Brand communities’ relational outcomes, through brand love
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-09-2017-1593 |
| Published date | 11 March 2019 |
| Date | 11 March 2019 |
| Pages | 154-165 |
| Author | Arnaldo Coelho,Cristela Bairrada,Filipa Peres |
Brand communities’relational outcomes,
through brand love
Arnaldo Coelho and Cristela Bairrada
Faculty of Economics and Centre for Business and Economics Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, and
Filipa Peres
Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to identify the impacts of brand communities on relational outcomes such as word-of-mouth, advocacy and loyalty
through the mediating effects of brand love.
Design/methodology/approach –In total, 510 valid questionnaires were collected from Portuguese consumers. Structural equation modeling was
used to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings –This investigation shows how brand communities may contribute to reinforce the bonds between brands and customers by
introducing love in these relationships. The results of this study show that the identification dimension of brand communities has an important
effect on brand love, word-of-mouth, advocacy and brand loyalty. Building on the foundations of previous studies, this research also highlights
the role of brand love on word-of-mouth, brand advocacy and brand loyalty and the impact of brand loyalty on word-of-mouth, brand advocacy
and brand loyalty.
Originality/value –This investigation makes two major contributions: first, investigating the impacts of brand communities, andsecond, using the
mediating effects of brand love on relational outcomes.
Keywords Word-of-mouth, Loyalty, Brand communities, Advocacy, Brand love
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Currently, organizations use several tools to keep customers
motivated and committed to their brands. Relationship
marketing is one tool that seeks to create and maintain long-
term relationships withconsumers and is considered a strategic
resource for a company, a trend toward modern marketing and
successful relationships (Laroche et al.,2012). Obviously, it is
not always easy to maintain long-lasting relationships with
customers, and brand communities are a strong tool for
reinforcing these relationships. These communities were
introduced as a solution for integrating and serving customers
in their relationships with the brand. Brand communities
perform important brand-name tasks: sharing information,
perpetuating a brand storyand culture and providing customer
service (Munizand O’Guinn, 2001).
Through these communities, consumers can discuss ideas
and products or simply talk about their favorite brand with
individuals who have the same feelings of ownership,
admiration, and love toward that particular brand. These
communities are founded with the aim of connecting not only
customers with each other, but also connecting a brand/
company to its customers and forgingacloser relationshipwith
them to the benefit of both. Based on these kinds of
relationships, the brand may more easily identify the desires
and real needs of its customers.
When it comes to brand communities, it is important to
understand that consumers are not the only ones who operate
in them, but a number of entities do as well, including the
companies themselves. It is crucial to realize that similar
concepts like relationship marketing and branding can be
covered through these communities, which are extremely
important nowadays. It is necessary to build a stable
relationship not only with consumersbut also with all
individuals who operate in the market and are, in some way,
related to the brand. Through the brand community, it is
possible to understand the needs ofconsumers and what may
need to be changed. Brand communities may be a means of
reinforcing and stabilizing the relationships between a brand
and its customers.
Brand communities are essential to create lasting and
meaningful relationships with individuals (McAlexander et al.,
2002), strengthening loyalty and other relational outcomes.
However, literature is not clearon the chain of effects between
brand communities and these relational outcomesis produced
(Hur et al.,2011;Habibi et al.,2016). Dessart et al. (2015)
showed the role of commitment, and Habibi et al. (2016)
investigated the role of relationshipquality. However, “the
psychological and behavioral paths to consumer’s emotional
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
28/2 (2019) 154–165
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-09-2017-1593]
Received 27 September2017
Revised 13 February 2018
30 March 2018
21 April 2018
Accepted 26 April 2018
154
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