Fans and brands : A Star Wars story: The Last Jedi
Rosas Bagaces, Cristina (2019)
2019
Master's Degree Programme in Media Management
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2019-05-20
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201905211828
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201905211828
Tiivistelmä
Brand communities are a recent focus of study in media management. In this thesis, the Star Wars brand community and their reaction to the latest Star Wars film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is analysed to understand how managerial implications shape today’s media economy. This develops an understanding of the brand community in theory of practice to explain why fans are so engaged with the Star Wars brand that this enables the stories to be continuously regenerated. The theory framework utilises models proposed by 1) Muñiz and O’Guinn (2001) “Brand Communities”; 2) “Understanding Fandom” by Duffet (2013) and 3) understanding the brand management theory in the article “How Brand Community Practice Creates Value” by Schau, Muñiz and Arnould (2009).
Through a collective analysis of threads from three popular discussion boards concerning The Last Jedi, a pattern in the fan reactions emerged; the fan reactions were divided. This thesis aims to discover the cause of the rift and how to avoid future fan divisions in order to uphold its brand value. The managerial implications concluded in this study highlight the importance for managers to recognise the influence its brand community has. It is important to cater to the different types of fans and to conserve the loyalty of the more dedicated fans while constantly renewing the brand. Maintenance of the brand depends on their fans and protecting the brand means safeguarding the meaning of Star Wars which will guarantee its future.
Through a collective analysis of threads from three popular discussion boards concerning The Last Jedi, a pattern in the fan reactions emerged; the fan reactions were divided. This thesis aims to discover the cause of the rift and how to avoid future fan divisions in order to uphold its brand value. The managerial implications concluded in this study highlight the importance for managers to recognise the influence its brand community has. It is important to cater to the different types of fans and to conserve the loyalty of the more dedicated fans while constantly renewing the brand. Maintenance of the brand depends on their fans and protecting the brand means safeguarding the meaning of Star Wars which will guarantee its future.