Online behaviour of luxury brand advocates: differences between active advocates and passive loyalists

The study aims to identify online behaviours of luxury brand advocates referring to differentiation between active and passive loyalists. A netnographic approach was used to observe groups of luxury handbag advocates. Key findings include an identification of engagement manifested in positive word of mouth and enthusiastic brand recommendation. Advocates routinely share their love of particular brands, openly expressing joy and sharing heightened levels of self-esteem. Engaged passive loyalists tend to share less with peers, but instead celebrate their purchases more personally. INTRODUCTION Online brand advocates have become a major influence in luxury handbag purchase decisions. They engage and form activities in online blogs and forums to exchange opinions, feelings and recommending brands/products they cherish. There are large numbers of luxury handbag fans who almost religiously access blogs and forums or join online brand communities where they ‘lurk’ hungry for more information on the brands/products they are interested in. 91% of people buy on the recommendation of brand advocates (Keller, 2005). Bughin et al. (2010) also found that word-of-mouth (WOM) from brand advocates influences 20-50% of purchase decisions particularly when buying luxury products. Brand advocates take a more active role in consumption and seek hedonistic and experiential aspects of consumption (brand/product experiences) which they can share with other consumers (Simmons, 2008, Gambetti and Graffigna, 2010). Although much attention has been dedicated to brand advocacy research (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001; McAlexander et al., 2002, 2003; Muniz and Schau, 2005; Kim et al., 2008; Jang et al., 2008; Di Maria and Finotto, 2008) investigations into online brand advocates in specific categories are less abundant. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The objective of this study is to discover and identify key online advocacy behaviours of luxury handbags advocates via text conversations and pictures posted by active advocates and thereby recognise differences between active brand advocates and passive brand loyalists. This study aims to add to those insights of online advocacy behaviours addressed by Di Maria and Finotto (2008), Kim et al. (2008), and Jang et al. (2008). LITERARURE REVIEW Brand advocacy is an extreme form of loyalty (Christopher et al., 1991; Peck et al., 1999). A brand advocate has been defined as “someone who actively recommends you to others and does your marketing for you” (Peck et al., 1999:45). Schultz (2000) defined brand advocates as committed customers with emotional bonds displaying a high level of engagement. Two categories of brand advocates can be observed; either employed by brand owners or those who independently become advocates. Self-appointed advocates are actively supporting the brand from a genuine love for the brand. They express their advocacy behaviour through WOM and by openly recommending the brand to others. This significant behaviour differentiates them from passive loyalists who also cherish their brands, but do not display their devotion in public. The literature suggests that brand advocates initially develop their