Oppositional loyalty as a brand identity-driven outcome: a conceptual framework and empirical evidence
Journal of Product & Brand Management
ISSN: 1061-0421
Article publication date: 11 November 2020
Issue publication date: 12 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Oppositional loyalty toward rival brands is prevalent. Although its antecedents have increasingly received scholarly attention, the literature is rather disparate. Based on identity theory, this study aims to propose that oppositional loyalty is a brand identity-driven outcome and provides a unified framework for understanding the formation and activation of brand identity in influencing oppositional loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical framework based on an online survey of 329 brand community members. Multigroup analysis was used to test the moderating effect of inter-consumer brand rivalry and brand community engagement.
Findings
The results show that self-brand similarity, brand prestige and brand uniqueness lead to consumers’ brand identity (i.e. consumer-brand identification), which, in turn, facilitates oppositional loyalty. Furthermore, the results indicate that inter-consumer brand rivalry and brand community engagement are identity-salient situations that strengthen the relationship between consumer-brand identification and oppositional loyalty.
Practical implications
Identity has great power in shaping consumer behaviors. Fostering consumer-brand identification is critical for firms to prevent consumers from switching to competing brands. Inter-consumer brand rivalry and brand community engagement can help firms consolidate their customer base by evoking consumers’ brand identity.
Originality/value
This investigation makes theoretical contributions by providing a unified theoretical framework to model the development of oppositional loyalty based on identity theory.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No.71802097, 71702097 & 71602072). This project is also partially supported by Jinan University Management School Funding Program (No. GY18004) and Institute for Enterprise Development, Jinan University, Guangdong Province (2019GBAZD06 & 2020CP03). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback during the review process. We also thank the editors of the Journal of Product & Brand Management. The authors contributed equally to this work.
Citation
Liao, J., Dong, X., Luo, Z. and Guo, R. (2021), "Oppositional loyalty as a brand identity-driven outcome: a conceptual framework and empirical evidence", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 30 No. 8, pp. 1134-1147. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-08-2019-2511
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited