Typology of Online Brand Communities: An Examination of South Korean Automobile Online Brand Communities

The study explores how brand communities are structured and operate in the context of Korean Automobile Online Brand Communities (KAOBCs). The content analysis method was used to examine the characteristics of KAOBCs and identify the typology of the communities. The most popular search engine of South Korea, naver.com, was used to select sample KAOBCs. Our research finds that the socially-oriented community type is the most popular of the KAOBCs, followed by communication, information and business oriented communities in order. The number of community members, number of community staff, and duration of the community are the main determinants of KAOBCs.