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1 – 10 of 975Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian
This research aims to explain consumer attraction to brands when stimulation needs are paramount using the perspective of the Self‐Expansion Model. In doing so, it seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explain consumer attraction to brands when stimulation needs are paramount using the perspective of the Self‐Expansion Model. In doing so, it seeks to identiy brand romance – a more proximal construct to brand loyalty and aims to offer a complementary perspective to understand emotional attachment to brands.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of four studies developed and validated a three‐factor, 12‐item measurement scale for brand romance using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability, convergent, criterion, discriminant and nomological validities were established.
Findings
Brand romance is a reliable, valid, and a more proximal construct that explains loyalty significantly better than attitudes.
Research limitations/implications
Student subjects constitute the sample and the findings are cautiously generalizable to adult populations. Future research should focus on teasing out product category effects, extending generalizability to other product categories and integrating the Attachment Theory perspective with the study's findings to offer a more comprehensive explanation for loyalty.
Practical implications
Consumers are likely to remain loyal to brands to which they are attracted. The brand romance construct captures this attraction. Marketers need to infuse their brands with novel perspectives, resources and identities on a continuous basis to satisfy stimulation needs and keep the attraction strong. This involves creating new brand associations that help the brand to stay relevant.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to apply the Self‐expansion Model to brand relationships. The research contributes a unique perspective in explaining emotional attachment to brands brought on by stimulation needs. It fills a gap in the emotional attachment literature and provides marketers with a tool to monitor consumers' attraction to brands.
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As Generation Y is considered to be a lucrative segment for emerging devices, this study investigates the effect of emotional brand attachment, from the brand romance perspective…
Abstract
Purpose
As Generation Y is considered to be a lucrative segment for emerging devices, this study investigates the effect of emotional brand attachment, from the brand romance perspective, on brand loyalty of Generation Y smartphone users. Furthermore, this study examines gender differences in the same relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a cross-sectional survey method and data was collected from 300 respondents. Data was analyzed using the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach and multi-group analysis was performed to examine gender differences in the model.
Findings
Results revealed that all three aspects of brand romance (pleasure, arousal and dominance) have a positive impact on smartphone brand loyalty. It further denotes that the relationship between brand romance and brand loyalty differs from males to females.
Originality/value
This study makes a significant contribution by examining emotional attachment and brand loyalty of Generation Y consumers, which has been less investigated. Furthermore, both attitudinal and behavioral brand loyalty has been considered in this study, which has largely been overlooked in similar studies. Examining the gender difference in the above relationship is an additional contribution.
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Ezgi Merdin-Uygur, Umut Kubat and Zeynep Gürhan-Canli
Marketing academics and practitioners have acknowledged that consumers form specific relationships with brands that are able to create unique and memorable qualities. As a result…
Abstract
Marketing academics and practitioners have acknowledged that consumers form specific relationships with brands that are able to create unique and memorable qualities. As a result, the concept of consumer–brand relationship has been of great interest for marketers. Indeed, consumer–brand relationships are very complex and multidimensional in nature. A common perception is that brand management should create ultimate offerings and communication to have successful relationships with its consumer base. However, how consumers construe their relationships with brands is mostly out of the brands’ control. It is an emotion-intense realm and necessitates careful study of the consumers as well as the context. After summarising the current literature on brand relationships, we focus on Turkish consumers’ relationships with brands.
By focussing on a range of global and local brand studies, this chapter offers a comprehensive and well-informed analysis of the issues and practices involved in consumer–brand relationships in the Turkish context. The chapter is organised into three parts. The first part focusses on antecedents of consumer–brand relationships such as the global or local identity of the brand and brand personality. The second part presents detailed explorations of various brand relationships such as brand love and brand trust. The third and the final part focusses on an important phenomenon, the stage for various brand relationships, being online brand communities. The chapter concludes with the future research directions in these three main areas together with a discussion of offline and online branding opportunities in the Turkish market.
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Francois Marticotte, Manon Arcand and Damien Baudry
This study aims to build on the notion of brand evangelism developed by Becerra and Badrinarayanan (2013) by examining how brand relationship variables regarding one brand (i.e…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to build on the notion of brand evangelism developed by Becerra and Badrinarayanan (2013) by examining how brand relationship variables regarding one brand (i.e. brand loyalty, brand community identification and self-brand connection) influence oppositional referrals to a rival brand (i.e. desire to harm and trash-talking) in the high definition (HD) videogame console industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of online communities devoted to video gaming was conducted using a sample of 809 respondents, all owners of either a PlayStation or an Xbox.
Findings
The results show that the desire to harm the rival brand is strongly and positively associated to participation in trash-talking. Brand loyalty is connected to both dimensions of oppositional brand referrals. Consumers’ connection with the brand affects trash-talking only indirectly through the desire to harm. No association is found between identification with the brand community and oppositional brand referrals.
Originality/value
This study is the first to demonstrate the mechanism linking brand relationship variables regarding a focal brand with consumers’ disparagement of a rival brand, showing that a desire to harm plays a central role. Just as the desire for retaliation drives negative word-of-mouth in the context of an unsatisfactory experience with a brand (Grégoire and Fisher, 2006), the desire to harm drives trash-talking against a rival brand by brand evangelists. This study improves our understanding of the relationships consumers build with their preferred brands and how this relationship may influence their rejection of competing brands with which they do not have direct experience.
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Social media marketing has become a powerful strategic tool for many brands, but scholarly research in this domain is still in its infancy. This study aims to examine the effects…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media marketing has become a powerful strategic tool for many brands, but scholarly research in this domain is still in its infancy. This study aims to examine the effects of social media marketing activities on consumer online impulse buying intentions via brand resonance and emotional responses by incorporating the direct and moderating effects of social network proneness toward fashion retail brands.
Design/methodology/approach
By using snowball sampling, this study recruited 441 netizens (who were using fashion retail brands) and obtained their responses through an online survey. Structural equation modeling was applied to 394 responses for analysis.
Findings
The findings discovered that social media marketing activities significantly influenced brand resonance, consumer emotional responses and online impulse buying intentions. Likewise, brand resonance and emotional responses were positively associated with online impulse buying intentions and acted as decisive mediators. Social network proneness’s direct and moderating effects significantly increased consumer online impulse-buying intentions toward fashion retail brands.
Practical implications
This study provides recommendations to retail managers for creating and executing brand positioning, segmenting and targeting strategies to enhance consumers’ intentions for engaging in online impulsive purchases for fashion brands.
Originality/value
This original research contributes to the branding literature and stimulus–organism–response theory by focusing on social media marketing activities, brand resonance, emotional responses, social network proneness and consumer online impulse buying intentions toward fashion retail brands.
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Adil Khan, Abdul Saboor Mohammad and Shahaliza Muhammad
This study aims to develop, propose and test an integrated framework of brand love and brand experience in the context of halal industry. Particularly, this study investigates the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop, propose and test an integrated framework of brand love and brand experience in the context of halal industry. Particularly, this study investigates the relationship of brand experience and brand love concepts with several outcome variables such as brand trust, brand satisfaction, brand loyalty purchase intention and word of mouth.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire has been constructed using scales from past studies. Hypotheses have been tested using partial least square structural equation modelling methodology.
Findings
This study has found that brand experience is a significant determinant of brand love. Further, brand love has a significant influence on trust, satisfaction and loyalty. Both variables, brand experience and brand love, have either direct or indirect influences on several branding-related outcome variables such as brand trust, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
This study has been conducted only using cross-sectional sample of one country, which may limit the generalisations. However, the results of this study offer valuable insights for the brand managers in the halal sector.
Originality/value
Previous studies pertaining to halal food consumption have focussed more on understanding the attitude or the buying intention of the consumers. Only few studies have attempted to investigate the branding aspect of halal food consumption. This study is one of its kinds, which offers a comprehensive framework by incorporating important brand-related antecedents and outcome variables to understand the branding aspect of the halal food consumption behaviour.
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Power brands like Perdue Farm's Oven Staffer chickens and Gillette's Sensor razor achieve superior profitability by convincing customers that they offer superior quality says a…
Abstract
Power brands like Perdue Farm's Oven Staffer chickens and Gillette's Sensor razor achieve superior profitability by convincing customers that they offer superior quality says a noted analyst of the data linking strategy and performance. His conclusions are based on a review of 25 years of confidential data from major U.S. corporations. His insights have important implications for corporate strategy and should provoke a review of business operations in many firms.
Richard Huaman-Ramirez and Dwight Merunka
The purpose of this study is to examine how brand attachment is related to brand experience. The model tests the partial mediating role of brand trust and the moderating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how brand attachment is related to brand experience. The model tests the partial mediating role of brand trust and the moderating role of age and income.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 334 participants consuming brands with an experiential offering completed an online questionnaire in a cross-sectional study. The data were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and advanced methods such as the heterotrait–monotrait ratio and the Henseler’s multigroup analysis were used.
Findings
Brand experience is positively related to brand attachment, more so for younger consumers. This relationship holds for both hedonic and utilitarian brands. Results demonstrate the partial mediation of brand trust in this relationship, especially for utilitarian brands, and with a weaker indirect relationship for high-income consumers.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted in one country (Peru). Generalizability of results should be established by carrying out additional studies in other settings or countries.
Practical implications
Experiential marketing both as a positioning strategy and through marketing operations may help brands to increase consumer attachment. This may be managed both through the direct effect of favoring positive experiences and through the enhancement of brand trust. This is particularly the case for target markets composed of young and low-to-medium-income consumers.
Originality/value
Results confirm the impact of brand experience on brand attachment for both utilitarian and hedonic brands, and establish both the mediating role of brand trust and the moderating role of age and income. These are new insights on the process itself and on boundary conditions of an important established relationship.
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Félix Velicia Martín, Luis Dona Toledo and Pedro Palos-Sanchez
The central objective is to determine the main components of a brand that become a “beloved” brand in the minds of consumers applied to football teams.
Abstract
Purpose
The central objective is to determine the main components of a brand that become a “beloved” brand in the minds of consumers applied to football teams.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a quantitative causal study using partial least squares (PLS) with a sample of 824 participants using an online questionnaire.
Findings
Brand love is a construct composed of five dimensions: passion, connection with the brand, intrinsic rewards, emotional attachment and thinking and frequent use. It also demonstrates that the consequences of brand love for football teams are loyalty, willingness to invest and word-of-mouth communication.
Research limitations/implications
Managers of large football clubs must emphasize achieving an emotional connection with their fans and develop their marketing strategies on building long-term emotional relationships which will result in greater investments.
Practical implications
Given the competitive and international environment of the sports sector, the conclusions will be of use for managers of sports clubs and companies that develop sponsorship strategies. Another important contribution is the theoretical contribution of the brand in football teams and the psychological understanding of fans as consumers.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt to establish a model of the background and causes of brand love with respect to football teams and a context also not analysed as is the Spanish one. The analysis does not only focus on the emotional relationship but also include how the possible investment of the fans is modelled.
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