagram offers various ways of advertising for companies. One way is to create a business account where pictures and videos can be shared. This enables the owner of the account to see metrics about the followers and their interaction with the posted content (Instagram Business, 2020a). Another option is to advertise products on these platforms directly. Thereby, the exact audience can be targeted by selecting criteria like location, demographics, interests or

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behaviours (Instagram Business, 2020a). According to Instagram Business (2020b), 60% of people discover new products on Instagram and more than 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile daily. Taking all these facts together, it makes Instagram a relevant platform to explore social media brand communication of brands on consumer tribes. Also, it is suitable to examine the interactive communication between tribe members to cover the user-generated side of social media brand communication. For this reason, this work is dedicated to the exploration of how social media brand communication within the surf tribe is perceived by taking an exploratory look at corporate communication on social media channels from the perspective of the tribe members. In the next chapter, the concept of consumer tribes and the respective marketing approach are presented.

2.2 Concept of Consumer Tribes

This chapter describes the origin and concept of consumer tribes, which offer a new approach of segmentation and marketing activities. Following, a differentiation to other consumption communities is conducted and the main characteristics to understand consumer tribes from a marketing perspective are presented. This chapter concludes with the concept of consumption as an expression of self-identity and the utilization of tribal marketing as a promising approach to successfully target consumers in the era of social media.

2.2.1 Origin and Definition of Consumer Tribes

Traditional marketing approaches divide individual consumers into market segments to efficiently target them with marketing activities. But these segmentation processes mostly ignore the presence of social connections and their influence upon consumption (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). This gap is targeted by post-modern research approaches, which explore consumption within a social context and thus widen the perspective of consumers (Featherstone, 2007). Tribal marketing belongs to this approach, where consumers build and maintain groups focused on consumption, so-called consumer tribes (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). Consumer tribes as an omnipresent part of contemporary society have become a significant and relevant target for marketers (Moutinho et al., 2007).

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The actual meaning of the word tribe originates from the field of anthropology. It arose from the characteristics of archaic tribes such as ancient Indian tribes and was implemented as a universal term for these social groups. These societies were mostly characterized to be kin, share the same religious beliefs and maintain social order within the group without the existence of central power (Cova & Cova, 2002). But the connotation of the term tribe has evolved considerably over the years and has been completely reassessed in the context of consumer behaviour, which has reshaped the notion of the term of tribes significantly (Cova, 1999).

Today, consumer tribes are far away from historical recognition criteria as family ties or the geographic link to a certain territory. In contrary Maffesoli (1996, p. 98) states that consumer tribes can be rather seen “without the rigidity of the forms of organization with which we are familiar,” because nowadays the term rather “refers to a certain ambience, a state of mind, and is preferable to be expressed through lifestyles that favour appearance and form.” Bernard Cova is mostly seen as the originator of postmodern consumer tribes with his fundamental research in this field (see e.g. Cova B., 1997; 1999; Cova & Cova, 2001; 2002; Cova & White, 2010). Cova and Cova (2002, p. 602) define a consumer tribe as “a network of heterogenous persons – in terms of age, sex, income, etc. - who are linked by a shared passion or emotion; a tribe is capable of collective actions, its members are not simply consumers, they are also advocates.” Silva and Santos (2012) share this view but emphasize that the main reason for the emergence of tribes is the desire for social interaction, which often involves consumption and brands. Godin (2008, p. 12) whereas defines tribes as “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea”. He further states that a group only needs two things to be a tribe “a shared interest and a way to communicate”. This view adds the element of a leader to the definition and highlights the importance of communication, which the authors believe to be a significant condition of consumer tribes in the social media context. A leader might be part of a tribe, and considerably influence its characteristics (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011), but is not seen by the authors as an unconditional prerequisite.

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Examples for tribes are various, ranging from French in-line roller skaters (Cova & Cova, 2001) and Harry Potter fans (Brown, 2007) to surfers (Moutinho et al., 2007). All these tribes gather around a shared passion, which requires its members to consume certain products or services as “linking value” (Cova, 1997). Such linking value refers to the capability of a product or service to establish bonds between individuals and is rarely intentionally embedded (Cova & Cova, 2002). However, the linking value is not only provided by consumed goods, but it can also be defined as shared beliefs, emotions, and brand preferences (Cova & Cova, 2001). This is in line with the research of Schouten and McAlexander (1995), who investigated the subculture of bikers. These bikers grouped themselves around a mutual consumption behaviour, guided by shared beliefs and a collective attitude. Those shared beliefs find expression in consuming certain products and in their collective usage (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). Taking into account the different views of the mentioned authors, this thesis will use the following definition: A consumer tribe is a network of heterogeneous persons, who are linked by a shared passion, emotion or idea and the need for social interaction. This results in consuming certain products and services which provide the linking value of the group. Tribal members are capable of collective actions and act as advocates of their preferred brands.

These various explanatory approaches illustrate the diverse uses of the term tribe and reveal the development it has undergone over time. The following section provides a detailed differentiation to the related terminologies of subcultures of consumption and brand communities, as well as an account of typical characteristics by which consumer tribes can be identified.

2.2.2 Differentiation to Brand Communities and Subcultures of Consumption To further clarify the concept of consumer tribes, it is beneficial to differentiate it from other consumption communities. Furthermore, different consumption communities are often wrongly interchanged (Canniford, 2011), which leads to applying incorrect marketing measures. Thus, this chapter discusses the differences between subcultures of consumption, brand communities, and consumer tribes. Following the argumentation of Schouten and McAlexander (1995) subcultures of consumption can be described as

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social groups, who share an identifiable social structure, a unique ethos or mutual beliefs. They, as a group, self-select a commitment to certain brands or products by their repetitive consumption behaviour. Belonging to one specific subculture – for instance, the subculture of Skinheads – usually meant not being part of any other subculture (Shankar & Elliott, 1999). Thereby, the term subculture in some sense has a negative connotation, due to it being often used to describe alienating social conditions of entire social groups (Goulding, Shankar, Elliott, & Canniford, 2009). Subsequently, the term subculture of consumption suggests a strong correlation between the origin or social class of consumers and their purchase behaviour (Canniford, 2011).

In that context, there has been a lot of research conducted about brand communities, which must be considered as a different arrangement. Brand communities are specialized, non-geographically bound communities, who differ from consumer tribes as they are built around a specific brand or product (Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001). This prevalence for one distinctive product or brand can reach the dimension of exuberant glorification (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995), does not allow the consumption of similar products and comes close to a religious devotion towards the brand (Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001). Besides, members of brand communities create strong interpersonal relations as well as an obvious distinction from non-users of the brand (Schau, Muniz, & Arnould, 2009). However, while on the first sight both groupings may seem to be very similar, taking a closer look reveals that brand communities are explicitly commercial, whereas tribes are not (Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001).

In comparison to brand communities, consumer tribes are not obsessed with one particular brand. Instead, they build relationships with a variety of brands and products that are inspired by an activity they are enthusiastic about (Canniford, 2011). Furthermore, Tuominen (2011) describes consumer tribes as open, self-forming groups, which hold a distinctive meaning for the members within the tribe. This cognition of the consumption communities has shaped the understanding of the consumer tribes and, thereby, described their character. Further, the characteristics of consumer tribes are outlined in the following chapter to complete the understanding.

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Consumer tribes differ from other consumption communities not only by consuming various brands but also by several other characteristics. Canniford (2011) identified four different commonalities amongst different tribes and names them as multiplicity, playfulness, transience, and entrepreneurialism. First, unlike in subcultures of consumption, a tribe allows multiplicity. The tribe is not omnipresent in the daily life of the tribe members and plays a more subordinate role. Hence, for the tribe member, it is possible to be part of different tribes at the same time, due to their non-dominant character (Elliot & Davies, 2006). For instance, one member of the surf tribe still can be part of the Golden Retriever tribe at the same time without any restrictions. Also, the level of involvement of the tribe members often varies amongst each other and the status of the tribe should rather be seen as fluctuating than as fixed (Bennett, 1999). Describing the relationship between the tribe and tribe members as fluctuating also connotes an unstable relation, which shows that many of the relationships are just temporary (Kozinets, 1997). Kozinets (1999) researched tribal membership in an online context. He found out that membership depends on two factors. The first factor is how significant tribal consumption for the tribe member’s self-concept is. This is related to the importance a tribe member attributes to the shared activity or passion of the tribe. Secondly, how intense social relationships with other tribe members are. Both factors indicate the degree of participation and involvement an individual has with his tribe. (Kozinets, 1999). Beyond that, Cova and Cova (2002) subdivided the tribe members depending on their level of involvement into four different sections where the types are members, participants, practitioners and sympathizers. Thereupon, in a tribal study about vinyl collectors by Mitchell and Imrie (2011), these four role types were complemented by introducing the type of the chief as the main influencer of a tribe.

Second, tribe members do not have the moral responsibility, which brand community members often feel towards their beloved brand (Canniford, 2011). This perceived ease in their relationship evokes a certain playfulness with marketplace resources, e.g. emotions, institutions, brands, media, fashion or material culture (Barnes & Mattsson, 2017). Tribes plunder these resources without attaching particular importance to products

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or brands, but rather placing value on their passions or creating new forms of linking value (Canniford, 2011). Third, not only the tribe members are constantly changing, but also is the tribe itself. Tribes are often described as being permanently in flux (Canniford, 2011). As tribes evolve, they can also disappear again anytime, and therefore they are described as being transient (Goulding et al., 2009). Fourth, the open-minded attitude of tribes and their playful interaction with their environment cause an entrepreneurial spirit, which often leads to new entrepreneurial opportunities (Barnes & Mattsson, 2017). Recapitulated, previous research in this field has been broad and identified different types of consumption communities. However, in overall terms, it should be noted, that for postmodern people belonging to a tribe does not entail any disadvantages in the first place and can be perceived as a conscious decision to join a social environment. Facilitated by the fact that consumer tribes have no barriers for their members, which is characterized by the general openness to a variety of brands and that change is not perceived as a bad thing, makes them a welcome target group for marketers. The next section introduces the concept of consuming brands to express self-identity and explains the tribal marketing approach.

2.2.4 Consumption of Brands for Expressing Self-identity

It was mentioned above, that consumer tribes are not obsessed with one particular brand, but rather use a variety of brands that support them with their passion (Canniford, 2011). Tribes act playful with various marketplace resources and plunder them to create new forms of linking value (Canniford, 2011; Barnes & Mattsson, 2017). But following the view of Mitchel and Imrie (2011) the brands a tribe member consumes can be seen as an expression of self-identity. This aligns with the consumption theory, which states that brands give meaning to the lives of consumers and that they need to be understood as characters who can form interpersonal relationships with individuals (Fournier, 1998). Fundamental research in consumption practice theory shows that consumption often works as a driver of identity (Holt, 1995).

This aspect is also important when looking at consumer tribes, where consumption works as the linking value. Branded goods are often a major element of the identification and

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recognition system when being a member of a tribe. Hence, consuming branded goods usually becomes part of the affiliation process of a consumer tribe (Moutinho et al., 2007). This shows that the desired self-identity is attempted to be expressed by consumption (Canniford, 2011). It often happens that very specific brands are ranked higher in the consumers' favour (Sheth, 1991). One reason for this is that some consumers can identify more easily with specific brand images conveyed or that other brands simply appear to be more valuable than others in the perception of consumers. Beyond that, brands do not only have a value lying in themselves but also can reflect that value on the consumer by projecting the meaning on him when he consumes it (Aaker, 1996). According to Kapferer (1998), the value of the brand is inherited in the capacity to attain an exclusive significance in the mind of the tribe member, who reflects the meanings of the tribe in the branded goods. Together, the physical characteristics of the brand and the marketing message conveyed develop the brand’s image in the consumer's mind (Moutinho et al., 2007).

This thesis focuses on surf brands that offer fashion. There is no clear definition of what a surf brand is. Thus, the authors chose to define surf brands as brands who offer surf equipment like surfboards and at the same time fashion. This excludes fashion brands that only use the image of surfing for marketing purposes, like Hollister (Bettybelts, 2011). In many cases, the choice of clothes is a common and obvious way to present ones belonging to a group. Furthermore, in the course of the research, it should turn out that surf fashion brands succeed best to represent the typical surf attributes as most of them started as surf equipment manufacturers and then developed into fashion brands (see Appendix 2). That fashion states belonging to a group aligns with Feinberg, Mataro & Burroughs (1992) research about clothing and social identity. They came to the conclusion, that individuals use clothing to define and communicate their social identity and that observers can perceive this information presented in outfits. This indicates that especially fashion brands benefit from marketing to tribes. As Cova (1999) stated, consumer tribes, are linked by their consumption behaviour, their interest in the same activities, and their social interaction around the same shared beliefs. Thus, if a surf brand successfully markets to a tribe, they have customers with shared interests that will likely correspond

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with the brand’s communication and image. One prominent example is found in Cova and Cova’s (2001) study of the in-line skating tribe in Paris where apparel brands positioned themselves to target this specific segment with its own dress code. After clarifying the connection between branded goods and self-identity, the tribal marketing approach will be presented as a suitable technique to utilize these findings.

2.2.5 Tribal Marketing as Marketing Instrument

Within the scope of this research, it is crucial to outline the approach of tribal marketing to build a basic understanding of the concept. The basis of tribal marketing is the ethno-sociological theory, which contradicts the psychoethno-sociological theory that has been long dominant in consumption theory (Cova & Cova, 2002). While the psychosociological approach deals with how the behaviour of consumer A affects consumer B, the ethno-sociological approach deals with what brings consumer A and consumer B together (Bagozzi R., 1998). Cova and Cova (2002) call tribal marketing the Latin view of marketing, as it inherits a collectivistic view of consumption. This collectivistic view is considered in the tribal marketing approach, which differs from transactional or relational marketing where customers are grouped in segments or market niches (Cova & Cova, 2002). Today, the tribal marketing approach is more relevant than ever before. Especially the rise of social media facilitated the development of various consumer tribes (Silva & Santos, 2012). Additionally, Social Media provides rich information that consumers share online about their motives, cultural aspects and reasons for engaging with a brand. By utilizing this information, brands can formulate effective and compelling marketing strategies (Pathak & Pathak-Shelat, 2017).

To understand the tribal marketing approach, it is important to consider the characteristics of tribes. As mentioned above, do tribes group around shared passions and emotions and consume products and services that support the connection with other members. This ability of products to create a sense of “we-ness” or tribal belonging, is called linking-value (Cova B., 1997). This linking-linking-value is actively and constantly searched by tribes in products to foster their relationships with other tribe members (Thompson & Holt, 1996). Thus, the tribal marketing approach forces companies to focus less on the use-value of

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products or on “average” consumers. Instead, it motivates marketers to look at how to create a linking value that brings individuals together. A company that follows the tribal approach, views itself not as the pole of the relationship, but rather as support that helps with its products and services to enable links between customers. (Cova & Cova, 2002). That is why Canniford (2011) understands the main task of tribal marketing as facilitating consumer-consumer relations by any marketing activities that strengthen community links and boost the sense of membership.

Furthermore, Bagozzi (2000) states that tribal marketing is more precise than traditional segmentation. Because social influences constitute the biggest influence on an individual’s consumption decisions. Godin (2015) even argues that uniform mass markets are not existing and that they have been replaced by niche markets of tribes. Following this view, Mitchell and Imrie (2011) argue that one's involvement in a tribe can be viewed as an expression of self-identity. After all, consumer tribes share not only moral convictions but also consumption values and preferences. By understanding the tribe, marketers have the opportunity to gain access to a group of consumers that share the same consumption preferences and actually connect with each other (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). One important point of tribal marketing is the consideration that consumer tribes are entrepreneurial. They demand the possibility of co-creating and co-producing products and services (Canniford, 2011). This offers an opportunity for brands to create interaction with their products or services since tribes seek to play with marketplace resources and invest time and creativity to modify them to create linking value (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). One famous example is the brand Salomon, which established a cooperation with in-line skaters to design their products (Cova & Cova, 2001). Furthermore, the tribal approach does not use cognitive means like loyalty cards or similar but rather relies on rituals and cult places (Cova & Cova, 2002). A well-implemented tribal marketing approach offers the opportunity for marketers to create meaningful and “symbiotic” relationships with their customers. These relationships can take the form of advocacy from the tribe, which goes far beyond simple repetitive purchasing behaviour (Mitchell & Imrie, 2011). It can be concluded that the tribal marketing approach is both an opportunity and a challenge for many brands. Opportunity, as it offers a more precise approach than

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traditional segmentation and because the right implication allows establishing deep and meaningful relationships with the tribe members. Challenge, because it requires brands to engage in a novel marketing approach that focuses less on the use-value of a product and more on the linking value that the product contributes. Tribal marketing is certainly a research field that requires further investigation. Thus, this thesis is dedicated to the question of how the tribal marketing approach in combination with social media can be used to successfully communicate with the surf tribe. However, before both thematic parts of the theoretical framework can be reconciled with each other, the following chapter introduces the surf tribe and how social media is connected with consumer tribes.

2.3 The Surf Tribe and Social Media Brand Communication

After introducing consumer tribes and the concept of tribal marketing in general, the specific and iconic surf tribe and its characteristics will be presented. Following this, the concepts of social media communication and tribal marketing are put in relation to each other to lead to the research questions.

2.3.1 Surfers as a Consumer Tribe

Today, surfing booms in popularity and is part of the mainstream culture. The counter-cultural image eroded, and the few hundred surf addicts grew to an estimated 20 million-strong surfing community with a global system of tournaments, sponsorships, and advertisement (Engle, 2015). The popularity and level of appeal that surfing provides are evident in the growth of products that are associated with surfing, like music, film, and fashion that make use of the surf-culture to successfully position and sell their products (Canniford & Shankar, 2007). The brands and their connection to the sport highly differ. On the one hand, some brands are strongly linked to the sport, as they are manufacturing equipment like boards or suits, which makes their use by surfers almost mandatory. On the other hand, some brands solely use the images and symbols of the surfing community to benefit from the zeitgeist of sea and sun for their marketing strategies (Moutinho et al., 2007). One example of a brand that only uses the image of surfing for marketing purposes is the brand Hollister Co, created by Abercrombie and Fitch. Hollister was originally designed to attract young consumers, who like beaches and

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the surfing culture (Jimenez-Zarco, Martinez-Ruiz, & Yusta-Izquierdo, 2014). This plan succeeded and Hollister has established itself as a worldwide existing clothing brand (Stevens & Mullen, 2013). To establish the connection and make the brand more appealing, Hollister stressed its history in the surfing culture, which is dated back to the end of the nineteenth century. However, this history turned out to be completely fictitious (Eggers, 2015) and enraged the surfing community, calling Hollister Co a “fake surf brand” (Bettybelts, 2011; Carvemag, 2015).

Surfers and their community need to be considered as a tribe with their cult aspects of the sports, their performed rituals and the worshipping of certain beaches as “almost sacred places'' (Moutinho et al., 2007, p. 684). Surfing is often described by its members as their obsession. Already in the nineteenth century, a Hawaiian scholar wrote “the wife may go hungry (and) the children… but the head of the house does not care. All-day there is nothing but surfing”, something most hardcore surfers of the twenty-first century can relate to (Warshaw, 2011, p. 23). In the case of surfing, the linking value is not only beaches or surfboards, but also the brands surfers consume and the shared emotions and beliefs. Because surfing is more than just a sport, it is a way of life that highly influences music, brands and the fashion world (Moutinho et al., 2007).

Although surfers are often mentioned in publications about tribes and tribal marketing (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995; Fletcher et al., 2004; Meir & Scott, 2007), so far they have hardly been the main focus of a study and are rarely examined in closer detail. One notable exception is the work of Moutinho et al. (2007). They investigated tribal consumption behaviour in the context of the surfing community in Portugal with the conclusion that brands need to adjust their marketing strategy according to the unique tribal perspective. This is because they found out that tribe members are generally “willing to drink coffee or beer brands that actively support surfing”, but at the same time “not necessarily prefer a car brand” which tries to be associated with the lifestyle (Moutinho et al., 2007, p. 684), what in turn shows very clearly the conflict or dilemma in which marketers find themselves. Depending on the level of involvement, some surf tribe members are willing to consume certain brands while other brands are deliberately avoided. Still following Moutinho et al. (2007), they pointed out that members with a

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high involvement favour brands that are in their view benefiting the sport and the surfing community. Whereas low involvement members are more indifferent and are equally attracted by brands which benefit the sport but at the same time also to brands that only use the cool surfing image to target their target group. In turn, this example suggests how important it is for marketers and brands that the core of the message of their brand communication is authentic and focuses on the emotions that bring the individual tribe members together to reach the whole tribe. Moutinho et al.’s (2007) work has shown elementary conclusions for the strategic orientation of brand communication. The challenge for marketers is to master the balancing act between increasing sales by their marketing communication but also maintain the core of the surfer community by matching their needs and expectations. This led to the first research question of this thesis: RQ1: What are the characteristics and beliefs of surf tribe members?

This research question is connected to the above introduced linking value. Tribes are held together through their linking value, which can be defined as shared beliefs, emotions and preferred brands (Cova & Cova, 2001). This question explores these factors and the similarities of the surf tribe. Thus, a better understanding of the surf tribe is gained, which also benefits marketers who want to formulate authentic marketing messages.

2.3.2 The Effect of Social Media Brand Communication on Consumer Tribes In the previous chapters, the significance of social media brand communication and the concept of tribal marketing for marketers nowadays have been introduced. Since social media facilitates the building of social bonds between members of the network, it is interesting to understand how it affects consumer tribes. It is especially interesting to investigate how companies can utilize social media to communicate with their tribes and how this communication needs to be designed to be perceived relevant. The research about social media and brand communities i.e. virtual brand communities (Schau et al., 2009; Brodie, Ilic, Juric, & Hollebeek, 2013; Habibi, Laroche, & Richard, 2014; Dessart, Veloutsou, & Morgan-Thomas, 2015; Kim & Lee, 2019) is relatively large, whereas the research on the effects of social media and consumer tribes is comparatively low. This is a paradox because technological progress in the form of social media enabled

Surfing the Instagram Wave : How surf brands can use Instagram to communicate with the surf tribe