Brand fidelity: a relationship maintenance perspective

Debra Grace (), Mitchell Ross () and Ceridwyn King ()
Additional contact information
Debra Grace: Griffith University
Mitchell Ross: Griffith University
Ceridwyn King: Temple University

Journal of Brand Management, 2018, vol. 25, issue 6, No 8, 577-590

Abstract: Abstract An in-depth literature review associated with consumer/brand research provides the foundation for this paper through explicating the evolution of this important research stream. The literature findings highlight significant challenges in the conceptualization and measurement of key consumer-related constructs such as brand loyalty, brand commitment and brand love. Drawing upon these findings, the authors propose that relationship maintenance mechanisms (i.e. cognitive and behavioural) provide the key to measurement and prediction of consumer/brand relationship strength. On this basis, this paper offers brand fidelity as a novel approach in understanding how consumers demonstrate their love and commitment for the brand through engaging, subconsciously or otherwise, in relationship maintenance cognitions and behaviours. Defined as the consumer’s faithfulness to a brand partner demonstrated by an aggregate of behaviours (i.e. accommodation/forgiveness, willingness to sacrifice) and cognitions (i.e. derogation of alternatives, cognitive interdependence and positive illusions) that maintain relationship stability and durability, brand fidelity provides a solid foundation for future research offering significant value to academics and brand practitioners alike.

Keywords: Consumer/brand relationships; Brand commitment; Brand loyalty; Relationship maintenance; Relationship fidelity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41262-018-0127-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:pal:jobman:v:25:y:2018:i:6:d:10.1057_s41262-018-0127-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41262

DOI: 10.1057/s41262-018-0127-z

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Brand Management is currently edited by Joachim Kernstock, Shaun M. Powell, Mark Davies and Ur a Golob

More articles in Journal of Brand Management from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().