At the University of Lund in Sweden we met researcher Jon Bertilsson, who is doing a detailed analysis of peer interaction on forums, specifically related to the interaction of young people with brands.

The 20-page research paper can be downloaded here.

Here is the abstract:

“This paper deals with how young consumers learn the logic and workings of brands and branding by analyzing textual accounts of conversations between young people between 13-20 years old collected on an online forum situated on a Swedish website. The findings indicate that people learn about these consumer cultural phenomenons through an enculturation process involving conformity to norms of brand and consumer authenticity formed in peer interaction, and the reflexive evasion of punishments for breaking those norms. The enculturation process also involves brand story telling that affects the very meaning of brands, giving the consumers authorship over brand meaning, which is why consumers therefore could be regarded as a type of brand managers.”