Deciphering factors that make a narcissistically loved salon brand

Abstract

PurposeThis research is conducted in the context of beauty salons in India, to investigate how enhanced perceived acceptance in interpersonal relationships through consuming beauty salon services can generate narcissistic brand love among consumers via the mediation of brand happiness. It also investigates the moderating impact of consumer's anxious interpersonal attachment style and cynicism on the relationship between perceived salon brand-interpersonal acceptance goal congruence and salon brand happiness.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesized relationships, a survey was conducted among 225 regular consumers of beauty salon brands. The data were analyzed using Hayes' (2017) process macro in SPSS.FindingsThe results suggest that perceived goal congruence between beauty salon brand-interpersonal acceptance positively influences brand happiness, which in turn predicts consumer's narcissistic brand love. Consumer's anxious interpersonal attachment style positively moderates the effect of brand-interpersonal acceptance goal congruence on brand happiness, while cynicism negatively moderates the path.Originality/valueValue of the study lies in extending interpersonal acceptance and rejection (IPAR) theory to the domain of consumer–salon brand relationship, to posit that if salon brands satisfy consumers' interpersonal acceptance goals, there is a potential for such happy consumers to love the salon brand, albeit narcissistically.

The role of online retail website experience on brand happiness and willingness to share personal information: an SOR perspective

“…Purchase and consumption of products are important ways of gaining happiness among consumers (Arli et al, 2016). Making consumers happy and driving consumer happiness remain important strategic actions for marketers (Kumar et al, 2021); since happy consumers show pro-brand behaviour such as evangelism (Mansoor and Paul, 2022), loyalty (Chatzopoulou et al, 2022), and brand love (Sarkar et al, 2023). Leisurely activities (Robertson, 2016), consumption activities that allow consumers to carve their identities, and those that provide freedom from everyday stress or worries (Gaston-Breton et al, 2020) drive consumer happiness.…”

“…Consumers' happy experiences are manifested through subjective or hedonic well-being-a general evaluation of consumers' quality of life (Jian et al, 2019). Brands can give consumers a chance to be happy by delivering hedonistic experiences and fostering interpersonal connections (Sarkar et al, 2023). Brand happiness is conceptually different from various other emotional constructs related to consumer-brand relationships, like brand relationship quality, involvement, and congruence.…”

“…Most drivers of brand happiness relate to the situational appraisal of consumers' perception of their brand relationships (Sarkar et al, 2023). It is higher in the consumer journey's pre-purchase, information search phase, arising out of anticipation for the brand's use (Schnebelen and Bruhn, 2018).…”

“…Various factors contribute to brand happiness, including the strength of consumer-brand relationships (Schnebelen and Bruhn, 2018) and brand goal-congruence (Sarkar et al, 2023). These factors are based upon brand-consumer interactions and are mostly consumer-led; that is consumers become happy with brands because of their relational perceptions.…”

“…As noted earlier, brand happiness and consumers' WSPI are critical for marketers to form strong long-term relationships with consumers. These constructs potentially lead to MIP 42,3 consumers' engagement with brands besides other pro-brand activities such as loyalty and evangelism (Sarkar et al, 2023). However, limited theoretical or empirical literature exists to suggest whether consumers' shopping experiences on online retail websites and applications (a brand-driven factor) can lead to their happiness with online retailers and, subsequently, their WSPI.…”