Abstract

Existing work has proposed that a brand community can create value for both consumers and the brand. Yet, when a brand community is stigmatized, consumers might face outside threats by participating in it. While we know about consumers participating in legitimate brand communities, we know much less about consumers participating in stigmatized ones. This research answers this gap by exploring the mechanism through which consumers create a vetted safe space where they can interact around a stigmatized consumption interest while being protected. To theorize the mechanisms through which stigmatized consumers establish and manage their safe space, I perform a case study of a stigmatized Chinese celebrity and his fan community and analyze a qualitative dataset composed of interviews and archival data. My analysis demonstrates five mechanisms. First, I explain how fans ensure a safe community by managing membership and restricting community entry to only other existing fan. Second, I show how fans maintain unity by establishing a collective identity, managing internal conflicts, and emphasizing the common interest. Third, I discuss how fans ensure group secrecy by preventing information leakage and avoiding unnecessary online interactions with outsiders. Fourth, I explain how safety is ensured through policing, exemplifying through the monitoring of community members and moderators. Last, I show how fans extend safety beyond the community by making public spaces safer and making close relationships safer.
I enrich the literature on brand communities by introducing the concept of safe space and theorizing how it is enacted in a consumption context. I also contribute to marketing practice by offering managerial guidelines for the management of stigmatized brand communities.