Bridging the gap between brand gender and brand loyalty on social media: exploring the mediating effects

ABSTRACT

Brand gender has been suggested to influence consumer’s responses to the brand. The aim of this research was to deepen the understanding of the relationship between brand gender and brand loyalty by developing a research model to test the relationships among brand gender, active consumer engagement with the brand on social media, perceived quality, brand love and brand loyalty. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The results support the importance of active consumer brand-engagement, perceived quality and brand love in underpinning the underlying process between brand gender and brand loyalty. Hence, this research complements prior work on brand gender and confirms the important benefits of a clear brand gender positioning by showing that a strong gender identity will enhance loyalty towards the brand.

KEYWORDS:

• Rand gender
• SNSs
• brand loyalty
• brand love
• Facebook brand page

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. https://clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/masculinity/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [UID/ECO/04007/2019].

Notes on contributors

Leonor Vacas de Carvalho

Leonor Vacas de Carvalho is an Assistant Professor in the Business Department at Universidade de Évora, Portugal, where she teaches marketing management, brand management and marketing communications. She is a researcher at CEFAGE and a member of the scientific committee of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand, Corporate Identity and Reputation Special Interest Group. Her research interests include brand identity, brand image, social media branding and services branding. Her previous work has been published in the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Brand Management and the Journal of Product and Brand Management, as well as presented at conferences.

Salim L. Azar

Salim L. Azar is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Lebanon, where he teaches marketing management and marketing research. He is also a member of Théorie Economique, Modélisation et Application (THEMA), the research centre of the University of Cergy-Pontoise, France. His research focuses on brand gender, branding, SNSs and consumer behaviour. His previous work has been published in the Journal of Business Research, the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Brand Management and the Journal of Product and Brand Management.

Joana Cesar Machado

Joana Cesar Machado is an Assistant Professor at Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Her research interests include brand identity, social media branding and consumer behaviour. She is a member of CEGE and chair of the scientific committee of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand, Corporate Identity and Reputation Special Interest Group. Her previous work has been published in several international journals and presented at conferences. She is co-author of the book O Livro da Marca (‘The Brand Book’), which is a book of reference on branding in Portugal.