Dressing your soul: The role of brand engagement in self-concept
Abstract
The current study aims to contribute to the literature on brand engagement in self-concept (BESC). Supported by self-determination theory, a comprehensive model that explains the psychological drivers and consequences of BESC is tested.Based on a sample of 600 international highly engaged cosplayers, the results contribute to the literature on BESC by showing that extrinsic personal aspirations positively influence individuals’ propensity to include brands in their definition of themselves.
The findings show that higher levels of extrinsic personal aspirations lead to higher BESC manifestations that in turn lead to greater brand loyalty and brand advocacy. Furthermore, the findings indicate that personal aspirations have an indirect effect on brand loyalty and brand advocacy through BESC. The managerial implications for fashion brands are discussed.
References
Aaker J., Fournier S., & Brasel S. A. (2004). When good brands do bad. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1): 1-16. DOI: 10.1086/383419.
Aggarwal P. (2004). The effects of brand relationship norms on consumer attitudes and behaviour. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1): 87-101. DOI: 10.1086/383426.
Aiken Jr L. R. (1963). The relationships of dress to selected measures of personality in undergraduate women. Journal of Social Psychology, 59(1): 119-128. DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1963.9919417.
ATA Blog. (2018). Who Are Today’s Cosplay Makers? [Statistics and Demographics]. -- Retrieved from https://blog.anthonythomas.com/who-are-todays-cosplay-makers-statistics-and-demographics.
Belk R. W. (1988). Possessions and the extended self. Journal of Consumer Research,
(2): 139-168. DOI: 10.1086/209154.
Berger J., & Heath C. (2007). Where consumers diverge from others: identity signaling
and product domains. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(2): 121-134.
Bovone L. (2006). Urban style cultures and urban cultural production in Milan: postmodern identity and the transformation of fashion. Poetics, 34(6): 370-382. DOI:
1016/j.poetic.2006.10.004.
Brodie R. J., Hollebeek L. D., Jurić B., & Ilić A. (2011). Customer engagement: conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research. Journal of Service Research, 14(3): 252-271.
Browne M. (1993). Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit. Testing Structural Equation Models, 136-162.
Bruner E. M. (1963). Encounters: two studies in the sociology of interaction. Erving Goffman. American Anthropologist, 65(6): 1416-1417.
Byrne B. M. (2016). Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. New York: Routledge.
Chaudhuri A., & Holbrook M.B. (2001). The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: the role of brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 65(2): 81-93.
Cox J., & Dittmar H. (1995). The functions of clothes and clothing (dis) satisfaction: a gender analysis among British students. Journal of Consumer Policy, 18(2-3): 237-265. DOI: 10.1007/BF01016513.
Dessart L., Veloutsou C., & Morgan-Thomas A. (2015). Consumer engagement in online brand communities: a social media perspective. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(1): 28-42. DOI: 10.1108/JPBM-06-2014-0635.
Dotz W., Morton J., & Lund J.W. (1996). What a Character. Hong Kong: World Studio.
Dwivedi A. (2015). A higher-order model of consumer brand engagement and its impact on loyalty intentions. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 24: 100-109. DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.02.007.
Escalas J. E., & Bettman J. R. (2003). You are what they eat: the influence of reference
groups on consumers’ connections to brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13(3): 339-348.ù
Evans H. (2006). Fashions and feminine consumption. In: Latham K., Thompson S., & Klein J. (editors). Consuming China: Approaches to Cultural Change in Contemporary China, pp. 173-189. Oxford: Routledge.
Ewing D. R., & Allen C. T. (2017). Self-congruence is not everything for a brand: initial evidence supporting the relevance of identity cultivation in a college student role-identity context. Journal of Brand Management, 24(5): 405-422. DOI: 10.1057/s41262-017-0047-3.
Ferraro R., Escalas J.E., & Bettman J. R. (2011). Our possessions, our selves: domains
of self‐worth and the possession-self link. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21(2): 169-177.
Fetscherin M., & Heinrich D. (2015). Consumer brand relationships research: a bibliometric citation meta-analysis. Journal of Business Research, 68(2): 380-390. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.06.010.
Flynn L.R., Goldsmith R.E., & Korzenny F. (2011). Brand engagement in self-concept:
a psychometric and demographic analysis. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(2): 5.
Geczy A. (2016). The psychology of cosplay. Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture, 1(1): 18-36.
Grappi S., & Visentin M. (2008). L’analisi delle determinanti dei comportamenti di fedeltà nel contesto retail: il ruolo dell'identificazione con il brand. Mercati e Competitività, 2: 1000-1015.
Han Y.J., Nunes J.C., & Drèze X. (2010). Signaling status with luxury goods: the role of brand prominence. Journal of Marketing, 74(4): 15-30. DOI: 10.1509/jmkg.74.4.15.
Harmeling C. M., Moffett J. W., Arnold M. J., & Carlson B. D. (2017). Toward a theory of customer engagement marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(3): 312-335.
Hassenzahl, M. (2018). The thing and I: understanding the relationship between user
and product. Funology, 2: 301-313.
Hayes A. F. (2013). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York: Guilford Press.
Hendricks S. H., Kelley E. A., & Eicher J.B. (1968). Senior girls’ appearance and social acceptance. Journal of Home Economics, 60(3): 167-172. -- http://hdl.handle.net/11299/162564.
Hollebeek L. D. (2011). Demystifying customer brand engagement: exploring the loyalty nexus. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(7-8): 785-807.
Hollenbeck C. R., & Kaikati A. M. (2012). Consumers’ use of brands to reflect their actual and ideal selves on Facebook. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 29(4): 395-405. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.06.002.
Holman R. H. (1980). Clothing as communication: an empirical investigation. In: Olson J. C. (ed.). NA-Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 07, Ann Abor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, pp. 372-377.
Hosany S., Prayag G., Martin D., & Lee W. Y. (2013). Theory and strategies of anthropomorphic brand characters from Peter Rabbit, Mickey Mouse, and Ronald McDonald, to Hello Kitty. Journal of Marketing Management, 29(1-2): 48-68. DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2013.764346.
Hsiao C. H., Shen G. C. & Chao P. J. (2015). How does brand misconduct affect the brand-customer relationship? Journal of Business Research, 68(4): 862-866. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.11.042.
Ito K., & Crutcher P.A. (2014). Popular mass entertainment in Japan: manga, pachinko,
and cosplay. Society, 51(1): 44-48. DOI: 10.1007/s12115-013-9737-y.
Jamal A., & Goode M. M. (2001). Consumers and brands: a study of the impact of self-image congruence on brand preference and satisfaction. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 19(7): 482-492. DOI: 10.1108/02634500110408286.
Janssens W., De Pelsmacker P., Wijnen K., & Van Kenhove P. (2008). Marketing Research with SPSS. New York: Pearson Education.
Kane L. L. E. (2017). Why cosplay? Motivations behind participation and use of social media among cosplayers who maintain Facebook artist pages. -- Retrievable at https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/j098zd59k.
Kasser T., & Ryan R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2): 410. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.410.
Kasser T., & Ryan R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: differential
correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(3): 280-287. DOI: 10.1177/0146167296223006.
Keller K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57: 1-22.
Kemp E., & Bui M. (2011). Healthy brands: establishing brand credibility, commitment
and connection among consumers. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28(6): 429-437. DOI: 10.1108/07363761111165949.
Kim C. K., Han D., & Park S. B. (2001). The effect of brand personality and brand identification on brand loyalty: applying the theory of social identification. Japanese Journal of Psychological Research, 43(4): 195-206. DOI: 10.1111/1468-5884.00177.
Kim J., & Kang J. Y. M. (2015). Investigation of the role of proximity of clothing to self anticipating risky appearance management behaviours. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 8(3): 235-242. DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2015.1074292.
Kim Y., Kasser T., & Lee H. (2003). Self-concept, aspirations, and well-being in South Korea and the United States. Journal of Social Psychology, 143(3): 277-290. DOI: 10.1080/00224540309598445.
Kumar V., Aksoy L., Donkers B., Venkatesan R., Wiesel T., & Tillmanns S. (2010).
Undervalued or overvalued customers: capturing total customer engagement value. Journal of Service Research, 13(3): 297-310.
Leckie C., Nyadzayo M. W., & Johnson L. W. (2016). Antecedents of consumer brand engagement and brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(5-6): 558-578. DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2015.1131735.
Levy S. J. (1959). Symbols for sale. Harvard Business Review, 37: 117-124.
Likert R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology,
: 55.
Lin C. P., Tsai Y. H., & Chiu C. K. (2009). Modeling customer loyalty from an integrative perspective of self-determination theory and expectation–confirmation theory. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(3): 315-326.
Liu C., & Hogg M. K. (2018). Using attachment theory to understand consumers’ tensions between their sense of self and goal-pursuits in relationships. Journal of Business Research, 92: 197-209. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.033.
Liu R. L., Sprott D. E., Spangenberg E. R., Czellar S., & Voss K. E. (2018). Consumer
preference for national vs. private brands: the influence of brand engagement and self-concept threat. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 41: 90-100. DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.11.010.
Marketing Science Institute (2016). Research Priorities 2016-2018. Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute. -- http//www.msi.org/uploads/files/MSI_RP16-18.pdf.
Markus H. (1983). Self-knowledge: an expanded view. Journal of Personality, 51(3). DOI: 543-565.10.1111/j.1467-6494.1983.tb00344.x.
McCracken G. D., & Roth V. J. (1989). Does clothing have a code? Empirical findings and theoretical implications in the study of clothing as a means of communication.
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 6(1): 13-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-8116(89)90044-X.
McNeill L. S. (2018). Fashion and women’s self-concept: a typology for self-fashioning
using clothing. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 22(1): 82-98.
Muniz A. M., & O’Guinn T. C. (2001). Brand community. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(4): 412-432. DOI: 10.1086/319618.
Niinimäki K. (2010). Eco-clothing, consumer identity and ideology. Sustainable Development, 18(3): 150-162. DOI: 10.1002/sd.455.
Oliver R. L. (1999). Whence consumer loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 63: 33. DOI:
2307/1252099.
Otero-López J. M., & Villardefrancos E. (2015). Compulsive buying and life aspirations:
an analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Individual Differences, 76: 166-170. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.013.
Peirson-Smith A. (2013). Fashioning the fantastical self: an examination of the cosplay
dress-up phenomenon in Southeast Asia. Fashion Theory, 17(1): 77-111. DOI: 10.2752/175174113X13502904240776.
Peluchette J. V., Karl K., & Rust K. (2006). Dressing to impress: beliefs and attitudes
regarding workplace attire. Journal of Business and Psychology, 21(1): 45-63.
Rahman O., Wing-Sun L., & Cheung B. H. M. (2012). ‘Cosplay’: imaginative self and performing identity. Fashion Theory, 16(3): 317-341. DOI: 10.2752/175174112X13340749707204.
Razmus W., Jaroszyńska M., & Palęga M. (2017). Personal aspirations and brand
engagement in self-concept. Personality and Individual Differences, 105: 294-299. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.018.
Robertson T. S. (1970). Consumer Behaviour. Glenview, IL: Scott-Foresman and Co.
Rosenberg R. S., & Letamendi A. M. (2013). Expressions of fandom: findings from a psychological survey of cosplay and costume wear. Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media, 5: 9-18.
Rosenfeld L. B., & Plax T. G. (1977). Clothing as communication. Journal of Communication, 27(2): 24-31. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1977.tb01823.
Ryan R. M., & Deci E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1): 68. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.
Schmitt P., Skiera B., & Van den Bulte C. (2011). Referral programs and customer value. Journal of Marketing, 75(1): 46-59.
Seregina A., & Weijo H. A. (2016). Play at any cost: how cosplayers produce and sustain their ludic communal consumption experiences. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(1): 139-159. DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucw077.
Sheldon K. M., Elliot A. J., Kim Y., & Kasser T. (2001). What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2). DOI: 325.10.1037//O022-3514.80.2.325.
Sprott D., Czellar S., & Spangenberg E. (2009). The importance of a general measure
of brand engagement on market behaviour: development and validation of a scale. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1): 92-104. DOI: 10.1509/jmkr.46.1.92.
Stokburger-Sauer N., Ratneshwar S., & Sen S. (2012). Drivers of consumer-brand
identification. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 29(4): 406-418. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.06.001.
Swaminathan V., Stilley K. M., & Ahluwalia R. (2008). When brand personality matters: the moderating role of attachment styles. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(6): 985-1002.
Thompson C. J., & Haytko D.L. (1997). Speaking of fashion: consumers’ uses of fashion discourses and the appropriation of countervailing cultural meanings. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(1): 15-42. DOI: 10.1086/209491.
Thomson M., Whelan J., & Johnson A. R. (2012). Why brands should fear fearful consumers: how attachment style predicts retaliation. Journal of Consumer Psychology,
(2): 289-298. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.04.006.
Torelli C. J., Monga A. B., & Kaikati A. M. (2011). Doing poorly by doing good: corporate social responsibility and brand concepts. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(5): 948-963.
Truong Y. (2010). Personal aspirations and the consumption of luxury goods. International Journal of Market Research, 52(5): 653-671. DOI: 10.2501/S1470785310201521.
Truong Y., McColl R., & Kitchen P. J. (2010). Uncovering the relationships between aspirations and luxury brand preference. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 19(5): 346-355. DOI: 10.1108/10610421011068586.
Trusov M., Bucklin R. E., & Pauwels K. (2009). Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: findings from an internet social networking site. Journal of Marketing, 73(5): 90-102.
Van Doorn J., Lemon K. N., Mittal V., Nass S., Pick D., Pirner P., & Verhoef P. C. (2010). Customer engagement behaviour: theoretical foundations and research directions. Journal of Service Research, 13(3): 253-266. DOI: 10.1177/1094670510375599.
Veblen T. (1899). The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution
of Institutions. Oxford University Press.
Verlegh P. W., Ryu G., Tuk M. A., & Feick L. (2013). Receiver responses to rewarded
referrals: the motive inferences framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(6): 669-682.
Vogel V., Evanschitzky H., & Ramaseshan, B. (2008). Customer equity drivers and future sales. Journal of Marketing, 72(6): 98-108. DOI10.1509/jmkg.72.6.98.
Winge T. (2006). Costuming the imagination: origins of anime and manga cosplay.
Mechademia, 1(1): 65-76. DOI: 10.1353/mec.0.0084.
Zhang S. S., van Doorn J., & Leeflang P. S. H. (2014). Does the importance of value,
brand and relationship equity for customer loyalty differ between Eastern and Western cultures? International Business Review, 23: 284-292. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2013.05.002.
Zhao X., Lynch J. G., & Chen Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2): 197-206.
