Antecedents and financial impacts of building brand love

Brand love has garnered increasing interest among practitioners and scholars, but little is known about how marketing actions drive brand love, and whether and how brand love transmutes to firm profitability. Using longitudinal brand love data collected from more than 20,000 customers of 152 corporate brands and financial data of firms who own these brands during 2006–2017, the authors examine the antecedents and financial impacts of building brand love. The results show that advertising investments help firms build brand love with diminishing returns after reaching an optimal point, whereas R&D investments positively contribute to brand love. The analyses further show that although brand love does not affect firm profitability and market value in the short term, it increases firm profitability and market value in the long term. More important, the results indicate that the positive effect of brand love on firm performance is stronger for hedonic brands, for firms in product categories that matter greatly to consumers, and those operating in highly competitive markets. Overall, the findings have important implications for marketing theory and provide actionable insights for managers into how to build and manage brand love.     

How does consumers' Perception of Sports Stars' Personal Brand Promote Consumers’ brand love? A mediation model of global brand equity

Previous research on the sports marketing of global brands has focused mainly on the sponsorship of sporting events and the endorsement of products by athletes. This study reveals the unexamined effect of the impact of sports stars' personal brand on global brand equity and consumers' brand love. Based on global consumer culture (GCC) theory and self-expansion theory, this paper examines the influence of sports celebrities' personal brand on consumers' perceptions of global brand equity and brand love. Using survey data from 372 users of “HUPU”, our results revealed that the use of sports stars' personal brand (attractiveness, expertise, and congruence) was positively related to global brand equity and brand love. Belief in global brand citizenship has a full mediating effect between attractiveness and brand love but a partial mediating effect between expertise, congruence and brand love. Product quality partially mediates the relationship between expertise and brand love. These findings suggest that it is appropriate to use sports stars' personal brand to build global brand equity and increase consumers’ brand love.     

Brand love: Emotionality and development of its elements across the relationship lifecycle

Brand love is the most emotionally intense connection between consumers and their brands. Referring to their interpersonal counterpart, it is assumed that consumer–brand relationships change their nature over time. However, most studies in this field do not take into consideration this dynamic characteristic. As part of a dynamic perspective of emotionality within consumer–brand relationships, this study is the first to integrate traditional relationship lifecycle concepts and interpersonal love theories. Addressing the developmental path of brand love dimensions over the course of a relationship, the analysis shows that the emotional bond with a brand as represented by brand love and its subdimensions do not follow a prototypical trajectory as assumed by traditional lifecycle concepts. Instead of forming an inverse U‐shape, the respective dimensions show divergent paths rather resembling the development of their interpersonal correspondent. Comparing hedonic and utilitarian brand concepts, it is shown that brand love can arise for hedonic brands and, just as well, for brands perceived as predominantly utilitarian. Moreover, the results advocate the singularity of brand love among relational constructs, thereby paving the way for a distinct theoretical approach centering on the lifecycle of love. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Is It Really Love? A Comparative Investigation of the Emotional Nature of Brand and Interpersonal Love

The use of interpersonal love theories is standard in brand love research. Yet no empirical evidence exists to confirm the equivalence of the emotional nature of these forms of love, which is required to justify the transfer of theories and measures from interpersonal to brand love settings. Building on dimensional emotional theories, this study compared the emotional nature of brand love against interpersonal love, interpersonal liking, and brand liking, using a mixed‐method approach. Qualitative Study 1 revealed emotional differences and similarities between the two love constructs; in particular, unlike interpersonal love, brand love was driven by rational benefits, such as product quality. Study 2 combined physiological and pictographic measures to show that brand love was less arousing than interpersonal love, though loved brands can be as arousing as close friends and induce more positive valence than this interpersonal relationship. According to dimensional emotional theories, interpersonal love and brand love thus differ, and researchers require prudence before transferring interpersonal love theories and scales directly to brand love research, without accounting for differences in the emotional nature of brand love and interpersonal love.     

The Phenomenon of Brand Love: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Brand love is a phenomenon that is experienced by a group of satisfied consumers. The construct brand love is of great importance to academics and practitioners because a group of satisfied customers become loyal customers, thereby reduce several costs and also enhance several marketing activities. Since the research paper of it can be observed that there has been a surge in the number of research publications pertinent to brand love literature. Through this systematic literature review, we comprehensively review seventy six articles pertinent to brand love literature, published in various scientific journals there by presenting the key emergent themes, extensively used methodologies and analysis approaches, key variables observed, dominant theoretical underpinnings and a strategic conceptual framework.     

The role of love in satisfied customers' relationships with retailers

This study proposes and tests a model that includes customer love as a measure of satisfied customers' emotional responses to retailers specifically in apparel and grocery store contexts. Customer love was found to partially mediate the effect of service quality on positive word-of-mouth and willingness to pay more. In contrast, customer love was proven to fully mediate the effect of service quality on self-disclosure and competitive insulation. As a control variable, emotional intensity had a positive effect on customer love. The implications of the customer love construct are discussed, as well as limitations and areas for future research.     

Brand fidelity: Scale development and validation

The goal of this research is to develop and validate a multi-dimensional scale measure of brand fidelity. This paper reports the rigorous process of scale development, through two separate studies involving 592 US consumers. Study 1 involves scale item generation, content validation and scale purification, while Study 2 involves a two-wave data collection method, evaluating the refined brand fidelity scale within a nomological network of relationships. The results demonstrate the 20-item brand fidelity scale to have strong construct validity as a first-order reflective, second-order formative scale. The findings suggest that if consumers engage in the behaviours/cognitions (as defined within the brand fidelity scale), then consumer/brand relationships are likely to be stable and predictable; are likely to endure the ravages of time; and, importantly, are likely to remain monogamous. For practitioners, the overall brand fidelity score can be used to track brand performance over time and for industry benchmarking purposes. Additionally, the measured brand fidelity dimensions provide specific direction upon which remedial marketing action can be implemented.     

Antecedents and outcomes of brand love: the mediating role of brand loyalty

The purpose of this study was to propose and test an integrative conceptual model which incorporates experience-based (i.e. brand experience) and non-experience-based (i.e. self-congruity) antecedents and behavioural outcomes (i.e. brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth) of brand love. The conceptual model and proposed hypotheses of the study are analysed with a sample of 361 consumers by using a structured survey as a data collection instrument. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the hypothesized linkages among the constructs. The findings of the study demonstrate strong associations between both experience-based and non-experience-based antecedents and brand love, and between brand love and its behavioural outcomes. This study also corroborates the mediating role of brand loyalty on the impact of brand love on positive word-of-mouth. This study is expected to contribute to the field of brand management by investigating the simultaneous impact of experience-based and non-experienced-based antecedents on brand love and the mediating role of brand loyalty on the association between brand love and positive word-of-mouth, which has not been addressed in the previous literature.     

Leveraging Family‐Based Brand Identity to Enhance Firm Competitiveness and Performance in Family Businesses*

Drawing on the family‐embeddedness perspective on entrepreneurship and the resource‐based‐view of the firm, we investigate how the promotion of family‐based brand identity influences competitive orientation (customer versus product) and firm performance in family businesses. Applying structural equation modeling to survey data collected from leaders of 218 family businesses, we demonstrate that developing a family‐based brand identity positively contributes to firm performance (growth and profitability) indirectly, via a customer‐centric orientation. In contrast, attempts to leverage family‐based brand identity via a product‐centric orientation do not impact firm performance. Our results suggest that family‐based brand identity enhances the family business' ability to persuade customers to make purchasing decisions based on the perceived attributes of the seller. As a result, we contribute to the discussions centered on how to optimize the intricate synergy between family and business.     

Some antecedents and outcomes of brand love

Survey research is employed to test hypotheses involving brand love, a new marketing construct that assesses satisfied consumers’ passionate emotional attachment to particular brands. Findings suggest that satisfied consumers’ love is greater for brands in product categories perceived as more hedonic (as compared with utilitarian) and for brands that offer more in terms of symbolic benefits. Brand love, in turn, is linked to higher levels of brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. Findings also suggest that satisfied consumers tend to be less loyal to brands in more hedonic product categories and to engage in more positive word-of-mouth about self-expressive brands.     

Genuine brands or high quality counterfeits: An investigation of luxury consumption in China

This study examines the effects of different marketing and manufacturing factors on the perceived quality gap and willingness to pay (WTP) for genuine luxury brands. Using the survey data of 786 Chinese consumers, the results show that three marketing factors (product innovation, price promotion, and sales environment) and two manufacturing factors (production in country of brand origin and difficulty in producing the products) all indirectly influence WTP through a perceived quality gap between originals and counterfeits. These effects differ significantly among consumers with different counterfeit and genuine brand purchasing experiences. For consumers with counterfeit purchasing experience, it is important to emphasize the manufacturing factors in the marketing strategies; however, for consumers who only buy genuine brands, marketing factors play a more important role. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Value dimensions of gamification and their influence on brand loyalty and word-of-mouth: Relationships and combinations with satisfaction and brand love

This study examined the influence of different value dimensions of gamification on two important marketing outcomes, brand loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM), using a mixed methods approach. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA) is employed alongside structural equation modeling (SEM). These methods showcase nuances that contribute to the understanding of the effects of different value dimensions. Although the SEM results stress the mediating role of brand love, the fs/QCA results indicate that brand love is a core condition for brand loyalty, but it might be indifferent to obtaining positive WOM. Different paths can be sufficient to produce the outcomes of interest. The value dimensions of gamification can be substitutes, contingent on the presence of other conditions, thereby providing a novel perspective. These findings advance our knowledge of the functioning of gamification and can serve as a guide for practitioners seeking to employ gamification experiences to alter consumers' behavior.     

我国企业文化营销策略研究

文化营销有助于企业实现产品差异化及提升品牌价值,也有助于企业产品品牌与消费者之间的沟通。我国企业在使用文化营销过程中还存在着不能紧密联系消费者、无法建立长期稳固的关系、不能给予消费者迅速反应、不注重消费者回报等问题。企业在实施文化营销时,应将文化运用到4R营销当中,即建立与消费者之间的文化关联;建立消费者所需求的文化反应;建立企业与消费者之间长期稳固的文化关系;建立了稳固的关系得到的营销文化回报。这能使营销过程更加顺利,并更有效的达到营销目的。     

The effect of firm scale and CSR geographical scope of impact on consumers' response

The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in shaping consumer perception and attitude has received many attentions both in the academia and practitioner world. While this domain has invited numerous research, but research highlighting how consumers react toward learning the size of a firm conducting CSR and geographical scope of the CSR impact is still scarce. We investigate how consumers shape their attitude and consumption behavior after knowing that the CSR action is done by a small, locally-owned business that brings impact to the local community through an experimental study. Our study adds a shade in understanding how the effect of a firm size and geographical scope of CSR impact might increase consumers' favorable attitude and behavior toward the business and its products. Our findings show that when consumers learn that the firm conducting CSR is a small, locally-owned (in coffee shop business) that directs its action toward local beneficiaries, they demonstrate more favorable attitudes toward the action and the firm, which manifest in the form of better intentions to acquire the product as well as willingness to pay premium prices for it. Our findings confirm the US consumers' love affair with local businesses, in particular. While the findings generally benefit small, locally-owned businesses, they also suggest recommendations for large, multinational businesses to design their marketing strategy in an attempt to increase favorable reactions from consumers.     

What drives brand love for natural products? The moderating role of household size

Natural products, including food, cosmetics, and other fast-moving consumer goods, are becoming increasingly popular, and their health-related benefits are widely recognized. Despite the growing awareness and use of natural products, little is known about the enablers and barriers that influence consumers' brand love toward them. The present study attempts to address this gap and better explain consumer behavior toward natural products by utilizing the stimuli-organism-response (S–O-R) theory. The study rests on the premise that certain stimuli influence the internal state of consumers (i.e., the organism), which, in turn, shape their response to products and services. This study uses health consciousness and environmental concern as the stimuli, both facilitators (natural content and regional product) and inhibitors (usage and image barriers) as the internal state of the ‘organism’, and brand love as the response. Based on analysis of 720 responses, the study empirically reveals that health consciousness and environmental concern significantly influence the consumers' internal state, as represented by the identified facilitators and inhibitors . Three of these, namely, regional product, image barriers, and usage barriers, are found to shape brand love for natural products. The moderating role of household size on brand love is also confirmed.The findings of the study contribute to the literature on consumer behavior and practice.     

广告策略对消费者-品牌关系的影响:一项基于消费者品牌喜爱度的研究

This research investigates the effects of advertising strategy, that is, rational advertising and emotional advertising, on brand love. Based on the consumer-brand relationship literature, brand love is defined as a reciprocal, dynamic, multiplex, and purposive relationship between satisfied consumers and their brands, and has three key components: brand intimacy, brand passion, and brand commitment. Using a series of pretests and a main experiment, we examine how rational and emotional advertising affect brand love as well as its components for different products and services. Results show that for products, there is an interaction between advertising strategy and product type in influencing brand love. Specifically, rational advertising is more effective for utilitarian-value based products while emotional advertising is more effective for hedonic-value based products. For services, we find that emotional advertising is more effective for both utilitarian- and hedonic-value based services.     

Brand Authenticity: Testing the Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Management's Passion for its Products

While customer orientation is accepted as a core marketing principle, this research suggests that an opposing orientation—product orientation—may offer an advantage. Managers who follow a product orientation focus on products that interest and inspire them rather than on products that fulfill consumers’ desires. This research suggests that a consumer's perception that managers follow a product orientation is consistent with prior conceptualizations of brand authenticity. That research suggests that brands perceived as authentic are evaluated more positively, yet that research does not empirically assess brand authenticity's effects nor suggest its antecedents. To fill this gap, the authors develop a conceptualization and model of brand authenticity grounded in self‐determination theory, attribution theory, and extant authentic human brand research. Brand authenticity is defined as the extent to which consumers perceive that a brand's managers are intrinsically motivated in that they are passionate about and devoted to providing their products. The model proposes four antecedents of brand authenticity—two related to rare brand behaviors (uniqueness and scarcity), and two related to stable brand behaviors (longevity and longitudinal consistency). It also proposes two perceptual outcomes of brand authenticity—expected quality and trust. Two 2 × 2 experiments (n = 136 for Study 1; n = 155 for Study 2) demonstrate a positive impact of the antecedents on brand authenticity and of brand authenticity on the outcomes. Brand authenticity mediates these effects.     

Brand Attachment and Consumer Emotional Response to Unethical Firm Behavior

Attaching consumers to a brand is a cornerstone of relationship marketing as attachment increases loyalty. This research investigates another possible benefit of attachment, its potential and limits for shielding brands from firms’ ethical missteps. Merging motivated reasoning and attachment theories, two studies focus on how brand attachment influences consumer judgments of firm ethics and the emotional and behavioral consequences developing from those. A field study indicates that attachment attenuates judgments of unethical behavior, contributes to emotional ambivalence, and affects purchase intentions. A subsequent experiment corroborates these findings and shows that the buffering role of attachment is limited to conditions when the information about firm ethics is moderately rather than extremely negative. Implications focus on advancing research on ethics and emotional ambivalence in consumer brand relationships and on managerial implications.     

品牌战略创新：从感官营销到情感营销

品牌战略的新时代即将来临，感官的识别作用在品牌营销中发挥着愈加重要的作用，并潜移默化地影响着消费者的最终购买决策。目前，一些知名品牌开始逐步重视品牌战略中的感官设计。本文认为只有以情感营销为最终目的并结合感官营销手段，才能实现品牌战略的创新，从而获得事半功倍的营销效果。