Presentation given at the 1st International Consumer Brand Relationships Conference, www.consumer-brand-relationships.org Copyright by Chris Long Sukki Yoon

1. I Miss My Brand:
Brand Deprivation and Consumers’
Interpersonal Motives
Chris Long
Ouachita Baptist
University
Sukki Yoon
Bryant University

2. How Does Your
Romantic Partner
Feel about
You…right now?

3. Effects of four- to seven-day
separation:
Decline in
• feelings of closeness & appreciation
• intensity of conflict & criticism
Increase in threat-perception hormone
(Diamond, Hicks, & Otter-Henderson, Journal of Personality &
Social Psychology, 2008)

4. Absence Makes the Heart
Grow Blah.
Especially for People with
Attachment Difficulties.
(Diamond, Hicks, & Otter-Henderson, Journal of Personality &
Social Psychology, 2008)

5. Our Hypothesis:
Similar Relationship Effects Will
Result from Brand Deprivation
Why?

6. Human Nature is Social
1. Humans need each other in order to survive.

7. Human Nature is Social
1. Humans need each other in order to survive.
2. Humans evolved processes to regulate
interpersonal closeness
• Need to Belong & Attachment

8. Human Nature is Social
1. Humans need each other in order to survive.
2. Humans evolved processes to regulate
interpersonal closeness
• Need to Belong & Attachment
3. Humans differ in their relationship
regulation tendencies

9. Human Nature is Social
1. Humans need each other in order to survive.
2. Humans evolved processes to regulate
interpersonal closeness
• Need to Belong & Attachment
3. Humans differ in their relationship
regulation tendencies
Contention: These fundamental tendencies
impact brand relationships

10. Deprivation Study Design
Participants:
90 university students (68% female)
Deprivation Activity:
• Each participant chose a brand to give up for a week
• Must not be detrimental to health if given up (e.g.
medication)
• Must be used every day and impact your daily routine
• Absence must be noticeable
• During deprivation, substitute products from different
brand may be used

11. Deprivation Study Design
Session 1:
• Brand Selection
• Brand Relationship Measures:
• Brand Loyalty (Chaudhuri & Holbrook 2001)
• Brand Engagement in Self-Concept (BESC; Sprott et
al. 2009)
• Interpersonal Tendencies:
• Need to Belong (NTB; Leary et al. 2007)
• Attachment Anxiety & Avoidance (Brennan et al. 1998)

12. Deprivation Study Design
Session 1
Deprivation
Session 2:
• Brand Relationship Measures
• Deprivation Activity Assessment

13. Results: Brands
Starbucks (n = 11)
Coca-Cola (n = 7)
Dr. Pepper (n = 7)
Facebook (n = 6)
Selected others:
Crest, iPod, Malt-O-Meal, Sure, Victoria’s Secret

14. Daily Compliance
During deprivation,
74% never used the brand
21% used it only once
5% used it 2-3 times

15. “I still love _____________ with all of my
heart.”
—18-year-old female participant
“I’m in love with ____ .”
—18-year-old female participant
“I want ________ more now that I haven't
had __ for a week.”
—21-year-old female participant

16. “I still love Wrigley’s 5 Gum with all of my
heart.”
—18-year-old female participant
“I’m in love with Sprite.”
—18-year-old female participant
“I want Starbucks more now that I haven't
had it for a week.”
—21-year-old female participant

17. “I have the ability to control my own
emotions. I should not let ________ control
them.”
—18-year-old female participant
“I didn’t miss ________ as much as I thought I
would.”
—22-year-old male participant
“I feel less committed/addicted to ________. I
can get by.”
—18-year-old female participant

18. “I have the ability to control my own
emotions. I should not let Facebook control
them.”
—18-year-old female participant
“I didn’t miss Pilot Pens as much as I thought I
would.”
—22-year-old male participant
“I feel less committed/addicted to Starbucks. I
can get by.”
—18-year-old female participant

19. Results: Brand Relationship
Brand loyalty and brand engagement in self-
concept declined significantly from pre- to
post-deprivation

20. Sharper Decline in BESC among High
NTB Participants
3
4
5
Pre-Deprivation Post-Deprivation
BESC
High NTB
Low NTB

21. Attachment Avoidance Inhibits Brand
Closeness
Negatively predicted brand loyalty (pre- and
post-deprivation)
Positively predicted use of a substitute brand

22. Implications
Deprivation yields insight for researchers (and for
participants)
Deprivation has powerful effects for daily use brands
• Absence makes the heart grow blah
Interpersonal processes defensively influence brand
closeness
• Brand disengagement resulting from deprivation was most
acute among people who most need social acceptance
• People who avoid interpersonal attachment were less
attached to their preferred brands

23. Our Research Program
1. Evidence that interpersonal tendencies influence brand
relationships
• Deprivation, subliminal goal priming, loneliness priming, etc.
2. Promising research heuristic:
We learn about brand relationships by substituting
brands for people in interpersonal research paradigms.
3. Strategy question:
How can a brand fulfill interpersonal needs?
• U.S. Population: 59% Secure, 25% Avoidant, 11% Anxious
• Varying with age, income, relationship status
• Mickelson, Kessler, & Shaver (1997): Representative sample of 8,098

24. Thank you.
LONGC@OBU.EDU
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