Competing Smartphone brands: Understanding brand rivalry between two brand communities.

This thesis is an investigation of brand rivalry between two competing brands. The number of Smartphone users in Canada is rising and is not expected to slow anytime soon. Two major Smartphone brands have emerged as competing brands in this product category: Samsung and Apple. When two strong companies emerge brand rivalry can manifest. Brand rivalry seems to be under studied in the consumer behaviour literature, yet is common amongst consumers. Current literature pertaining to brand rivalry focuses primarily on the ‘dark’ side of this concept, manly oppositional brand loyalty and brand rivalry. Utilizing focus groups, this study gains a more holistic view of the interaction between opposite brand community members. The findings extend the existing literature by offering evidence of the ‘lighter’ side to brand rivalry.