Consumer psychological motivations to customer brand engagement: a case of brand community
ISSN: 0736-3761
Article publication date: 7 February 2019
Issue publication date: 8 February 2019
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the psychological motivations behind customers’ engagement with the brands and further investigate the effect of brand engagement on brand attachment and brand loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical model is tested with the data collected from 282 brand community members during offline brand community events, and structural equation modeling technique is used for statistical analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that brand psychological ownership and value-congruity act as important psychological motivations for customers to engage with the brands. A sense of brand attachment mediates the relationship between brand engagement and brand loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
Current study was conducted on a single brand community. Future research testing and validating the proposed model for multiple brands across different product categories is suggested for the generalization of current study results. The identification and validation of psychological drivers of engagement can have major implications on the ongoing research on customer engagement concept.
Practical implications
An effectively instilled sense of psychological ownership and value similarity notion in customers can help managers in engaging customers and capitalize on their repurchases and recommendations along with their attachment to the brands.
Originality/value
The study is unique in terms of the brand engagement model depicting the psychological antecedents to engagement with the brands and identifying the mediating role of brand attachment between brand engagement and behavioral loyalty.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Manoj Jha and Ankit Bhatnagar of “Delhi Royal Enfield Riders,” a Royal Enfield brand community in India, for their kind support in this research work.
Citation
Kumar, J. and Nayak, J.K. (2019), "Consumer psychological motivations to customer brand engagement: a case of brand community", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 168-177. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-01-2018-2519
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited