Investigating the Effects of Brand Identity on Customer Loyalty from Social Identity Perspective

Abstract

A key challenge to brand managers is how to gain a better understanding of the relationship between brand and customer loyalty constructs. Researchers have recognized that brand identity plays a key role in brand management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of brand identity and brand identification on brand loyalty through perceived value, customer satisfaction, and trust. To test the study hypotheses, a questionnaire was distributed among cellular-phone customers in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad. The collected data were subject to correlational analysis and path analysis modeling. The results revealed that both brand identity and brand identification have indirect effect on brand loyalty through perceived value, trust, and satisfaction. Thus, it is concluded that social identity perspective, when used in conjunction with other existing perspectives, may be useful in predicting the brand loyalty mechanisms.