passion for the brand and consumer brand relationships

Noel ALBERT – WESFORD Business School (Grenoble – France)

Imène BECHEUR – WESFORD Business School (Grenoble – France)

Dwight MERUNKA – CERGAM/IAE (Aix en Provence – France) & Euromed (Marseille – France)

Pierre VALETTE-FLORENCE – CERAG/ IAE (Grenoble - France)

Passion for the Brand and Consumer Brand Relationships

Introduction

Brands have a major role in consumers’ lives (Ahuvia, 2005; Fournier, 1998; Wallendorf et al, 1988)

True cult for brands (Belk and Tumbat, 2005)

Consumer’s passion for brands (Bauer et al, 2007; Matzler et al, 2007), activities ( Schouten et al, 1995).

Introduction

Only two studies explore the concept of brand passion:

Bauer et al (2007) : influence of brand’s characteristics

Matzler et al (2007) : influence of consumer’s personality

Our objective To establish that consumer brand relationships constructs

influence or may be influenced by passion for the brand.

Structure

1. Brand Passion Theory- Definitions- Brand Passion Models- Research’s Hypothesis

2. Research methodology and Results- Method- Results

3. Conclusion- Contributions- Limitations- Future Research

Brand Passion

Brand Passion Theory

Methodo &

ResultsConclusion

Brand Passion

Definitions

Brand passion corresponds to the enthusiasm, the infatuation or even the obsession of a consumer for a brand.

Bauer et al (2007, p.2190): “a primarily affective, extremely positive attitude toward a specific brand that leads to emotional attachment and influences relevant behavioural factors”

Keh et al (2007, p. 84): “brand passion describes the zeal and enthusiasm features of consumer brand relationship”.

Matzler et al. (2007, p.16): “if a consumer is passionate about a brand, he/she will engage in a much more emotional relationship with the brand and even miss the brand or feel loss when the brand is unavailable”.

Brand Passion Models

Brand

Uniqueness

Self

expressive

brand

Word of

Mouth

Prestige of

the brand

Hedonic

Brand

Consumer’s

extraversion

Price

Premium

Purchase

Intention

.024

.64

.039

.010

N.S.

.028

.72

.67

BRAND

PASSION

Brand Passion Models

Extraversion

Openess

Brand

Evangelism

.34

N.S.

.66

.34

BRAND

PASSION

Brand Passion Models

Extraversion

Brand

Identification

Premium

Price

Brand Trust

Brand

Commtiment

WOMBRAND

PASSION

Research’s Hypothesis

Brand

Identification

BRAND

PASSION

- When a consumer identifies to a brand, he develops feeling for it

(Harrison-Walker, 2001)

-A object/brand must be part of the consumer identity to be loved (Ahuvia, 1993)

Research’s Hypothesis

Brand Trust

- Brand Trust and Brand Passion have never been associated

- Interpersonal context: trust may favorize the apparition of feelings between

partners (Larzelere and Huston (1980)

-Brand trust may influence Brand Love (Albert et al, 2010), Brand Affect (Chaudhuri

et al, 20001) and Brand Attachment

BRAND

PASSION

Research’s Hypothesis

Extraversion

BRAND

PASSION

- Existence of a link between interpersonal passion and extreversion

(Baumeister et al., 1999; White et al., 2004).

- Brand context: two opposite results (Bauer et al, 2007; Matzler et al, 2007)

Research’s Hypothesis

Brand

Commtiment

BRAND

PASSION

-Brand Passion and Brand Commitment have never been associated

previously

- Affective constructs (love, attachment) may influence the consumer’s

attitudinal loyalty (Park et al, 2006).

Research’s Hypothesis

WOMBRAND

PASSION

- Dick et al. (1994) indicated that brand affect leads to positive

word-of-mouth activity

- Brand Passion may influence Word-of-Mouth (Bauer et al, 2007)

Research’s Hypothesis

Premium

Price

BRAND

PASSION

-The more a consumer values a brand, the more he/she will accept a price

increase (Aaker, 1991)

- Brand passion may influence the consumer’s acceptance of a higher price

(Bauer et al, 2007; Thomson et al, 2005)

Research’s Hypothesis

Extraversion

Brand

Identification

Premium

Price

Brand Trust

Brand

Commtiment

WOMBRAND

PASSION

Methodand Results

Brand Passion Theory Method & ResultsConclusion

Collect through an oline panel

1505 consumers participated to the survey

Use of a SEM (PLS)

Method

n %

Employee 583 38,8%

Executive 197 13,1%

Other 153 10,2%

Middle level manager 147 9,8%

Student 130 8,7%

Inactive, retired 120 8,0%

Unemployed 62 4,1%

Blue collar Worker 61 4,1%

Retailer, small business manager 44 2,9%

Farmer 4 0,3%

Total 1 501 100,0%

Brand Passion Model

Extraversion

Brand

Identification

Premium

Price

Brand Trust

Brand

Commtiment

WOM

.722

.331 N.S.

.299

.721

.556

.353

N.S.

.275

.369

BRAND

PASSION

Brand Passion Model

Extraversion

Brand

Identification

Brand Trust

.722

.331 N.S.

BRAND

PASSION

-R² adjusted: 0.594

- Consumer’s extraversion does not influence Brand Passion

(in opposition to Matzler et al., 2007).

Brand Passion Model

Brand

Identification

Brand Trust

Brand

Commtiment

.299

.275

.369

BRAND

PASSION

- R² adjusted: .756

- Brand Passion influences Commitment with a similar magnitude as Brand

Identification and Brand Trust.

Brand Passion Model

Premium

Price

Brand

Commtiment

WOM

.721

.556

.353

N.S.

BRAND

PASSION

- Brand Passion does not influence Willigness to pay more

- Influence of Brand Passion on WOM.

Brand Passion Model

MAIN RESULTS

- 1°) Extraversion does not influence Passion

- 2°) Brand Trust influences Brand Passion

- 3°) Brand Passion influence Brand Commitment

- 4°) Brand Passion does not influence significantly Willingness to Pay More

Extraversion

Brand

Identification

Premium

Price

Brand Trust

Brand

Commtiment

WOM

.722

.331 N.S.

.299

.721

.556

.353

N.S.

.275

BRAND

PASSION

Brand Passion Theory Method &

ResultsConclusion

Conclusion

- Studies on Brand Passion are still scarce

- Brand Passion may also be linked to Brand Relationship Constructs

-No influence of Extraversion on the consumer’s passion

- Passionate consumers may not accept everything from their brands (changes of

image, price, policy, etc.)

Conclusion

Conclusion

- Do consumers’, brands or brands relationships’ characteristics impact mostly

Brand Passion?

- Longitudinal study of Brand Passion

- Comparisons of Brand Passion effects with some other affective constructs (Love,

Attachment)

Noel ALBERT – WESFORD Business School (Grenoble – France)

Imène BECHEUR – WESFORD Business School (Grenoble – France)

Dwight MERUNKA – CERGAM/IAE (Aix en Provence – France) & Euromed (Marseille – France)

Pierre VALETTE-FLORENCE – CERAG/ IAE (Grenoble - France)

Passion for the Brand and Consumer Brand Relationships