Oxytocin increases perceived competence and social-emotional engagement with brands

Humans express loyalty to consumer brands much like they do in human relationships. The neuroactive chemical oxytocin is an important biological substrate of human attachment and this study tested whether consumer-brand relationships can be influenced by oxytocin administration. We present a mathematical model of brand attachment that generates empirically-testable hypotheses. The model is tested by administering synthetic oxytocin or placebo to male and female participants (N = 77) who received information about brands and had an opportunity to purchase branded products. We focused on two brand personality dimensions: warmth and competence. Oxytocin increased perceptions of brand competence but not brand warmth relative to placebo. We also found that participants were willing to pay more for branded products through its effect on brand competence. When writing about one’s favorite brands, oxytocin enhanced the use of positive emotional language as well as words related to family and friends. These findings provide preliminary evidence that consumers build relationships with brands using the biological mechanisms that evolved to form human attachments.

Download Full-text

Structural Relationship among Sports Human Brand Characteristics, Brand Identification, Brand Personality, Brand Attachment and Brand Loyalty

Korean Journal of Sports Science ◽

10.35159/kjss.2020.08.29.4.705 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 705-720

Author(s):

Sung-Su Song

Keyword(s):

Brand Loyalty ◽

Brand Personality ◽

Structural Relationship ◽

Brand Identification ◽

Brand Attachment

Download Full-text

The effect of brand personality congruence, brand attachment and brand love on loyalty among HENRY's in the luxury branding sector

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management ◽

10.1108/jfmm-09-2020-0208 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Khyati Shetty ◽

Jason R. Fitzsimmons

Keyword(s):

Brand Loyalty ◽

Brand Personality ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Brand Attachment ◽

Brand Love ◽

Content Type ◽

Luxury Branding ◽

Brand Personality Congruence ◽

The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this research study is to empirically investigate a hypothesized theoretical framework that captures the impact of brand personality congruence, brand love and brand attachment on brand loyalty in the luxury branding sector.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data were gathered from 416 millennial shoppers with incomes from US$100,000 and above (High-Earners-Not–Rich-Yet). Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses of the framework developed for the study. Dubai is chosen as the context of the study based on the fact that the luxury brands sector is one of the leading industries in the country, and has a sizeable population of HENRY's.FindingsThe findings of this study revealed that brand personality congruence is a critical determinant of brand love and brand loyalty, suggesting congruence between the consumer's personality and the brand is essential to the luxury branding sector. The study also establishes a relationship between brand attachment and brand loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThis study offers new empirical support for the proposition that consumers' emotional aspects like brand personality congruence and brand love are critical for enhancing brand loyalty toward luxury. The findings from this study can provide brand managers with a guide to managing their branding strategies and understand the strategic role of these variables on communication strategies for a new emerging segment of the HENRY's customer segment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to luxury branding and a new segment of millennials by examining the relationship between brand personality congruence, brand love, brand attachment and its effect on brand loyalty in the luxury branding context.

Download Full-text

Does brand-relationships matter? The role of brand attachment in salesperson performance in retailing

Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC ◽

10.1108/sjme-11-2020-0192 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Flavia Braga Chinelato ◽

Cid Gonçalves Filho ◽

Clodoaldo Lopes Nizza Júnior

Keyword(s):

Organizational Commitment ◽

Sales Performance ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Brand Relationships ◽

Salesperson Performance ◽

Brand Attachment ◽

Content Type ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

Purpose Salesperson performance is accepted as a relevant factor of retailing success. However, scarce studies reveal the relationship between sales performance and brand relationship. The purpose of this study is both, from one side, to empirically demonstrate the impact of salesperson brand attachment (SBA) on sales performance and, on the other side, to identify the mediators of this relationship in small retailing. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with a sample of 206 small retailers from different sectors of an emerging country. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS3. Findings The results demonstrated that SBA is relevant to driving sales performance through two relevant paths – one following SBA–satisfaction–performance and one path following the SBA–commitment–performance. The model was able to explain 63% of the outcome performance. Practical implications Regarding small retailers, where the owners, employees and managers have higher levels of interaction than the large national retail chains, the marketing executives must invest in improving the attachment to the brand and create emotional bonds and cognition between marketers and the brand. They must develop strategies to promote job satisfaction and organizational commitment because they determine performance. Originality/value Despite the relevance of small businesses for economies worldwide and the importance of salesperson brand relationships, no study has been developed to demonstrate the impacts of such relationships on salesperson performance in retailing. Furthermore, in addition to the central role of organizational commitment in the sales research, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore how to mediate the relationship between brand attachment and sales performance.

Download Full-text

Consistency Between Consumer Personality and Brand Personality Influences Brand Attachment

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.2015.43.9.1419 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 43 (9) ◽

pp. 1419-1427 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Qing Yao ◽

Rong Chen ◽

Xiaobing Xu

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Brand Personality ◽

Strong Support ◽

Product Category ◽

Equation Model ◽

Brand Attachment ◽

The Impact ◽

Practical Implications

We investigated the impact of consistency between consumer personality and brand personality on emotional brand attachment. Participants were 200 undergraduate students at Tsinghua University and we used leading brands in the product category of mobile phone as the survey's stimuli. The results of a structural equation model suggested that consistency in the personality dimensions of sincere, cool, and young had a significant positive impact on the participants' brand attachment compared with consistency in the dimensions of simple, sensitive, reliable, and competent. The results provide strong support for the hypothesis that people feel emotionally attached to brands that match their personality or reflect who they believe they are. We also discuss important theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Download Full-text

Consumers and their celebrity brands: how personal narratives set the stage for attachment

Journal of Product & Brand Management ◽

10.1108/jpbm-02-2019-2275 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 831-847

Author(s):

Bennie Eng ◽

Cheryl Burke Jarvis

Keyword(s):

Personal Narratives ◽

Professional Lives ◽

Moderating Effects ◽

Brand Relationships ◽

Brand Attachment ◽

Content Type ◽

Relationship Norms ◽

The Relationship ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate how consumer attachment to celebrity brands is driven by perceived narratives about the celebrity’s persona, which triggers communal (i.e. altruistic) relationship norms. The research investigates the differential role of narratives about celebrities’ personal vs professional lives in creating attachment and identifies and tests moderating effects of narrative characteristics including perceived source of fame, valence and authenticity. Design/methodology/approach Three online experiments tested the proposed direct, meditating and moderating relationships. Data was analyzed using mediation analysis and multiple ANOVAs. Findings The results suggest relationship norms that are more altruistic in nature fully mediate the relationship between narrative type and brand attachment. Additionally, personal narratives produce stronger attachment than professional narratives; the celebrity’s source of fame moderates narrative type and attachment; and on-brand narratives elicit higher attachment than off-brand narratives, even when these narratives are negative. Practical implications The authors offer recommendations for how marketers can shape celebrity brand narratives to build stronger consumer attachment. Notably, personal (vs professional) narratives are critical in building attachment, especially for celebrity brands that are perceived to have achieved their fame. Both positive and negative personal narratives can strengthen attachment for achieved celebrity brands, but only if they are on-brand with consumer expectations. Originality/value This research is an introductory examination of the fundamental theoretical process by which celebrity brand relationships develop from brand persona narratives and how characteristics of those narratives influence consumer-brand attachment.

Download Full-text

Impact of Brand Personality on Brand Equity: The Role of Brand Trust, Brand Attachment, and Brand Commitment

Indian Journal of Marketing ◽

10.17010/ijom/2015/v45/i5/79937 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 45 (5) ◽

pp. 14 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Anees Ahmad ◽

K. S. Thyagaraj

Keyword(s):

Brand Equity ◽

Brand Personality ◽

Brand Commitment ◽

Brand Trust ◽

Brand Attachment

Download Full-text

Potential of Brand Personality: Attachment Styles as Moderator

American Journal of Business and Management ◽

10.11634/21679606170691 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 34 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

LO Ying Tuan ◽

Huam Hon Tat ◽

Ahmad Sharifuddin Shamsuddin ◽

Amran Md Rasli ◽

Ahmad Jusoh

Keyword(s):

Empirical Study ◽

Attachment Style ◽

Coming Out ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Brand Personality ◽

The Other ◽

Anxious Attachment ◽

Brand Attachment ◽

Avoidant Attachment ◽

The Impact

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of consumer’s attachment styles as a moderator in the impact of brand personality on its brand attachment. This research investigated the preferred brand personality of anxious and avoidant attachment consumer, their likelihood to be attached to that brand and how they respond to any changes in brand personality. A total of 300 students were surveyed. Their attachment style and their response towards sincere and exciting personality and its brand attachment were assessed. Empirical study shows that anxious attachment style consumer preferred sincere brand personality, tends to be attached with it and did not respond to any changes in brand personality. Avoidant attachment style people on the other hand have a stronger relationship with the exciting brand personality, are not likely to be attached to it and will respond to changes in brand personality. This study implies that marketers should get to know their targeted market’s attachment style prior coming out with the suitable brand personality.

Download Full-text

Negative outcomes of positive brand relationships

Journal of Consumer Marketing ◽

10.1108/jcm-07-2018-2764 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 36 (7) ◽

pp. 986-1002 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kokil Jain ◽

Isha Sharma

Keyword(s):

Repeated Measures ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Smart Phone ◽

Partial Least Square ◽

Least Square ◽

Brand Relationships ◽

Negative Experience ◽

Brand Attachment ◽

Content Type ◽

Brand Hate

Purpose This paper aims to understand how strong brand attachment can intensify the feeling of perceived betrayal, leading to brand hate after a negative experience with the brand. The study further investigates how consumers make causal attributions for negative experiences when strong brand attachment exists. The moderating effect of a narcissistic personality in the dissemination of negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM) following brand hate is also tested. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a within-the-subject repeated measures experimental design. A total of 202 college students were exposed to two treatments (high versus no brand attachment), involving a situation of product failure of a smart phone brand. A total of 135 responses were used to compare the outcomes of the two treatments using multivariate analysis. The data of high brand attachment treatment (N = 202) were used to test the proposed research model using partial least square-structural equation modelling. Findings The results suggest that having a strong positive relationship with the brand can generate stronger feelings of perceived betrayal and brand hate after the brand transgresses the consumer’s expectations. The results indicate that resentful customers can resort to eWOM after feeling betrayed, even though the prior relationship with the brand was strong. Originality/value This paper extends the work on perceived betrayal to study brand hate and proposes that brand hate can arise even if there is a strong brand attachment. It contributes to the growing body of literature on brand hate and its possible antecedents. Additionally, the study poses some crucial managerial implications for the brand managers by suggesting that strong brand relationships not always ensure loyalty or commitment and can lead to consequences that are damaging for the brand equity.

Download Full-text