H6: The Brandfest and the Construct of Brand
Community
Analysis strongly confirms H6 for the entire sample; brandfest
participation led to significant increases in overall feelings
of integration in the Jeep brand community (IBC). Not evident from an analysis of the quantitative data is that the
reasons and the processes behind the strengthening of community
differ between the two groups. From the ethnographic
experience, we learned that novice owners at a
brandfest begin to feel more a part of the community as they
learn to consume the brand in ways that provide greater benefits
to them, whether those benefits are utilitarian, selfexpressive,
social, and/or hedonic. For the more experienced
owners, the brandfest provides opportunities to demonstrate
and reaffirm their community ties while both mentoring and
performing for neophyte owners.