To address this problem, we sought out places where we
could find loyal customers, and we studied the processes
that led to their loyalty. What we found were consumers
forging and strengthening a variety of relationships. Many
recent quests for the loyalty grail have ventured into the area
of relationship marketing (see Garbarino and Johnson 1999;
Gruen, Summers, and Acito 2000; Price and Arnould 1999).
As a new imperative in marketing practice (Berry 1995;
Deighton 1996; Gundlach, Achrol, and Mentzer 1995; Webster
1992), a focus on customer relationships is presented as
an avenue to competitive advantage (Berry 1983, 1995;
Kalwani and Naryandas 1995; Peppers and Rogers 1993).
The relationships we observed were in many ways different
from those that have been the focus of most prior research
(see Fournier 1998). We found consumers and marketers
jointly building communities. In exploring those communities,
we discovered new ways of understanding loyalty.