The role of self-congruity on emotional brand attachment in hedonic product categories.
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2017-06-29
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en
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Abstract
In this research, the role of actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence on emotional brand attachment on branded products in hedonic product categories is investigated. The results are compared with conducted data about utilitarian product categories in this research and previous results found by Malär et al. (2011). The used method is a survey-based questionnaire where respondents evaluated two (randomized) brands. In total six brands were evaluated of which four were hedonic and two were utilitarian brands. Based on the answers of 331 respondents, it can be concluded that both actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence plays a role in creating emotional brand attachment. The authentic branding strategy (based on actual self) seems to work better in most situations than the aspiration branding strategy (based on ideal self). However, two exceptions were found: Hugo Boss and Colgate. These brands were from a different product category (hedonic vs. utilitarian) and therefore, the role of the product category seems limited. It can be concluded that mainly brands in the personal care and make up industry can benefit from an aspirational branding strategy because of psychological factors.
The two tested moderators, product involvement and self-esteem, both seem to have a fairly limited influence on the creation of emotional brand attachment, since the effects are only found for one of the brands. High product involvement led to a stronger relationship between self-congruence and emotional brand attachment, for both actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence. The second moderator, self-esteem, only had an (negative) effect on the relationship between actual self-congruence and emotional brand attachment. The lower the self-esteem of a consumer, the weaker emotional brand attachment became. The found effect can be explained by the verification theory (Swann, 1983) because consumers with a low self-esteem do not want to verify their actual situation since this will not make them feel better about themselves.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen