Understanding the Role of Brand Attachment in the Automotive Luxury Brand Segment

Abílio Bragança Milheiro (), Bruno Barbosa Sousa (), Vasco Ribeiro Santos (), Catarina Bragança Milheiro and Estela Vilhena ()
Additional contact information
Abílio Bragança Milheiro: Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA), 4750-810 Barcelos, Portugal
Bruno Barbosa Sousa: Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA), 4750-810 Barcelos, Portugal
Vasco Ribeiro Santos: CiTUR—Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Catarina Bragança Milheiro: Engineering School, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Estela Vilhena: 2Ai—School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA), 4750-810 Barcelos, Portugal

Administrative Sciences, 2024, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-27

Abstract: The automotive trade is one of the main drivers of world economies, contributing to the sustainability and competitiveness of countries at a global level. The luxury sub-segment is the one facing the most significant growth and the one which presents the greatest challenges in the business-to-consumer (B2C) relationship. Brand Attachment refers to the cognitive and effective connection between consumers and “their” brands. The central objective of this research is to analyze, measure, and understand the impact of Brand Attachment on consumer behavior, in the specific context of the luxury segment of the automotive market. The conceptual model that is proposed seeks to highlight and study the possible connections and associations between Brand Attachment, satisfaction, commitment, trust, expectations, and loyalty with the brand selected for this study, the luxury automotive brand Porsche. The selected methodology was based on a case study based in the Portuguese market and the application of a questionnaire to customers of Porsche from Portugal. The results obtained through the empirical data allowed us to reach the conclusion that respondents who have a stronger affective and emotional connection with Porsche (intense level of Brand Attachment) tend to be those who are more satisfied and confident with the brand and are, consequently, more loyal. This study represents an important contribution to research on Brand Attachment in marketing and strategic management in the automotive sector, particularly in the Portuguese market, and supports the definition of the best marketing strategies to promote fruitful B2C relationships.

Keywords: marketing; relational marketing; brand attachment; consumer behavior; luxury; car market; automotive sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/6/119/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/6/119/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:6:p:119-:d:1409166

Access Statistics for this article

Administrative Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Nancy Ma

More articles in Administrative Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().