Abstract

It is non-controversial to note that brand communities often evoke the magico-religious. Traces of the ethereal have been seen in brand communities centered on Apple Macintosh (Belk and Tumbat 2002; Kahney 2004), Apple Newton (Muñiz and Schau 2005), Saab (Muñiz and O’Guinn 2001), Star Trek (Kozinets 2001), Star Wars (Brown et al. 2003), Xena: Warrior Princess (Schau and Muniz 2004), the X-Files (Kozinets 1997) and in celebrity fan communities centered on Barry Manilow (O’Guinn 1991), Tom Petty (Schau and Muñiz 2007) and CliffRichard (Caldwell and Henry 2006).