Linking consumer-brand identification to relationship quality: An integrated framework

Negative Effects of Perceived Crowding on Travelers’ Identification with Cruise Brand

“…Individuals are drawn to organizations that share values similar to their own (Donavan, Janda, & Suh, 2006;Lam et al, 2013). Researchers have found that people tend to express their identities and even synchronize themselves with brand images when they purchase and own branded products or services (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2006;Dimitriadis & Papista, 2011;Kim et al, 2001). The concept of brand identification is rooted in social identity theory which suggests that individuals may adopt a certain organization's identity to define their own identities (Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994).…”

“…The concept of brand identification is rooted in social identity theory which suggests that individuals may adopt a certain organization's identity to define their own identities (Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994). Some researchers have examined the concept of identification in the context of consumption and considered it to be a strong indicator of the power of the consumer-brand relationship (Dimitriadis & Papista, 2011;Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2007).…”

“…Consumers tend to express their identities through, or even synchronize themselves with, the images of certain brands. One reason why consumers purchase luxury items or engage in luxury experiences such as cruise travel is because they want to identify with such items or experiences (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2006;Dimitriadis & Papista, 2011;Kim, Han, & Park, 2001). In this study, we examine whether perceived crowding on a luxury cruise ship affects passengers' brand identification with that particular cruise company.…”

Disentangling the influence of attachment anxiety and attachment security in consumer formation of attachments to brands

“…Therefore, identification captures an overlap of characteristics between the own self and others (Aron et al ., ) and describes the consequence of the perception to dispose of resources of a relationship partner as underlying cognitive process of attachment (Aron et al ., ). Analogously, identification with a brand can be described as the extent to which the consumer perceives an overlap between themselves and a brand's characteristics (Bhattacharya and Sen, ; Bagozzi and Dholakia, ; Dimitriadis and Papista, ), based on “an active, selective, cognitive and volitional act motivated by the satisfaction of one or more self‐definitional needs (self‐continuity, self‐distinctiveness, and self‐enhancement)” (Bhattacharya and Sen, : 76). Supporting self‐definitional needs, a brand a consumer identifies with thus supports the incorporation of perceptions into cognitive structures.…”

“…Because the concept of attachment to brands has attracted the attention of practitioners and scholars alike, it is important to better understand how attachments are being formed. Departing from the recognition that attachment formation is highly dependent on the relation of a brand to the self (Belk, ; Escalas and Bettman, ; Park et al ., , ), the present research focuses on brand attachment from the perspective of consumer–brand identification (Bergami and Bagozzi, ; Dimitriadis and Papista, ; Tuškej et al ., ). Previous research repeatedly provided corroborating evidence for the relationship between consumer–brand identification and attachment, motivating our focus on conditions for this effect.…”