Love is Better than Liking: Comparison of the Effects of Brand Love and Brand Likeability on Consumer Repurchase Intention – A Case Study of Fashion and Barber/Hairdresser

Abstract

The concept of brand love is gradually derived from positive consumer experiences and strong consumer-brand relationships. Branding literature supports that the power of brand love can tie consumers with the brand and motivate them to purchase products continuously. However, consumers’ risk perceptions which are hidden in different product types, as in goods and services, may devalue the power of brand love and pose difficulties for the consumer before purchasing. Although existing literature suggests that positive consumer-brand relationships can be a significant source of risk reduction, little is known about the association between brand love and repurchase intention based on consumers’ risk perceptions for different service-products. This paper aims to investigate the effects of brand love on repurchase intention for fashion and barber/hairdresser. Fashion is chosen for goods category while barber/hairdressers is selected for service category because they can reflex the consumers’ personalities and possibly generate emotional love-like experiences. An online survey is used to collect data from a convenience sample in Australia. By using quantitative method, this study also compares the power of brand love with brand likeability on repurchase intention. The results from Partial least squares-Structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) clearly indicated that the effects of brand love on repurchase intention are stronger than brand likeability for both fashion and barber/hairdressers. These provide insightful knowledge for researchers and practitioners. In theory, the results offer a new perspective on how positive consumer and brand relationships can be used to curtail consumer risk perceptions and induce repurchase intention. In practice, this study provides a better understanding of how brand managers can use brand love strategies for marketing purposes effectively.