Zowie, It’s a Zuri! Exploring Consumer Creativity Within a Virtual Fan Community
摘要
This chapter explores how consumers within a virtual fan community express and foster creativity. Members of the Zuri Clothing-Buy Sell Trade & Appreciation group on Facebook are customers of Zuri, a Kenyan-based company whose garments feature African or Indian textiles in bright colors and/or bold designs. I assert that the creative acts of these “Zuristas” stem from two distinct sets of characteristics. First, the boundaries inherent in Zuri’s business model—for example, standardized product design, limited fabric runs, few physical customer touchpoints—could be perceived as restrictive to customers; however, Zuristas engage in creative acts of resistance that transcend these boundaries. Such acts include remaking and dyeing garments, and also planning, executing, and narrating pilgrimages to Zuri’s two brick-and-mortar stores. Second, customers’ acts of creativity are often rooted in their emotional connections both with the brand itself, and with the ways Zuri helps them foster emotional connections with others. Such emotionally rooted motivations prompt Zuristas to engage in curating compelling Zuri combinations to glean compliments, arming themselves with the brand to bolster their courage, and offering tributes by creating visually symbolic linkages with their Zuri apparel to cherished people, places, or events. I discuss how these findings can propel future research on creativity within virtual communities.