“Consumer Tribes” is a book edit by Bernard Cova, Robert V. Kozinets and Avi Shankar. The book is a collection of articles drawn together from scholars all over the world on the emerging research field of consumer tribes. According to Prof. Cova, consumer tribes denote consumer who not just consume in a traditional sense of “using”, “destroying” and “depleting” economic goods but who consume things while at the same them changing them.

Consumer tribes in this book are doing far more than consume. They do not consume things without changing them. They cannot consume a good without engaging in a dance with a service provider. Participatory culture is everywhere.

Cova further explains the different roles consumer tribes engage in. He distinguishes between tribes as entrepreneurs, tribes as double agents, tribes as plunderers and tribes as activators. The other chapters in the book dive into each of these roles in more detail.

Some of my favorite chapters are:

“Marketing the savage: appropriate tribal tropes” which discusses how surf culture has developed through various media and marketing influences. The consumer tribe of surfers is analyzed and its history and influences are explored.

Putting this another way, […] surfing affords a “primeval way of life….the complete antithesis of a too mechanized, too routinized, too tame civilization”. Furthermore surfing provides a kind of carnival space through which to seek out alternatives interpretations of modern culture.

“Sociality in motion: exploring logics of tribal consumption among cruisers” explores the underlying motivation of car enthusiasts who stylize and customize their cars and drive in convoys to participate in a community.

This being-as-a-group, or as they prefer “standing out from the crowd”, can be reaffirmed in their resistance or antipathy the logic of the market and their desire to inflect their own meanings from such commodities.

“Hunting for cool tribes” looks at the origin of the word cool (it is derived from the “jive” talk of black musicians after the First World War) and answers the question what is cool and what is not.

Cool is not something you can set out to acquire, it is something that is acknowledged in you by others.

“Factors contributing to club formation and continuum” suggests that marketplace collectivities such as fan clubs are possibly a consequence of consumers seeking sanctuary within their confines.

Research suggests that three phases associate with the formation and continuance of fan clubs, notably imprinting, incubation and intensification

Other chapters look at the power of Harry Potter fans when they influences the author’s original plans for the seven-book series, the increasing number of independent Star Trek episodes created by loyal fans, gothic entrepreneurs as well as the motivation and characteristics of being a Hummer driver. Here is one statement of one Hummer driver:

People actually try and cut us off on the freeway. We have been cussed at, yelled at, given the thumbs down for killing children (not sure what that was about). Six times in the last three months, people have tried to steal a parking spot from us when we were waiting first. This only makes me want to drive a Hummer more!

Conclusion:

The book provides valuable insights into different consumer tribes and consumer sub-cultures. Even though the tribes usually reflect a special customer segment understanding this group of consumers is of major importance for organizations because these consumer tribes inevitably turn in brand ambassadors – good or bad. It is written in an academic style (several chapters are based on publications in scientific journals), yet it is still easily readable and provides valuable references in case further information is needed for certain aspects.

The case studies presented in the different chapters are excellent examples that in order to understand consumers it is necessary to look beyond segmentation variables and traditional methods of market research and dive into consumer segments with qualitative, ethnographic methods to fully grasp consumer motivations and needs.

More information at Amazon.com.

Posted in book reviews, customer insight | Permalink | 1 Comment »