A research on the antecedents and consequences of brand love: Comparison of ready-to-wear and technological product categories

The concept of brand love has recently attracted the attention of businesses and executives in practical terms while it has turned into a significant study subject for academicians and researchers in theoretical context. Moreover, antecedents and consequences of brand love analysed in the study are significant in revealing the relations of customers with products and brands and helping businesses to gain competitive advantage and developing relevant strategies. This research proposed and tested a conceptual model on the antecedents and consequences of brand love. The goal of this study is to measure brand love of individuals for brands with the data obtained in ready to wear and technological product categories and reveal statistical similarities and differences between these categories in terms of effect. In this context, on-line survey forms were developed for the two product categories with the help of literature findings and interviews. This is a quantitative research with a positivist approach. Study population involve consumers at or over the age of 18 who have a favourite brand and data obtained from 1086 participants were involved in the analysis process. Study results reveal that self-expressiveness brand, brand trust, brand image, perceived quality and perceived value have a positive effect on brand love. On the other hand, it also reveals that brand love has a positive effect on word of mouth marketing, repurchase intention and willingness to pay premium price. In addition, it was concluded that the perceived quality in the ready-to-wear product category did not have a statistically significant effect on brand love, and in the technological product category, the brand image did not have a statistically significant effect on brand love. Therefore, it reveals that the effects might change when the product category changes. Keywords: Brand Love, Brand Image, Perceived Quality, Ready-to-Wear, Technological Product