Author Identifier (ORCID)
Violetta Wilk: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7990-769X
Abstract
This study explores brand transcendence through brand value co-creation within social media craft beverage brand communities across Instagram and Twitter (now X). Lexical analysis explored a total of 192,330 posts and found brand transcendence evident in the interplay between user-generated content (UGC) and brand-generated content (BGC) across social media platforms, which co-created brand value through the processes of sharing virtual cues within social media craft beverage communities. This brand transcendence was enhanced through the sharing of personal experiences and unique brand moments. BGC across both platforms showcased themes of brand affinity, the importance of time in brand experiences, gratitude, and calls to action. UGC illustrated a focus on brand-specific language, the importance of locality and brand distinctiveness. Evidence was found of hype building, fear-of-missing-out (FOMO), competitions, consumer experiences, and calls to enjoy consuming brands, extoling ‘love’ of brands and brand distinctiveness. This study is the first to explore how social media community content can amass brand value co-creation and its transcendence within social media brand communities and across social media platforms. Clear implications for the tourism and hospitality sectors are identified.
Keywords
Brand transcendence, natural language processing, online community, social media, user-generated content, value co-creation
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Tourism Recreation Research
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Business and Law
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Wilk, V., Gilstrap, C., & How, D. (2026). Brand transcendence through brand value co-creation exchanges within social media craft beverage brand communities. Tourism Recreation Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2026.2640384