Correspondence: James H. McAlexander, Oregon State University College of Business, Box 408, 200 Bexell, Corvallis, Oregon. Phone: +541 737 3182 (office); Fax: +541 737 4890. E-mail: mcalexan@bus.oregonstate.edu

¹James H. McAlexander is Professor of Marketing in the College of Business at Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

²Harold F. Koenig Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Marketing Program in the College of Business at Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

³John W. Schouten is Associate Professor at the University of Portland. McAlexander and Schouten are co-founders of Ethos Market Research.

Received 1 February 2006; Revised 1 February 2006.

Abstract

Loyal alumni are a mainstay of financial support for many universities. This empirical study of university alumni situates the emerging theory of brand community within the world of university development and advancement. The study measures key relationships that one would expect to find in a healthy university brand community. Most importantly, this research demonstrates the powerful contribution that understanding and managing brand community can make to those interested in the advancement of higher education. We find that integration within a university brand community explains important loyalty-related behaviors such as future donations to the university and the purchase and display of university logo merchandise.