This research aims to conceptualise and measure consumers' romantic love feelings for brands. In doing so, it conceptualises romantic brand love based on reviewing prior literature on interpersonal and consumptio n emotion. The antecedents and consequences of romantic brand love constructs have been identified. A series of studies developed and validated a two-factor, eight-item measurement scale for romantic brand love using factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Reliability, convergent, discriminant, criterion and nomological validities were established. Romantic brand love is a reliable and valid construct that better explains desirable marketing outcomes. Both academic and practical implications of the romantic brand love construct have been discussed.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to uncover various factors that make the young consumers in emerging Asian market devotees of brands and sacrilize brands giving rise to a phenomenon called brand sacralization where the individual consumer considers brand as sacred as religion. Another objective of this research was to investigate the acculturation process taking place among the young adult consumers in emerging Asian market. Design/methodology/approach – Based on prior literature review, the concept of brand sacralization has been defined to bring theoretical sensitivity. Grounded theory method has been used to collect, analyze and interpret the data collected through semi-structured depth interviews. Findings – Data analysis reveals various underlying dimensions of brand sacralization and various actionable antecedents and consequence of brand sacralization. Originality/value – Value of the article lies in developing a grounded theory framework for brand sacralization that can guide the marketers doing business in emerging markets to build a strong brand that the consumers would sacralize.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. bstract Purpose -Ingredient branding (IB) strategy and incremental product innovation (IPI) strategy are frequently used complementary strategies in food product marketing to build brand equity. The purpose of this paper is to assist managers in choosing between both the strategies based upon two governing criteria namely the involvement level of the product category and the level of parent brand equity. Design/methodology/approach -The study utilized an experimental design approach. A 2 (product involvement: high vs low) × 2 (parent brand equity: high vs low) × 2 (attribute strategy: IB vs IPI) balanced, completely randomized factorial design was set up to test the hypotheses. Findings -Findings suggest that IB strategy should be preferred when the product category is perceived as low involvement or when parent brand equity of the brand is low. The IPI strategy should be preferred when the parent brand equity is high. Either of strategies may be favored in case of high involvement products. Practical implications -The study provides guidance to product managers in choosing between IB and IPI in devising food product development and marketing strategies. Originality/value -This study is the first of its kind which attempts to compare and contrast between tangible and intangible augmentation strategies to build brand equity.

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