Demystifying the link between emotional loneliness and brand loyalty: Mediating roles of nostalgia, materialism, and self‐brand connections

Sreejesh

Psychology and Marketing

et al. 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate how self-brand connection in an interactive multi-actor single-brand retail context can lead to consumers' willingness to pay premium through the sequential mediation of brand attitudes (intransigent and flexible) and brand love. Study 1 shows that self-brand connection strengthens (weakens) consumers' intransigent (flexible) brand attitude, thereby increasing their brand love and willingness to pay price premium. Furthermore, consumers' high level of cynicism attenuates brand love and willingness to pay premium for consumers' displaying flexible brand attitudes. Study 2 shows that favorable other customer perceptions can mitigate the detrimental impact of high consumer cynicism on consumers' brand responses. In Study 3, we found that other customers' favorable behaviors (over similarity and/or appearance) can best mitigate the negative effects of consumer cynicism on brand love and willingness to pay premium. The research contributes by showing how varying degrees of consumers' self-brand connection can develop willingness to pay premium through developing either intransigent (constructive route) or flexible (mitigating route) brand attitudes and brand love. For consumers harboring flexible brand attitudes accompanied with high cynicism, other customer perception serves as a conditioning tool, that alleviates their cynicism, and garners higher brand love as well as willingness to pay premium, and behavior dimension of other customer perception dominates in this quest.

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of self‐brand connection on willingness to pay premium: Relevant mediators and moderators

Sreejesh

Psychology and Marketing

et al. 2021

Consumer Psychology Review

“…One escape avenue is through consumption. At the most general level, materialism has been consistently shown to be positively correlated with loneliness and feelings of lack of belongingness (Ang et al, 2014; Gentina, Shrum, & Lowrey, 2018; Kashdan & Breen, 2007; Loh et al, 2021; Norris et al, 2012; Pieters, 2013; Rose & DeJesus, 2007).…”

Section: Antecedents Of Materialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological causes, correlates, and consequences of materialism

Shrum

Chaplin

Lowrey

2021

Materialism has a long history in consumer research, and the volume of research continues to expand rapidly. In this article, we review extant research on materialism, with a particular focus on research in the last 10 years. We structure the review around the antecedents and consequences of materialism. We first provide a brief review of the different conceptualizations of materialism. We then discuss antecedents in terms of interpersonal influences (socialization factors—parents, peers, and media) and intrapersonal influences (psychological factors—self‐esteem, power, belongingness, and self‐concept clarity). Next, we discuss some consequences of materialism, such as well‐being, gratitude, and prosocial attitudes and behaviors. Finally, we conclude with suggestions for future research.

Psychology and Marketing

“…For instance, consumers can develop identification with (Lin & Sung, 2014;Tuškej et al, 2013) or love for some brands (Albert et al, 2009;Batra et al, 2012), or even become loyal toward brands to a point that their relationships with brands resemble marriages in their passionate commitments (Fournier & Yao, 1997). When feeling a lack of intimate relationships with close others, consumers use brands to cope with the emotional loneliness (Loh et al, 2021), and our research thus indicates that by disclosing positive information, brands may contribute to strengthening their relationships with such consumers because of the intimacy that is created from such brand self-disclosure. showing that all brand self-disclosures are not equal (Taylor et al, 2010;Yoo, 2009), with those that are positive being more likely to help brands develop relationships with their customers.…”

Section: Theoretical Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How brand self‐disclosure helps brands create intimacy with customers: The role of information valence and anthropomorphism

Huaman-Ramirez

Lunardo

Vásquez‐Parraga

2021

Although the notion of self-disclosure has received wide attention since the new millennium, most studies on this topic focus on consumer disclosure, leaving unexamined if brands could benefit from self-disclosure. Therefore, the question remains unanswered if the positive effects of brand self-disclosure on important relational and transactional variables observed in other contexts than consumer-brand relationships would be observed if self-disclosure was made by brands. This study addresses this question, specifically discussing if brand self-disclosure can enhance brand trust and willingness-to-buy (WTB) through the mediating effect of brand intimacy. Results from two scenario-based experiments indicate that engaging in self-disclosure-that is, disclosing some information that was kept unknown so far-helps brands create intimacy and trust with consumers, leading these individuals to exhibit higher WTB. Further, results show that all selfdisclosures are not equal, and it is when the brand engages in the disclosure of positive (vs. negative) information that consumers perceive more brand intimacy, and this even more when such information is disclosed in an anthropomorphic manner. These findings thus provide consistent empirical evidence showing that brand self-disclosure-if providing positive information in an anthropomorphic manner-can serve as a critical tool for brands in their relationships with customers.brand anthropomorphism, brand intimacy, brand self-disclosure, brand trust, willingness-to-buy (WTB) | INTRODUCTIONBrands have more than ever started sharing information that was previously not released to consumers. One particular type of such information pertains to the way products are made or what raw materials comprise them. This trend is particularly salient in the food service industry, with, for instance, McDonald's having revealed in the United States in 2014 how they make their French fries and nuggets. In 2015 in France, Ferrero divulged how they manufacture their Nutella products.Restaurants also have shared information about recipes and ingredients of dishes. For example, in the United States, in New Haven, Trinity Bar & Restaurant shared its butternut squash soup recipe and, in Wilmington, Goat Restaurant shared its mushroom soup recipe. Considering that it is not common for consumers to receive such information from brands about how their products are made, this deliberate brand self-disclosureor the act of revealing product information about the production process, which is usually kept private (Collins & Miller, 1994)-of such information might influence consumer perceptions and eventually consumer-brand relationships.