Assisting in the Use of the Brand.
Moral responsibility also includes looking out for and helping other members in their consumption of the brand. While limited in its scope, this assistance is an important component of these communities. Most of the informants report having helped others, both known and unknown. It was something they do “without thinking,” simply acting out of a sense of responsibility that they felt toward other members of the community.
One of the ways this assistance manifests itself is through actions to help fellow community members repair the product or solve problems with it, particularly involving specialized knowledge acquired through several years of using the brand. For example, more than one Mac community member reports helping another to retrieve information off a broken hard disk drive. It is “just something that we do.” They feel compelled to help, particularly when they themselves “had been there before.” Also illustrative of this tendency is a Saab driver telling of stopping to help other Saab drivers who were broken down on the side of the road. Reports of such behavior are common.