Chinese brand–individual values congruity and willingness of consumers from other countries to use positive word of mouth

Abstract

Congruity of brand and individual values is the degree of fit or similarity between consumers' personal values and the perceived values of a certain brand. In this study, we took Huawei as the test brand and investigated 525 consumers in 30 countries to examine whether congruity of brand and individual values influences consumer word-of-mouth communication in an international context. The results show that (a) brand commitment played a mediating role in the effect of brand–individual values congruity on word of mouth, (b) the consistency of a brand's practices and its values (brand behavior congruity) moderated the relationship between brand–individual values congruity and the consumers' brand commitment, and (c) brand behavior congruity moderated the mediating role of brand commitment in the relationship between values congruity and positive word of mouth. Our findings provide insight into the impact of values congruity for consumers.