Impact of Perceived Bases of Power of Brand on Consumers’ Behaviour and Attitude in a Brand-Consumer Relationship Context

Abstract

Research suggests that brands have human like qualities (Aaker, 1997; Aaker & Fournier, 1995; Levy, 1985; McGill, 2000) and consumers can form relationships with brands as they form social relationships with other human beings (Aggarwal, 2004; Fournier, 2009). The concept of power that governs the dynamics of social relationships (Russell, 2004; Oyamot, Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010) can be a useful explanatory construct in understanding relational outcomes in brand-consumer relationships. Power is studied in two contexts- group and dyadic (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). The power of brand in group context is evident in literature on brand communities and brands attaining cult-like status (Algesheimer, Dholakia & Herrmann, 2005; McAlexander, Schouten & Koenig, 2002; Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001).However the examination of interpersonal power exerted by the brand in a brand-consumer relationship dyad is relatively unexplored (Crosno, Freling &Skinner, 2009; Hanzaee, Ghalandari & Norouzi, 2011). Therefore the objective of this research is to examine the various bases of power of brand in a brand-consumer relationship dyad and investigates their impact on consumers’ attitude and behaviour. More specifically this research addresses the following questions:

Q1. What is power of brand in brand-consumer relationship context? And what are the bases of power of brand? Q2. Do different power bases of the brand impact the consumer attitudinal and behavioural variables differently? Q3. Does the impact of power bases on attitudinal and behavioural variables of the consumer vary for product brands and service brands?

Power of brand and its bases conceptualized for this research were based on the insights from interpersonal relationship literature (Goldhamer & Shills, 1939; French & Raven, 1959; Raven, 1965; Galbraith, 1983; Russell, 1986). The presence of different power bases in a brand-consumer relationship was validated through a set of qualitative in-depth interviews of 15 customers. Analysis of the interviews and literature review helped to identify three distinct power bases, namely, (i) positional legitimate power, (ii) referent power and (iii) expert power; and the impact of these power bases on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioural variables was conceptualized. The research was divided into two studies. Study 1 examined the impact of the bases of power of brand on consumer’s (i) brand engagement and (ii) brand switching intention. Study 2 examined the impact of power bases on (i) brand dissonance and (ii) brand forgiveness experienced by consumer after a transgression takes place in a brand consumer relationship.

An ancillary objective of the research was to examine whether the impact of power bases on consumers varied between products and services. Hence three products/services constituted the context of the research, which were identified through detailed investigation amongst respondents that matched the characteristics of the target sample. An experimental survey was carried out following 3X3 Latin square design (LSD) with repeated measures. This helped examine the impact of three types of power bases of brand on consumers’ behaviour and attitude for three types of products/service. The design helped in controlling for any individual level characteristics of respondents which can impact the dependent variables. The stimulus for the survey consisted of nine scenarios (one scenario for each cell of LSD) which were finalized through pre-tests. For study 1, a total of 120 responses and for study 2, a total of 150 responses were accepted for final analysis.

In study 1, as hypothesized, type of power base of a brand was found to impact consumers’ brand engagement significantly. In case of brand switching intention, though the type of power base was found to be significant, the multiple comparisons between power bases did not yield any significant contrasts. In study 2, as hypothesized, type of power base of a brand was found to impact brand dissonance and brand forgiveness significantly. However, for brand forgiveness, the multiple comparisons between power bases revealed results in the reverse of the hypothesized direction. It was also found that consumers’ brand engagement, brand dissonance and brand forgiveness significantly differed for product and service brands. Hence further analysis was carried out to find if type of power base would significantly impact these dependent variables for both product and service brands. It was found that the type of power base was significant for product brands whereas not for service brands.

The understanding of interpersonal variables studied in brand-consumer relationships is broadened by adding power of brand to the list of interpersonal variables (including brand attachment, brand love, brand trust, brand commitment) studied in the context of brand consumer relationship. This work also adds to the literature of brand engagement, brand dissonance and brand forgiveness by explaining the bases of power of brand as an important antecedent that impact these variables. The study also outlines implications for brand managers to manage their product and service brands effectively by evaluating the bases of power perceived by consumers in the brands.