Revija za sociologiju, Vol. 44 No. 1, 2014.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.5613/rzs.44.1.3
Velebit Beer Case: Example of Brand Community Construction and Consumption as Immaterial Labour
Ivan Burić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8539-6013
; Odjel za komunikologiju, Hrvatski studiji, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The basic topic of this paper is the phenomenon of brand communities’ constitution as neo-tribal forms of social association. Theoretical elaboration of this phenomenon is supplemented by the case study of the Velebit beer brand community. This case confirms two important theoretical aspects of the brand communities’ phenomena. Firstly, objects of consumption in certain situations in modern consumer societies could be functional in community constitution. In the case of analyzed groups of Velebit beer consumers, beer as the object of consumption operated as an “additional marker” of collective identity. Secondly, brand communities are the space where “communal consumption” functions as a means of production of specific socio-cultural value that is most often expressed through the concept of brand. This type of production affirms the theory of “immaterial labour” as an important mode of production in the contemporary capitalist system. The Velebit beer case confirms that a specific version of immaterial labour can be found in the process of communal consumption as well – in this case, consumption that took place within a specific communal context.
Ključne riječi
Velebit beer; consumers; subculture; brand community; brand; immaterial labour; co-production
Hrčak ID:
132056
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.4.2014.
Posjeta: 2.582 *