How does corporate association influence consumer brand loyalty? Mediating role of brand identification
| Published date | 21 November 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-07-2015-0932 |
| Pages | 629-641 |
| Date | 21 November 2016 |
| Author | Mobin Fatma,Imran Khan,Zillur Rahman |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
How does corporate association influence
consumer brand loyalty? Mediating role of
brand identification
Mobin Fatma
Department of Management Studies, Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Delhi, India, and
Imran Khan and Zillur Rahman
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of two types of corporate associations – corporate ability (CA) and corporate social
responsibility (CSR) – on consumer brand loyalty in retail banks in India.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey on 489 banking consumers was carried out. To achieve research objectives, test hypotheses and
analyze data, structural equation modeling was used.
Findings – The findings show that CA and CSR associations were found to have positive and indirect influences on consumer brand loyalty through
brand identifications. This indicates that the process of corporate association transforming into loyalty is much more complicated, and there are other
factors influencing this process, making brand identification necessary for achieving customer brand loyalty.
Research limitations/implications – The results presented in this study have important managerial implications for banking companies in India.
The findings demonstrate the importance of CA and CSR associations in the present business scenario and highlight the need to successfully
implement them in management policies.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the existing body of literature by highlighting the influence of brand identification on brand loyalty
through affective commitment and satisfaction.
Keywords CSR, Brand loyalty, Brand identification, Corporate association
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
A brand addresses the self-definitional needs of consumers
(Fournier, 1998), as its symbolic nature allows the consumers
to identify with the brand (Perez, 2009). Further, a brand
enables an individual to differentiate his or her identity from
others in a social reference group (Escalas and Bettman,
2005). Consumer identification with a brand also results in
long-term relations with the firm (Perez, 2009). Studies have,
in the past, examined how consumers identify with a brand
and what influence a brand has on their behavior
(Lichtenstein et al., 2004;Marin and Ruiz, 2007).
Many studies have examined the link between corporate
social responsibility (CSR) activities and their effect on
marketing outcomes (Maignan and Ferrell 2004;Klein and
Dawar, 2004;Luo and Bhattacharya 2006;Fatma and
Rahman, 2015). However, there is little research examining
the (conditional) effect of CSR on brand loyalty and the
mediating influence of brand identification on brand loyalty
through customer satisfaction and affective commitment.
These issues are important for the following reasons. First,
prior studies investigating the influence of CSR on customer
behavior have given mixed results (sometimes no effect or
negative effect) (Sen and Bhattacharya 2001;Brown and
Dacin, 1997;Berens et al., 2005). This suggests that there
possibly are other conditional factors and associations which
have not been considered, such as the association between
corporate association and customer identification with the
brand and the relationship between brand identification and
brand loyalty, among others. An explanation for the lesser
positive effects of CSR is given by the concept of CA-CSR
(corporate ability-corporate social responsibility) trade-off
(Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001), which emphasizes that
consumers may have a belief that if a company invests more in
CSR activities, the company would compromise its CA. Thus,
we suggest that CSR association of a company could be
strengthened if the company is perceived as capable of
delivering good quality services (CA). Second, prior studies
suggest that social identity perspective could be useful in
understanding the relationship between the company and the
stakeholders (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2003). Brand
identification has been suggested to be a key predictor of
brand loyalty (Marin et al., 2009;Bhattacharya and Sen,
2003). Therefore, it is important to examine how brand
identification can be included in the path of corporate
association to brand loyalty. The present study considers
brand identification as a mediator between corporate
association (CA and CSR) and service brand loyalty. To the
best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has made an attempt
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
25/7 (2016) 629–641
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-07-2015-0932]
629
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