Issues in defining and placing consumer brand engagement

Luigi Cantone (), Pierpaolo Testa () and Teresa Marrone ()
Additional contact information
Luigi Cantone: Federico II University of Naples, Monte Sant’Angelo University Campus
Pierpaolo Testa: Federico II University of Naples, Monte Sant’Angelo University Campus
Teresa Marrone: Federico II University of Naples, Monte Sant’Angelo University Campus

Italian Journal of Marketing, 2022, vol. 2022, issue 2, No 1, 135-172

Abstract: Abstract The paper aims to identify the current positioning of consumer brand engagement (CBE) in marketing literature, thus filling a gap and contributing to a richer overview of the concept. Numerous research topics currently overlap in the marketing literature as brand theory has not been systemised precisely, especially with regard to consumer feeling towards brands and consumers’ active role in creating brand equity. The methodology adopted for this empirical research is qualitative, and the research question is the following: what is the current positioning of CBE in marketing theory? To find the answer, three empirical studies were performed. The first, Study 1, involved eight scholars—the key informants—specialising in the topic. In Study 2, 64 academic articles focusing on CBE were analysed. By comparing the two, it was possible to identify some counterintuitive problems and pitfalls impeding the definitive affirmation of CBE in marketing literature. Lastly, in Study 3, six Italian CBE practitioners (marketing managers and digital marketing consultants) were questioned to gather further information and shed light on some grey areas highlighted by the academic community regarding management issues. The principal expected outcome was to ascertain whether CBE has specific and well-defined conceptual dimensions that may be applied to other similar topics in marketing literature. The study’s originality lies in a rationalisation of the theory underpinning the topic and proposing a possible systematisation.

Keywords: Consumer brand engagement; Brand equity; Brand feeling; Brand love (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43039-022-00054-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:spr:ijmark:v:2022:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s43039-022-00054-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer.com/journal/43039

DOI: 10.1007/s43039-022-00054-z

Access Statistics for this article

Italian Journal of Marketing is currently edited by Daniele Dalli

More articles in Italian Journal of Marketing from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().