Research on the concept of brand loyalty began in the 1950's and the topic is still being studied today. In 1999, brand loyalty was described by Oliver as “a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior” (Factors Influencing Brand Loyalty in Professional Sports Fans.) There are two aspects of brand loyalty: behavioral and attitudinal.
"Factors Influencing Brand Loyalty in Professional Sports Fans" outlines five major factors that influence brand loyalty:
- Cognitive: clarity (knowledge about the product), accessibility, confidence
- Conative: sunk cost, expectations of the product
- Affective: emotion and mood
- Social norms
- Situational influences
Conative factors relate to a drive to act purposefully, but not necessarily rationally. Examples of such factors are reduced price and expectations of the product. If product A and product B are very similar to each other, but product A is significantly more expensive than product B, a customer is likely to choose product B. However, if product A gets a price reduction (and the customer is aware of this, i.e. the product is on sale), the customer is more likely to change their mind and purchase product A - even if product A is still more expensive than product B. Higher price leads to higher expectations of the product.
Affective factors are the emotions and moods the customer is experiencing in relation to the product. Emotions such as happiness, belonging, tranquility or excitement are often determining factors to a purchase. If a product makes a customer experience belonging, for example, he is likely to purchase it even if he does not have an immediate need for it, or he finds it expensive.
Social norms have to be fulfilled, or otherwise the customer would not want to be associated with the product. If a product is breaking the social, cultural or religious rules of a society, no one would purchase it in this particular society.
Situaional influences are temporary factors which cannot be controlled by the brand. For instance, if the product is a beverage, a situational factor would be whether the customer is thirsty. The brand can still utilize this factor. In the case of a beverage brand, products would have to be sold in areas with hot climates, during the time of day when temperature peaks, for example.
Brand Personalities
Brand loyalty is connected to brand personalities. Brand personalities are built by extending human personalities onto the domain of brands. According to Rajagopal, "Personality is a set of traits" (2009.) Thus, a brand personality is created by giving human traits to the brand. For example, a brand can be male or female, young or old, brave, determined, relaxed or conservative. The brand personality is also defined by the brand's values.
Apple, for instance, is a young masculine personality. He haw a bachelor or master degree, and is likely a freelancer. He is creative and relaxed, simple&clean looking. He values uniqueness, creativity and simplicity. Dove, on the other hand, is a very feminine brand: a woman between 25 and 30, confident, understanding and caring. She values honesty, confidence and health.
Brand personalities respond to the social need of building relationships. They humanize the brand, making the customer subconsciously feel they are communicating with another person instead of a product. This facilitates building trust and loyalty.
If we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, many products correspond to the lowest level of needs: food, water, warmth. Nowadays, these needs are easily fulfilled and the product is facing enormous competition. However, brand personalities lift the product to the higher levels of needs, such as belonging and self-esteem. These needs are harder to fulfill and such products are more sought-after.
For instance: if the product is a type of food, it satisfies the need to eat - thus, if the customer is not hungry (does not have a need to eat), they will not buy it. However, the customer might have a higher-level need: need of belonging or love, and if the brand personality satisfies that need, the customer will purchase the food - even if they are not hungry.
For this reason, brand personalities often aim to resemble the average personality of the target group: to make the target group feel as if the brand is one of them, as if it belongs, in order to fulfill their social need of belonging.
Brand personalities are used to trigger long-term association with the brand.
Association with the brand
Association with the brand can be defined as the customer's willingness to be seen using the brand and to recommend it to their connections. Strong association with the brand results in the customer using the brand as a form of self-expression. Brand personality is a strong factor for this: if brand traits and values coincide with the customer's traits and values (or the traits and values the customer desires to poses), they will associate with the brand and use it to express themselves.
For example, Diesel has a strong, daring, brave and determined personality. Customers that wish to be seen as daring and brave would likely associate with the brand as way to achieve it.
Association with the brand leads to strong loyalty, long-term returning customers, and mouth-to-mouth recommendations.
Another factor that influences customers' decision of association with the brand (temporary or long-term) is information of the brand, such as origins, history, ingredients, production methods, etc.
For instance, the origins of a brand might be suggested by the brand's name (referenced to languages) or visual communication (logo, colors, packaging). Customers associated with the place of origin of the brand will be likely to associate with the brand as well. Factors such as past international travels, higher socioeconomic status and language skills also influence positively the decision to associate with the brand.
The reputation of a brand is another factor. Reputation relates to sustainability and addressing social issues. Environmentally aware customers are unlikely to associate with brands that are known not to be sustainable.
On the other hand, if a brand is ecologically-friendly or participating in charities, customers that are associated with these charities are likely to associate with the brand as well.
Brand Strength
Brand strength is determined by how likely customers are to associate with the brand and how long the association will last. Greater brand strength means faster, longer association with the brand.
Brand strength is linked to four main practices:
- brand communication to improve customer awareness;
- understanding of brand values;
- contributing to the wider community to improve brand reputation;
- improving internal communications.