New insights into online consumption communities and netnography Henri Weijo a, ⁎, Joel Hietanen b,1 , Pekka Mattila b,2 a Aalto University School of Business, Department of Marketing, P.O. BOX 21230, 00076 AALTO, Helsinki, Finland b Aalto University School of Business, Department of Marketing, P.O. BOX 21230, 00076 AALTO, Helsinki, Finland abstract article info Article history: Received 1 March 2014 Received in revised form 1 April 2014 Accepted 30 April 2014 Available online xxxx Keywords: Online communities Netnography Introspection Methodology This study provides new insights to online consumption communities by questioning the currently dominant view of communities being structured by subcultural capital and meanings pertinent to a specific field of con- sumption, such as one brand or consumption interest. This study argues for more sensitivity in recognizing in- creasing delocalization, which manifests itself in significant overlap between communities and consequently freer movement of participants between them. This study draws from a longitudinal and introspective netnographic research project in what was originally an electronic music community to discuss the conse- quences of this development. The study finds that delocalization manifests itself through situated individualism and delocalized performances within online consumption communities, and offers implications for future netnographic inquiry. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The study of different types of consumption communities has be- come a staple topic within the field of consumer culture theory (Luedicke, 2006; McAlexander et al., 2002; Schau, Muñiz, & Arnould, 2009; for CCT, see Arnould & Thompson, 2005). More recently, however, research interest has concentrated on social consumption activities tak- ing place in online consumption communities (Cova & Pace, 2006; Kozinets, 2002; Muñiz & Schau, 2005). But as the online realm is contin- uously evolving, some assumptions need to be revisited. The rise of net- work society was proclaimed long ago already (Castells, 1996), but it is only recently that the full effect of how global ideologies and digitally enabled information flows shape local consumption contexts have become visible (Appadurai, 1990; Bennett, 1999; Kjeldgaard & Askegaard, 2006). Contemporary online environments are recognized as catalysts for the fragmentation and cluttering of the marketplace with meanings and signs, as outlined in postmodern frameworks of consumption (Brown, 1995; Deuze, 2006; Firat & Dholakia, 2006; Firat & Venkatesh, 1995). By consequence, online environments have be- come multiple and delocalized with people sharing various connections or maintaining digital presences in multiple communities across the globe (Kozinets, 2010). However, this type of multiplicity between on- line consumption communities lacks theorization, and especially meth- odological concerns need addressing. The main purpose of this study is to illustrate some of the conse- quences of this technological and cultural shift in consumer research of online communities. The study illustrates how the increasing connec- tivity between online consumption communities makes defining a community's structure as being tied to one single consumption interest difficult — a problem noted in some recent works (Arsel & Thompson, 2011; Kozinets, 2007; Thomas, Price, & Schau, 2013). Based on findings from a longitudinal research project with a strong autoethnographic and introspective orientation conducted in a Finnish online consump- tion community, this study shows that members of such fragmented online consumption communities are increasingly engaging in commu- nities from a more individualistic perspective and by connecting to a multitude of contexts — both offline and online. This study also under- lines the difficulties in defining community structure through tradition- al means, such as subcultural capital (Thornton, 1996). Finally, this study illustrates how researching such complex contexts can greatly benefit from autoethnographic and introspective approaches. 2. Theoretical background The study of different types of consumption communities has claimed centrality in research on consumer collectives, resulting in con- ceptual breakthroughs such as subculture of consumption, brand commu- nity and consumer tribe (Canniford, 2011; Cova, Kozinets & Shankar, 2007; Schouten & McAlexander, 1995; McAlexander et al., 2002). While many of these prior studies have also dealt with the online Journal of Business Research xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author at: Bentley University, 175 Forest St, Waltham, MA 02452, United States. Tel.: +358 50 400 1389. E-mail addresses: henri.weijo@aalto.fi, hweijo@bentley.edu (H. Weijo), joel.hietanen@aalto.fi, joel.hietanen@sbs.su.se (J. Hietanen), pekka.mattila@aalto.fi (P. Mattila). 1 Present address: Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel.: +358 50 312 0927. 2 Tel.: +358 40 738 7221. JBR-08074; No of Pages 7 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.04.015 0148-2963/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research Please cite this article as: Weijo, H., et al., New insights into online consumption communities and netnography, Journal of Business Research (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.04.015