Start Date
7-1-2011 4:00 PM
End Date
7-1-2011 5:15 PM
Track
1. Track 1 – Formal Paper Presentation
Subject Area
Consumer Behavior
Faculty Member
Liang Tang, rebeccat@iastate.edu
Abstract
This study employs two marketing theories: 1) the theory of image congruity and 2) the theory of brand loyalty. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between self-image and functional image toward brand coffeehouses. In addition, this study specifically identifies positive influential paths between congruity constructs and each designated loyalty. Direct paths among cognitive, affective, and conative loyalty are investigated to help marketers’ understanding of how consumers truly become loyal. Findings from this study suggest consumers’ image congruity on either the image of a brand coffeehouse or functional attributes of the store appear to evoke different levels of brand loyalty. Understanding the effects of consumers’ image congruity on attitudinal brand loyalty is worthy to establish marketing strategies for customer retention.
Keywords
self-store congruity, functional congruity, attitudinal brand loyalty, structural equation modeling
The Role of Store-image and Functional Image Congruity in Determining Brand Loyalty: Cognitive, Affective, and Conative Brand Loyalty in the Context of Brand Coffeehouses
This study employs two marketing theories: 1) the theory of image congruity and 2) the theory of brand loyalty. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between self-image and functional image toward brand coffeehouses. In addition, this study specifically identifies positive influential paths between congruity constructs and each designated loyalty. Direct paths among cognitive, affective, and conative loyalty are investigated to help marketers’ understanding of how consumers truly become loyal. Findings from this study suggest consumers’ image congruity on either the image of a brand coffeehouse or functional attributes of the store appear to evoke different levels of brand loyalty. Understanding the effects of consumers’ image congruity on attitudinal brand loyalty is worthy to establish marketing strategies for customer retention.