Brand pride: concept and measurement
| Date | 29 May 2024 |
| Pages | 668-683 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2023-4555 |
| Published date | 29 May 2024 |
| Author | Harleen Kaur,Harsh V. Verma |
Brand pride: concept and measurement
Harleen Kaur
University School of Management and Entrepreneurship, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India, and
Harsh V. Verma
Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to conceptualize and define a construct of brand pride and develop a measurement instrument for the construc t.
Design/methodology/approach –A scale development procedure comprising a qualitative prestudy and four quantitative studies for item
generation and content validity, scale refinement using exploratory factor analyses, scale confirmation using confirmatory fact or analysis and scale
validity using PLS-SEM is followed to develop the measure of brand pride.
Findings –The scale development procedure yields a two-dimensional measurement instrument for brand pride withaffective and utilitarian
dimensions. The proposed scale is reliable and has convergent, discriminant and nomological vali dity.
Originality/value –This study highlights the need to study brand pride by reviewing literature from both psychology and marketing. The definition
and conceptualization of brand pride help uniquely identify and describe the phenomenon. By developing a scale to measure the construct of brand
pride, this study will enable research into the phenomenon, its causes and effects and its significance for consumer–brand relationships.
Keywords Brand pride, Consumer pride, Pride, Consumer–brand relationships, Scale development
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The emotion of pride is inseparable from the human experience
(Tracy et al.,2010). We feel proud of ourselves for our
successes, such as graduating,building a home, winning a prize
or publishing a research article –all socially valued
achievements. Pride may also be felt toward an entity that we
consider to have some association with (Helm et al., 2016)–
such as our university, country,culture, a favorite dish or a self-
made painting. Pride is a positive experience, and we strive to
engage more in actions that may enhance pride (Tracy et al.,
2020). Marketers have used advertising appeals for decades to
trigger incidental pride and achieve desired marketing
outcomes (Kemp et al.,2013;Salerno et al., 2015;Septianto
et al.,2021;Shimul and Cheah, 2023). Pride experiences have
been identified in consumption-related activities, such as in
food (Kim and Huang, 2021;Mahasuweerachai et al.,2023),
luxury (McFerran et al.,2014), masstige (Chatterjee et al.,
2023), online gaming (Dewalska-Opitek and Hofman-
Kohlmeyer, 2021) and sustainable consumption (Yan et al.,
2024). The emotion leads to positive outcomes, such as
purchase intentions (Laroche et al.,2021;Rowe et al.,2019),
word of mouth (Feng et al., 2021;Gelbrich, 2011;Wen et al.,
2018) and loyalty (Gelbrich,2011;Kumar et al., 2015;Lee and
Kim, 2021). Recent research suggests that pride may also be
felt toward brands to enablepositive brand outcomes (Bellezza
and Keinan, 2014;Sierra etal., 2017;Taute et al.,2017). Such
a pride experience has been conceptualized as brand pride
(Kaur and Verma, 2023;Nandy and Sondhi, 2022;Nandy
et al.,2024).
Brand pride is distinct from other emotion-basedconsumer–
brand relationship constructs.It may be described as a positive
experience resultingfrom a favorable evaluation of a brand that
one may consider one’s own. Other emotions toward brands
have also been shown to influence consumer–brand
relationships (Fetscherin and Heinrich, 2014) and are
conceptualized as associated CBR constructs, e.g. brand love
(Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006), brand happiness(Schnebelen and
Bruhn, 2018), brand desire (Joshi and Yadav, 2020) or brand
hate (Sarkar et al.,2020). While these emotions may coexist,
they are conceptually distinct phenomena and emerge in
different circumstances based on the appraisal theory
(Roseman et al.,1996). This makes studying the individual role
and effects of these emotion-based relationship constructs
necessary. Specifically, the study of brand pride may help
understand how pride, an adaptiveuniversal emotion that
generates a drive to become better, influences the relationship
between consumersand brands.
Current researchon brand pride does not adequately capture
the essence of the concept. First, a clear conceptualizationand
definition are unavailable, reducing construct clarity. Second,
existing measures may be insufficient to measure the concept.
These either link brandpride to ownership (Nandy et al., 2024)
or are adapted from adjacent domains such as organizational
pride (Helm et al.,2016)and emotion research (e.g. Tracy and
Robins, 2007;inSierra et al.,2017;Taute et al., 2017), and are
unspecific to consumer-brand relationships. The study
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
33/6 (2024) 668–683
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-06-2023-4555]
Received 7 June2023
Revised 25 September 2023
20 February 2024
5 May 2024
Accepted 5 May 2024
668
responds to thisgap in the process of construct development for
brand pride (Macinnis,2011).
The objectives of the research are, first, to develop an
understanding of the brand pridephenomenon and, second, to
create a measurement instrument for a construct of brand
pride. It contributes to theextant literature, first, by presenting
a conceptualization and definition of brand pride while
exploring from a foundation of psychologicalresearch on pride.
Second, the study yields underlyingdimensions of brand pride,
enabling us to understand this construct’s complex nature.
Third, the measure of brand pride developed in this study aids
further theory-testing on the construct and its relationships
with other brand relationshipconstructs.
This article is structured as follows. Section 2 discusses past
literature on pride and brand pride, conceptualizes and defines
brand pride and differentiates it from other related constructs.
Section 3 provides an overview of the studies undertaken for scale
development. Sections 4-8 present the methods and findings of a
qualitative prestudy and four quantitative studies to develop a scale
of brand pride. Section 9 discusses the findings of the study and
includes theoretical and managerial implications of the study,
limitations and suggestions for future research.
2.Literature review
2.1 Pride
Pride is “a positive self-conscious emotion experienced following
a favourable evaluation of one’s competence or effort in achieving
a goal”(Weiner, 1985). It is the pleasant feeling associated with
autonomy and self-achievement (Mosquera et al.,2000). Pride
involves believing that one has done something that could
potentially increase one’s relational value and acceptance of
others (Leary, 2004). It makes one feel better about oneself and
may motivate one to achieve more (Tracy et al.,2020).
The elicitation and function of pride (and other
psychological emotions) are commonly explained through
appraisal frameworks. Appraisal theorists describe emotions in
terms of their antecedents (Scherer, 2022) andemphasize that
internal evaluations across multipledimensions lead to an
emotional experience. Multiple appraisal dimensions and
frameworks (e.g. Smith and Ellsworth, 1985;Roseman, 1984)
have been proposed and suggest that emotions are distinct
experiences that differ in their underlying appraisals. Pride, as
per Roseman et al.’s (1996) appraisal framework, is described
using the appraisals of agency and motive consistency and is
experienced when one considers the self as responsible for a
positive outcomeconsistent with one’s goals.
2.2State of research on brand pride
Research on brand pride (seeTable 1) has evolved conceptually
from the specific contextsof internal branding as organizational
brand pride, i.e. the pride felt toward one’s organizational
brand (Helm et al., 2016) and sports branding as pride
experienced by sports fans (Decrop and Derbaix, 2010).
Certain challenges exist with this body of literature. First, the
view on brand pride is non-discriminant and overlaps with
other concepts, such as love (Sierra et al.,2017;Taute et al.,
2017), which is not an ideal way to describe a unique
phenomenon. Second, the conceptualization ofbrand pride
includes considering the brand as a favored possession (Sierra
et al., 2017;Taute et al., 2017;Nandy et al., 2023). Brand
ownership may not be a universal precursor to experiencing
brand pride, as consumers may engage with brands even
without purchasing a product (Kumar and Nayak, 2019).
Third, the conceptualization suggests thatbrand pride is felt
when these owned brands are valued by others (Nandy et al.,
2023). This may not always be the case as a pride experience
may emanate from a brand valued by the self even if not by
others (Tracy and Robins, 2007). For example, a loyalist of a
losing sports team or an old favorite brand valued for decades
but now losing its vigor. Fourth, the scale and concept in past
research are embedded in specific contexts, such as brand
communities(Sierra et al., 2017;Taute et al., 2017) and may be
non-generalizable.
2.3Brand pride: definitionand concept
While determining an appropriate definition for the
phenomenon, previous definitions of brand pride from various
contexts should be referred to (see Table 1). Prior definitions,
however, appear to be insufficient in that they are, first,
unspecific to a prideexperience and could be used to define any
other positive consumption emotion (in Verbeke et al., 2004;
Kuppelwieser et al.,2011) or, second, described brand pride in
terms of another positive experience (Gilliam and Voss, 2013;
in Helm et al.,2016;Sierra et al., 2017;Nandy and Sondhi,
2022).
To develop a sound definition of brand pride, a conceptual
understanding of the phenomenon must be first formulated
based on theory. Emotions, in general, may be described
through three psychological theories: basic theories, focusing
on only a tiny group of emotions (not including pride),
constructivist theories, which describe emotions in a two-
dimensional space of valence x arousal and appraisal theories,
which use a cognitivist approach to define discreteemotions as
the result of certain evaluative judgments (Scherer, 2022;
Moors, 2009). The appraisal theories have been subjected to
extensive empirical researchinrecent decades (Scherer, 2022).
They are adopted for use by researchers in organizational
behavior (Diener et al., 2020) and consumer emotions (Kaur
and Verma, 2023;Sharma et al., 2023). Priorstudies on brand
pride have also relied on the appraisal framework(see Table 1).
Based on the relevance of the theoretical predictions of
appraisal theories (Scherer,2022) and their accepted use in the
field, the present study uses the appraisal framework of
emotions to describebrand pride.
Three characteristics of pride are identified based on the
appraisal theory (Roseman et al.,1996) and extended to
conceptualize brand pride. First, pride is a positive emotion
(Weiner, 1985); thus, brand pride may be a positive consumer
experience. Second, a pride experience must involvean
evaluation of the role of the self in the phenomenon(Tracy and
Robins, 2004). This is the agency dimension of the appraisal
theory (Roseman et al., 1996). This idea of the self may be
expanded to include the extended self (Belk, 1988), of which
the brand may be a part (Kaur and Verma, 2023).Thus, pride
may be experienced due to the evaluation of a brand’s
performance, which may already bea part of a consumer’s
extended self. Third, the appraisal theory suggests that to
experience pride, the outcome or phenomenon must be
evaluated as aligned with consumers’motives (Roseman et al.,
Brand pride
Harleen Kaur and Harsh V. Verma
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 33 · Number 6 · 2024 · 668–683
669
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