The role of benefits and transparency in shaping consumers’ green perceived value,self-brand connection and brand loyalty

Building on the literature on green consumption, this study investigates consumers’ perceptions of a brand's green benefits (utilitarian environmental and warm glow) and green transparency on their green perceived value (GPV). In particular, this study tests the mediating role of GPV and self-brand connection on the relationships between green benefits and green transparency and brand loyalty. We used structural equation modeling to test the research model with a sample of 826 Chinese respondents. Our findings suggest that most of the hypotheses were supported. However, comparison between brands of physical goods and services indicate that the approach to develop consumers’ green value perceptions is different and that the influences of GPV and self-brand connection on brand loyalty are significantly different between these two groups of brands. Hence, it would be more effective for organizations to have diverse green branding strategies between these two groups of brands.     

The influence of price and brand loyalty on store brands versus national brands

Abstract

This article investigates how price and brand loyalty of three frequently purchased product categories can influence the purchase decision process of store brands versus national brands. A multinomial logit model was constructed to analyse the data obtained from a consumer panel. The results confirmed that brand loyalty is the main variable which influences the purchase decision process of both national and store brands. The influence of price on the purchase decision process is product specific. There is a clear distinction between the buyer's profile of store brands and national brands. But there is no evidence of any correlation between demographic variables and national brands or store brands.     

Feedback effects of brand extensions on the brand image of global brands: a comparison between Spain and Norway

Abstract

Global brands often attempt to increase their sales through the launch of brand extensions. Such a strategy may, however, dilute existing brand beliefs at an international level, as two sets of data from Norway and Spain indicate. This paper illuminates how the attitude towards a brand extension affects the image of a parent brand. The extension attitude is mainly determined by the degree of perceived fit between the extension and the parent brand image. In the Spanish sample, it is also determined by the degree of familiarity with the parent brand and the perceived fit at the product category level. After analysing these relationships, the paper focuses on the moderating role of two dimensions of consumer innovativeness: hedonist innovativeness (tied to need for stimulation) and social innovativeness (tied to need for uniqueness). Finally, the cultural orientation of the origin country is analysed as a moderating factor.     

The influence of brand personality and relative brand identification on brand loyalty in the European mobile phone market

This study investigates the influence of brand personality on consumer loyalty and the moderating role of relative brand identification for multiple brands in the same product category. Survey data were collected from 1,651 respondents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Results indicate that dimensions of brand personality that are positively associated with consumer brand loyalty vary across brands in the mobile phone category. Furthermore, relative brand identification not only positively affects consumer loyalty, it also moderates the relationship between brand personality and consumer loyalty. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What are the Building Blocks of Customer Brand Loyalty in Department Stores? A Multi-Level Mediation Analysis

Building customer brand loyalty through branding strategies to sustain competitiveness in the retail industry has gathered momentum among researchers. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of brand personality and consumer brand identification on customer brand loyalty via the mediating variables of perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, brand commitment, and word-of-mouth communication among Malaysian department stores' customers. Using a self-structured questionnaire, 381 usable responses are considered for data analysis by applying a covariance-based structural equation modeling approach. The results of exploratory factor analysis show that sincerity, followed by sophistication and competence, are the most significant dimensions used to predict brand personality in department stores. The outcomes also reveal that brand personality indirectly influences customer brand loyalty via consumer brand identification. Furthermore, perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, word-of-mouth communication, and brand commitment mediate the effects of consumer brand identification on brand loyalty. Finally, the proposed competing model implies that the indirect impact of brand personality and consumer brand identification is inevitable in building department stores' brand loyalty.     

Functional brand qualities and perceived value: The mediating role of brand experience and brand personality

Brand experience and brand personality have become two important theoretical constructs in the branding literature. However, research on the antecedents of these two constructs has been focused on intangible brand characteristics and qualities, underestimating the role of functional features. This study aims to overcome this gap by postulating that two key functional brand qualities, quality and innovativeness, help shape brand experience and personality, which, we ultimately predict, contribute to perceived value. Investments in quality and innovation have grown substantially, but how they materialize in benefits for customers and firms remains unclear. Accordingly, this study provides insights into how firms can engender the characteristics of their offer to build brands that are perceived by consumers as generating a valued brand experience and personality. The results from two samples provide broad support to the proposed model. Both brand quality and innovativeness contribute to brand experience and personality. Moreover, we observe that both brand experience and personality relate to perceived value. Finally, we also determined that brand personality and experience partially mediate the relationship between brand innovativeness and quality and perceived value. Hence, these results provide relevant implications for both theory and the practice of brand management.     

品牌忠诚度驱动模型的研究与应用

由于企业的营销思路和消费者的心理存在较大的差异,导致营销活动没有达到预期的效果,引入品牌忠诚度驱动模型的目的是为企业提供一种对消费者行为进行全面诊断的结构性框架,以此来研究消费者是如何看待品牌而品牌又是如何打动消费者的,帮助企业在提高消费者忠诚度和争夺最有价值的消费者等方面制定策略。     

A higher-order model of consumer brand engagement and its impact on loyalty intentions

Consumer brand engagement is increasingly gaining popularity among practitioners and academics as a prominent consumer-brand relationship construct. The emergent literature on consumer brand engagement, largely conceptual, offers various definitions of the construct, though without much consensus. We offer a novel higher-order model of consumer brand engagement that we derive from organizational psychology. We adapt the concept of employee engagement and examine its factorial validity in a consumer-brand relationship context, defining consumer brand engagement as consumers' positive, fulfilling, brand-use-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication and absorption. We develop and empirically test a three-dimensional model of brand engagement, outlining relevant antecedents and outcomes. More importantly, we assess the managerial utility of consumer brand engagement by examining its impact on consumer loyalty intentions. We additionally compare the explanatory capability of brand engagement relative to traditional consumer judgments of value, quality and satisfaction. A survey of 408 mobile phone consumers from India provided data for empirical testing. The results support the three-dimensional factor structure of consumer brand engagement. Brand engagement not only exerts a significant impact on loyalty intentions, but also explains significantly more variation in the outcome in addition to the variation explained jointly by value, quality and satisfaction. Theoretically, we offer a holistic multi-dimensional measure of consumer brand engagement, and examine key nomological relationships. Managerially, we demonstrate the explanatory capability of brand engagement in explaining consumer loyalty intentions, offering a useful tool in the relationship-building repertoire of managers.     

How special rewards in loyalty programs enrich consumer–brand relationships: The role of self-expansion

Although brands offer different kinds of rewards through their loyalty programs, little is known about how they can impact consumer–brand relationships and brand attitude. How do loyalty program rewards influence the consumer–brand relationship? And which kinds of rewards establish or maintain closer relationships between consumers and brands than others? To answer these questions, the present research makes use of self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986) and two experiments that manipulate the extraordinary character of rewards offered to consumers. Our findings show that special rewards produce higher self-expansion than mundane rewards. Moreover, the positive effect of the rewards’ extraordinary character on brand evaluation, recommendation, and identification is sequentially and fully mediated by self-brand inclusion and self-expansion. Finally, we show that consumer satisfaction moderates the impact of special and mundane rewards on self-brand inclusion.     

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.     

Investigating the antecedents of customer brand engagement and consumer-based brand equity in social media

The current research is concerned with identifying and testing the role of three main predictors: consumer involvement, consumer participation, and self-expressive brand on the customer brand engagement (CBE). The customer brand engagement is treated in the current study as multidimensional constructs comprising three main aspects: cognitive processing (CP), affection (AF), and activation (AC). It was also proposed a direct influence for these three aspects of CBE on consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). Using online surveys, we gathered data from fans/followers of mobile phone service providers, via Facebook fan pages in Jordan. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Based on structural equation modelling analyses (SEM), it was supported that CBE aspects were largely predicted by the role of consumer involvement (INV), consumer participation (COP), and self-expressive brand (SEB). However, we find that activation impact one dimension of the CBBE dimensions, namely, brand loyalty. Further, we find that brand awareness/associations affect perceived quality but not brand loyalty. To validate the CBE scale, future studies could investigate the impact of the scale using other social media platforms for different brands. The limited amount of empirical research on CBE was the motivation behind this research. In particular, there is no study that has investigated the main predictors of CBE and its consequences over developing context by proposing and testing the association between the antecedents of CBE with the dimensions of CBE, which in turn affect the dimensions of CBBE.     

Modeling the brand extensions' influence on brand image

Brand-extension strategies enhance success chances of new products, even though they expose brand image to dilution risks. The present work analyzes how brand-extension evaluation can affect the current brand image and proposes a theoretical model formed by five main factors related to brand associations, extension congruency and extension attitude. The model estimation includes structural equation analysis using data from 699 surveys developed under market conditions. The results verify that extension attitude influences brand image, whereas initial brand associations and perceived fit between the new product and either the remaining products (category fit) or the brand image (image fit) are able to strengthen consumer attitude. The study also explains the role of consumer innovativeness as a moderating factor, suggesting that the characteristics of consumer personality could be more important than expected.     

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.     

Re-thinking the relationship between store brand attitude and store brand loyalty: a simultaneous approach

Academic attention to the relationship between store brand attitude and store brand loyalty is insufficient. Our paper fills this research gap by proposing and testing a theoretical model that demonstrates a reciprocal and mutually-reinforcing relationship between store brand attitude and store brand loyalty. The literature review identifies independent variables as potential predictors of both characteristics. We apply a two stages least squares model to data that come from a survey of Spanish households. The findings corroborate some of the propositions of the conceptual model: the reciprocal relationship between the two dependent variables; the influence of risk, deal proneness, price and value consciousness and extrinsic and intrinsic cues on store brand attitude; and the influence of exploration, deal proneness, store loyalty, store brand trust and store brand affective commitment on store brand loyalty.     

The role of customer loyalty as a brand extension purchase predictor

The paper explores the relationship between customer loyalty to the retail brand and the purchase of non-traditional products and services (NTPS) offered by grocery retailers with their private label (i.e. over-the-counter products, photo printing, mobile communication services and travel booking). Customer loyalty to the retail brand is measured through its behavioral and attitudinal components. A survey was conducted administering a questionnaire to 480 retail customers in two stores belonging to different retail grocers. A binary logistic regression was then applied using the buying of at least one NTPS as the dependent variable (1 = buy; 0 = no buy) and behavioral loyalty and attitudinal loyalty as independent variables. Results show that attitudinal loyalty plays a significant role as buying predictor, but this depends on the NTPS offered. Theoretical and managerial implications are derived.     

The effects of service brand dimensions on brand loyalty

The present paper uses a modified version of the Service Brand Verdict (SBV) model. The objective of the study is to incorporate service brand loyalty as an ultimate dependent measure seen as the outcome of consumers' evaluation of various service brand dimensions and communication, and test the generalizability of the modified SBV model in two different service sectors and cultural settings. Two studies using on-line survey data were conducted in Denmark and Norway in two different service industries (airlines and banks respectively). Previous findings suggesting that brand evidence significantly influences consumer satisfaction, attitude and behavioural loyalty towards service brands were confirmed. Moreover, contrary to previous findings, controlled communication elements (i.e. advertising and promotions) did not have any influence on customer satisfaction with service brands. However, the same communication elements directly and significantly shaped customers' perceptions of the various brand dimensions and their overall attitude towards the brand.     

Consumer brand engagement and its social side on brand-hosted social media: how do they contribute to brand loyalty?

ABSTRACT

Social media offer brands new opportunities to interact with their customers. This paper focuses on consumer brand engagement (CBE) and its social facet in the context of brand-hosted social media. It highlights that CBE (consumer–brand interactions encompassing cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions) and brand-based consumer–consumer interactions (social brand engagement (SBE)) lead to brand loyalty intentions. Brand customers were surveyed about their favourite brands on Facebook. Results indicate that self-brand connections and SBE are two drivers of CBE, and that CBE is the key element in inducing brand loyalty. In addition, configural analysis shows that high brand loyalty can be achieved through several combinations of social and CBE with various levels of cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement.     

A brand preference and repurchase intention model: the role of consumer experience

Consumer brand preference is an essential step towards understanding consumer choice behaviour, and has therefore always received great attention from marketers. However, the study of brand preference has been limited to traditional marketing focusing on functional attributes to maximise utility. But now the shift to experiential marketing broadens the role of the brand from a bundle of attributes to experiences. Technological advancements have helped to increase the similarities between brand attributes and product commoditisation. Consequently, consumers cannot shape their preferences among brands using rational attributes only. They seek out brands that create experiences; that intrigue them in a sensorial, emotional and creative way. This study seeks to develop a model that provides an understanding of how brand knowledge and brand experience determine brand preference and to investigate its impact on brand repurchase intention. Accordingly, exploratory focus group discussions are employed followed by a survey of mobile phone users in Egypt. The findings provide insights into the relative importance of consumer perceptions on different brand knowledge factors in shaping brand preferences. It also demonstrates the significance of consumers’ experiential responses towards brands in developing their brand preferences that in turn influence brand repurchase intention. The model therefore offers managers a new perspective for building strong brands able to gain consumer preferences.     

Building a human brand: Brand anthropomorphism unravelled

Brand anthropomorphism has been found to enhance the ability of consumers to recognize the inherent value of brands. However, there is limited knowledge among practitioners on how to build a brand with humanlike characteristics. After a literature review of brand anthropomorphism in general and the theory of warmth and competence in particular, we present the Human Brand Model of how to build a brand that is perceived to be human. There are four steps in this process; the first three indicate the brand inputs and the last indicates the results of those inputs. This model guides brand managers on how to make their brand more human. The use of this model should result in the organization having an excellent brand reputation; stronger, more meaningful relationships with its customers; and improved brand loyalty.     

Service brand coolness in the construction of brand loyalty: A self-presentation theory approach

As service brands need to find new methods to overcome consumers' distrust of physical spaces in the post-COVID-19 era, we explore how niche and mass service brands can recover their experiential value through perceptions of coolness. In three studies, we evaluate service brand coolness and its consequences for communal–brand connection and loyalty. In Studies 1 and 2, we examine consumers’ thoughts on coolness and communal connection when describing their encounters with service brands. In Study 3, we test the relations among service brand coolness, communal–brand connection, and loyalty. Our findings show that for both niche and mass firms, service brand coolness similarly enhances communal–brand connection and loyalty.