Marketing and Management Article Review: Brand Community Analysis

This report provides a critical analysis of the article "Transcendent customer experience and brand community" by Schouten, McAlexander, and Koenig (2007). The article explores the impact of transcendent customer experiences (TCEs), characterized by flow and peak experiences, on brand community integration and customer loyalty. The report examines the concepts of flow and peak experiences, highlighting their influence on customer attitudes and behaviors. It discusses the role of TCEs in strengthening brand communities and influencing consumer buying behavior, ultimately affecting marketing principles and revenue. The analysis further delves into the article's recommendations for brand managers, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer feedback, building brand awareness, and fostering brand loyalty through various marketing strategies. The report concludes by underscoring the significance of TCEs in shaping brand communities and driving customer engagement. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the article's key findings and implications for marketing practice.

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Introduction
Wei, Torres and Hua (2017) states that the transcendent customer experiences are linked
to the experiences of the flow and the peak among the clientele. The transcendent customer
experiences refer to the experiences that are crucial to the formation of a brand community.
These experiences on the part of the clients might lead to the generation of the permanent
changes in the attitudes and the beliefs of the clients as well as result in the subjective self-
transformation. The following paper explains the concept of transcendent customer experiences
and introduces the concepts of peak experiences as well as flow experiences. The paper further
discusses some recommended measures that need to be implemented by the brand managers in
order to develop the brand community as well.
Critical Analysis of Transcendent customer experiences
Schouten, McAlexander and Koenig (2007) in the article entitled “Transcendent
customer experience and brand community” attempt a discussion on the various issues that are
related to the impact of the transcendent customer experiences on the integration of the clientele
existent within a brand community. The article discusses the two different categories that are
related to the extraordinary experiences as experienced by the clientele of the organization. The
article highlights the flow experiences and the peak experiences of the clientele who have been
associated with the brand. de Villiers et al. (2017) highlight that the flow experience refers to
the transcendent state that is experienced by the clientele in terms of the issues highlighted
during the elevated experiences of the clients of the organization in contrast to those that are
separate from the mundane experiences of life. Sukhu et al. (2018) state that the flow
experiences refer to the product performances and the various experiences that are faced by the
consumers of the organization as well.
Schouten, McAlexander and Koenig (2007) state that the peak experiences refers to the
experiences of the clients that are potentially transformational, powerful as well as personally
meaningful in nature. These experiences also lead the person to a state of transcendent
experience. The peak experiences tend to alleviate them to the state wherein they feel at par with
the larger phenomena of life and their surroundings. This in turn affects the strategic planning
within the given organization. According to Hwang and Seo (2016), these are inclusive of the
infinite, humankind and the nature that surrounds the concerned clientele. The peak as well as

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the flow experiences as have been pointed out by the authors of the article tend to overlap at
times though the experiences have been distinct in nature.
As inferred from McColl-Kennedy et al. (2015) and Chou et al. (2016) the common
factor within both the experiences refer to the issues regarding the ecstasy that is felt by the
concerned clients while dealing with the various peak and the flow experiences. Schouten,
McAlexander and Koenig (2007) further highlight the fact that the transcendent customer
experiences might influence the behavior and the attitude of the clients of the organization
thereby affecting the marketing principles and trends that are followed within the given markets.
This in turn according to Wei, Torres and Hua (2016) highly affects the profits and the revenues
that are earned by the concerned organization. Havíř (2017) opines that the transcendent
customer experiences are hugely influential in the sectors that are majorly related to the
hospitality.
The impact of transcendent customer experiences on the brand community
The brand community refers to the various users of a brand who have been related to
each other through their preference for the same brand. The major similarities as stated by
Hollebeek, Juric and Tang (2017) and Ball and Barnes (2017), refer to the sense of responsibility
that is incorporated into the minds of the clients regarding the welfare of the brand, the
consumption patterns that are highlighted by the clientele, the consumption tradition as well as
the similarity perception that is implemented by the concerned organization. The article by
Schouten, McAlexander and Koenig (2007) states the fact that the facilitation of the transcendent
customer experiences is helpful for the overall buying behavior presented within the brand
community. The implementation of the preferences within the buying behavior of the concerned
clientele tends to deal in the overall development of the brand community within the given
markets as well.
Critical Analysis of marketing decision of consumers
The transcendent customer experiences highlight the proper instrumentality of the
products. This in turn trigger the improvement of the brand community improvement. Klaus
(2015) opine that the clients of the organization are majorly attracted to the company on the basis
of the products and services offered by the organization. The products that are required for the

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proper improvement of the brand community are generally observed to be playing the role of an
extension of the end user. Black and Veloutsou (2017) opine that the specialty of the product is
enhanced through the enhancement of the satisfactory or the dissatisfactory experience that it
provides to the concerned user or the client. The concerned companies that have been
maintaining the brands are recommended to be taking into account the various feedbacks that are
shared by the organizational clientele. This is highly practiced in the various companies that are
active within the hospitality industry. The companies that have been functional in the hospitality
industry should be advised to deal in the management of the proper brand conception among the
clientele. This would further help in the brand building within the company which in turn might
lead to the increase in the revenue that is earned by the firm.
Recommendations for the managers
The managers who have been dealing in the management of the brand communities are
advised to follow certain measures in order to help in the development of the brand community.
The managers are advised to deal with the information collected through the surveys that are
conducted on the clientele. This in turn would help in the development of the brand community
of the concerned product in the international markets.
The brand managers are further advised to look into the matters of creation of the
brand awareness within the given workforce. This in turn would help in the popularizing of the
brand. The concerned company might be further advised to deal with the issues that are related to
the advertisements of the brands and the several products and services that are marketed by the
companies in discussion. This would in turn help in the development of the brand awareness
among the people who have been targeted by the concerned company for the sales of their
products and services.
The brand managers are also advised to organize various meetings, workshops,
conferences with the various stakeholder groups of the organization. This would help the
spread of the awareness of the brand among the existent as well as the potential clientele of the
business concern. The increase in the conduction of the meetings and the conferences by the
concerned managerial body helps the concerned organization in building the trust among the
clientele regarding the services and the products as have been marketed by the company.

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The brand managers might further be advised to emphasize on the incorporation of the
brand loyalty among the clientele of the concerned organization. The brand community might
further be improved with the help of the proper maintenance of the communication among the
various stakeholders of the organization. The brand mangers are also advised to deal in the
increase in the improvement of the brand loyalty through the improvement of transparency
among the clientele and the staff of the organization.
Conclusion
The transcendent customer experiences affect the ties of the clientele to the brand
community in the context of the consumption activities that are facilitated by the manager. Thus,
it might be stated that the transcendent customer experiences play an integral role in the
development of the brand community at large. The brand managers might face a proper
development of the brand community by implementing the various recommended measures in
order to develop the brand community of a given product. The implementation of the preferences
on the part of the concerned clientele tends to deal in the overall development of the brand
community within the given markets as well. The buying behavior of the clientele is highly
affected by the experiences that they had gathered while using the product in the part. The
transcendent customer experiences might influence the behavior and the attitude of the clients of
the organization thereby affecting the marketing principles and trends that are followed within
the given markets. As a result, the brand managers are advised to deal with the proper
development of the brand image among the clientele. This in turn might help in the overall
development of the issues that are highlighted in the matters that are related to the overall
progress of the concerned company in the given markets. Thus, from the above study it might be
concluded that the transcendent customer experiences are an important factor that affects the
brand community as well as the brand loyalty of the clientele of the organizations.

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References and Bibliography
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surprise. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(1), 250-269.
Black, I., & Veloutsou, C. (2017). Working consumers: Co-creation of brand identity, consumer
identity and brand community identity. Journal of Business Research, 70, 416-429.
Chou, T. J., Chang, E. C., Zheng, Y., & Tang, X. (2016). What makes consumers believe: the
impacts of priming and sequential service experiences on consumer emotions and
willingness to pay. Journal of Services Marketing, 30(1), 115-127.
de Villiers, R., Chen, P.J., Bernal, P.M., Coleman, L. & Woodside, A.G., (2017). Achieving
Requisite Variety in Customer Experience Research for Improving Marketing
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Havíř, D. (2017). A comparison of the approaches to Customer Experience Analysis. Economics
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Hollebeek, L. D., Juric, B., & Tang, W. (2017). Virtual brand community engagement practices:
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Hwang, J., & Seo, S. (2016). A critical review of research on customer experience management:
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Klaus, P. (2015). Customer Experience: The Origins and Importance for Your Business.
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McColl-Kennedy, J. R., Gustafsson, A., Jaakkola, E., Klaus, P., Radnor, Z. J., Perks, H., &
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Roy, S., (2018). Effects of customer experience across service types, customer types and
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Sukhu, A., Seo, S., Scharff, R., & Kidwell, B. (2018). Emotional intelligence in transcendent
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