Consumer-brand relationship in the context of Chinese culture: A theoretical construct and empirical study

• Published in: Frontiers of business research in China Vol. 3; no. 4; pp. 493 - 513
• Main Authors: Jiaxun, HE, Taihong, LU
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Brill 2009; SP Higher Education Press; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accounting/Auditing; Alliances; brand relationship quality; brand relationship types; Business and Management; Business Finance; consumer-brand relationship; Human Resource Management; indigenous perspective; Marketing; Organization; Research Article; brand relationship quality; brand relationship types; indigenous perspective; 品牌关系质量; 本土化研究; consumer-brand relationship; 消费者-品牌关系; 品牌关系类型
• ISSN: 1673-7326; 1673-7431
• DOI: 10.1007/s11782-009-0024-0

Using the theory of indigenous interpersonal relationship and the metaphor of the brand-as-relationship-partner (BARP), this paper develops a theoretical construct of consumer-brand relationship in the Chinese context and proposes a brand relationship framework that consists of four basic types, namely “family member”, “good friend”, “cooperation partner”, and “acquaintance”. This paper also reports the findings of two studies that test the acceptability of the theoretical construct. Study 1 proves that the relationship metaphor is suitable for the appraisal of consumer-brand relationship in the Chinese context. Study 2 confirms that the brand relationship types and brand relationship quality have satisfactory concurrent validity.