Brand love was first studied scientifically 20 years ago but is still not fully understood. The first researcher to empirically study brand love, like love for people, was Aaron Ahuvia in the early 1990s. His work found brand love is based on trust, and trust is triggered by brands that demonstrate accountability, reliability, transparency, relevancy, and innovation. Beloved brands earn customer trust through these five attributes, driving loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and willingness to pay more.

1. Brand Love:
Beyond Loyalty A high8 thought leadership presentation
February 2019

2. AMY SNOW | 2
The first major scientific study on brand
love was published 20 years ago
Even so, few fully grasp why it is such a
powerful game-changing concept
Brand love was first identified by academics.
Most
still
don’t
know
what it
means
or why it
matters

3. AMY SNOW | 3
Aaron Ahuvia, Ph.D. gathered data on love, attraction,
and romantic relationships
But wanted to put his knowledge to wider use
“I decided to study how the psychology of love could help us
understand why people were attracted to certain products and
services. It turned out that although there was lots of research on
love, and lots of research on consumer preferences, I was the first
person to do empirical research on the psychology of love when
people love something rather than someone.” – Aaron Ahuvia, Ph.D.
A young researcher studying online dating in the early
1990s generalized his research from people to brands.

4. AMY SNOW | 4
Today, Brand Love
should be your #1
KPI.
…but it’s more difficult to
quantify than awareness or
conversion

5. AMY SNOW | 5
First, the goal was satisfaction…
But satisfaction is tied to expectations and should be cost of entry
Then, brands starting chasing loyalty.
It’s easier to sell to existing customers than to new ones, loyal
customers spend more and are more valuable to the bottom line
Brand Love is Loyalty 2.0

6. AMY SNOW | 6
Satisfaction and loyalty are relatively
easy to measure with metrics,
and showing ROI is an effective way to
get everyone on board.

7. AMY SNOW | 7
But then,
everything changed.
Omnichannel retailing became
the norm
Competition was everywhere
Social media became a necessary
part of the conversation not just
among people, but between
people and brands
The purchase journey became an
infinity loop and less linear
The stakes were suddenly way
higher

8. AMY SNOW | 8
Consumers began
interacting with brands like
they interact with people.
Transactional consumer relationships were
replaced with values-based relationships
It became more and more difficult to
pinpoint why consumers are loyal to certain
brands and what that looks like
Traditional satisfaction and loyalty metrics
just aren’t enough

9. AMY SNOW | 9
Looking to retail innovators both in and
outside the category provides invaluable
insights
We explore why consumers connect with
brands like Amazon, Anthropologie,
Sephora, Apple, Trader Joe’s, IKEA
We ask questions that yield deep insights
on why certain brands break through and
what they do to earn a place in people’s
lives and hearts
Over time, we developed
techniques to tease it out.

10. AMY SNOW | 10
It goes like this…
What brands ‘get you’? What brands could you not live without?
If they disappeared tomorrow, would you be sad? Why?
How does your relationship with this brand change your life?
Where do they fit into your life?
What did they do to earn that place in your heart?
You could get the same product from someone else…why does
it have to be them?
How do they tell you they love you?

11. AMY SNOW | 11
Over the years, we saw that this technique not only works across
category (fashion, retail, food and beverage, CPG, tech, automotive,
financial), but the same themes emerged time and again
Which means there is an underlying framework brands can
leverage to build love
This helps consumers articulate how and why
they become emotionally attached to brands.

12. AMY SNOW | 12
Let’s go back to Dr. Ahuvia…
His later work uncovered the psychological
structure of brand love
He created mathematical models to
dimensionalize brand love using structural
equation modeling
He found seven core elements:
• Self–brand integration
• Passion-driven behaviors
• Positive emotional connection
• Long-term relationship
• Positive overall attitude valence
• Attitude certainty and confidence (strength)
• Anticipated separation distress

13. AMY SNOW | 13
Of these, four dimensions jump out:
Long-term relationship, anticipated separation
distress, positive overall attitude valence, and
attitude certainty and confidence…
These describe TRUST.
Just as relationships between people hinge on
trust, trust is critically important in relationships
with brands
Trust is the single biggest component of
brand love

14. AMY SNOW | 14
The same chemicals associated
with love between people are
affected when people trust
organizations and companies
Both human love and brand love
produce spikes in oxytocin, and
the spike is triggered by trust
Trust contributes to
brand love for the same
biological reasons as
interpersonal love.

15. AMY SNOW | 15
Oxytocin is synthesized in the brain
when a person or entity is trusted,
signaling that one is safe to be around
There is a switch in the brain
that can “turn on” trust.
“In our blood and in the brain, oxytocin
appears to be the chemical elixir that creates
bonds of trust not just in our intimate
relationships but also in our business
dealings, in politics and in society at
large…They point to additional levers that
marketers can use to build brand trust and
engagement.”
–Paul Zak, professor of behavioral economics,
founder of Claremont Graduate University’s Center
for Neuroeconomics, in the Wall Street Journal

16. AMY SNOW | 16
What does this sound like in consumers’ words?
“Someone got my credit card number and was trying to buy a
bunch of expensive stuff online. Chase called me and asked me if
I made a purchase. I said no and they wiped it clean. Just like that.
It made me feel safe with my credit cards. That is the only one I
use to purchase stuff online now and I will never leave Chase.”
“I ordered a bike for my daughter for Christmas from Amazon and
it was two days before Christmas and it still hadn’t arrived. I called
and spoke with someone who was very helpful. She ordered me a
replacement bike, had it overnighted at no charge, and my
daughter had her bike. When the other one arrived a week too
late, I called and asked what I should do. They told me to donate it
to charity. Now, that’s a company I want to do business with! That’s
a company I trust to come through for me and do the right thing.”

17. AMY SNOW | 17
Research on humans shows that people want
to be perceived as warm and competent
Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School
professor who studies trust from a humanistic
standpoint, says warmth, which she defines as
“trustworthiness,” is actually the most
important factor in how people evaluate you
Sometimes, trustworthiness matters
even more than competence.
“From an evolutionary perspective, it is
more crucial to our survival to know
whether a person deserves our trust.”
-Amy Cuddy

18. AMY SNOW | 18
This holds true for brands as well.
This is evidenced by more than 1 in 3 consumers saying
they would consider banking with Amazon
Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future
at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and
Journalism, writes of a recent study,
“35% of consumers indicate a willingness to bank at
Amazon, 28% at Google, and 24% at Walmart. Far fewer
were interested in Starbucks or Facebook”
Cole predicts banking will be the next industry disrupted
by seemingly out-of-category competitors
He goes on to say, “We believe the great faith in
Amazon…comes from customers being very familiar and
comfortable with these businesses, trusting them…”

19. AMY SNOW | 19
According to Stuart Smith, Global CEO of Ogilvy PR,
“After the financial crisis, major institutions and
corporations suffered a loss of trust almost without
precedent…Fueled by social media and amplified
by mainstream media, companies discovered just
how quickly they could lose control of their
message.”
For this reason, some have begun linking
trust with earned influence
in times of uncertainty.
And trust is even
more important

20. AMY SNOW | 20
“We know that earned influence drives performance. When customers
judge brands to be trustworthy enough—the moment when brands
have earned influence—those customers will be loyal, early adopters
who cross purchase and become brand advocates and key influencers
amongst their peers.” - Stuart Smith, Global CEO of Ogilvy PR
Earned influence – creating enough
love for your brand to create brand
advocates – drives performance.

21. AMY SNOW | 21
Brand love may be more difficult to track and slower to
build, but the rewards are far more valuable than
satisfaction or traditional loyalty:
Positive word-of-mouth, or what is said about your
brand online (in reality, your brand is what people say
you are, NOT what you say you are)
How willing consumers are to pay a premium
How much slack they give you when mistakes
happen, as they inevitably do (resistance)
Beloved, trusted brands get more understanding,
which means minor shortcomings are less likely to
fracture the relationship
Brand love drives loyalty, positive
word-of-mouth, willingness to
pay a premium, and resistance.

22. AMY SNOW | 22
Accountability – fixing issues, owning mistakes, course correction,
turning crisis into opportunity
Reliability – delivering on promises, dependability, always available,
consistency, ubiquity
Transparency – openness both literally and metaphorically, honesty,
integrity
Relevancy – current, differentiated, stands for something, offers
consumer-facing benefits
Innovation – best in class, a leader, they stay one step ahead, they
know what I need before I do (needs-based thinking)
Creating strategies around these five pillars should be a
priority for every brand, whether start-up or global icon.
Beloved brands deliver on five attributes.

23. AMY SNOW | 23
Los Angeles, CA
323.327.5115
www.thehigh8.com