Purpose This paper aims to identify the impacts of brand communities on relational outcomes such as word-of-mouth, advocacy and loyalty through the mediating effects of brand love. Design/methodology/approach In total, 510 valid questionnaires were collected from Portuguese consumers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings This investigation shows how brand communities may contribute to reinforce the bonds between brands and customers by introducing love in these relationships. The results of this study show that the identification dimension of brand communities has an important effect on brand love, word-of-mouth, advocacy and brand loyalty. Building on the foundations of previous studies, this research also highlights the role of brand love on word-of-mouth, brand advocacy and brand loyalty and the impact of brand loyalty on word-of-mouth, brand advocacy and brand loyalty. Originality/value This investigation makes two major contributions: first, investigating the impacts of brand communities, and second, using the mediating effects of brand love on relational outcomes.

Este artigo tem como objetivo identificar os impactos das comunidades de marcas em constructos relacionais, como passa-a-palavra, advocacia e lealdade, por meio dos efeitos do amor à marca. Foram recolhidos 510 questionários válidos entre os consumidores portugueses. A modelagem de equações estruturais foi utilizada para testar as hipóteses propostas. Há duas importantes contribuições: investigar os impactos das comunidades de marca e usar os efeitos mediadores do amor à marca nos resultados relacionais. Essa investigação mostra como as comunidades de marca podem contribuir para reforçar os laços entre marcas e clientes, introduzindo o amor nesses relacionamentos.