Two Studies of Consequences and Actionable Antecedents of Brand Love

• Brand love is a recent marketing construct, which has been shown to infl uence important marketing variables such as brand loyalty and word-of-mouth. Although this knowledge is academically interesting, its managerial relevance depends on the identifi cation of actionable antecedents of brand love. This study adds to the understanding of the managerial potential of brand love by proposing and testing two actionable antecedents of brand love: Brand identifi cation and sense of community. The study uses the Partial Least Squares approach to structural equation modelling to analyze data from two survey-based studies. The study tests two conceptual models using data for six different brands. The results show that brand dentifi cation and sense of community both have a positive infl uence on brand love, which in turn has a positive infl uence on brand loyalty and active engagement. These findings form the basis for a discussion of the use of image extensions and market shielding to strengthen brand identifi cation and sense of community – with the purpose of elaborating and building brand love.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Keyword

brand love

brand identification

sense of community

brand loyalty

active engagement

Partial Least Squares

medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Communication Studies

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)