Empirically examining the psychological mechanism of a loved and trusted business school brand

ABSTRACT

Marketing and branding of higher education occupy an important space today in the extremely competitive B-school market. This paper aims to explore the drivers of brand loyalty and advocacy in the context of business school brands. The study examines the connections between brand experience, brand love and brand trust in the context of business schools. A cross-sectional study amongst the students of select business schools in the emerging economy of India was conducted to explore the mechanism through which brand experience can finally lead to the building of a loved as well as trusted business school brand. Data were collected from selected young adult business school students and analyzed using structural equation modeling and Hayes [2017. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). Guilford Publications] process macro to validate the theoretical framework. The findings delineate that brand experience predicts brand trust both directly and through the mediation of brand love, highlighting the mediating effect to be stronger than the direct effect. The research also lends support to the argument that trust in business school brand builds brand loyalty and brand advocacy.

KEYWORDS:

• Brand trust
• brand experience
• brand love
• brand loyalty
• business school branding