Community marketing in social media: Can marketers leverage Facebook groups of celebrities ?

Social media networks (e.g., Facebook) have become a major factor influencing various aspects of consumer behaviour and have thus also become the targets of marketers. Social networks that gather special interest groups, such as celebrity fan groups, provide a particularly attractive point of leverage for community marketing. However, there remain open questions regarding the success of community marketing activities in social media. The present study attempts to close this gap by investigating whether: 1) the image of the brand and 2) the celebrity endorser credibility of a top sports team influence the perceived customer value of the sponsoring firm. Based on a survey of members of a Facebook fan group of an Austrian celebrity sports team (n = 322), we identify a direct positive impact of celebrity-centred community marketing in social media on customer value. Our findings emphasise the relevance of coordinated marketing activities that use social media to create customer value.