James H. McAlexander

Bio: James H. McAlexander is an academic researcher from Oregon State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Brand community & Brand management. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 38 publications receiving 6490 citations. Previous affiliations of James H. McAlexander include College of Business Administration & Iowa State University.

Building brand community

Abstract: A brand community from a customer-experiential perspective is a fabric of relationships in which the customer is situated. Crucial relationships include those between the customer and the brand, between the customer and the firm, between the customer and the product in use, and among fellow customers. The authors delve ethnographically into a brand community and test key findings through quantitative methods. Conceptually, the study reveals insights that differ from prior research in four important ways: First, it expands the definition of a brand community to entities and relationships neglected by previous research. Second, it treats vital characteristics of brand communities, such as geotemporal concentrations and the richness of social context, as dynamic rather than static phenomena. Third, it demonstrates that marketers can strengthen brand communities by facilitating shared customer experiences in ways that alter those dynamic characteristics. Fourth, it yields a new and richer conceptuali...

Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers

Abstract: This article introduces the subculture of consumption as an analytic category through which to better understand consumers and the manner in which they organize their lives and identities Recognizing that consumption activities, product categories, or even brands may serve as the basis for interaction and social cohesion, the concept of the subculture of consumption solves many problems inherent in the use of ascribed social categories as devices for understanding consumer behavior This article is based on three years of ethnographic fieldwork with Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners A key feature of the fieldwork was a process of progressive contextualization of the researchers from outsiders to insiders situated within the subculture Analysis of the social structure, dominant values, and revealing symbolic behaviors of this distinct, consumption-oriented subculture have led to the advancement of a theoretical framework that situates subcultures of consumption in the context of modern consumer culture and discusses, among other implications, a symbiosis between such subcultures and marketing institutions Transferability of the principal findings of this research to other subcultures of consumption is established through comparisons with ethnographies of other self-selecting, consumption-oriented subcultures

Service quality measurement.

Abstract: Extending the research on service quality in health care, the authors examine the efficacy of four models for measuring service quality and conclude that SERVPERF methods are superior to SERVQUAL methods. Their study found that dental patients' assessments of overall service quality were strongly influenced by assessments of provider performance. Furthermore, an examination into the causal order between perceptions of overall service quality and patient satisfaction reveals such strong reciprocal influences that it's impossible to conclude that one empirically precedes the other. Finally, the authors found that purchase intentions are influenced by both patient satisfaction and patient assessments of overall service quality.

Transcendent customer experience and brand community

Abstract: Transcendent customer experiences (TCEs), which have aspects of flow and/or peak experience, can generate lasting shifts in beliefs and attitudes, including subjective self-transformation. With data from a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental field experiment we examine the impact of TCEs on customers’ integration in a brand community. Because TCEs are highly desirable and valued for their own sake, customers value marketing activities they perceive as instrumental to them. This study demonstrates that a TCE in the context of a marketer-facilitated consumption activity can strengthen a person’s ties to a brand community, delivering a particularly strong form of brand loyalty.

Loyalty: The Influences of Satisfaction and Brand Community Integration

Abstract: This paper empirically explores the relative impacts of satisfaction, brand community integration, and consumer experience on customer loyalty as expressed by future purchase intentions and behavior. Data drawn from qualitative research and a survey of 1000 patrons of a Native American casino who indicate a willingness to engage in formal marketing relationships indicate that satisfaction yields to brand community integration as a key driver of loyalty. We discuss important implications of the findings for marketing theory and practice.

Whence Consumer Loyalty

Abstract: Both practitioners and academics understand that consumer loyalty and satisfaction are linked inextricably. They also understand that this relation is asymmetric. Although loyal consumers are most ...

Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research

Abstract: Although the relationship metaphor dominates contemporary marketing thought and practice, surprisingly little empirical work has been conducted on relational phenomena in the consumer products domain, particularly at the level of the brand. In this article, the author: (1) argues for the validity of the relationship proposition in the consumer-brand context, including a debate as to the legitimacy of the brand as an active relationship partner and empirical support for the phenomenological significance of consumer-brand bonds; (2) provides a framework for characterizing and better understanding the types of relationships consumers form with brands; and (3) inducts from the data the concept of brand relationship quality, a diagnostic tool for conceptualizing and evaluating relationship strength. Three in-depth case studies inform this agenda, their interpretation guided by an integrative review of the literature on person-to-person relationships. Insights offered through application of inducted concepts to two relevant research domains — brand loyalty and brand personality — are advanced in closing. The exercise is intended to urge fellow researchers to refine, test, and augment the working hypotheses suggested herein and to progress toward these goals with confidence in the validity of the relationship premise at the level of consumers’ lived experiences with their brands.

Some New Thoughts on Conceptualizing Perceived Service Quality: A Hierarchical Approach:

Abstract: Through qualitative and empirical research, the authors find that the service quality construct conforms to the structure of a third-order factor model that ties service quality perceptions to distinct and actionable dimensions: outcome, interaction, and environmental quality. In turn, each has three subdimensions that define the basis of service quality perceptions. The authors further suggest that for each of these subdimensions to contribute to improved service quality perceptions, the quality received by consumers must be perceived to be reliable, responsive, and empathetic. The authors test and support this conceptualization across four service industries. They consider the research and managerial implications of the study and its limitations.

Consumer Culture Theory (Cct): Twenty Years of Research

Abstract: This article provides a synthesizing overview of the past 20 yr. of consumer research addressing the sociocultural, experiential, symbolic, and ideological aspects of consumption. Our aim is to provide a viable disciplinary brand for this research tradition that we call consumer culture theory (CCT). We propose that CCT has fulfilled recurrent calls for developing a distinctive body of theoretical knowledge about consumption and marketplace behaviors. In developing this argument, we redress three enduring misconceptions about the nature and analytic orientation of CCT. We then assess how CCT has contributed to consumer research by illuminating the cultural dimensions of the consumption cycle and by developing novel theorizations concerning four thematic domains of research interest.