Understanding service practices of customers on the internet: a case study of a Volvo brand community

Abstract The significance of consumers in the process of value creation has been shown by researchers that study brand communities, in which consumers perform practices that create value. Some of these consumer practices are service practices, enacted by consumers to offer service to other members of the brand community. By drawing on value creation, service dominant logic and brand community research we, in the present thesis, identify a number of service providing practices that brand community members offer to other consumers. We conduct the research on an online Volvo fan community using netnographic research method. We have found 8 customer service practices organized in to 3 main themes. This thesis also contributes to previous research by suggesting that; customers consciously integrate resources to offer to online communities; customers propose value for other customers in the course of service provision; and that customer service practices are significant both for brand communities and the brand image. In addition to this we have outlined a model which shows customer value proposition to community members and its rewarding effect both for community members and the brand (firm). The thesis concludes with discussing theoretical contributions and managerial implications. Key words Brand community, brand community practices, service dominant logic, value co-creation, service practice