Neue Publikation: Consumers’ relationships with brands and brand communities

Popp, B., & Woratschek, H. (2017). Consumers’ relationships with brands and brand communities – The multifaceted roles of identification and satisfaction. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 35, 46-56.
doi: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.11.006

(Full-text download available at the journal website and via ResearchGate (subscription free).

We are pleased that our paper “Consumers’ relationships with brands and brand communities – The multifaceted roles of identification and satisfaction” has been published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. In this paper, Prof. Dr. Bastian Popp and Prof. Dr. Herbert Woratschek integrate relationship marketing and brand management literature to study the role of consumer-brand identification and customer satisfaction as core relationship drivers to study their interrelationships as well as the effects on customer loyalty and word-of-mouth communication. Considering multiple interacting targets of identification in brand communities, the empirical study unfolds the multifaceted, context-specific relevance of identification and satisfaction: While the effect of identification on brand loyalty is mediated by customer satisfaction, satisfaction has no significant effect on community loyalty. Moreover, brand communities are particularly useful for gaining new customers, whereas no increase in brand loyalty could be found. Managers are generally advised to specify constructs of interest related to different relevant targets of identification.