Mercedez Lemieux
MGMT 230: Consumer Behavior
3 November 2011
Lab Assignment #3:
Consumption in Boston Bruins’ Online Communities
The Boston Bruins as a team have been around since 1924, being a part of the Original
Six. But now in the age of social media, the Bruins have robust online fan communities that track the team’s every triumph and failure. This past June, the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in thirty-nine years. This win was huge and contested by many, especially the losing team the
Vancouver Canucks. What better brand to form a community around? According to Muniz &
O’Guinn, the appearance of online brand communities are most likely to be seen for brands with a “strong image, a rich and lengthy history, and threatening competition” (415). Let’s not forget that everybody loves an underdog. Some of the most passionate brand communities are for brands that have an incredibly long history of disadvantage (example: Boston Red Sox).
Throughout my observations, I studied two pro-brand communities (Stanley Cup of
Chowder & Boston Bruins Fans) and three anti-brand community threads (Four Habs Fans: Ten
Things I Hate About…The Boston Bruins, HFBoards: Are You an Anti-Bruins Fans After the
Trade?, & Top 10 Reasons Why the Boston Bruins Shouldn’t Have Won the Stanley Cup) since
I failed to find a full community website dedicated to anti-Bruins. I suspect that this is because most anti-Bruins people are pro-some other NHL team and thus have focused their efforts on those communities. As I was reading through the anti-brand threads, I could not help but picture these users as a bunch of old men at a rotary club or a VFW, some sort of dark social club with a bar where these men spent their days drinking and arguing about games’ long-since past. The

most notable thing about these threads were that they started out as anti-Bruins threads but then were attacked by Bruins loyalists, almost like the anti-Bruins were newcomers to the scene and tried to stage a coup in a traditionally pro-Bruins bar and were shot down (See Exhibit 1 ).
The difference between interactions in the online anti-brand communities and interactions in a social club is that the internet and the anonymous nature of it empowers consumers to say what they want in a much more blunt and profane way without the risk of getting hit (See
Exhibit 2 ). There is even backlash between members on the same side. Regardless of being pro-
Bruins or anti-Bruins, both sides attack each other and themselves when it comes to challenging each other’s expertise, which leads to not so ‘communal’ consumption (Avery, slide 19). In a traditional setting, these expressions of blatant vulgarity would never be socially acceptable or tolerated. Most likely a bar patron would be thrown out for this type of behavior.
In contrast, the pro-Bruins communities are much more civil in their discourses. This might have something to do with the fact that they are all in attendance on this site because they share the same passion for the Boston Bruins. This consciousness of kind stems from activities such as members’ commenting minute for minute on their opinions of what is happening during a live game. No matter where a member is located, they all know that at that very moment, they are watching the same game. This is their ‘we-ness’ and it transcends geography because the media (i.e, coverage of the game) transcends geography (Muniz & O’Guinn 413). When the
Bruins won the Stanley Cup, threads popped up with titles such as ‘A Handshake’ (See
Exhibit
3 ) which was a community engagement practice that catalogued the collective milestone of finally winning a trophy for the first time since 1972 (Avery, slide 16).

This milestone was made even more significant due to the controversy that flowed throughout the games like when one of the Canuck players bit a Bruins player. Through actions such as these the idea of the Canucks as a common enemy against whom to unite was strengthened and thus the pro-Bruins brand community was fortified in strength because the community was outraged (Muniz & O’Guinn 420). Even more so, this idea of Bruins vs.
Canucks was not determined by the community itself; these two teams were pitted against each other due to a competitive market ethos that is central to hockey (Muniz & O’Guinn 419). These two teams became enemies when the Bruins were crowned the Eastern Conference Champions and the Canucks were deemed the Western Conference Champions. If either team had not won their conference, pro-Bruins and pro-Canucks communities would still have existed, but neither side would have been enraged so much as to form anti-bruins/Canucks communities. One of the most interesting occurrences within these communities was the fact that a lot of the frequent readers/members of the community lived outside the Boston area, some as far away as Australia.
One frequent poster that stuck out to me was FLYERROB, who lives in Philadelphia & is a
Flyers fan but is openly accepted in the Bruins fan community. This phenomenon is known as the spectacular vernacular: “race, gender, and class don’t matter; all you got to do is appreciate it” (Muniz & O’Guinn 421).
Moral responsibility in a brand community includes “looking out for and helping other members in their consumption of the brand” (Muniz & O’Guinn 425) which can be seen in the existence of threads dedicated to members taking ‘field trips’ to buy tickets before the season starts, receiving group rates if they travel together (See Exhibit 4 ). This inclusiveness is unique to online brand communities because only on the internet would a group of complete strangers agree to travel across state lines together in search of game tickets.

Rituals and traditions of these online communities revolve around watching, or
‘consuming’ a game together whether by organizing a viewing party outside of the online community or by members giving their opinions of game happenings in a play by play fashion in the forums whilst watching the game separately in their own homes. These types of posts include lots of jeering about who will win the game and predictions of the outcome. Often losers, meaning those that predicted wrong, are jested into ‘buying the beer’ for the entire group. These members have strong ties to each other online and offline and often know each other by name despite the use of usernames in the forums.
The Bruins’ recent win of the Stanley Cup greatly influenced and changed the nature of its online brand communities. Most pro-Bruins community members have been fans virtually since birth. But the new win has attracted plenty of opportunistic fans that never used to watch a game and are now contributing to the discussion. These opportunistic fans were created by their need to be grouped with a winning team, hopping on the bandwagon so that their new consumption could be seen by relevant others and thus their good taste could be validated
(Ostenberg).
Much in a similar fashion, the anti-Bruins community threads that I studied seem to have appeared around the same time that the opportunistic fans appeared. While most postings in these threads were fueled by outrage over the Bruins win/Canucks loss, a good number of postings served to demonstrate the poster’s cultural capital, that is, their extensive knowledge of
Bruins and general hockey history (Bourdieu). The ‘Ten Things I Hate About…the Boston
Bruins’ thread is heavily laden with arguments against the Bruins that are rooted in their history as a team: “9. Swindled the Canucks by handing them injured, overrated, one-career-year Barry
Pederson for noted Habs Killer Cam F*cking Neely AND the 3rd overall pick in the draft (Glen

Wesley)” (FourHabsFans). The original author of the post goes to great lengths to make his argument valid and not just another pointless rant. This blatant demonstration of cultural capital serves to validate his opinions and elevate them to a status more akin to fact than opinion (See
Exhibit 5 ). Accordingly, responders to this thread are much more rational and respectful in their responses, proving that consumption is highly social. Had the author’s post been a vulgarityfilled rant with no legitimate arguments, responses to it would have been much different.
What I have observed through these online communities suggests that marketing managers should keep a keen eye on the happenings of different online communities. The sheer volume of posts dedicated to Bruins’ managerial and trading faults should inform managers that the public is watching and they are waiting for you to fall. Marketing managers should be cautious in starting their own brand communities because consumers do not respond well to being man-handled. They should let the threads in their communities flow organically, making minimal comments. They should not, however, delete any posts that may be detrimental to the brand because consumers interact in brand communities with rapt attention. Any deleting of antibrand posting will not go unnoticed.

Exhibit 1
12-10-2005, 07:36 PM lawman
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 204 vCash: 500
12-10-2005, 07:44 PM
Lady Rhian
Darth Quaider
#1
Are you an anti-Bruins fans after the trade?
Honestly, I was a big Bruin's fan before the Thorton trade. Once they traded him, all I want the team to do is lose. It isn't even for them to get a better draft choice. It is out of sheer spite of the management and ownership of the Bruin's organization. It is unfathomable to me that MOC is still on the job after firing two caoches, never getting past the first round of the playoffs, and then screwing up the 2005 team. Sullivan couldn't motivate the pope to pray. And Jacobs. Well, he is terrible. I used to love the Bruin's and now I don't. Trading
Thorton set this team back at leaste 3-5 years. Anyone feeling the same as me?
#4
Absolutely not. I may not always agree with the deals the front office makes, but there is no way I want the B's to do poorly.
I know it's tough losing a favorite (been there many times myself), but after a few days, folks should be a little more calmer about this.
The Boston Bruins will go on, no matter what players come and go.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Lakes Region, NH
Posts: 22,077 vCash: 500
12-10-2005, 07:47 PM
Russtopher
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 197 vCash: 500
#5
Quote:
Originally Posted by ranold26
You W1n T3h Int3rn3ts!!!!111!!!1 r0xxxxx teh fux0rs!!!!
Seriously, anyone who has a deep seated hatred of the Bruins now for trading away a lazy player who has not lived up to potential by any means *really* needs to start some intense therapy. Right now.
It was one trade. Among hundreds. Trading McEachern originally for
Trent McCleary made me angrier back then than this trade.
Seriously. This trade made me... not angry at all.
#6

12-10-2005, 07:48 PM weaponomega
Registered User
I want the team to win regardless who plays for them. Obviously you aren't a true Bruins fan and never really were.
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Country:
Posts: 6,881 vCash: 500
Exhibit 2
TOP TEN REASONS WHY THE BOSTON BRUINS SHOULDN'T HAVE WON THE STANLEY CUP
Added: 4 months ago
From: Electr1cWaffles hahahahahahahahaha whoever made this videos a bitch 7 through 3 are stupid reasons and nathan horton cant take a hit?!? chara wanted for murder? more like learn to fucking skate and avoid metal poles. GG vancouver better luck next year. Sedin sisters, two girls no cup ='( wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
LickiddySplitt 1 day ago the bruins aren't even going to make the playoffs this year hahaha so who cares
00StangGT00 1 day ago
I love this video, why you may ask? Well just that their is a whiny bitch who either hates the
Bruins or loves the Canucks that just has to get mad at somthing because Boston won. its ok their is always till the end of time because that's how long hockey will last : )
AGreasyOrphan1 3 days ago
I heard your soccer team lost. Don't throw another riot!
DiibzxD 3 days ago

BRUINS SUCK GO CANUCKS
MrJordan1011 5 days ago hahah canucks fans have to be the most pathetic fanbase in the league. you lost get the fuck over it.
"the bruins lost 2 games with barely any time left"....that's a fucking reason? really? the 4 games you lost were long over before the 3rd period even started. and you gave up 8 goals in a cup finals game for the first time since the Florida Panthers. enjoy your presidents trophy suckers
Bruins0615 1 month ago
Exhibit 3
by Kent Basky on Jun 16, 2011 12:35 PM EDT
Hey gang, just stopping by to offer my congratulations. It was an incredibly hard fought series, and you can't ask for anything more than the chance to play one game to decide it all. If there's any small condolence I can take from all this, it's coming from Recchi's hometown. Nice to see him end an incredible career on the highest note. Our corporate overlords at SB Nation were cool enough to give us full access behind the scenes, and it was amazing to see how this whole thing played out. The media on both sides (and the so-called impartial observers) had a lot to say about this, a massive chunk of it negative. History will bear out that this series was no dirtier, one way or the other than every other final.
The noise is just amplified now.
One of the things we love over at NM is good interaction with our SBN brothers and sisters, and on behalf of my fellow writers there, we want to thank you for coming over and contributing to the discussion. We share some history now, and while we're not on the side we want to be, it was still an amazing season and once the pain subsides, we can get to accept and enjoy that. Enjoy the party to come. You deserve it. thank you
I really enjoyed reading the commentary on Nucks Misconduct during this series. The sheer number of regular commenters over there speaks volumes about the passion of the Vancouver fanbase. I’ve continued to lurk.

I loved how, the day after an emotionally tough defeat, your bloggers got right back to work and started analyzing next year’s roster situation. There was no “I’m taking a day off to rest,” or anything. It was right back to business. That is dedication, and I tip my cap! by jctsai12 on Jun 17, 2011 12:13 PM EDT reply actions
Exhibit 4
For those of you coming down for the Islanders / Rangers double feature waaaaaaaay down the road on
3/31 and 4/1, Rangers tickets for the April Fools Day game are now on presale on ticketmaster . The 400 level goes for 70 bucks, $83 with all charges, limit of 4 per customer. Alternatively, group sales informs that they can do a group of 15-20 on the 100 level ( Bruins attack twice) for 115 per ticket, no surcharge.
So...
That leaves a few questions: which do you guys prefer? Ad hoc-ing it 4 at a time in the upper deck or going a bit more expensive for the lower bowl and definitely getting grouped seats? The latter also begs the question, how they heck do we coordinate payment for that?
As usual, Islanders individual tix don't go up for sale for the 2012 calendar year until the new year. Which is annoying. But groups are easy enough - since no one wants to actually go see them play. A call into their group sales confirms we can get $20 seats in the upper deck, and given the pricey ass Rags tickets,
I see no reason to splurge any more than that for the Mausoleum. by TomServo42 on Sep 27, 2011 3:43 PM EDT
That is rather annyoing about the Rags tickets
$115 lil pricey but hmm doable, like you said though how we do the payment of it
HOCKEY TEMPER! by Losted125 on Sep 27, 2011 7:05 PM EDT
Hmm… only a $30 difference……. we’d be very visible and obnoxious (we’ll be obnoxious anywhere, actually)… thanks for checking, servo!
Kick his ass, Seabass!

by phonymahoney on Sep 27, 2011 9:09 PM EDT
If we can get 15 people I’m down for 115/ticket.
Now, to get 15 people…
Your 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins
Hockey Blog Adventure : New Post: Playoffs in Pictures: Round 1 Game 1+2 Habs @ Bruins (I'm also on Twitter .) GO
BRUINS! (and Wild!) by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Sep 28, 2011 7:54 AM EDT from this thread, I have a count of 10:
You
Dave +1
Ed (possible +3? Did i read that wrong?)
Phony
Sarah
Kathryn
Me + 2
Maybes from tkent and arenacale.
Might have to do the Rangers ala carte after all. Islanders won’t be a problem by TomServo42 on Sep 28, 2011 9:20 AM EDT
Nope me +3 is correct
HOCKEY TEMPER! by Losted125 on Sep 28, 2011 9:34 AM EDT

Exhibit 5
My God this thing is ugly.
[Ed.'s note: this post was written by HF10, who is too busy getting drunk in prep for tonight to post himself. I also just noticed there are two #8's - I guess HF10 wanted 11 things. He really hates the
Bruins.]
While every week is technically Bruins Hate Week at FHF Headquarters, the almost annual playoff showdown rachets up the hate quotient to another level. So in the fine tradition of apparently hating the rest of the Eastern seaboard ...
10 . 1979. Too many men on the ice. You had a collective tightening of the sphincter when leading the champs late in game 7, took the most inexcusable penalty in the book because of someone's brain cramp, and lost in overtime. It's over. Quit fucking whining about it, for fuck's sake (Harry Sinden, we are looking in your direction!) You probably would have lost to the fucking Rangers in the final anyway.
9 . Swindled the Canucks by handing them injured, overrated, one-career-year Barry Pederson for noted
Habs Killer Cam Fucking Neely AND the 3rd overall pick in the draft (Glen Wesley). Jesus. Manhattan for a string of beads and some firewater was less of a robbery. (Incidentally, this trade is going to rank number 2 on the "Ten Things I Hate About the Canucks" right below "Choose a fucking colour scheme and logo and fucking stick to it!")
8 . Hey, speaking of Cam Neely ... nobody, and I mean nobody terrified me more as a Habs fan than Cam
Neely. But if I hear one more goddamn Boston fan tell me how he was the greatest power forward ever it will be time for a killing spree across New England. Neely had a five year run that featured three very good seasons and two outstanding seasons receiving passes from uber-set up man Craig Janney, then had 50 goals in 44 games after returning from a terrible thigh injury. What Boston fans neglect to mention was Neely took every second game off that year to protect his injured thigh and had assist machine Adam
Oates feeding him pucks. Devastating player? Sure. Habs killer? No doubt. Greatest ever? Fuck that. A
Mr. Gordon Howe on line one, morons.
8 . The Bruins retired Terry O'Reilly's jersey. Terry O'Reilly? It's like the Habs deciding to retire Mario
Tremblay's jersey. (Well, not exactly. Tremblay won five Cups. O'Reilly? Zero.)

7 . Gillies Gilbert. Gerry Cheevers. Reggie Lemelin. Pete Peeters. Andy Moog. How many damn times has a middling goalie with a spoked B on his jersey given the Habs fits? Here's hoping Tim Thomas never joins the party. (I know, Cheevers is in the Hall of Fame. I still never liked the fat little bastard.)
6 . Ray Bourque leaves the Bruins after 20 years in search of a Cup. He wins it in Colorado. The city of
Boston organizes and pays for a celebration where Bourque parades the Cup in front of wildly cheering
Bruins fans. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???!!!?!?! If the Habs ever go 25 years without a Cup, trade their captain away so he can win one, and he brings it back to the city wearing his new jersey on the mayor's dime, I hope to hell he dies in a hail of gunfire on stage and city hall gets burned to the ground.
Bruins fans should be ashamed.
5 . Zdeno Chara is a big, dumb, jackass. That is all.
4 . Actually, the Bruins have cornered the market on jackasses for years. O'Reilly. Mad Mike Milbury. Stan
Jonathan. John Wensink. Derek Sanderson. Wayne Cashman. Don Cherry. 21st century jackasses like
Chara, Shawn Thornton and rookie shit disturber Milan Lucic. What the hell is in the water in Boston?
3 . Most evil man in the history of hockey? It might be Bruins legend Eddie Shore. A 4-time Hart trophy winner as a defencman, Shore might be better known as a tyrannical AHL coach and owner or as a frequently suspended cheap shot artist. His most notorious transgression ended the career of Leafs star and former scoring champ Ace Bailey. After being decked with a clean hit from Toronto's Red Horner,
Shore charged up ice and levelled the first Leaf he saw (Bailey) from behind. Bailey fractured his skull, went into a coma, and never played again. Shore played seven more years and is revered as part of the
Bruins defensive Holy Trinity with Orr and Bourque. Classy.
2 . 24-7. That's the Habs current all-time playoff series record against the Bruins. 5 of 7 Boston wins have occurred in the last twenty years. That fucking pisses me off.
1 . The Bruins are the anti-Habs; Dirty, lunch-bucket toting, grinding, defensive and thuggish in equal measures for most of their existence. Their fans are loud, boorish, and proud of their heritage of hostility and rats the size of dogs roaming the halls of the dump that was the Boston Garden. The Bruins clutch, and grab, and start scrums after whistles, and are the black-hearted, black and gold wearing brutes of the
NHL.
The Canadiens are Les Glorieux; the Flying Frenchmen. The bleu-blanc-et-rouge standard bearers of speed, talent and passion for 100 years. For 80 years these two polar opposites have waged war; are you to tell me that there is an enemy we can hate more? There is not.
Posted by HabsFan29 at 2:00 PM