A brand tribe can be defined as a network of varied persons -who are linked by a shared belief around a brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

; its members are not simple consumers, they are also believers and promoters. A brand tribe is capable of collective action and therefore has implications for post-modern business..

Origins

The concept of tribal consumption revolves around the research and writings of numerous academic researchers who have expressed “Tribal Based Views of brand”. Michel Maffesoli

Michel Maffesoli

Michel Maffesoli is a French sociologist of italian origin.He is a former pupil of Gilbert Durand and is at present a professor at the Paris Descartes University. Michel Maffesoli made a work around the issue of social link community, the prevalence of imagination and everyday life in contemporary...

(1996), Cova (1997), Veloutsou and Moutinho (2007), Cova and Cova (2001, 2002), Kozinets, Shankar et al. (2007),
D’Alessandro describes the tribes we belong to as "determined even less by geography, pedigree, race or religion. Instead, our tribes are determined largely by education and accomplishment, and they are manifested by the things we consume. More and more, they are brand tribes."

Much of the research on brand tribalism depicts 21st Century society as a network of micro-cultures or “tribes”. A key element of brand tribes is that they are organically and voluntarily formed through individual identification with a brand. Factors that contribute to the formation of a brand tribe are perceived brand authenticity, experiences felt through interaction with the brand and a collective sense of belonging within a group.

Central to the fabric of brand tribes is a deep conviction as to the notion of truth or rightness (Belief)

Potential red flags

Much in this area is still under-theorised. Academics have explored and discussed the degree of connectedness between consumers and brands and the implications for post-modern organisations and consumption.
Kozinets and Handelman have been amongst those to call for further conceptualisations (Kozinets and Handelman, 2004).

Further reading

• Kozinets, Robert V. & Jay M. Handelman (2004) “Adversaries of Consumption: Consumer Movements, Activism, Ideology,” Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (3), 691-704.
• Cova, B. and Cova, V. (2002), “Tribal marketing: the tribalisation of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing.” European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36, No.5& 6, pp. 595–620.
• Cova, B. and Cova, V. (2001) ‘Tribal aspects of postmodern consumption: the case of French in-line roller skaters,’ Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 1, No 1, p. 67-76.
• Kozinets,R. Cova, B. and Shankar, A. (eds) (2007) Consumer Tribes: Theory, Practice, and Prospects, Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, London.
• Maffesoli, M. (1996), The Time of the Tribes. London.