Keeping consumers loyal: Brand experience as verification for self-concept (self-brand connection)

What is it about?

Consumers decide which brands to bond with and which brands to include in their self-concepts, i.e. self-brand connections. Consumers thus firmly control the formation of self-brand connections resulting in brand loyalty, and also when to terminate such relationships. I have shown that brands may verify such bonding, in the form of a self-brand connection, through the brand experience provided. Hereby the additional consideration of brand experience as verification of the self-brand connection, enforcing brand loyalty, is uncovered. This shows that brands may also take steps to support self-brand connections and brand loyalty by designing and ensuring an exceptional brand experience. Brand experience may indeed keep consumer-brand relationships alive.

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Why is it important?

The findings show that the choice to form deep, meaningful, lasting consumer-brand relationships, or self-brand connections leading to brand loyalty, doesn't solely reside in consumers' control. Brands have an important role to play in confirming strong self-concept connections (self-brand connections) and long-term consumer-brand relationships (brand loyalty) through the brand experience. Lack of such confirmation may result in deteriorating consumer-brand relationships. All dimensions of brand experience, including how consumers experience the brand through their senses (sensory), how they think about (intellectual), feel (affective) and behave towards the brand, may verify self-brand connections ensuring brand loyalty. A new avenue explaining the verification of self-brand connection and brand loyalty is thus opened through brand experience.

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