دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی عادات برند: بررسی مفهوم و تعریف آن از طریق یک دیدگاه تجربی - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

Brand addiction is one of the most important ways that consumers engage with brands. Other types of consumerbrand relationships include brand attachment, brand love, brand loyalty, brand passion and brand trust. This study provides an experientially grounded conceptualization and definition of brand addiction that distinguishes it clearly from other forms of consumer-brand relationships; and also from compulsive buying and acquisitive desire. Qualitative data from focus groups and projective-technique-based interviews were used to identify eleven salient properties which, in combination, characterize brand addiction: acquisitiveness; anxiety-irritability, bonding, brand exclusivity, collecting, compulsive urges, financial management versus debt tolerance, dependence, gratification, mental and behavioral preoccupation, and word of mouth. We compare brand addiction with the features of other consumer-brand relationships. The findings suggest that brand addiction is different from other consumer-brand-relationship concepts, and does not necessarily lead to harmful consequences for all brand addicts (unlike many other types of addiction).

Conclusion and further research

In the current study, we have found important features of brand addiction from both focus groups and projective interviews. Using these salient features, we have developed a definition of brand addiction that could be used for a wide range of research into brand-addiction-related consumption phenomena. The contributions from this research are only a beginning and a great deal of empirical work remains to be done. Future research could take a number of directions.

1. Given the recent publication of a scale to measure the concept of brand addiction (Mrad & Cui, 2017), empirical tests will make it possible to examine whether brand addiction is conceptually and empirically different from other consumer-brand-relationship concepts.

2. Future research is recommended to explore and empirically test the antecedents and consequences of brand addiction in order to explore the generalizability of the findings from the current research. Establishing the relevant relationships among other types of addictive behaviors such as compulsive buying is also important to the development of a strong theoretical basis for brand addiction.

3. Understanding the behavioral consequences of brand addiction might yield some interesting insights into consumer behavior and addiction, allowing for further commonalities and differences across different types of addictive behaviors to be examined (Faber, Christenson, De Zwaan, & Mitchell, 1995). Hence, further research might examine the state of brand addiction in different contexts and across different brand categories, for instance, durables and services, to capture the behavioral features that are beyond the conceptual domain of the existing consumer-brand relationship concepts.

4. Future research should examine what positive and negative consequences may result from brand addiction in consumption experiences. For instance, Forrest (1979) notes that both positive and negative addictions occur on a continuum, and they do overlap in some respects. This suggests a fuzzy area in which the positive addictions can develop into pathological behaviors to varying degrees. Future research is recommended to explore under what conditions brand addiction may reach a pathological level with severe consequences for both the individual and the community.