THE CONCEPTUAL EVOLUTION OF BRAND COMMUNITIES IN MARKETING STUDIES

Although the theme Brand Community began to be discussed in 2001, it was in the last decade that studies on the topic gained momentum, driven by the evolution of technology and virtual communities. Relevant content in the marketing research agenda, communities are repositories of meanings in the consumer culture and evidence learning opportunities about the phenomenon, justifying the deepening in the theme. This is the relevance of this article, which aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature on brand communities in marketing and consumer behavior journals. Eighteen articles published in thirteen journals with high impact factor were analyzed and, among them, the ten with the highest number of citations, observing the theoretical evolution over the period analyzed, from 2001 to 2020, concluding that the communities gathered around a brand constitute a vector of value creation for brands, which has also become a challenge. The article also indicates research paths within the theme.