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Chasing Sub60 - The Making of an Experience-Based Brand Community

Köhn, Maya-Marie LU and Culver, Paige LU (2026) BUSN49 20261
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to extend knowledge of how belonging forms in brand
communities by investigating how an experience-based brand community cultivates belonging
in the absence of a tangible product. This involves examining what substitutes for the product
as the community's shared anchor, how this substitute is produced and sustained across
multiple sites, how the anchor's relationship to the organizing firm evolves over time, and what
structural vulnerabilities arise when belonging is organized around a shared experience rather
than a shared object. An abductive approach has been used to study a single organization, HYROX. We assume the
ontological position of constructivism, drawing upon the interpretivist tradition... (More)
The purpose of this study is to extend knowledge of how belonging forms in brand
communities by investigating how an experience-based brand community cultivates belonging
in the absence of a tangible product. This involves examining what substitutes for the product
as the community's shared anchor, how this substitute is produced and sustained across
multiple sites, how the anchor's relationship to the organizing firm evolves over time, and what
structural vulnerabilities arise when belonging is organized around a shared experience rather
than a shared object. An abductive approach has been used to study a single organization, HYROX. We assume the
ontological position of constructivism, drawing upon the interpretivist tradition informed by
symbolic interactionism and dramaturgy. Data was collected from nine semi-structured
interviews with participants in various community roles, including athletes, employees,
affiliate gym owners, and a spectator. These were complemented by participant observations
at two race events and one volunteering shift, as well as secondary audio-visual sources,
including a podcast interview with the HYROX founder. community theory, particularly the three markers of brand community identified by Muñiz and
O'Guinn (2001), and the customer-centric model of McAlexander et al. (2002). We
complement this with the literature on engineered belonging, particularly the work of Fournier
and Lee (2009), as well as the literature on the experience economy, specifically Cova and
Cova's (2002) concept of linking value. This allows us to consider the organizational and
experiential dimensions of the case. Although experience-based brand communities appear to be structured differently to product-
based ones, the findings suggest that they operate through recognizably similar mechanisms
via a substitute anchor. In the context of HYROX, this anchor is collective suffering and
achievement. This anchor fulfils the same structural functions as a product, such as producing
consciousness of kind, establishing rituals and traditions, and fostering a sense of moral
responsibility, but it operates across two sites simultaneously: the race event and the affiliate
gym. Crucially, over time, the anchor decouples from the organization and migrates into the
community, making belonging more self-sustaining than the organizational role would
suggest. However, this simultaneously exposes the event site to structural vulnerabilities, such
as atmosphere degradation, meaning drift, and an inclusivity gap, that product-based theory
does not account for. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Köhn, Maya-Marie LU and Culver, Paige LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
experience-based brand communities, belonging, collective suffering, personal achievement, anchor decoupling, brand community, experiential consumption, linking value
language
English
id
9235661
date added to LUP
2026-06-18 16:40:41
date last changed
2026-06-18 16:40:41
@misc{9235661,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study is to extend knowledge of how belonging forms in brand
communities by investigating how an experience-based brand community cultivates belonging
in the absence of a tangible product. This involves examining what substitutes for the product
as the community's shared anchor, how this substitute is produced and sustained across
multiple sites, how the anchor's relationship to the organizing firm evolves over time, and what
structural vulnerabilities arise when belonging is organized around a shared experience rather
than a shared object. An abductive approach has been used to study a single organization, HYROX. We assume the
ontological position of constructivism, drawing upon the interpretivist tradition informed by
symbolic interactionism and dramaturgy. Data was collected from nine semi-structured
interviews with participants in various community roles, including athletes, employees,
affiliate gym owners, and a spectator. These were complemented by participant observations
at two race events and one volunteering shift, as well as secondary audio-visual sources,
including a podcast interview with the HYROX founder. community theory, particularly the three markers of brand community identified by Muñiz and
O'Guinn (2001), and the customer-centric model of McAlexander et al. (2002). We
complement this with the literature on engineered belonging, particularly the work of Fournier
and Lee (2009), as well as the literature on the experience economy, specifically Cova and
Cova's (2002) concept of linking value. This allows us to consider the organizational and
experiential dimensions of the case. Although experience-based brand communities appear to be structured differently to product-
based ones, the findings suggest that they operate through recognizably similar mechanisms
via a substitute anchor. In the context of HYROX, this anchor is collective suffering and
achievement. This anchor fulfils the same structural functions as a product, such as producing
consciousness of kind, establishing rituals and traditions, and fostering a sense of moral
responsibility, but it operates across two sites simultaneously: the race event and the affiliate
gym. Crucially, over time, the anchor decouples from the organization and migrates into the
community, making belonging more self-sustaining than the organizational role would
suggest. However, this simultaneously exposes the event site to structural vulnerabilities, such
as atmosphere degradation, meaning drift, and an inclusivity gap, that product-based theory
does not account for.}},
  author       = {{Köhn, Maya-Marie and Culver, Paige}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Chasing Sub60 - The Making of an Experience-Based Brand Community}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}