How Do Brazilian Consumers Relate to Chocolate Brands? Validity and Reliability Evidence of the Chocolate Brands Relationship Scale

Gisela Demo, Karla Coura, Fernanda Scussel and Graziela Azevedo
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Gisela Demo: Graduate Program in Business Administration (PPGA/UnB), University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil
Karla Coura: Graduate Program in Business Administration (PPGA/UnB), University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil
Fernanda Scussel: Graduate Program in Business Administration (PPGAdm/UFSC), Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, Brazil
Graziela Azevedo: Graduate Program in Business Administration (PPGA/UnB), University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-22

Abstract: Although the chocolate market has become increasingly larger and more competitive, no diagnostic measures were found to evaluate relationship marketing from customer perspectives in this very attractive market in the B2C context. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to obtain validity evidence for the Chocolate Brands Relationship Scale (CBR Scale), a scientific instrument that enables the identification and measurement of the prime aspects perceived by chocolate brands’ customers as relevant in their relationship with such brands. Additionally, we tested the influence of the relationship, evaluated from the validated CBR Scale, with the chocolate consumers’ satisfaction. We conducted a survey with 523 Brazilian consumers, and data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The CBR Scale is composed of 21 items divided into three factors: Brand Trust, Shopping Experience and Perceived Quality. As theoretical implications, we produce a valid and reliable operational measure, offering a useful starting point from which further theoretical and empirical research of customer relationship management, branding strategies, brand loyalty, and brand experience in the chocolate market can be built. Managerially, the CBR Scale is a valid instrument for practitioners and managers in the chocolate sector to access customers, establishing and developing long-term relationships with them.

Keywords: customer–brand relationship; relationship marketing; branding; measurement model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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