From Runway to Click-way: Unraveling the Power of Authenticity in Digital Marketing

Abstract

In today's competitive digital market, brands need to stand out by giving their customers unique and valuable experiences. The study explores the role of online brand experience and brand consistency in improving brand love by examining the direct and mediated effects of brand authenticity on an online platform. The study also looked at the role of self-congruence in moderating the linkage between brand authenticity and brand love. This study uses stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory to explore conceptual relationships. Using a purposive sampling technique, this study collected 372 consumers' responses who had at least 4 months of online experience with the global fashion brands. The proposed logical relationships were tested using structural equation modeling through SmartPLS-4 on 360 responses. Results revealed the significant direct impact of online brand experience and brand consistency on brand love. Moreover, brand authenticity performed a significantly partially mediated role in relationships of online brand experience, brand consistency, and brand love. The moderated role of self-congruence was found to be insignificant. The research guides marketers to enhance brand love by focusing on customer-perceived authenticity, crafting compelling online experiences, and ensuring consistency.