The Influences of the Brand Personality on Brand Attachment and Brand Loyalty: Centered on the Differences Between the Brand Community Members and Non-Members

EXTENDED ABSTRACT - According to McCracken’s (1988) meaning transfer model, marketing activities of corporations, such as advertising, are the core media that transfer cultural meanings to the brands. In order for a symbolic meaning encoded to a brand to be conveyed to the consumers, it is necessary for consumers to play an active role in brand consuming behavior. Namely, the meaning of the brand is formed according to not only the story that the marketer has endowed on the brand but also the story formed by the consumer through his/her personal consumption experience. One of the effective methods that can enrich the consumer’s brand experiences is the brand community activity.

Citation:

Yung-shin Sung, Euna Park, and Min-kyung Han (2005) ,"The Influences of the Brand Personality on Brand Attachment and Brand Loyalty: Centered on the Differences Between the Brand Community Members and Non-Members", in AP - Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 6, eds. Yong-Uon Ha and Youjae Yi, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 156.

Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 6, 2005      Page 156

THE INFLUENCES OF THE BRAND PERSONALITY ON BRAND ATTACHMENT AND BRAND LOYALTY: CENTERED ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BRAND COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS

Yung-shin Sung, Korea University, Korea

Euna Park, Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corp., Korea

Min-kyung Han, Research International, Korea

EXTENDED ABSTRACT -

According to McCracken’s (1988) meaning transfer model, marketing activities of corporations, such as advertising, are the core media that transfer cultural meanings to the brands. In order for a symbolic meaning encoded to a brand to be conveyed to the consumers, it is necessary for consumers to play an active role in brand consuming behavior. Namely, the meaning of the brand is formed according to not only the story that the marketer has endowed on the brand but also the story formed by the consumer through his/her personal consumption experience. One of the effective methods that can enrich the consumer’s brand experiences is the brand community activity.

In this study, we investigated the differences between brand community members and non-members on the perceptions of the brand characters, emotional attachment to the brand, and the loyalty to the brand. There were three objectives of this study. First, we examined the relationship among the brand personality, brand attachment, and brand loyalty. Second, the differences between the brand community members and non-members were compared with regards to perceptions of the brand personality, brand attachment, and brand loyalty. Finally, the moderating role of brand community commitment was investigated on the perception of the brand personality, attachment to the brand, and brand loyalty.

An on-line survey was executed on the subjects of 295 persons, aged between fifteen and thirty four (brand community members: n=172, males-70.9%, females- 29.1%, mean age=22.13, non-members: n=123, males-56.3%, females-43.7%, mean age=22.67). The subject brand was SamSung "Anycall," a famous Korean mobile phone.

In order to identify the factor structure of the brand personality, brand attachment, and brand loyalty, we performed factor analyses and reliability tests. t-tests and the ANOVA’s were executed in order to verify the differences between the variables by each group. For the structural equation model verifications among all the variables, AMOS 4.0 package program was used.

Anycall’s brand personality consisted of five factors (liveliness, competence, sincerity, aggressiveness, and softness) and brand attachment construct had three factors: love, care, and knowledge.

From the structural equation model, the relationships among sub-factors of brand personality, brand attachment, and brand loyalty were verified (Chi-square=98.522, df=59, p=.001, GFI=.883, AGFI=.819, NFI=.866, and RMR=.044, p<.001). Brand personality was an excellent preceding variable that influenced brand attachment, which in turn affected brand loyalty.

There were significant differences between brand community members and non-members in terms of perception strength of the brand personality and influential factors making brand attachment. In case of non-members, the 'competence’ factor had a major influence on brand attachment, but in community members, 'competence’ and 'liveliness’ were predictive variables to the degrees of the brand attachment. Moreover, brand community members had stronger attachment and loyalty to their brand than those of the non-members, and also they had more positive perceptions of the brand personality. The results also showed the moderating role of community commitment level to the brand attachment and loyalty. That is, the more the member is committed to the brand community, the stronger they perceived brand personality. In addition, they showed higher brand attachment and loyalty.

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