How high brand loyalty consumers achieve relationships with virtual worlds and its elements through presence

ABSTRACT

Presence is linked to the relationship between consumers‘ sought after uses and gratifications to ultimately gain media consumption experiences. As consumers pursue uses and gratifications from video game play, they may seek out media consumption experiences that engage their senses and bodily responses, thus resulting in a collection of experiences with a select video game brand, such as Assassin’s Creed, and potential solidification of brand loyalty towards a select video game brand. Hence, this study was interested in (a) uses and gratifications particular to high brand loyalty consumers (referred to as HBL consumers), (b) how HBL consumers’ media consumption experiences are impacted by brand personality traits of video games, and (c) their virtual parasocial relationships with virtual characters and environments.

KEYWORDS:

• Video games
• uses and gratifications
• brand loyalty
• presence
• media consumption experiences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anthony Palomba

Anthony Palomba holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication, focused in Telecommunications, from the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida, a M.A. in Television, Radio, and film from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and a B.A. from Manhattanville College, with a double major in History and Political Science (Pre-Law) and a minor in Economics. He has previous work experience with Nielsen and at Ipsos, where he conducted market research for HBO, CNN, Sesame Street, and Facebook among others. He has served as a private research consultant for Bravo and World Wrestling.