Do you love me? The relationship between sport-related branded entertainment and brand love

Liebl, Hildegard; Turčínková, Jana; Beinhauer, Rupert; Magano, José Article Do you love me? The relationship between sport-related branded entertainment and brand love Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Liebl, Hildegard; Turčínková, Jana; Beinhauer, Rupert; Magano, José (2022) : Do you love me? The relationship between sport-related branded entertainment and brand love, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 9, Iss. 1, pp. 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/289334 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your personal and scholarly purposes. You are not to copy documents for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=oabm20 Cogent Business & Management ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/oabm20 Do you love me? The relationship between sportrelated branded entertainment and brand love Hildegard Liebl, Jana Turčínková, Rupert Beinhauer & José Magano To cite this article: Hildegard Liebl, Jana Turčínková, Rupert Beinhauer & José Magano (2022) Do you love me? The relationship between sport-related branded entertainment and brand love, Cogent Business & Management, 9:1, 2143014, DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 © 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Published online: 11 Nov 2022. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 2573 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles MARKETING | RESEARCH ARTICLE Do you love me? The relationship between sport-related branded entertainment and brand love Hildegard Liebl 1 , Jana Turčínková 2 , Rupert Beinhauer 1 and José Magano 3,4 * Abstract: Brand love, the most intense relationship between a consumer and a brand, drives valuable outcomes like increased brand loyalty. Sport-related branded entertainment (SRBE) represents a content marketing opportunity to build on brand love and provides a research gap. This research investigates the impact of sport-related branded entertainment on brand love using a mixed-method approach, including a quantitative survey (n = 372) conducted in Austria, followed by a focus group discussion. A structural equation model revealed a positive impact of SRBE on brand love. Furthermore, brand love is positively associated with brand loyalty, spreading positive word-of-mouth, and the willingness to pay a higher price. Results show that it is most effective in the younger, male, and sporty consumers. Finally, the qualitative focus group discussion revealed deeper insights into consumer motivations. SRBE is a valuable content marketing instrument for brand love. Results revealed that it is most effective in the younger, male, and sporty consumers. The impact of SRBE on brand love has been examined for the first time. Subjects: Marketing; Brand Management; Consumer Behaviour Keywords: Sport-related branded entertainment; branded entertainment; content marketing; brand love; self-expressiveness of brands 1. Introduction Brand equity is a valuable key performance indicator (KPI), especially in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Strong brands positively impact demand and profits; they can reduce consumer confusion due to information overload (Esch, 2018). Whether Apple, LEGO, or Nivea— love for brands is no longer a rarity (Gundelach, 2020). For years, science has been concerned with brand love, which describes the most intensive relationship between consumers and brands (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Ferreira et al., 2019). Building brand love is a difficult task, but it pays off in several ways: brand mistakes or misbehaviors are more easily forgiven, and consumers buy more often. They are also willing to pay a higher price or recommend the brand to others (Langner et al., 2013). The most important positive effects of brand love are brand loyalty, positive word of mouth (WoM), and willingness to pay a higher price (Albert & Merunka, 2013; Albert et al., 2009; Batra et al., 2012; Bergkvist & BechLarsen, 2010; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Thomson et al., 2005). Hence it is a valuable goal to increase or expand brand love. Academic literature reflects different brand love study approaches: In some cases, studies focus on specific brands. Rossiter asked precisely for the brands: Ariel, Persil (detergent), Jacobs, Tschibo, Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 1 of 15 Received: 25 June 2022 Accepted: 30 October 2022 *Corresponding author: José Magano, Research Center in Business and Economics (CICEE), Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Rua Sta. Marta 47, 5 Andar, 1150-293 Lisboa, Portugal E-mail: [email protected] Reviewing editor: Len Tiu Wright, De Montfort University Faculty of Business and Law, United Kingdom Additional information is available at the end of the article © 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. HP, Sony,H&M and Adidas (Rossiter and Bellman, 2012). Baena (2016) studied different online and mobile marketing strategies as drivers of brand love for Real Madrid. Borges et al. (2016) proved that brand love exists for a medical product—Aspirin. Other studies focused directly on product categories. Ismail and Spinelli (2012) examined the effects of brand love on fashion brands for young consumers, while Batra et al. (2012) asked participants to choose a brand for different categories such as consumer electronics or clothing. Branded entertainment was first mentioned in the literature in 2005. It serves as an important topic in content marketing. As the definition is partly unclear, it must be distinguished from terms such as product placement or sponsorship. Johnston (2009) explained that within sponsorship, there is no integration of the brand, apart from the presentation of the credits or opening credits. Product placement consists of active or passive products on screen or/and mention of the brand name within the film (Johnston, 2009). Kunz et al. (2016) introduced a conceptual model of branded entertainment to sports marketing by highlighting Red Bull’s branded entertainment creations. Based on this concept, SRBE can be defined as follows: Sport-related branded entertainment is any sports entertainment, created by a given brand during sports events (e.g., events organized by this brand) or created by athletes and teams sponsored by that brand. These contents may report an event (e.g., a racing competition) or refer to extraordinary achievement in the sponsored sports. The content can be found on various channels (websites, social media, mobile apps, TV channels, print media . . . .) and will be co-created or shared frequently by fans. Compared to brand love, the literature on sport-related branded entertainment is very sparse. That creates research opportunities. In particular, the impact of sport-related branded entertainment as a powerful content communication tool and its influence on brand love has not yet been researched. The main research question is: “What is the influence of sport-related brand entertainment on brand love?”. 2. Literature review 2.1. Brand love by Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) Based on studies on object love (Ahuvia, 2005), Carroll and Ahuvia created a concept detached from interpersonal theories as a combination of interrelated behavioral, cognitive, and affective processes; they also stressed the integration of self-expression to explain brand love. They developed a scale to measure brand love with ten items focusing on: (1) passion, (2) attachment, (3) positive evaluations of the brand, (4) positive emotions in response to the brand, and (5) declarations of love for the brand (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006). The individual components are combined into a unidimensional construct. This approach has faced criticism because many researchers see brand love as multidimensional (Pontinha & Do Vale, 2019). In 2020, Carroll and Ahuvia extended their research on brand love by showing the connection between it and materialism. Materialistic individuals are more subject to developing a love relationship with their favorite brands (Ahuvia et al., 2020). Despite all the criticism, the concept of Carroll & Ahuvia represents the most applied one in academic literature: Ismail and Spinelli (2012) focused on fashion brands, Wallace et al. (2014) researched the importance of Facebook likes and later (2017) tested similarities between the selfimage for Facebook likes and the brand image. Vernuccio et al. (2015) elaborated on antecedents of brand love in online network-based communities. Algharabat (2017) explored the link between social media marketing (SMM) activities and brand love taking the mediating role of self-expressive brands into account. In contrast, Hegner et al. (2017) applied the theory of planned behavior to the context of brand love and applied the research in the context of the fashion industry. Huang (2017) examined the mediating role of brand trust and brand love on brand loyalty and the brand experience relationship. Coelho et al. (2019) further underlined the impact of brand love on WoM, brand loyalty, and brand advocacy. Junaid et al. (2019) investigated generation-M (Muslim) and researched the role of brand love as a mediator between consumption engagement and customer experience. Wu and Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 2 of 15 Chang (2019) examined the relationship between brand supportive intentions and their seven drivers. Fernandes and Inverneiro (2020) developed a holistic model to understand how Millennials interact with their loved self-expressive brands on social media platforms. Harrigan et al. (2020) explored the role of value cocreation on brand evangelism (brand advocacy and brand defense) on social media. The studies mentioned above focus on the most important applications to underline the importance of this model; this list could be extended, not all studies using the brand love scale from Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) are discussed here. Nevertheless, the focus lies on recent studies. 2.2. Brand love according to Bagozzi et al. (2017), (2012) Batra et al. (2012) designed a multidimensional model of brand love, which is cited often in academic literature. Their concept is based on a higher model order of seven elements (1) passiondriven behavior, (2) self-brand integration, (3) positive emotional connection, (4) long-term relationship, (5) anticipated separation distress, (6) positive overall attitude valence, and (7) attitude strength (Batra et al., 2012). To specify further, the components 1, 2, and 3 offer subcomponents. Brand love is created when these individual dimensions are summarized; consumers interact with the brand and when they are interested in a long-term relationship. This is reinforced by the opportunity to express their own self (Kühn, 2018). Later, Bagozzi et al. (2017) developed a measurement scale to make the model more quantifiable and applicable for branding issues with a scale of twenty-six items. A range of thirteen and six items was designed for short questionnaires to analyze sub-dimensions or new phenomena like brand hate (Bagozzi et al., 2017). Nevertheless, their approach was not as much applied as the brand love scale originated by (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006). Further applications of the model of Batra et al. (2012) can be found at Daniels et al. (2020): the authors focused on the intensity of brand love rather than its absence or presence. 2.3. Recent developments of brand love Researchers examined consumer-brand relationships in industries (Khan et al., 2020; Pan & Ha, 2021; Shen et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2020) or further explored additional factors leading to brand love (Handique & Sarkar, 2021; Joshi & Garg, 2021; Safeer et al., 2020; Singh et al., 2021). Joshi and Garg (2021) underlined the importance of brand engagement: it has a mediating role between loyalty intentions and brand love. The positive mental image of brands and brand engagement can encourage brand love (Borges et al., 2016; Verma, 2021). However, identification with brand values can be triggered with storytelling and advertising: these elements do not serve as brand love antecedents but reinforce brand-self-identification (Dias & Cavalheiro, 2022). Ahuvia et al. (2022) explored that the link between social relationships with other consumers and brand love is mediated by the degree to which consumers perceive they belong to a community. Brands can gain meaning for consumers by fostering interpersonal relationships and helping consumers define their identities. 3. Conceptual development 3.1. Sport-related brand entertainment (SRBE) and brand love Various brands and companies use SRBE; sports companies and brand sponsors can gain consumer attention and engagement if they use it (Kunz et al., 2016). The Red Bull brand is one of the most visible examples. So far, the connection between SRBE and brand love has not been investigated. For this reason the main research question is: “What is the impact of sportsrelated branded entertainment on brand love?”. To fully answer this question, the following hypothesis was tested: Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 3 of 15 H1: Sports-related branded entertainment is positively associated with brand love. 3.2. Sport-related branded entertainment and self-expressiveness of brands When discussing brand love and relationships between consumers and brands, it is important to think about how a brand can reflect the consumer’s personality (Ahuvia, 2005). Fournier (1998) argued that there was a self-relationship between the brand and the consumer through issues, concerns, personality traits, and shared values. This self-connection shows that consumers recognise how they can identify and relate to a brand (Sarkar & Sarkar, 2016). Self-image congruence is the term used to describe the match between brand personality or brand image and the consumer (Kressmann et al., 2006). A self-expressive brand (inner) can act as a mediator between social media marketing activities and brand love, this relationship is only partly mediated by a selfexpressive brand (social; Algharabat, 2017). Brands can serve as a reference for self-expression and purpose and become an extension of one’s personality (Wallace et al., 2014). Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) define brand self-presentation: “The customer’s perception of the extent to which the specific brand enhances their social-self and/or reflects their inner self”. In this study the following two sub-hypotheses are related to the connection between SRBE and Brand Expression, based on the definition and findings of Carroll and Ahuvia (2006): H2a: Sport-related brand entertainment is positively associated with the inner self. H2b: Sport-related brand entertainment is positively associated with the social self. 3.3. Brand love and brand loyalty Loyalty describes the desire to maintain a long-term relationship (Thomson et al., 2005). Various bases of brand loyalty can be found in the literature. According to Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001), it is a combination of underlying behavioral, cognitive, and affective processes. Brand loyalty begins with cognitive processes associated with the brand, brand trust and brand affect are important determinants of brand loyalty. Based on the assumption that the brand represents a subjective value for the consumer, they see loyalty as a commitment together with the determination and desire to continue the relationship with a brand (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). However, authors such as Albert et al. (2008) argue that brand loyalty is only partially clarified by brand loyalty, and this loyalty is influenced by brand love. (Sarkar, 2014) states that willingness to repurchase is determined by the relationship with passion and that romantic brand love shapes behavioral brand loyalty. The link between passion, commitment, and brand loyalty shows a possible relationship between brand loyalty and brand love (Fetscherin, 2014). Brand loyalty may result from brand love (Albert et al., 2009; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Thomson et al., 2005) and it is proven that brand love is a major force in developing customers’ behavioral loyalty (Huang, 2017). The third hypothesis is based on these assumptions: H3: Brand love is positively associated with brand loyalty. 3.4. Brand love and positive WoM Brand love stimulates various forms of brand engagement (Wallace et al., 2014), with positive WoM being a common outcome that can be defined as: “informal communication between private parties about the evaluation of goods and services” (Anderson, 1998). To engage consumers and improve the consumer-brand relationship, marketers should be aware of the factors for positive WoM (Sarkar, 2014). The importance of brand love for positive WoM is shown in many qualitative and quantitative studies (e.g., Albert & Merunka, 2013; Batra Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 4 of 15 et al., 2012; Fetscherin, 2014; Wallace et al., 2014). It is further argued that the origin lies in the passion component of brand love, as motivation or enthusiasm directly influences positive WoM (Fetscherin, 2014). This leads to the following hypothesis: H4: Brand love is positively associated with word-of-mouth. 3.5. Brand love and the willingness to pay a higher price It is important for marketers to understand this motivation. It can be described as the willingness to pay more for a service or product when comparing the benefits offered by similar brands (Netemeyer et al., 2004). Thomson et al. (2005) argued that willingness to pay a price premium is influenced by affection, passion, and the connection component of emotional attachment. Still, Albert and Merunka (2013) argued that passion has no influence, while brand loyalty is a mediator between these two constructs. That indicates the multidimensionality and different roles of the different elements of brand love concerning post-consumption behavior. Thomson et al. (2005) concluded that willingness to pay a price premium is predicted by brand love, but it cannot be the only predictor. Uniqueness or country of origin and consumer perception may also be associated (Anselmsson et al., 2014). According to Netemeyer et al. (2004), brand loyalty is believed to be an important determinant of willingness to pay a price premium. Literature findings reveal that within the streaming TV services, industry brand love has a significant impact not only on brand loyalty but also on the willingness to pay a price premium (Santos and Schlesinger, 2021). It can be assumed that a brand with a high level of awareness for SRBE will also lead to a higher willingness to pay a price premium. H5: Brand love is positively associated with the willingness to pay a price premium. The factors mentioned above lead to the research construct shown in Figure 1. 4. Methodology 4.1. Questionnaire design The survey questionnaire started by explaining the aim of the research and the importance of sport-related branded entertainment. As SRBE is overall very diverse and varied, a description was given based on the theoretical framework of Kunz et al. (2016). Then, the respondents were asked Figure 1. Research construct. Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 5 of 15 to think of a famous or well-known brand for selling SRBE. They were also informed that all upcoming questions would be related to this brand. The first 28 questions formed the main section measuring brand love, brand self-promotion, positive WoM, brand loyalty, and willingness to pay a price premium. Within each dimension, questions were automatically shuffled to ensure random order. A 7-point Likert scale was used, and respondents were asked to agree or disagree, with “7” being the right anchor for very strongly agree and “1” being the left anchor for very strongly disagree. The next five questions were related to SRBE. The questionnaire continued with two additional questions asking respondents if they practiced some sports and consumed products of the mentioned brand, attended events, and read or watched SRBE. These five questions were also shuffled and given a 4-point Likert scale, with “1” representing “never” and “4” representing “very often”. The questionnaire items were based on Carroll and Ahuvia’s (2006) brand love model, the most widely used. The brand love scale used by Baena (2016) served as a dependent variable with the following ten items (originally from Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Table 1). The work of Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) supplied the items for brand loyalty (BLY1-BLY4), word of mouth (WOM1-WOM4), self-expressiveness for inner self (IS1-IS4), and for social self (SS1-SS4); the scale for willingness to pay a price premium (WPP1-WPP3) was introduced by Netemeyer et al. (2004) (Table 2). To measure the consumption of sport-related brand entertainment, the “active engagement” factor developed by Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen (2010) was used; the items used were also adapted by Baena (2016). In contrast to Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen’s (2010) study, active engagement was used as an antecedent rather than an outcome of brand love. In addition, four questions were included, referring to the visit of events, the overall consumption of SRBE, the respondents’ brand consumption, and active or passive sports participation (Table 3). Finally, demographic questions on age and gender were asked at the end of the questionnaire. 4.2. Procedures The quantitative study with the above questions was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed in Austria via the QuestionPro platform to a target group of adults (aged 18+) Austrian citizens who know a brand that offers SRBE. As most SRBE is provided online, using an online platform connects well to the target group. The present study is based on a (non-random) convenience sample of online contacts of the lead researcher who is based in Austria. Participants were asked to name a brand using SRBE they remember at the beginning of the questionnaire. Table 1. Dependent variable—Brand love items (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006) BL1 The brand is a wonderful brand. BL2 The brand makes me feel good. BL3 The brand is totally awesome. BL4 I have neutral feeling about the brand. BL5 The brand makes me very happy. BL6 I love the brand. BL7 I have no particular feelings about the brand. BL8 The brand is a pure delight. BL9 I am passionate about the brand. BL10 I am very attached to the brand. Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 6 of 15 The questionnaire in German was then pretested with six participants to check the wording, resulting in minor adjustments. Finally, the questionnaire was inserted into the online tool to be pretested with 50 students. As a result, an additional comment explained that all the questions will refer to the brand stated at the beginning of the questionnaire was integrated. The distribution of the questionnaire started on 31 January 2020 and was completed on 28 February 2020. A total of 372 participants completed the questionnaire. The total number of respondents required as calculated a priori was 268, easily achieved. Table 2. Independent variables—Scales and items BLY1 The brand is the only brand that I will buy. BLY2 When I go shopping for the brand, I don’t even notice competing brands. BLY3 If my store is out of the brand, I’ll postpone buying or go to another store. BLY4 I’ll “do without” rather than buy another brand. WOM1 I have recommended the brand to lots of people. WOM2 I “talk up” this brand to my friends. WOM3 I try to spread the good word about the brand. WOM4 I give the brand tons of positive word-of-mouth advertising. IS1 The brand symbolizes the kind of person I really am inside. IS2 The brand reflects my personality. IS3 The brand is an extension of my inner self. IS4 The brand mirrors the real me. SS1 The brand contributes to my image. SS2 The brand adds to a social “role” I play. SS3 The brand has a positive impact on what others think of me. SS4 The brand improves the way society views me. WPP1 The price for products of the brand would have to go up quite a bit before I would switch to another brand. WPP2 I am willing to pay a higher price for products from the brand than for products for competing brands. WPP3 I am willing to pay a lot more for products of the brand than other brands of the same product category. Table 3. Independent variable—Active engagement AE1 To what extend do you follow news about the brand sport-related branded entertainment? AE2 How often do you talk about sport-related branded entertainment from the brand to others? AE3 How often do you watch/read sport-related branded entertainment from the brand? AE4 How often do you visit an event sponsored or organized by the brand? AE5 How often do you watch/read sport-related branded entertainment? AE6 How often do you practice sport? AE7 How often do you consume a product from this brand? Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 7 of 15 experience-satisfaction-loyalty relationship in a retail fashion brand. Management & Marketing. Challenges for the Knowledge Society, 14(3), 278–291. https:// doi.org/10.2478/mmcks-2019-0020 Fetscherin, M. (2014). What type of relationship do we have with loved brands? Journal of Consumer Marketing, 31(6/7), 430–440. https://doi.org/10.1108/ JCM-05-2014-0969 Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343–373. https://doi.org/10.1086/209515 Gundelach, J. (2020). Die top-lovebrands deutschlands. W&V. Handique, K., & Sarkar, S. (2021). A study to investigate the nature and consequences of brand love with special reference to Northeast India. In S. Chakrabarti, R. Nath, P. K. Banerji, S. Datta, S. Poddar, & M. Gangopadhyaya, (Eds.), Interdisciplinary research in technology and management (pp. 220–229). CRC Press. Harrigan, P., Roy, S. K., & Chen, T. (2020). Do value cocreation and engagement drive brand evangelism? Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 39(3), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-10-2019-0492 Hegner, S. M., Fenko, A., & Teravest, A. (2017). Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand brand love. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 26(1), 26–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2016-1215 Huang, -C.-C. (2017). The impacts of brand experiences on brand loyalty: Mediators of brand love and trust. Management Decision, 55(5), 915–934. https://doi. org/10.1108/MD-10-2015-0465 Ismail, A. R., & Spinelli, G. (2012). Effects of brand love, personality and image on word of mouth: The case of fashion brands among young consumers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 16(4), 386–398. https://doi.org/10.1108/ 13612021211265791 Johnston, J. L. (2009). Branded entertainment: The old is new again and more complicated than ever. Journal of Sponsorship, 2(2), 170–175. https://web.p.ebsco host.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid= 38728bc0-002b-483a-aacc-53eb43e249b4%40redis Joshi, R., & Garg, P. (2021). Role of brand experience in shaping brand love. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(2), 259–272. https://doi.org/10. 1111/ijcs.12618 Junaid, M., Hou, F., Hussain, K., & Kirmani, A. A. (2019). Brand love: The emotional bridge between experience and engagement, generation-M perspective. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 28(2), 200–215. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-04-20181852 Khan, A., Mohammad, A. S., & Muhammad, S. (2020). An integrated model of brand experience and brand love for halal brands: Survey of halal fast food consumers in Malaysia. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 12(8), 1492–1520. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-11-20190236 Kressmann, F., Sirgy, M. J., Herrmann, A., Huber, F., Huber, S., & Lee, D.-J. (2006). Direct and indirect effects of self-image congruence on brand loyalty. Journal of Business Research, 59(9), 955–964. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.06.001 Kühn, J. (2018). Eine wertebasierte Typologie der Markenliebe. Springer Gabler. Kunz, R. E., Elsässer, F., & Santomier, J. (2016). Sportrelated branded entertainment: The red bull phenomenon. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 6(5), 520–541. https://doi.org/ 10.1108/SBM-06-2016-0023 Langner, T., Kühn, J., & Bruns, D. (2013). All you need is love. Markenartikel, 32–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/ 978-3-8349-8811-9_31 Mayring, P. (2022). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. In Grundlagen und Techniken (Vol. 13). Weinheim, Basel, Switzerland. Note: Verlagsgruppe BeltzVerlagsgruppe Beltz. Monitor Deloitte. (2020). “Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on shortand medium-term consumer behavior”. Deloitte. Netemeyer, R. G., Krishnan, B., Pullig, C., Wang, G., Yagci, M., Dean, D., Ricks, J., & Wirth, F. (2004). Developing and validating measures of facets of customer-based brand equity. Journal of Business Research, 57(2), 209–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0148-2963(01)00303-4 Pan, H., & Ha, H.-Y. (2021). An empirical test of brand love and brand loyalty for restaurants during the COVID-19 Era: A moderated moderation approach. Sustainability, 13(17), 9968. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su13179968 Pontinha, V. M., & Do Vale, R. C. (2019). Brand love measurement scale development: An inter-cultural analysis. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 29(4), 471–489. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2018-2094 Rossiter, J., & Bellman, S. (2012). Emotional branding pays off: How brands meet share of requirements through bonding, companionship, and love. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(3), 291–296. https://doi.org/ 10.2501/JAR-52-3-291-296 Safeer, A. A., He, Y., & Abrar, M. (2020). The influence of brand experience on brand authenticity and brand love: An empirical study from Asian consumers’ perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-02-2020-0123 Santos, M., & Schlesinger, W. (2021). When love matters. Experience and brand love as antecedents of loyalty and willingness to pay a premium price in streaming services. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC. https:// doi.org/10.1108/SJME-11-2020-0201 Sarkar, A. (2014). Brand love in emerging market: A qualitative investigation. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 17(4), 481–494. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-03-2013-0015 Sarkar, A., & Sarkar, J. G. (2016). Devoted to you my love: Brand devotion amongst young consumers in emerging Indian market. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 28(2). https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML06-2015-0095 Shen, Y., Huang, S., Choi, H.-S. C., & Morrison, A. M. (2021). Does brand love matter to casual restaurants? A multi-group path analysis. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 30(5), 630–654. https:// doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2021.1867282 Singh, D., Bajpai, N., & Kulshreshtha, K. (2021). Brand experience-brand love relationship for Indian hypermarket brands: The moderating role of customer personality traits. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 20(1), 20–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332667. 2020.1715179 Thomson, M., MacInnis, D. J., & Park, C. W. (2005). The ties that bind: Measuring the strength of consumers’ emotional attachments to brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15(1), 77–91. https://doi.org/ 10.1207/s15327663jcp1501_10 Verma, P. (2021). The effect of brand engagement and brand love upon overall brand equity and purchase intention: A moderated–mediated model. Journal of Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 14 of 15 Promotion Management, 27(1), 103–132. https://doi. org/10.1080/10496491.2020.1809591 Vernuccio, M., Pagani, M., Barbarossa, C., & Pastore, A. (2015). Antecedents of brand love in online network-based communities. A social identity perspective. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(7), 706–719. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-122014-0772 Wallace, E., Buil, I., & De Chernatony, L. (2014). Consumer engagement with self-expressive brands: Brand love and WOM outcomes. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 23(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.1108/ JPBM-06-2013-0326 Westbrook, G., & Angus, A. (2021). Top 10 global consumer trends 2021. Euromonitor International, 1–47. https://www.nourishingafrica.com/documents/ 1620054622wpGCT21EN-v0.8.pdf Wu, H.-C., & Chang, -Y.-Y. (2019). What drives brand supportive intentions? Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 37(5), 497–512. https://doi.org/10.1108/ MIP-07-2018-0284 Zhang, H., Xu, H., & Gursoy, D. (2020). The effect of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love: A comparison of previous visitors and potential tourists. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 17, 100454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100454 © 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. Cogent Business & Management (ISSN: 2331-1975) is published by Cogent OA, part of Taylor & Francis Group. Publishing with Cogent OA ensures: • Immediate, universal access to your article on publication • High visibility and discoverability via the Cogent OA website as well as Taylor & Francis Online • Download and citation statistics for your article • Rapid online publication • Input from, and dialog with, expert editors and editorial boards • Retention of full copyright of your article • Guaranteed legacy preservation of your article • Discounts and waivers for authors in developing regions Submit your manuscript to a Cogent OA journal at www.CogentOA.com Liebl et al., Cogent Business & Management (2022), 9: 2143014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2143014 Page 15 of 15