An analytical study on the relationship of brand

personality, brand trust, and brand experience with

brand love
Jose Felix Andrei Amparo, Noryn Aristha Angeles, Mhelbbie Casas, Clarence
Cuerdo, Mercelle Angela Panganiban, Carizza Anne Ramos, Matthew Francis Ramos, Renee Ann
Regadillo Jean Stephanie Sorita

Senior Highschool Department

Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 1002, The Philippines

Abstract
Background: People often holds a strong affection arising towards a certain brand out of personal ties.
Moreover, in the field of business research, the topic about brand love has been well deliberated over
these recent years.
Objectives: This study aims to determine the relationship between brand personality, brand trust, and
brand experience to brand love in order to contribute and support future studies that will also explore
brand love as a topic.
Methods: For this purpose, the data were collected from a Likert scale survey given to 102 purposively
chosen respondents from ages 25 and above within the scope of the city of Makati. In order to measure
its relationship between parameters, a multiple regression was used. Data gathering were analyzed using
SPSS program version 23.
Results: As a result, it is found out that positive brand personality (β=.045), presence of brand trust
(β=.409) leads to presence of brand love. Whereas, the presence of brand experience (β= -393) doesn’t
lead to brand love.
Conclusion: This study shows awareness on the impact of brand personality, brand trust and brand
experience to brand love and intends to open new ideas and concepts in the context of business and
research.
1. Introduction

Throughout the time, many individuals appear to have started to hold a certain brand close to their hearts,
which prior leads to brand love (Davidge, 2015). According to Carroll and Ahuvia (2006), brand love is the
degree of passionate, emotional attachment a satisfied consumer has for a particular name. Since brand
love has peaked many businessmen’s interests, it appears that the topic of brand love has been quite well
deliberated over these recent years, in the field of business research. Several studies may suggest that,
brand love can greatly impel and strengthen customers’ WOM (word-of-mouth), brand loyalty, and brand
commitment (Bergkvist & Bech-Larsen, 2009; Batra, Ahuvia & Bagozzi, 2012; Albert & Merunka, 2013;
Ranjbarian, Kazemi & Barandegi, 2013; Bıçakcıoğlu, İpek, & Bayraktaroğlu, 2016), that they incline to
turn a blind eye and endure the blunders a brand may have caused (Batra, Ahuvia & Bagozzi, 2012;
Heinrich, Alberecht &Bauer,2015). Some factors like, brand trust (Malik&Guptha,2013), brand image
(Sallam,2014), brand personality (Roy, Khandeparkar and Motiani,2016), and brand experience
(Sarkar,2014) have been seen to have a substantial relation with brand love, that can heighten
customers’ repurchase intentions (Rauschnabel, Ahuvia, Ivens & Leischnig,2015), impulse buying
(Sarkar,2014) and positive emotional connection with a brand (Batra, Ahuvia&Bagozzi,2012). Even so, it
appears that there is a dearth of studies about brand love and its liaison with brand personality, brand
trust and brand experience. Surprisingly, most studies about brand love were conducted in the
international context, like USA, India, Turkey and many more, but none in the local context.
Henceforth, this study purports to be one of the sources of new information regarding brand love and its
relationship with brand personality, brand trust and brand experience. This study intends to contribute and
support future studies that will also explore brand love as a topic.
 Brand love 2

2. Theoretical Background

2.1 Theoretical Framework

This paper is theoretically anchored on the theories, Interpersonal Relationship Theory and Brand
Relationship Theory. According to Fournier (1998), the interpersonal relationship theory suggests that the
relationship a consumer have with brands have similar qualities with human relationships. That brand is
an active, contributing member of the relationship dyad and not merely an inert object of marketing
transactions. Hence, it is relevant for brand trust, for it subsists a constant involvement with a person’s
interest. On the other hand, Brand Relationship Theory proposes that the brand has the capability to
connect both of its consumers and suppliers. (Chang & Chieng, 2006; Davis, Oliver, & Brodie, 2000). For
brand is an important factor in a consumer’s choices and decisions in choosing which vendor to buy a
certain product from. Henceforth, it is applicable for brand experience, brand personality and brand love
since these variables displays personal characteristics and personal love for brands. These theories may
clarify the relationship between brand personality, brand trust, and brand experience with brand love.

2.2 Review of Literature

2.2.1 Brand personality

It is indicated that brand personality is “a set of human characteristics associated to a brand” and a group
of image or attributes that consumers associate with the brand (Aaker, 1997; Keller, 1993). Emotional
aspects, personality dimension and company’s perspective, contribute greatly to brand personality
(Matzler, Bidmon and Grabner Krauter, 2006; Mulyanegara, Tsarenko & Anderson, 2009). Aaker (2012)
and Parker (2009) seems to demonstrate that user imagery is the primary factor driving brand personality.
Also, according to Mengxia (2007) and Sirgy (1982), brand personality has a positive influence to loyalty,
preference, affection and purchase intention and has a positive effect on brand trust, brand attachment
and brand commitment. However, it seems that there are not enough studies connecting brand
personality to brand love. Therefore, the researchers hypothesize:

H1: Positive brand personality leads to higher brand love

2.2.2 Brand trust

Brand trust is defined as willingness to rely on a brand, based on belief that the brand is reliable and
responsible for the interests of consumer. (Becerra & Badrinarayanan, 2013; Delgado-Ballester, 2003).
Purchase intensions, positive referrals, brand quality, brand value, service quality, merchandise quality,
are greatly significant to brand trust (El Naggar&Bendary,2017; Ercis, Unal, Candan&Yildirim,2012; Alev
& Ebru,2012; Becerra&Badrinarayanan,2013). Also, brand trust is greatly influenced by brand
predictability, brand liking, brand competence, and brand reputation (Lau&Lee,1999). With these results,
it appears that there is a paucity of studies about the relationship between brand trust and brand love.
Therefore, the researchers hypothesize that:

H2: Presence of brand trust leads to presence of brand love

 Brand love 3

2.2.3 Brand experience

Brand experience according to Brakus, Schmitt and Zarantonello (2009), refers to subjective, internal
consumer and behavioral responses. Brand satisfaction and brand loyalty are claimed to have a constant
involvement with brand experience (Ganesan, 1994; Oliver, 1997). For instance, it is indicated that
storytelling communicates the brand values to consumers and creates an emotional intensity (Lundqvist,
Liljander, Gummerus & Van Riel, 2012). As well as, advertising, newspaper, radio, etc. which meets
promotional activities are within the mass media (Chattopadhyay, Amitava & Laborie, 2005). The
contextual relationship among the listed variables of brand experience in line with brand love, were not
that well-studied in the Philippine context. Thus, it is hypothesized that:

H3: Lack of brand experience leads to absence of brand love

2.2.4 Brand love

Brand love is defined as the degree of passionate, emotional attachment a satisfied consumer has for a
particular name. Consistent with the literature on the love prototype (Ahuvia,2005), brand love include
passion for the brand, attachment to the brand, positive evaluation of the brand, positive emotions in
response to the brand, and declaration of love for the brand. (Carroll & Ahuvia,2006). According to Albert
& Merunka (2013), brand love can greatly influence and intensify the customers’ WOM (word-of-mouth),
loyalty, and commitment to a brand. And because of these factors, people tend to show disregard towards
the prices, to turn a blind eye, and to endure the mistakes a brand has done (Batra, Ahuvia &
Bagozzi,2012; Heinrich, Alberecht &Bauer,2015). Also, some factors like brand trust
(Malik&Guptha,2013), brand image (Sallam,2014), and brand experience (Sarkar,2014) have a significant
relationship with brand love, that can increase customers’ repurchase intentions (Rauschnabel, Ahuvia,
Ivens & Leischnig,2015), impulse buying (Sarkar,2014) and positive emotional connection with a brand.
(Batra, Ahuvia & Bagozzi,2012). Brand love is well studied in the field of business research in the
previous years. However, none were conducted in the context of brand love with its relationship with the 3
variables that we have, which are brand experience, brand trust and brand personality, with the Philippine
consumers.

2.3 Simulacrum

Brand H1 (+)
Personality

H2 (+) Brand Love

Brand Trust

Brand
H3 (-)
Experience

Fig. 1 The hypothesized model

 Brand love 4

3. Methods
3.1 Research design
The researchers utilized multiple regression in this study. This analysis was used to determine the
relationship of several predictor variables namely: brand personality, brand trust, and brand experience
with criterion variable, brand love (Pearson, 1908).

3.2 Study site and subject

The sample is consisted of purposively selected 102 respondents from ages 25 and above, coming from
various communities of the city of Makati. Makati, NCR (National Capital Region), Philippines is known for
its wealthy and posh vicinities and middle-class neighborhoods (Benig, 2018). Makati consist of an area
of 25.0km² and has a population of 582,602 thousand (Brinkhoff, 2017). The city of Makati in the
Philippines is reported as place for business. Henceforth, products of certain brands whether high-end or
low-priced are within the district of Makati. For this site has the ease of accessibility among the
researchers and most respondents fit in the given inclusion criteria. The subjects were selected based on
the following criteria: (a) citizens earning a monthly income of 12,000 to 50,000 (b) purchaser of any
branded product and (c) consumes a particular brand for 3 years or more

3.3 Data measure

The first part of the survey tool is a demographic questionnaire composed of the following: gender, age,
marital status, educational attainment, salary per month, nature of the brand that the respondents love,
and years they’ve been purchasing the brand.
The four adapted tools utilized were Likert scale type. These came from the studies of Roy, Khandeparkar
& Moitani (2016) which has a reliability score of 0.86 and 0.96, Yasin & Shamim (2013) with a 0.77
reliability score and Bicakcioglu, Ipek & Bayraktoglu (2016) which has 0.82 reliability score. It is used to
measure the following parameters: brand personality, brand trust, brand experience and the brand love.

3.4 Data gathering procedure

As the gathering of data preceded at the city of Makati, Philippines. Authorization from the author to use
and adapt the instrument of the study was pursued. Following the approval, the tool was modified and
undergone reliability test. The survey forms were created and organized based on the tool that were
used, to acquired data from the middle class regarding brand love. The data was accomplished on
October 11, 2018 from a total of 102 respondents. The respondents were fully aware about the study and
was given a consent form with the survey tool. Descriptive analysis was done on the gathering data from
the robotfoto using SPSS version 23.

3.5 Ethical consideration

Apposite ethical considerations were perceived in the process of completing this study. After modifying
the questionnaire, letters of consent were first accomplished by the respondents. A consent form which
consists, the significance of our study and the rights of the respondents were attached along with the
questionnaire. Respondents were fully aware that the information we gather will remain private and
confidential.
 Brand love 5

4. Results and Discussion

Table 1. Participants' Demographic Profile

    Frequency Percentage
Gender
Male 46 45.1
Female   56 54.9
Age
25-35 71 69.6
36-45 27 26.5
46-55 2 2.0
56 – above   2 2.0
Civil Status      
Single 71 69.6
Married 28 27.5
Legally Separated 2 2.0
Engaged   1 1.0
Educational Attainment
Undergraduate 19 18.6
High School Graduate 28 27.5
College Graduate   55 53.9
Monthly Income
12,000-20,000 82 80.4
20,001-30,000 9 8.8
30,001-40,000 7 6.9
40,001-50,000   3 2.9
Note: n=102

Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the sample from this current study. From the 102 respondents,
56.9% were female, 68.6% were ages 25-28. Two-thirds of the sample are reportedly single, and most of
them are living within Metro Manila.

Table 2. Brand Purchasing profile

  Frequency Percentage
Years
3 years 39 38.2
4 years 6 5.9
5 years 57 55.9
Nature of Brands
Food & Beverages 51 25
Hygiene & Beauty
46 23
Products
Cellphone, Laptops
37 18
& Tablets
Health/Medicine 15 7
 Brand love 6

School Supplies 7 4
Automobiles 11 6
Fashion Apparel 33 17
Note: n=102.
a
Total frequency of the nature of brands purchased = 200, this was
based on the total number of responses from questionnaire

Table 2 shows the summary of brand purchasing profile of 102 purposively chosen respondents. As a
result of analysis, it was reported that people purchasing a brand for years 5 has the highest percentage
with 55.9%. second is people purchasing a brand for 3 years with the percentage of 38.2%. On the other
hand, people purchasing a brand for 4 years has the lowest percentage with 5.9% This table also shows
the summary of the frequency of the nature of brand purchased. As a result of analysis, it was reported
that food and beverages have the highest brand love with a percentage of 25%. However, school supplies
have the lowest brand love with only 7%.

Table 3. Pearson-r Correlations between variables

Brand
Brand Brand Brand
Experienc
Love Personality Trust
e
Brand Love
Brand Personality .523 .611
Brand Trust .664 -.579
Brand Experience -.656 -.579
Note: p<.05

Table 3 shows the summary of correlational analysis for all variables. As a result of analysis, it was
claimed that two variables in the present study positively correlate with each other. However, only brand
experience has no significant relationship with brand love. This may imply that in the context of Filipino
consumers, it seems that experience is not that significant for them. The relationship among variables
discern to be ranging from agree to strongly agree. It can be stated that brand trust and brand love show
the strongest positive correlation at 0.664. This is in support of the study of Yasin and Shamim (2013).
This would mean that for Filipino consumers trust is very essential for them to build a strong brand love.
On the other hand, brand personality shows a moderate positive correlation at 0.523. This is consistent
with the study of Fournier (1998).

Table 4. Prediction Model Summary

Std. Error
Adjusted Durbin-
R R2 of the
R2 Watson
Estimate
 
Model1_Bran
.744a .553 .539 .89829 1.551
d Love
a.
Note: Predictors: (Constant), Brand Experience, Brand trust,
Brand Personality

The analysis of variance shown above. The value of R2 , which in this case is = .553, shows that the
predictors significantly predict the outcome variable, which is brand love. This means, 55.3% of the
changes in the level brand love can be accounted by the three predictors variables.
 Brand love 7

Table 5. Regression Table

Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients
b Std. Error β t Sig.
1 (Constant) 3.195 .724 4.411 .000
BPersonality .044 .089 .045 .499 .619
BTrust .534 .119 .409 4.490 .000
BExperience -.383 .086 -.393 -4.442 .000
Note: R2= .553 (ps<.05)

A multiple regression was run to predict brand love from brand personality, brand trust, and brand
experience. Taken together, these three variables were found to significantly predict brand love,
[F(3,98)=40.379, p<.001, R2=.553]. Further, the individual predictors were examined and it was revealed
that brand trust (t=4.490, p<.001) appears to be the strongest predictor for the outcome variable.
Incidentally, brand experience seems to (t=-4.442, p.<001) indicate a negative relationship with the
outcome variable, which means for every 1 unit increase in the predictor, there is a -.393unit decrease in
brand love. Also, it can be noted that by itself, brand personality, can significantly predict brand love.
5. Conclusion
This research purports to ascertain the relationship between the three exogeneous variables to brand
love in order to gain sagacity on the business industry in the Philippines. According to the results, two out
of the three parameters do lead to brand love. It shows that the brand trust has the highest correlation,
while brand personality has a moderate relationship to brand love. This indicates that even though both
trust and personality does lead to brand love, brand trust has much more impact to the consumers when it
comes to loving a brand. On the other hand, the brand experience shows that it doesn’t have a significant
relationship to brand love for the Filipino consumers. Implying that even though they may be using a
certain brand for a length of time, doesn’t mean that they already love the brand. This study aspires to
contribute and support future studies that will also explore brand love as their topic. Furthermore, to show
awareness about the impact of brand personality, brand trust and brand experience to brand love and to
open up new ideas and concepts in the context of business and research.
 Brand love 8

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