Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a research approach to investigate brand alignment by exploiting textual data from online brand communities in the coffee industry. Specifically, consumer brand associations from user-generated content (UGC) and company brand associations from firm-generated content (FGC) are explored to measure the alignment between brand identity and brand image. The selected context of research is the beverage industry wherein companies are called on to develop appropriate digital websites and brand communication strategies to enhance the consumers' brand experience.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors introduce a research approach that integrates netnography with text mining analysis. Since brand associations were the basis of the study’s analysis, the authors focused on text mining procedures, providing data (co-occurrences) corresponding to brand associations that consumers perceive and that the company communicates. Data were used to develop the measurements of brand alignment.

Findings

The main findings of this research highlight the importance for both scholars and practitioners of determining brand alignment of beverage products in online communities. Knowing the alignment between the way a company communicates its brand identity and how this is perceived by consumers allows for effectively reviewing brand communication.

Originality/value

Although the combined analysis of the alignment between brand image and brand identification has received attention in marketing literature, most scholars have neglected how to measure brand alignment. This is a need for many marketing managers in the coffee industry who are now moving in digital environments where the role of consumers is not that of receivers of brand communication but rather that of cocreators of brand value.

中文翻译：

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结合在线市场研究方法来调查品牌一致性：Nespresso案例

目的

本文的目的是提出一种研究方法，通过利用来自咖啡行业在线品牌社区的文本数据来调查品牌一致性。具体而言，探索了来自用户生成的内容（UGC）的消费者品牌关联和来自公司生成的内容（FGC）的公司品牌关联，以测量品牌标识与品牌形象之间的一致性。选定的研究背景是饮料行业，在该行业中，公司被要求开发适当的数字网站和品牌传播策略以增强消费者的品牌体验。

设计/方法/方法

作者介绍了一种将民族志与文本挖掘分析相集成的研究方法。由于品牌关联是研究分析的基础，因此作者专注于文本挖掘程序，提供与消费者感知并与公司进行沟通的品牌关联相对应的数据（共现）。数据用于制定品牌一致性的衡量标准。

发现

这项研究的主要发现凸显了对于学者和从业者确定在线社区中饮料产品品牌定位的重要性。了解公司传达其品牌标识的方式与消费者如何感知品牌标识之间的一致性，可以有效地审查品牌传播。

创意/价值

尽管对品牌形象和品牌识别之间的一致性的组合分析在市场营销文献中已受到关注，但大多数学者都忽略了如何衡量品牌一致性的方法。这是咖啡行业中许多营销经理的需求，他们现在正在数字环境中移动，在这种环境中，消费者的角色不再是品牌传播的接受者，而是品牌价值的创造者。