Brand loyalty, although an old idea central to marketing practice, remains a poorly understood and measured construct. Given the renewed interest in brand and branding issues, pleas for fresh perspectives that could rejuvenate brand loyalty research have proliferated. The objective of this paper is to advocate and illustrate the adoption of a situational approach in the analysis of brand loyalty patterns. A situational scale is developed in the context of fast moving consumer goods; its scalability is established, its convergent validity is assessed and its diagnostic power is illustrated.

A Situational Approach to Brand Loyalty

The purpose of this research is to develop a better understanding of emotional brand attachment by examining two of its antecedents: external emotional brand connections and emotional intelligence.,Data were collected using survey methodology (n = 419), and the hypotheses were tested by using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.,Findings reveal that emotional intelligence is positively related external emotional brand connections (i.e. connecting a brand to important people, events and experiences in memory) which, in turn, has a positive influence on emotional brand attachment. Findings also show that emotional brand attachment is positively related to brand purchase intentions and brand attitudes.,This research shows that both external emotional connections and emotional intelligence are important antecedents of emotional brand attachment, even after controlling for different types of brand use (social and special occasion brand use) and product category. Other control variables, such as brand characteristics, are not examined.,The findings suggest that brand managers can enhance emotional brand attachment by helping consumers establish external emotional brand connections.,This research addresses a gap in previous research by examining antecedents of emotional brand attachment. The findings showcase that emotional intelligence is an antecedent to external emotional brand connections and emotional brand attachment. This research also goes beyond the loyalty focus of previous research to show that emotional brand attachment has an impact on general purchase intentions and brand attitudes.

Emotional intelligence, external emotional connections and brand attachment

An in-depth literature review associated with consumer/brand research provides the foundation for this paper through explicating the evolution of this important research stream. The literature findings highlight significant challenges in the conceptualization and measurement of key consumer-related constructs such as brand loyalty, brand commitment and brand love. Drawing upon these findings, the authors propose that relationship maintenance mechanisms (i.e. cognitive and behavioural) provide the key to measurement and prediction of consumer/brand relationship strength. On this basis, this paper offers brand fidelity as a novel approach in understanding how consumers demonstrate their love and commitment for the brand through engaging, subconsciously or otherwise, in relationship maintenance cognitions and behaviours. Defined as the consumer’s faithfulness to a brand partner demonstrated by an aggregate of behaviours (i.e. accommodation/forgiveness, willingness to sacrifice) and cognitions (i.e. derogation of alternatives, cognitive interdependence and positive illusions) that maintain relationship stability and durability, brand fidelity provides a solid foundation for future research offering significant value to academics and brand practitioners alike.

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Brand fidelity: a relationship maintenance perspective

A review and reflection on key topics plus extrapolation of future research avenues from within the Journal of Brand Management during 2016 that included a special issue focused on the themes of (i) Corporate identity, branding, marketing, communication, and reputation. Seven additional themes within the Volume are identified: (ii) Brand engagement, (iii) Brand orientation, (iv) Brand counterfeiting and protection, (v) Online and digital branding, (vi) Brand and product naming, (vii) City branding, and (viii) branding in Higher Education.

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Journal of Brand Management – Year end review 2016

Extant literature on brand equity in the context of the retail store is limited. This paper responds to calls for more research in this area by examining, though a quantitative design, shoppers’ perceptions of store equity, loyalty and satisfaction. Responses from 300 Spanish shoppers, in three retail contexts, were captured. Findings of CHAID analysis identify three distinct segments of shoppers. This research contributes to identifying perceived value and store image as the most relevant factors for differentiating retail customers in terms of their store equity perceptions. For theorists, this study presents a better explanation of store choice by segmenting shoppers based on perceived store equity. Management implications include the need to develop economic, functional, emotional and symbolic value propositions in view of the influence of perceived value and image on store equity creation and, ultimately, satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer segmentation based on store equity: What explains customer store preference?

Trait positive affectivity (PA) is hypothesized to increase consumers’ propensity to be brand loyal. Theories on affect, traits and brand loyalty are used to develop the conceptual framework for the hypotheses. Results from three studies show that consumers high on trait PA are more likely to (i) describe experienced brands favorably to others, (ii) be committed to experienced brands, (iii) be willing to pay a premium for preferred brands and (iv) be overall loyal to their brands. Implications for brand managers and academic scholars are discussed.

Sanjay Pulligadda

Papers

Positive affectivity as a predictor of consumers|[rsquo]| propensity to be brand loyal