The effect of brand benefit and brand personality on brand addiction and the mediator role of brand identification

This study aims to research the effects of brand benefits and brand bersonality on consumers' brand addiction in the scope of brand-consumer relationships. Beside, as earlier research has suggested, there was a gap for researching the role of brand identification on brand addiction in the literature. Hereby, the main aim of this research was to investigate the mediating role of brand identification in the relationship between brand benefits, brand personality and brand addiction. During the research design, the sneaker product category was chosen because it was seen as a suitable category in terms of brand identification. Partial Least Squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling, which is a predictive correlational research design from quantitative research methods, was applied to test the research hypotheses and explain the relationships between the structures in the research model. Snowball sampling method was utilized and the data (N=402) was collected via an online questionnaire. The key research findings reveal that symbolic benefit dimension of Brand Benefits and aggressiveness dimension of Brand Personality, both, have positive and significant effects on Brand Addiction of consumers. Futhermore, it has been determined that Brand Identification plays a full mediating role between symbolic benefits, aggressiveness dimension of brand personality and brand addiction. The research contributes to the literature in terms of revealing the effects of brand benefits and brand personality on consumers' brand addiction, and revealing the mediating role of brand identification on consumers' brand addiction. In addition, The Brand Addiction Scale is translated into Turkish to contribute Turkish marketing literature. Keywords: Brand benefit, Brand personality, Brand identification, Brand addiction