The benefits to a firm of cultivating brand community are
many and diverse. Community-integrated customers serve as
brand missionaries, carrying the marketing message into other
communities. They are more forgiving than others of product
failures or lapses of service quality (Berry 1995). They are
less apt to switch brands, even when confronted with superior
performance by competing products. They are motivated to
provide feedback to corporate ears. They constitute a strong
market for licensed products and brand extensions. In many
cases, we even find loyal customers making long-term investments
in a company’s stock. Customers who are highly integrated
in the brand community are emotionally invested in the
welfare of the company and desire to contribute to its success