Luxury brand marketers and advertisers are turning recent attention to social brand communities among users of luxury fashion brands (Ko & Megehee, 2012). Corporations or consumers build social brand communities to create authentic customer experiences, inspire interactivity, and enhance attitudes toward brand, brand loyalty, and purchase behavior. We look to structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) for providing new conceptual foundations for studying luxury brand communities (LBC) in the social media context. Our aim is to show that LBC strategies are effective for promoting luxury brands. Using structuration theory, we indicate that structure, integration, and interactivity provide conceptual frameworks for integrating and conceptualizing LBC. Our study is the first to use structuration theory concepts to develop a theoretical framework for LBC in the social media context. Through this study, we clarify (1) LBC structure, integration, and interactivity based on structuration theory in the social media context, (2) actual interaction and perceived interactivity of social media-based LBC, (3) structure, integration, and interactivity as they affect attitude, purchase intention, and brand loyalty as outcomes. Our clarifications suggest possible implications for luxury brand management practitioners. Marketing practitioners know that LBCs amplify customer relationships. Through this study, we offer insights to help luxury brand management practitioners understand customer behaviors in LBCs. Marketing practitioners will benefit from new ideas regarding how to develop and manage luxury brand strategies by understanding structure, integration, actual interaction, and perceived interactivity.

• Juran Kim(Jeonju University)
• Ki Hoon Lee(Jeonju University)