ABD Journal, Volume 5 Number 1, 2013 Naturally Occurring Brands: A Preliminary Test of Validity Christine Wright-Isak Mushfiq Swaleheen Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, Florida 33965 Fort Myers, Florida 33965 cwright@fgcu.edu mswaleheen@fgcu.edu Abstract Advancing current marketing theory that brands are symbols produced as a result of combined cultural and marketing processes, naturally occurring brands (NOBs) have been posited in previous research to be symbolic phenomena that influence consumers but are not created or managed by commercial entities. Their existence opens marketing theory and practice to recognizing a new source of competition for commercial brands. In this paper, the validity of the NOB concept is tested using community NOBs – small town, suburbia and city – as the examples. Introduction The Intersection of Branding and Community Branding as a marketing tool. The commercial value of marketing brands is that consumers form relationships with the brands they favor, leading to brand repurchase and loyalty– so long as the brand fulfills the expectations signified by the brand symbol (Fournier, 1998). Brand symbols convey clusters of associations made between the branded product and consumer lives. Moreover, consumers’ preferences for brands are based on more than features and functional benefits; they include valued social and emotional associations that powerfully influence consumer perceptions and preferences (Calkins 2005, Sherry 2005). Consumer interpretations of what brands mean are shaped by a cultural context of symbols. The meanings of symbols are comprised of historically accumulated associations of human experiences, objects, and constantly evolving socially constructed meanings. Only a portion of these associations are able to be re-created or modified by the marketing actions of commercial brand managers (Sherry 2005). Others emerge as part of social-interactions among consumers (McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig 2002) that are unlikely to influence consumer decision-making in the ways marketers expect. Nevertheless many marketing scholars and practitioners focus on business-managed brands as if they were the only sources of influence on consumer decisions (Aaker 1996). The possibility of other classes of symbols that influence consumer choices often go unnoticed.