Determinants of brand loyalty: self-construal, self-expressive brands, and brand attachment

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to explore the relationships among self-construal, self-expressive brands, and brand attachment with an emphasis on understanding the link to brand loyalty in US college students (219 women; 41 men; mean age = 21.0). As a result, out of seven hypotheses, six hypotheses were accepted. Independent/interdependent self-construal is positively related to self-expressive brand. Self-expressive brand is positively related to ownership/emotion brand attachment. Ownership/emotion brand attachment is positively related to brand loyalty. Finally, self-expressive brand is positively related to brand loyalty. Results supported propositions of relationship theory and provided practical implications.

Keywords:

• brand loyalty
• self-construal
• self-expression
• brand attachment