Hotel brand personality and brand loyalty: an affective, conative and behavioral perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to test the structural relationship between hotel brand personality and brand loyalty. Brand loyalty was conceptualized as a three-dimensional construct along a continuum: affective loyalty, conative loyalty and behavioral loyalty. This study proposed that customers’ perception of hotel brand personality has a positive influence on their affective loyalty, which in turn has a positive effect on their conative loyalty, which leads positively to their behavioral loyalty. Furthermore, this study attempted to examine the moderating role of brand familiarity between brand personality and affective loyalty. Structural equation modeling was used to test the structural relationships. The results suggested that hotel brand personality played an important role in shaping customer’s loyalty toward a brand. In addition, the moderating role of brand familiarity was supported. As familiarity toward a hotel brand increased, the relationship between brand personality and affective loyalty became stronger.