Strong versus weak consumer‐brand relationships: Matching psychological sense of brand community and type of advertising appeal

Abstract

Consumer-brand relationships vary with regard to their degree of psychological connection to the brand. Some individuals may have a weak connection to the brand (e.g., general consumers), while others may possess a strong connection to the brand (e.g., brand community members). Marketers have yet to distinguish between the types of advertising appeals that are most effective for these different individuals.Hence, this research utilizes construal level theory to posit that consumers with a stronger [weaker] psychological sense of brand community will think about the brand more concretely [abstractly] and be more persuaded by utilitarian [symbolic] advertising appeals. Three original experiments reveal that a match between the degree of psychological sense of brand community and the type of advertising appeal directly influences favorable consumer attitudes, and subsequently consumer cognitions and behaviors. Furthermore, message elaboration is the process mechanism driving the effect of the match on favorable consumer attitudes, while relationship-oriented cultural values attenuate this effect. This research contributes to both theory and practice by providing new knowledge regarding which advertising appeals are the most effective for consumers with strong versus weak consumer-brand relationships.advertising appeals, brand response, construal level theory, psychological sense of brand community | INTRODUCTIONA brand's consumer segments have unique wants and needs, many of which vary depending on the strength of the relationship between the individual and the brand (Hanson et al., 2019). For example, some individuals may have a weak connection to the brand (e.g., general consumers), while others may possess a strong connection to the brand (e.g., brand community members). It is critical for marketers to speak directly to the needs of these different types of brand users to effectively influence their attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors. However, little is known regarding the unique persuasive effects of advertising appeals on individuals with different relationships to the brand, and marketers have yet to distinguish how their messages are processed by individuals when the strength of the consumer-brand relationship varies. This represents a significant gap in the literature as advertising is a vital tool in building consumer-brand relationships (Kirmani, 2009;Moffett et al., 2021). Since micro-scale factors of an advertisement (i.e., advertising appeals) are capable of impacting consumer attitudes (Bauer et al., 2022), it is necessary to identify if an advertising appeal's effectiveness changes depending on whether it is evaluated by an individual with a strong versus weak connection to the brand.

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