Unlocking the marketing potential of social capital: A study to identify the dimensions of social capital considered represented within online brand communities, 10th IEEE International Conference on E-Business Engineering 2013 (ICEBE), at Coventry University on Sep 11-12, 2013

In the past ten years, virtual communities (VCs) have received increased academic and practitioner attention, mainly as a result of the development in digital technology and social media in particular. More recently there have been publications concerning research into online brand communities (OBCs), which have emerged in increasing numbers. However, these studies into the characteristics, functions and benefits associated with OBC, and the impacts of consumers participation upon OBCs, have largely ignored the contribution social capital can make to our understanding of these communities and their impact on brands. This paper seeks to fill this gap, and develop our understanding of social capital in order to assist marketers to utilize OBC more effectively.