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This study aims to explore and extend the consumer–brand relationship literature by integrating the relatively new construct of brand coolness with a growing body of work on gratitude. Specifically, gratitude is explored alongside emotional brand attachment as an additional mechanism affecting the relationship between cool brands and the loyalty outcome of repurchase intention. Consumption context is examined as a boundary condition to the effect of gratitude.

Data was collected from an online survey of a Qualtrics panel of 356 US consumers. A moderated mediation model is used to explain the effects of brand coolness on repurchase intention via emotional brand attachment and brand gratitude in the moderating presence of consumption context.

Brand coolness significantly increases repurchase intention. Furthermore, emotional brand attachment and brand gratitude are established as parallel mediators of the relationship between brand coolness and repurchase intention, with brand gratitude exhibiting a significantly stronger mediated effect. The impact of brand coolness on brand gratitude is moderated by social visibility, with publicly consumed cool brands stimulating greater brand gratitude than their privately consumed counterparts.

Brand gratitude is shown to influence repurchase intention independent of the impact exerted by consumers’ emotional brand attachment. Cognitive appraisal theory is used to distinguish brand gratitude from other mediators studied in consumer–brand relationships. Findings establish the moderating influence of the social visibility of the brand on the relationship between brand coolness and gratitude.

A growing challenge for organizations is to keep their brand relevant and connected to consumers. This can be achieved by connecting the consumer not only through conventional lines but also through means of developing emotional bonding, leading to brand gratitude. This study aims to develop a conceptual model by identifying a set of components and establishing a probable linkage between them for the development of brand gratitude.

A qualitative study involving three focus group discussions with industry experts was conducted to identify the brand elements that can help build a strong emotional connection between the brand and customers, leading to brand gratitude.

The study identified the different brand elements and their relative influence on building the consumer-brand emotional connection. These components were then incorporated into a conceptual model for creating a “Unique Emotional Connection” (UEC). The outcome of the UEC model is enhanced and long-lasting association of the brand through brand gratitude.

An integrated study to understand the different elements influencing customer-brand emotional connection is rare. Also, papers studying the role of gratitude in brand management are limited. This study has tried to address these gaps through a conceptual framework that can help marketing practitioners to develop a long-lasting customer-brand relationship.

This study aims to examine how the appraisal of both incidental and direct positive other-agency emotions (vs self-agency emotions) enhances brand trust and, subsequently, brand attitudes.

The paper presents three experiments that examine the effect of other-agency emotions (vs self-agency emotions) on brand trust and brand attitudes by both Australian and USA consumers. Studies 1 and 2 compared the effect of self- and other-agency emotions evoked through an irrelevant reflective task. Study 3 used real-world marketing communication to evoke self- or other-pride.

Gratitude (Study 1) and other-pride (Study 2) evoked through an irrelevant, reflective task enhanced brand trust and attitudes for both familiar and unfamiliar brands. The authors replicated these effects using marketing communications that evoked other-pride (Study 3) and showed how these findings can be applied in a marketing context.

There are contradictory findings in the literature on how positive emotions influence brand trust and attitudes. The findings show that other-agency appraisal is a crucial appraisal within a marketing context and reveals why not all positively valenced emotions increase brand trust and brand attitudes. The findings highlight the importance of examining the effects of emotions on brand trust and attitudes beyond the consideration of their valence.

The research provides significant implications for marketers to improve brand trust and brand attitudes through the elicitation of other-agency emotions. The findings also demonstrate that different components of emotions, such as appraisal structure, may influence consumer trust and attitudes towards marketing and branding communications.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate how other-agency appraisals of emotions can influence consumer brand trust and attitudes in a marketing context.

The purpose of this paper is to identify which loyalty programme (LP) benefits are most likely to create consumer gratitude and increase loyalty towards the brand for consumer goods and services loyalty schemes.

French-speaking Quebecer (Canada) members of retail LPs answered an online survey. The S-O-R framework was used to investigate the effects of LP benefits on customer loyalty to the brand through the mediating mechanism of gratitude. Data analysis was performed by means of partial least square structural equation modelling.

Three benefits (entertainment, recognition and social) out of five were identified to significantly enhance customer gratitude towards the brand. Neither monetary nor exploration benefits had a direct effect on gratitude or loyalty. In addition, gratitude was positively and strongly related to loyalty and fully mediated the effects of entertainment and recognition benefits on loyalty. As for social benefits, gratitude complementarily mediated their relationship to loyalty.

The findings are of utmost interest to LP managers. They offer valuable insights to maintain or modify LPs to enhance customer true loyalty. First, they highlight the strategic role of gratitude, which strongly determines customer loyalty. Second, this study's findings indicate which LP benefits should be prioritised to enhance customer gratitude and loyalty.

This research is the first empirical attempt to study the effects of LP perceived benefits on customer gratitude. It addresses the paucity of research on customer gratitude and enhances its importance in retail and relationship literature.

This paper aims to investigate how direct mail consumption contributes to brand relationship quality. Store flyers and other direct mailings continue to play a significant role in many companies’ communication strategies. Research on this topic predominantly investigates driving store traffic and sales. Less is known regarding the consumer side, such as the value that consumers may derive from the consumption of direct mailings and the effects of such a value on brand relationship quality. To address this limitation, this paper tests a causal model of the contribution of direct mail value to brand commitment, drawing on a value framework that integrates social theory of engagement regimes and literature on experiential customer value.

The empirical work of this paper is based on a rigorous four-study mixed methods design, involving qualitative study, confirmatory factor analysis and partial least squares structural modeling.

The authors develop two second-order formatively designed scales – familiar value and planned value scales – that illustrate the role of engagement regimes in consumer behavior. Although both types of value contribute equally to direct mail attachment, they exert contrasting effects on other mediational consumer responses, such as reading and gratitude. Finally, the proposed theoretical model appears to be robust in predicting customers’ brand commitment.

This study provides new insights into the research on consumer value and brand relational communication.

This study is the first to consider consumer benefits from the social perspective of engagement regimes.

This paper aims to explore the moderating impact of four moderators, namely, retailer brand strength, customer’s perceived purchase regularity, gender and purchase channel (online and offline) on the relationship between relationship marketing investments (RMIs) and customer gratitude, and customer gratitude and customer loyalty. The context of research is the purchase of a high-involvement product by Indian customers.

This study adapts Huang RMIs-Gratitude-Loyalty model and empirically validates the associated hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Data is collected through the survey method.

The study (N = 385) results suggest a significant impact of preferential treatment and interpersonal communication investments on customer’s feeling of gratitude toward the retailer and, consequently, on loyalty. Purchase channel, gender and, to a lesser extent, customer perceived regularity each moderates the relationships between marketing investment and gratitude, and that between gratitude and loyalty; surprisingly, retailer brand is not a significant moderator.

Future research can factor in the impact of loyalty program on the proposed relationships.

This research offers helpful guidelines for retailers, especially for those who currently have a multichannel presence and invest or plan to invest in relationship marketing to obtain benefits from customer loyalty.

This investigation explores not only the relevance of RMIs–gratitude–loyalty model in the Indian retail context but also the influence of moderating variables on the retailers’ efforts of gaining consumer loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to combine the evolving fields of customer delight and positive psychology to investigate a broader conceptualization of customer delight. Furthermore, to investigate antecedent variables that impact this broader conceptualization.

This research employed structural equation modeling in a hedonic context.

Key findings indicate that aside from joy and surprise, gratitude also has a positive impact on customer delight. Furthermore, psychological sense of brand community (PSBC) and transcendent customer experiences (TCE) were shown to positively impact the proximal antecedents of customer delight.

Extending the domain of customer delight beyond joy and surprise contributes to the theoretical discussion on what customer delight represents to the service firm. Further, this research identifies new theoretical relationships between PSBC/TCE and customer delight.

By offering the broader conceptualization of customer delight, this research contributes to the discussion of whether delight is possible or even profitable. Namely, by moving past joy/surprise, this research suggests that managing gratitude can be a strategic lever that the modern service firm can utilize.

This is the first research to evaluate gratitude as an antecedent to customer delight. Further, by combining positive psychology and delight research this research identifies new predictors of positive customer experiences.

This paper closely examines an iconic relationship between the Betty Crocker brand figure and a set of consumers to build our understanding of how corporate personas contribute to community, engagement and dialogue.

Using a historical approach to analyse radio scripts featuring Betty Crocker and “Dear Betty Crocker” letters women wrote to the fictional brand icon from 1940 to 1950, at the height of Betty’s popularity, this study identifies themes and rhetorical strategies that explain how General Mills used Betty Crocker to make the institution relatable and products relevant during a period of cultural and social change.

General Mills built a strong brand community by using Betty Crocker to facilitate dialogue among consumers and slightly re-frame the group’s shared mission as the decade progressed. The analysis of letters reveals women engaged in dialogue with the company to reify brand values, express gratitude and loyalty, and seek more social support and connection.

This research adds to our understanding of a central challenge described by communication professionals: how to leverage corporate personas and brand voice in ways that resonate with audiences, inspire interaction, and build community.

The cost to supermarkets from shoplifting is a growing problem. Despite huge investments in formal security measures, supermarkets experience shrinkage and face heavy financial losses. Hence, this paper explores an alternative approach to shoplifting prevention. The purpose of this paper is to propose that quality relationships between a supermarket and its customers could be a viable strategy for shoplifting prevention. A conceptual model is presented at the end of this paper for encouraging shoplifting prevention using a theory of planned behaviour perspective.

A systematic search of literature on relationship quality was conducted. Research papers were shortlisted from peer-reviewed journals published between 2007 and 2016. For the convenience of readers, studies on relationship quality are presented in six cross-checked information categories in a table.

This study produced two results. First, it finds three antecedents of supermarket-customer relationship quality. These are as follows: a supermarket’s participation in corporate social responsibility and cause-related marketing initiatives, a supermarket’s service quality, and a customer’s attachment to a supermarket’s place/location. Second, there are three major effective dimensions of relationship quality. These are as follows: satisfaction, trust, and commitment. The proposed model incorporates factors from both findings, to measure a supermarket-customer relationship quality that may influence intention of customers to engage in shoplifting preventive behaviour.

This research paper has reviewed the existing literature to utilise it in the context of shoplifting prevention, and developed a novel model/framework for effective shoplifting prevention with a theory of planned behaviour perspective.

The purpose of this study is to understand the role of customer engagement (CE) in transforming a committed customer into a loyal customer in an online service context. The study explores the varied effect of the dimensions of commitment on the dimensions of beyond purchase CE and their effect on loyalty.

The study uses a survey for data collection and assesses the measurement model with confirmatory factor analysis and uses partial least square-structural equation modeling for the structural model.

The study reveals that the constructs commitment, CE and loyalty are interrelated. It empirically supports that the affective and continuance commitment has a significant positive association with CE, and two out of the three dimensions of CE have a significant positive association with loyalty.

This study advances the understanding of the relationship between commitment, CE and loyalty and supports the conceptualization of CE as a behavioral construct. The study uses cross-sectional data, which miss the effect of the time lag of the constructs and use of the context of travel booking websites limits its generalization.

This study helps marketers to understand CE, what motivates CE, its impact on the firm and how to align CE strategies with the firm’s goal.

This study proposes a conceptual model for how CE transforms commitment into loyalty. It improves the understanding of CE’s conceptualization, its drivers and its impact on brand loyalty.