Presentation given at the 1st International Consumer Brand Relationships Conference, www.consumer-brand-relationships.org copyright by Noel Albert Dwight Merunka Pierre Valette-Florence

1. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Brand love:
antecedents and consequences
Noël ALBERT (Wesford Business School)
Dwight MERUNKA (Paul Cézanne University in Aix en Provence & Euromed Marseille)
Pierre VALETTE-FLORENCE (University of Grenoble)

2. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Introduction
Hess,1995
Brand trust
Batra, Ahuvia and Bagozzi (2008)
Brand love
Escalas and Betmann, 2003
Brand
identification
Fullerton, 2005
Brand
commitment
Conceptualizations – Measurement - Modelizations
Ahuvia, (1993)
Albert and al. (2008)
Caroll and Ahuvia (2006)
Thomson and al. (2005)
Batra and al. (2008)
Caroll and Ahuvia (2006)
Fournier (1998)
What are the different ways to modelize a brand love relationship ?
What are their limitations?
What are the Brand love’s antecedents and consequences ?

3. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Structure
1- Brand love conceptualizations
2- Brand love modelizations
3- Research’s model and hypothesis
4- Methodology
5- Results
6- Conclusion

4. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Brand love conceptualizations
Ahuvia
(1993)
Thomson & al.
(2005)
Carroll & Ahuvia
(2006)
(1) passion, (2) connexion, (3) affection
(1) passion, (2) attachment, (3) positive evaluation of the
brand, (4) positive emotions in response to the brand (5)
declaration of love for the brand
(1) real integration, (2) desired integration
Shimp & Madden, (1988) (1) intimacy, (2) passion, (3) commitment

5. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Brand love modelizations
Holistic CausalSystemicHolistic CausalSystemic
Love and
passion
Intimacy
Commitment
Brand Partner
Quality
Self connection
Interdependence
Fournier (1998)
Confusion between the brand love feeling and a brand love relationship
Holistic CausalSystemic
Perceived
functional
quality
Self-related
cognitions
Positive
affect
Negative
affect
Overall
attitude
satisfaction
Attitude
strength
Loyalty
Independent
variables
Dependent
variables
Batra and al. (2008)
Confusion between the brand love feeling and a brand love relationship
Holistic CausalSystemic
Hedonic
Product
Self-expressive
brand
Brand
love
Brand Loyalty
Positive Word
of Mouth
Caroll et al. (2006)
- Unidimensional measurement of brand love
- A model which does not integrate major relational constructs (like trust and
commitment)

6. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
H1
Brand global
identification
Brand
Love
Research’s model and hypothesis
- Identification: a key concept in brand consumer relationship literature
- An object must be part of the consumer’s self to be loved
- Influence of brand identification on brand love (Caroll and Ahuvia, 2006) and
on brand passion (Bauer and al., 2007)
H2
Brand
Trust
H5
Brand
Commitment
H6 Word of
Mouth
H7
Willigness to
pay more
- Importance of brand trust in the marketing literature
- Trust is frequently asociated to love in social psychology (Fehr, 1988;
Regan and al., 1998)
- Influence of brand love on brand loyalty (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006; Thomson and al.,
2005).
- The more a consumer value a brand, the more he/she speaks about it (Aaker, 1991)
- A part of the process of identity (Batra and al., 2008)
- Consumers make sacrifice for the brand they love (Ahuvia, 1993)
- Loss of loved brand = source of distress. Consumers are likely to pay more for the
brand to maintain positive emotions linked to it.

7. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Research’s model and hypothesis
H1
H2
H5
H8
H9
H6
H7
Brand global
identification
H4
H3
Brand
Trust
Brand
Commitment
Brand
Love
Word of
Mouth
Willigness to
pay more
- A brand love relationship that include a brand love feeling (measurement)
- Integration of some major relational constructs
- A broad measure of brand loyalty (attitudinal + behavioral parts)

8. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Methodology
- Two versions of the questionnaire (with item randomization)
- Data collect with a panel company (N=1505)
- Online survey
- Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling

9. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Results
0.198
0.497
0.462
0.602
0.372
0.457
0.625
0.369
Brand global
identification
0.181
Brand
Trust
Brand
Commitment
Brand
Love
Word of
Mouth
Willigness to
pay more
-Trust and identification explained about 71.3% of the consumer’s love
- Brand trust influence brand love for the first time in marketing
- Confirmation of the importance of brand identification
0.497
0.462
Brand global
identification
Brand
Trust
Brand
Love
- Managerial relevance of Brand Love (influence commitment, WOM and
willigness to pay more)
-Association of brand love and brand commitment : a new result in the
-marleting literature
-Higher influence of brand love on brand commitment and WOM.
- Importance and power of a love feeling in Consumer Brand Relationship
0.602
0.372
0.457
0.625
0.369
Brand
Commitment
Brand
Love
Word of
Mouth
Willigness to
pay more

10. CBR Colloquium, Winter Park,
April 10
Conclusion
LimitationsFutur Research
ContributionsContributions
LimitationsFutur Research
- Demonstration of a link between brand love and brand trust
- Test of the association between brand love and brand commitment
- Relevance of a causal approach
- Brand love must feeling not be confounded with brand love relationship
Contributions
LimitationsFutur Research
- Product category is not taking into account in our analysis.
Contributions
LimitationsFutur Research
- Exploration of the brand love’s antecedents
- Comparison of the effect of brand relationship variables with those related to
brand, product or consumer attributs : which category has the greatest effect on
brand love?
- Understanding the moderator of brand love (i.e.: consumer’s personality, need for
emotion).