Which brands do consumers become attached to? The roles of brand concepts and brand positioning in the context of COVID-19
Journal of Product & Brand Management
ISSN: 1061-0421
Article publication date: 20 January 2023
Issue publication date: 26 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted everyday life, leading to a cascade of negative emotional responses such as death anxiety. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the buffering effect of brand attachment on death anxiety by exploring the roles of brand concepts and brand positioning on psychological compensation for security.
Design/methodology/approach
This multi-method paper features four studies and shows how brands can offer emotional support under high-risk circumstances.
Findings
Study 1 includes two surveys which offer preliminary evidence that death anxiety can enhance consumers’ brand attachment. Study 2 reveals a causal effect wherein consumers experiencing death anxiety are more likely to attach to brands with a self-transcendence (vs self-enhancement) concept. Study 3 examines the mediating role of need for security in the relationship between death anxiety and attachment to brands with a self-transcendence concept. Further, Study 4 indicates the moderating role of brand positioning: self-transcendence brands adopting local (vs global) positioning strategies are more likely to satisfy consumers’ need for security, thereby leading to strong brand attachment.
Originality/value
The findings of this paper contribute to the brand attachment literature and to the global branding literature regarding consumers’ emotional responses in the context of COVID-19. This paper innovatively frames brand concepts and brand positioning and provides actionable guidelines to help brands satisfy consumers’ needs amid a worldwide crisis.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 72102167 and 71602111), Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Project (Grant number 22YJA630002 and 20YJC630045) and Guangdong Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science (Grant number GD18XGL58).
Citation
Cai, Y., Wang, M., Huang, H. and Jiang, Q. (2023), "Which brands do consumers become attached to? The roles of brand concepts and brand positioning in the context of COVID-19", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 32 No. 6, pp. 892-907. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2022-3998
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited