Employing netnography approach to describe brand image from customers’ perspectives - The case of coolmate

Abstract

As internet users continue to grow rapidly, online platforms have become increasingly popular for brands to promote, sell, and market their products. This trend is particularly evident in the fashion industry, where digital channels offer significant opportunities for reaching and engaging consumers. With the proliferation of online social media, brands in the fashion sector are leveraging these platforms to build their brand image and connect closely with their customers. In this context, this study aims to delve into various aspects of Coolmate's brand image as perceived by its customers. In this study, a combination of in-depth interviews and netnographic data collection methods were employed to gather comprehensive insight. These methods help the study to achieve a robust and multifaceted understanding of the brand image from the customers’ perspective. In total, 05 online communities with 42 posts and 342 comments are studied. The online communities are selected based on 05 criteria, including their relevance to the study, high “traffic” of postings, high numbers of discrete message posters, rich data, and having many between-member interactions. The research findings show that there are 18 main aspects of Coolmate perceived and discussed by customers in online communities, which can be grouped into four categories, including: Intrinsic, Extrinsic, Appearance and Performance attributes. Among these 18 aspects, there are 06 characteristics of Coolmate discussed in all 05 communities with high frequencies, including Durability, Hand-feel, Size, Promotion activities, Customer service, and Price. Based on the findings of this study, several managerial implications are proposed for Coolmate and other similar fashion brands to enhance and solidify their brand image in the minds of their customers.