Hae Ryong Kim, Moonkyu
Lee, and Francis M. Ulgado (2005) , Brand Personality, Self-Congruity
and the Consumer-Brand Relationship, Asia Pacific Advances in
Consumer Research [Online] Volume 6, p. 111-117. Available from: http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=11876
The present research
examines the emotional process by which a consumer-brand relationship is
formed. It focuses on the potential effects on the relationship
process of the congruity between brand personality and consumer
self-concept. The results of this study show that congruity between
brand personality and consumer self-concept kindles such emotions as
love, pride, and joy, and ultimately fosters a long-term consumer-brand
relationship through brand attachment or self-esteem-building process.
The focus of this
study is to examine the processes by which the consumer-brand fit
determines product evaluations, or more specifically, consumer-brand
relationships.
A brand is considered
as an active relationship partner rather than a passive exchange
object, and is endowed with human characteristics (Fournier 1998).
The purpose of this
study is to empirically investigate the psychological processes
involved in the formation of a positive relationship with a brand and
explain the role that self-congruity plays in those processes.
Also examined in the
study are the roles of brand attachment and self-esteem. Brand
attachment, an affective concept related to love (Fournier 1998), is
associated with one’s identity (Kleine, Kleine, and Allen 1995), and
self-esteem implies an overall affective evaluation of the importance
and value of one’s self (Judge, Bono, and Locke 2000).
Researchers have
defined commitment as "an implicit or explicit pledge of relational
continuity between exchange partners (Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987)" or "an enduring desire to maintain a valued relationship (Morgan and Hunt 1994)."
In accordance with
these definitions, brand commitment can be described as a construct with
the attitudinal aspect of brand loyalty (Oliver 1999) or as the
intention to maintain a continuous relationship with a brand (Fournier
1998).
Consumers become
attached to a specific brand in the process of defining and maintaining
their sense of self (Kleine, Kleine, and Allen 1995).
Attachment is
basically the process of developing an emotional bond (Collins and Read
1990), which is facilitated by consistent and repeated experiences
between relationship partners (Perry 1998). It can be measured on the
basis of dependence, anxiety, and closeness (Collins and Read 1990).
Attachment provides psychological comfort and pleasure, and its loss
evokes strong distress (Perry 1998). The formation of a romantic love
between adults can be explained in terms of the attachment process; the
more secure the attachment that lovers have, the more positive aspects
of love they experience (Hazan and Shaver 1987). Fournier (1998) also
describes love and passion as part of the affective attachment involved
in the consumer-brand relationship, and reports that attachment is a
condition of emotional dependence involving separation anxiety and
irreplaceability.
It is suggested that
by using a brand with self-congruent personality, the consumer
expresses his or her own values (leading to self-appraisal) and goes
through a social adjustment process (resulting in reflected appraisal)
at the same time (Hogg, Cox, and Keeling 1998).
Joy or happiness is
another emotion involved in self-esteem (Luce, Payne, and Bettman
1999). It often occurs when the consumer uses a brand with
self-congruent personality. It is closely related to materialism and
such concepts as satisfaction and well-being in life (Richins 1997;
Richins and Dawson 1992).
Consumers show a
strong attachment to anything self-expressive, that is, an object
congruent with the self, which reflects the extent of "me-ness" (Kleine, Kleine, and Allen 1995).
The more attached
consumers are to a brand, the more dependent they are on it and the more
anxious about it when unable to use it (e.g., Remember the consumer
response when New Coke was introduced).
Johar and Sirgy
(1991) suggest that the relationship between a brand and the actual or
ideal self produces a positive self-appraisal and has an influence on
the level of actualization of one’s own present and ideal self, which
occurs regardless of other people. On the other hand, the
correspondence between a brand and the social or ideal-social self can
generate the satisfaction of fulfilling other people’s expectations,
eliciting their positive appraisals
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