Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community

TLDR

The Apple Newton community’s narratives are saturated with supernatural, religious, and magical motifs that imbue the brand with powerful meanings, sustain its values, and foster transformative consumption experiences. This research explores the grassroots brand community centered on the Apple Newton, a product abandoned by the marketer. The study shows that Newton brand communities exhibit key properties of religious groups, highlighting the communal nature of religion and humanity’s persistent need for affiliation.

Abstract

This research explores the grassroots brand community centered on the Apple Newton, a product that was abandoned by the marketer. Supernatural, religious, and magical motifs are common in the narratives of the Newton community, including the miraculous performance and survival of the brand, as well as the return of the brand creator. These motifs invest the brand with powerful meanings and perpetuate the brand and the community, its values, and its beliefs. These motifs also reflect and facilitate the many transformative and emancipatory aspects of consuming this brand. Our findings reveal important properties of brand communities and, at a deeper level, speak to the communal nature of religion and the enduring human need for religious affiliation.