There may be opportunities for marketers to realize an of the benefits of brand occurrences through virtual gatherings.

There may be opportunities for marketers to realize an of the benefits of brand occurrences through virtual gatherings. Consumers are becoming increasingly involved with on-line communities--message boards and chat extents are becoming important social gathering points. Cooking Light magazine provides message boards for the community of subscribers. Many subscribers visit the message boards daily, or multiple times daily. The receipt of the recent issue of the magazine is heralded with considerable excitement each month Typically a subscriber will receive her/his pattern in the mail and rush to the message board to declare that they have it. Other subscribers may not receive it the same day and they ask for previews about the modern issue. The privileged earlier recipients will scan the index and column it on the message board for a like reason that others will know what is in the issue that is coming to them. In addition to the shared excitement of the arrival of the novel issue, other rituals ensue. Various subscribers experience out the recipes in the modern issue and then post their reviews onward them. The social aspects of the on-line community transcend the normal experience of a magazine subscriber viewing a magazine alone. It also allows for the formation of alliances as described by the agency of Zillman and Paulus (1993). Sacralization may come into view through external sanction of the magazine by way of the other subscribers who are posting upon the message board. Regular visits and postings to the message board may contribute to as the proactive sustaining rituals.