ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH
Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802
Self-Brand Connections and Brand Resonance: the Role of Gender and Consumer Emotions
David Moore, The University of Michigan, USA
Dayna Wurster, The University of Michigan
This study tested the relationship of self-brand connections (SBC) - the notion that brand associations are used to express one’s self to
others (Escalas 1996) and brand resonance – the extent to which consumers are able to be ‘in sync’ with a given brand (Keller 2003).
Results showed that: (1) the SBC construct is closely related to brand resonance; (2) females reported higher SBC scores than their
male counterparts in response to a gendered brand but not in response to a gender neutral brand; and (3) emotions played a spectacular
role in mediating the influence of SBC and brand resonance on consumer attitude. Implications for branding strategy are discussed.
[to cite]:
David Moore and Dayna Wurster (2007) ,"Self-Brand Connections and Brand Resonance: the Role of Gender and Consumer
Emotions", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 34, eds. Gavan Fitzsimons and Vicki Morwitz, Duluth, MN :
Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 64-66.
[url]:
http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/12864/volumes/v34/NA-34
[copyright notice]:
This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in
part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/.
Self-Brand Connections and Brand Resonance: The Role of Gender and Consumer Emotions
David Moore, University of Michigan, USA
Dayna Wurster, University of Michigan, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
game were measured using 1-9 semantic differential scales: unfavorable/favorable, negative/positive, dislike/like, very bad/very
good. Behavioral intentions measures were: very unlikely/likely to
attend, unwilling/willing to attend, no desire/strong desire (α =.86).
The fundamental premise of the Self-Brand Connections
(SBC) construct is that when brand associations are used to construct one’s self or to communicate one’s self to others, a strong
connection is formed between the brand and the consumer’s self
identity (Escalas, 2004). In a similar manner, brand resonance
suggests a profound consumer brand relationship that is based on
loyalty, attachment, and an enduring sense of communal kinship or
affiliation. This relationship is so strong that members of that brand
community are willing to make investments of their personal
resources to remain connected to the brand (Keller 2001).
First, it is predicted that brand resonance should be significantly related to Self-Brand Connections and that respondents
should respond in a similar manner to both constructs. Second, as
a test of the SBC construct, it is expected that consumer fans who
identify with a specific in-group organization (the home team) will
report significantly higher SBCs and stronger brand resonance
scores than those who support the out-group or rival team. Third, no
gender differences are expected to occur in response to a gender
neutral brand like college football. More specifically, females will
resonate and connect with a brand only when that brand is perceived
as gender relevant. Fourth, brand resonance and self-brand connections are especially capable of building deep attachments and
evoking strong emotions (Keller 2003; Escalas 1996). Emotions are
known to influence consumer attitudes (Edell and Burke 1987).
Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the effects that self-brand
connections and brand resonance may have on attitudes will be
mediated by the emotions that consumers express.
Results and Discussion
These results provided several new insights into the Selfbrand Connections construct. First, it was confirmed that gender
had no significant effect on SBC when the target brand is equally
popular between male and female respondents. This was a necessary test to provide more validity to the notion that females will
exhibit stronger self-brand connections towards products that ‘match’
their own gender. Thus, women, compared to their male counterparts, should report higher levels of self-brand connections as well
as stronger brand resonance when the brand is perceived as a
female-gendered brand such as the WNBA. However, when the
target brand was football, with a non-female gendered identity,
women no longer demonstrated stronger self-brand connections.
This finding suggests that the WNBA may have a leading role to
play in connecting with the aspirations of young women today. In
order for the WNBA to continue to build a strong brand community
among its target audience, special care should always be exercised
when selecting the most appropriate female role models who could
effectively resonate with the values and ideals of its gendered
audience (Kahle & Homer, 1985; Kamins, 1990).
Second, this study showed for the first time in the extant
literature the close relationship between SBC and brand resonance.
This is particularly interesting given the crucial role that brand
resonance plays in customer relationship management and the
development of sustainable brand equity between customers and
the brand (Keller, 2001. A principal components factor analysis
with varimax rotation revealed that all the measures of SBC and
Brand Resonance loaded on a single factor with eigenvalue=12.63,
accounting for 84% of the total variance (Cronbach α=.98). The
items comprising SBC and brand resonance were used to create two
distinct variables, respectively. To understand the fit between these
two constructs, Confirmatory Factor Analysis using Amos
(Arbuckle, 1997) was conducted with all the items of SBC and
brand resonance representing one single factor. The chi-square for
this model was significant (indicating a poor fit): χ2 (104,
N=180)=620, p<.000; NFI=.89, Bollen’s (1989) Incremental Fit
Index (IFI)=.91, CFI=.91, RMSEA=.160.
Third, emotions played a spectacular role in mediating the
influence of SBC (and brand resonance) on consumer attitude. This
intriguing relationship to emotions has never been explored before.
Given the dominant role that emotions and passion play in the
consumption and experience of sports, this insightful revelation of
the link between emotions, brand resonance and self-brand connection offers exciting opportunities for future research. Moreover,
since females have been shown to score significantly higher than
men in the expression of emotions (Diener, Sandvik & Larsen,
1985), the appropriate role of gender should be included in future
studies on affect, brand resonance, and self-connections in human
behavior and particularly in our efforts to enhance the consumers’
experience of sport, entertainment, or any other delivered service.
Method
Subjects and Procedure
Subjects were 183 University of Michigan undergraduates
(male=104; female=79) who were asked to give their opinions
about the upcoming biggest rivalry football game against Ohio
State. In one condition (In-Group Perspective, U-M), subjects read
an enticing narrative relating the highlights of his/her experience as
a home team fan while attending the famous Michigan vs. Ohio
State football game. The second version (OSU fan) maintained the
identical structure, relating the game experience from the Buckeye
perspective. Subjects were first asked to identify themselves as
either a U-M or an OSU fan. Subjects then responded to questions
about their emotional reactions to the upcoming football game. This
was followed by a series of questions about loyalty and attachment
to the respective teams (U-M and OSU). These 16 measures were,
in fact, measures of self-brand connections (Escalas and Bettman
2003) and brand resonance (Keller 2003). A pre-test confirmed that
college football is a gender neutral brand, and the WNBA represents a female gendered brand.
Measures
Self-brand Connections measures were taken from Escalas
and Bettman 2003) and brand resonance measures were selected
from Keller (2003). Emotional Responses were measured by 1-9
point semantic differential scales (Cronbach’s α=.96): negative/
positive, not exciting/exciting; not thrilling/thrilling; not confident
of victory/confident of victory. Attitudes (α=.96) to the upcoming
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Volume 34, © 2007
Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 34) / 65
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