畢業(yè)論文外文翻譯--關(guān)于顧客、品牌和品牌社群的實證研究

1、<p>　　畢業(yè)設(shè)計(論文)外文資料翻譯</p><p>　　附件：1.外文資料翻譯譯文；2.外文原文</p><p>　　附件1：外文資料翻譯譯文</p><p>　　個性、顧客品牌偏好和品牌社群：</p><p>　　關(guān)于顧客、品牌和品牌社群的實證研究</p><p><b>　　庫爾特

2、3;馬哲特</b></p><p><b>　　1 引言</b></p><p>　　目前，學(xué)術(shù)界有關(guān)品牌社群的研究非常多，如蘋果電腦Mac、哈雷摩托車和大眾汽車的高性能兩箱小車Golf GTI品牌社群的研究，還有樂于購買科幻小說的社群。 這些研究都證實了學(xué)術(shù)界對品牌社群有著巨大興趣，應(yīng)用到營銷類的文獻并論證了它們之間實際的相關(guān)性。品牌社群是指“一種專門的

3、、不受地理區(qū)域限制的社群，它建立在使用某品牌的消費者之間一整套社會關(guān)系的基礎(chǔ)上”。</p><p>　　研究表明，品牌社群可以影響社員的感知和行為，并且它作為談?wù)撈放频膱鏊窍敕ê蛣?chuàng)新的來源。品牌社群內(nèi)的顧客會相互影響彼此，同時通過人際交流的過程，他們進而可以影響其他顧客。最重要的是，顧客與中心品牌的關(guān)系的塑造和深化根本上受品牌社群成員之間的社交的影響。</p><p>　　品牌社群與市

4、場營銷經(jīng)理有密切關(guān)系至少有三個原因。第一，它們是市場信息的重要來源。通常，社群成員擁有大量的產(chǎn)品知識，他們不僅討論新產(chǎn)品的介紹、產(chǎn)品的功能和市場營銷活動，而且他們甚至?xí)π庐a(chǎn)品的發(fā)展有好點子；第二，品牌社群通常被認(rèn)為可以實施特定的營銷策略的截然不同的細(xì)分市場；第三，品牌社群在培養(yǎng)品牌關(guān)系方面有著重要作用，因為品牌社群成員有著很強的品牌承諾和品牌忠誠。 盡管品牌社群的形成機理和作用的研究已經(jīng)很有一定深度，但是對于個人層面的品牌參與動機的理

5、解還不夠充足。</p><p>　　品牌社群之中有三種主要的關(guān)系影響著顧客的行為：顧客與品牌、顧客與顧客和顧客與社群之間的關(guān)系。在最新的研究中，我們關(guān)注其中的兩種關(guān)系：顧客與品牌之間的關(guān)系（特別是顧客的產(chǎn)品依戀）和顧客與社群之間的關(guān)系（特別是社員對品牌社群的認(rèn)同）。在接下來的文獻回顧中，我們大概地討論了顧客與品牌的關(guān)系，特別是在品牌社群的環(huán)境下。之后，我們回顧了第二種關(guān)系（在顧客與社群自身之間）方面的文獻。接著，

6、本文進行了實證研究，并結(jié)合數(shù)據(jù)分析。根據(jù)這些發(fā)現(xiàn)并經(jīng)過討論，我們得到一些結(jié)論和這些發(fā)現(xiàn)對品牌和產(chǎn)品的管理的意義，同時，我們也承認(rèn)本次研究存在一些局限之處。</p><p>　　2 品牌社群中顧客與產(chǎn)品之間的關(guān)系</p><p>　　人們不僅僅是因為產(chǎn)品的功能性而產(chǎn)生購買行為。產(chǎn)品和品牌不僅有功能性價值，它們也因被看作有著社交意義的標(biāo)志而被理解和使用。研究表明顧客有目的性地根據(jù)產(chǎn)品的含義選擇

7、購買的產(chǎn)品，這是因為其他人會將這種含義與消費者聯(lián)系起來。當(dāng)消費者或使用者在使用和展示某個物體，包括有品牌的產(chǎn)品，它的含義會轉(zhuǎn)移到使用者或消費者身上。維布倫的關(guān)于顯著性消費的創(chuàng)造性研究說明了這樣一個事實，擁有者購買或展示了某種產(chǎn)品是因為這些產(chǎn)品標(biāo)志了他們的地位。</p><p>　　顧客使用產(chǎn)品也是為了表達(dá)他們自己的個性和標(biāo)識出他們的個性，也就是說，表達(dá)和鞏固他們的辨識度和獨特性。某些消費品可以供顧客用來定義和維持

8、他們自己的個性，與此同時結(jié)果是，這些消費品與它們的擁有者有了情感上的聯(lián)系。研究表明，人們更依戀那些對他們有情感性價值的消費品。比起與消費者較少依戀的物體，消費者強烈依戀的物體會得到情感上的關(guān)注與需要，也被認(rèn)為更加有價值的。與此相反，一個較低粘附性的物體從而表明認(rèn)同的缺失，或者說，在某種程度上，它不具有表明自我的特性。</p><p>　　那些讓顧客依附的產(chǎn)品能“提供個性化的自我表達(dá)的線索”。他們使得顧客能夠表達(dá)他

9、們的特性。因為它們與顧客個性之間強烈的關(guān)系，所以人們認(rèn)為它們這么做是十分合理的。因而，一方面消費品與顧客相關(guān)是因為它們有助于和溝通顧客的個人形象和個性。產(chǎn)品對個人的自我概念的貢獻（以建立和定義的形式、維護自我概念和自我形象）導(dǎo)致了對產(chǎn)品的看法不僅緊密地與個性相聯(lián)系，而且在個性方面有很強的溝通能力。這為顧客進一步導(dǎo)致了和鞏固了消費品的情感核心。因此，我們提出如下假設(shè)：</p><p>　　H1: 個人與品牌一致性與

10、產(chǎn)品依戀正相關(guān)。</p><p>　　產(chǎn)品依戀與顧客對擁有某一特點的物體的依戀有關(guān)。舒爾茨和貝克認(rèn)為品牌資產(chǎn)和品牌依戀應(yīng)該被認(rèn)為是相關(guān)但截然不同的現(xiàn)象。顧客產(chǎn)生品牌依戀所形成的有形資產(chǎn)是無可替代，并且作為一個特定的消費品通過消費者個人與消費品的互動，在消費者心理上占據(jù)優(yōu)勢、不斷修正與交流，有著帶來索引性價值的潛力。</p><p>　　因此，關(guān)系是在顧客與特定的、單個的物體之間形成的。所以

11、，產(chǎn)品依戀是如何與蓄意的品牌忠誠聯(lián)系起來的呢？</p><p>　　品牌忠誠指的是“一個對未來持續(xù)地重新購買或資助偏愛的產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)的根深蒂固的承諾，因此造成對同一品牌或同一品牌系列的重復(fù)性購買，盡管存在情境性的影響和營銷努力導(dǎo)致品牌轉(zhuǎn)換的潛在影響”。為了促進忠誠行為的發(fā)生，使頻繁的、累積的滿意片段變得集聚、混雜起來，是有必要的。換句話說，在單次的使用情形下，當(dāng)產(chǎn)品交付價值給顧客并創(chuàng)造滿意，忠誠就有可能發(fā)生。關(guān)系營

12、銷方面的文獻也表明滿意在信任之前發(fā)生，就像是顧客滿意產(chǎn)生于過去的交易結(jié)果培養(yǎng)出的顧客對于他或她將受到公平對待和賣方關(guān)心他或她的福利的信心。</p><p>　　在產(chǎn)品依戀的定義中，它被描述成與產(chǎn)品之間非常緊密的關(guān)系，比如這個產(chǎn)品很好地滿足了顧客的需求，好比有著重復(fù)使用情況的耐用品。在品牌社群的環(huán)境下，由于產(chǎn)品是一個品牌化的消費品，我們假設(shè)品牌被看作產(chǎn)品本身的一個完整的方面，因此我們認(rèn)為對某個產(chǎn)品的依戀會導(dǎo)致與之相

13、關(guān)的品牌的信任和忠誠。</p><p>　　H2:品牌依戀與顧客意圖保持品牌忠誠正相關(guān)；</p><p>　　H3: 品牌依戀與品牌信任正相關(guān)。</p><p>　　3 品牌社群中的品牌與社區(qū)關(guān)系</p><p>　　品牌社群成員對品牌社群的認(rèn)同是品牌社群的重要特征。品牌社群認(rèn)同定義為“（顧客）感知屬于某一團體，從而導(dǎo)致個人認(rèn)同這一團體”。之

14、前的研究表明，品牌認(rèn)同是品牌社群成員行為的重要的決定性因素。品牌社群認(rèn)同有一個認(rèn)知成分（顧客品牌社群成員身份的自我意識和與其他成員相似性的感知）和情感成分（顧客對團體的情感參與，例如，消費者與團體的情感契約）。</p><p>　　基于個性方面的研究，我們假設(shè)品牌社群與其成員的關(guān)系總體上取決于他或她的個人個性。“大五”人格特質(zhì)中的神經(jīng)質(zhì)、外向型、宜人性與開放性組成不同個人的人格特質(zhì)模式。這五種人格特質(zhì)已經(jīng)被理論化

15、、實證研究過和在眾多實證研究中被證實。許多研究也將人格熱值與不同的行為聯(lián)系起來，比如思維方式、價值和不同的需求。在市場營銷的研究中，眾多研究采用人格特質(zhì)才研究許多認(rèn)知、情感和行為性的變量，比如情感和顧客滿意、廣告誘發(fā)的情緒和對廣告的反應(yīng)、顧客問題解決模式、品牌偏好、口碑和產(chǎn)品知識。借鑒人格研究方面的文獻，大五人格中的兩種變量與品牌社群認(rèn)同相關(guān)：外向性與宜人性。</p><p>　　外向性與友善的、善社交的、自信的

16、和活躍的個性有關(guān)。外向的人喜歡人群、大的團體和聚會。在外向性特質(zhì)上得分高的個人具有社交優(yōu)勢、毫不猶豫地發(fā)言的特點。另一方面，那些得分較低的個人被描述為更為喜歡躲在隱蔽處和傾向于讓其他人發(fā)言。顯然地，團體對外向的人來說是重要的。因此，我們提出如下假設(shè)：</p><p>　　H4:外向型的人格特質(zhì)與品牌社群認(rèn)同正相關(guān)</p><p>　　在宜人性人格特質(zhì)得分高的人們被描述為溫厚的、寬容的、彬彬

17、有禮的、樂于助人的、慷慨的和善于合作的。人們認(rèn)為具有宜人性人格特質(zhì)的個人特別無私的、富有同情心的和渴望幫助別人，同時這種人格特質(zhì)的特點是個人爭取合作而不是競爭。因此，宜人性包括和他人保持令人愉悅、使人滿意的關(guān)系。</p><p>　　在一個組織背景下，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)具有高宜人性的雇員對組織展示出更高水平的情感依賴、認(rèn)同和參與。品牌社群重要特征之一是它的成員“樂于幫助其他成員、參與集體活動，另外通過社區(qū)認(rèn)可和加強他們對自

18、身和他人的價值的方式持之以恒地做出相應(yīng)的行動。因此，我們假設(shè)：</p><p>　　H5: 宜人性的人格特質(zhì)與品牌社群參與正相關(guān)。</p><p>　　哈雷摩托車擁有者團體的研究表明參與品牌社群可以增加成員對哈雷品牌的偏好、品牌承諾和使成員進行口碑宣傳。品牌社群成員會增加品牌知識的共享、支持彼此和就產(chǎn)品本身進行交流溝通。最近，埃利奧特和亞倫泊路發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣一個事實，品牌信任可以通過親密的人的推

19、薦產(chǎn)生，比如朋友或家人。當(dāng)這些受信任的人們依賴某一品牌和提倡這一品牌，新的消費者可能將對這些人的信任轉(zhuǎn)移到這一品牌上。這也許與品牌社群的大環(huán)境也有關(guān)，消費者認(rèn)為在品牌社群中，其他的社群成員就像志趣相同的個體在分享他們對某一品牌或產(chǎn)品的喜愛。通過品牌社群，顧客們培養(yǎng)他們與品牌的關(guān)系。這些機制會導(dǎo)致品牌信任。喬胡瑞和霍布魯克定義品牌信任為消費者愿意依靠品牌的能力來執(zhí)行其規(guī)定的功能。由此，我們提出如下假設(shè)：</p><p&

20、gt;　　H6:品牌社群認(rèn)同會增加品牌信任。</p><p>　　阿格西姆等人研究了品牌社群成員之間的社交互動，從而發(fā)現(xiàn)個人對品牌社群的認(rèn)同可以極大地影響他們品牌社群參與的水平。巴哥哲和杜拉卡認(rèn)為當(dāng)一個人對品牌社群的認(rèn)同增加和培養(yǎng)參與團體活動，更大范圍的品牌參與就會發(fā)生，這會促進品牌形象與個人身份地位的同化，并且他們預(yù)測品牌社群中正在進行的活動會證實和加強顧客與品牌的聯(lián)系。這符合伊斯卡拉和貝特關(guān)于參考群體對顧客與

21、品牌的聯(lián)系的影響的論證。他們論證了使用參考群體的品牌是品牌聯(lián)想的來源，還有當(dāng)他們的參考群體與品牌、參考群體與顧客的自我概念有著強大的聯(lián)系時，顧客們就會發(fā)展出自我與品牌的聯(lián)系。因為品牌社群對那些屬于社群的個人來說是重要的和有價值的群體，同時這些品牌社群是圍繞被喜歡的品牌而形成的，我們認(rèn)為個人對品牌社群的認(rèn)同會對他們品牌忠誠的意圖有著強烈的和積極的影響。因為，我們提出如下假設(shè)：</p><p>　　H7:品牌社群認(rèn)同

22、與增加品牌忠誠有聯(lián)系。</p><p><b>　　4 品牌信任與忠誠</b></p><p>　　摩根和漢特認(rèn)為信任是任何長期關(guān)系的關(guān)鍵因素。如果人們信任另一方，他們很有可能會對另一方建立某種形式的積極的行為意圖。作為品牌信任的重要后果，品牌忠誠已經(jīng)被概念化，作為對品牌的行為意圖或者作為實際中購買行為的一種模式，或者兩者兼有。品牌信任與品牌偏好也被看作品牌承諾的培養(yǎng)

23、元素之一，在市場中這將一次對品牌的成功產(chǎn)生重要影響。德爾加多和姆奴爾發(fā)現(xiàn)品牌信任對顧客承諾有強大的影響，他們被認(rèn)為是除了品牌回購意圖的，品牌忠誠的一個因素。在一個更加近期的研究，他們論證了品牌信任對品牌忠誠的積極影響就像這樣。借鑒關(guān)系營銷和品牌承諾的承諾—信任理論，喬胡瑞和霍布魯克提出品牌信任和品牌偏好對態(tài)度上的忠誠和回購行為有強大的影響。品牌信任會導(dǎo)致更高水平的忠誠，因為信任使彼此間的交易關(guān)系更具價值。因為，基于喬胡瑞和霍布魯克的發(fā)現(xiàn)

24、和他們的理論論證，我們提出如下假設(shè)：</p><p>　　H8: 品牌信任與忠誠意圖正相關(guān)。</p><p><b>　　5 討論與啟示</b></p><p>　　在本次研究中，我們關(guān)注品牌社群中的兩個中心關(guān)系：顧客個人與品牌、顧客與品牌社群之間的關(guān)系。品牌依戀具體體現(xiàn)了第一次關(guān)系類型，成員對品牌社群的認(rèn)同會加強他或她與品牌社群本身的關(guān)系。為

25、了研究迄今為此被忽視的這些關(guān)系，我們調(diào)查了個人因素，還有產(chǎn)品依戀和社群認(rèn)同的重要作用。</p><p>　　本次研究成果對品牌方面的文獻貢獻有如下兩條。第一，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)個人在人格特質(zhì)方面的差別確實影響成員對品牌社群的認(rèn)同，同時在品牌中品牌社群認(rèn)同也是導(dǎo)致品牌忠誠的重要變量。從而，一個人是否與社群發(fā)展緊密的聯(lián)系取決于他們自己是否傾向于這么做。</p><p>　　外向的人，就是那些友善的、善于

26、社交的、自信的、樂于交易和活躍的人。他們更可能留戀一個品牌社群，把他們與社群中其他的成員看成一樣，與品牌社群中其他成員簡歷友誼，共享共同的目標(biāo)，把他們自身看作品牌社群的一部門等等。</p><p>　　而對于那么不那么外向額顧客，品牌社群就顯得不那么重要。這個發(fā)現(xiàn)對市場營銷理論和實踐有著重要意義。這有助于通常調(diào)查品牌社群成員關(guān)系的因變量和作用的研究，還有品牌社群認(rèn)同的研究，特別是關(guān)注這種行為的個人因素。這個發(fā)現(xiàn)的

27、實際意義是外向的人更可能將他們自身看作與社群一樣，并且社群認(rèn)同影響品牌忠誠。對那些想建立或支持品牌社群的市場營銷經(jīng)理來說是個很重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)。</p><p>　　在個性的基礎(chǔ)上剖析部分顧客可以引導(dǎo)與品牌社群中那些更可能變得活躍的、感興趣的、樂于參與的成員的溝通的策略和方式，再逐個變成品牌口碑營銷者。</p><p>　　與我們的預(yù)期相反，人格特質(zhì)中的宜人性對品牌社群認(rèn)同沒有明顯的影響。這個假

28、設(shè)是由理論推導(dǎo)出來的，并定義具有宜人性人格特質(zhì)的個體是那些樂于助人、富有合作性的人，喜歡與其他人保持令人愉悅、令人滿意的關(guān)系。此外，在組織性行為的實證研究中，人們確實發(fā)現(xiàn)宜人性的雇員對組織有著更強的依戀與認(rèn)同，并更加愿意參與組織。對于品牌社群，我們不能確定在宜人性人格特質(zhì)和品牌社群認(rèn)同之間存在著預(yù)期的關(guān)系。社群的特征可以解釋這一點。職業(yè)關(guān)系是持久性的關(guān)系，雇員通常只有很少的自由參與小組和工作團隊，更多地取決于其他人和必須做出的貢獻，然而

29、品牌社群是完全自由的關(guān)系，成員可以決定是否、合適、如何和以什么程度與何人互動，同時個人是出于內(nèi)在的動機與其他人合作。品牌社群基于共同利益形成，并且根本上取決于成員間的社交互動。這樣一個社群比一個職業(yè)化關(guān)系更加出于人們的自愿，因此要求較少的貢獻。</p><p>　　然而，將外向性與品牌認(rèn)同缺失的關(guān)系歸因于社群的特征，這只是一個推測，并且需要更多的理論和實證研究。與顧客個性有聯(lián)系的另一個變量強烈地影響我們研究的第二

30、種關(guān)系——是與品牌化的產(chǎn)品之間的關(guān)系。產(chǎn)品與顧客自我感知的一致性影響著兩者關(guān)系的強度。因此，我們認(rèn)為與個人相關(guān)的變量時品牌依戀和品牌社群認(rèn)同重要的因變量。第二，我們的研究同時調(diào)查了社群的作用和作為兩個中心的購買后變量的產(chǎn)品的作用。這表明品牌社群認(rèn)同對顧客品牌忠誠有著直接的影響，產(chǎn)品依戀對顧客品牌忠誠有著直接和間接的影響。這是重要的，因為從業(yè)者跟上品牌社群的潮流，主要是因為它有更高的財務(wù)收入的承諾。</p><p>

31、;　　然而，我們十分驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)在品牌社群認(rèn)同和品牌信任之間沒有明顯的關(guān)系。在本次研究中，我們 使用一個等級，基于作為預(yù)期的信任的定義而開發(fā)出來，并且用來衡量信任的兩個特定的成分，比如，品牌可靠度，這是基于在多大程度上顧客相信品牌實現(xiàn)了其承諾的價值；品牌意圖，這是基于多大程度上顧客相信當(dāng)消費產(chǎn)品時，面對無法預(yù)期的問題出現(xiàn)，品牌比起自身的利益更注重顧客的利益。</p><p>　　因此，這個品牌信任的概念與喬胡瑞和霍

32、布魯克的概念在三個方面不同。第一，他們的定義關(guān)注品牌之前的表現(xiàn)，但是卻忽略了與之關(guān)聯(lián)的動機方面，這將扼殺現(xiàn)象中概念的豐富性。第二，德爾加多的概念沒有將行為意愿加入他們的定義。第三，德爾加多的定義與它的兩個維度反映了作為消費者的合作伙伴的品牌的質(zhì)量。因此，信任的概念和操作原理更加具體而明確，并且可能能夠解釋一些沒有預(yù)期到的結(jié)果。這里，額外的研究顯然是很有必要的。</p><p>　　我們相信我們的發(fā)現(xiàn)將會使人們對品

33、牌社群的社群相關(guān)和產(chǎn)品相關(guān)的部分的形成有個更好的理解。它們表明至少存在兩種路線可以獲得品牌忠誠和品牌信任。因此，他們主要根據(jù)顧客自身和他們的個性就能夠獲得忠誠于品牌的和信任品牌的顧客，通過他們個人對品牌化的產(chǎn)品的依戀或者通過他們與社群的強聯(lián)系。這可能進一步意味著，那些不太愿意加入品牌社群的顧客，但是因為他們與在市場上以某品牌名銷售的產(chǎn)品的情感紐帶，他們成為了品牌社群的成員。</p><p><b>　　

34、附件2：外文原文</b></p><p>　　Personality, person–brand fit, and brand community:</p><p>　　An investigation of individuals, brands, and brand</p><p>　　Communities</p><p>

35、　　Kurt Matzler</p><p>　　1 Introduction</p><p>　　Abundant research on brand communities, including those centered on Apple’s Macintosh, Harley Davidson, and the Volkswagen Golf GTI, as well as on

36、 communities focused on science fiction and fantasy consumption, evidences the substantial interest in brand communities in the academic and applied marketing literature and supports their practical relevance. A brand co

37、mmunity is defined as a ‘specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admi</p><p>　　Brand communities are germane to marketing managers for at leas

38、t three reasons. First, they can be important sources of market information. Community members usually possess a lot of product knowledge, discuss new product introductions, functionalities of the product, marketing camp

39、aigns, or can even have ideas for new product development. Second, brand communities are often considered as distinct market segments that are addressed with specific marketing initiatives. Third, brand communities ca<

40、;/p><p>　　With regard to brand communities, there are three central relationships that influence consumer behavior: customer to brand, customer to customer, and customer to community. In the current study, we f

41、ocus on two of those relationships: customer to brand (specifically the customer’s product attachment) and customer to community (specifically the member’s identification with the brand community). In the literature revi

42、ew that appears next, we discuss customer–brand relationships in general and, in</p><p>　　2 The consumer–product relationship in brand communities</p><p>　　Products are not bought for their func

43、tional benefits alone. Beyond their utilitarian value, product and brands can be understood and utilized as symbols carrying social meaning. Research has shown that consumers purposefully choose products for their meanin

44、gs and because others will associate this meaning with the consumer. When using or displaying an object – including a branded product – its meaning is transferred to the user or consumer. Veblen showed in his seminal wor

45、k on conspicuous consu</p><p>　　Those objects that consumers feel attached to, in turn, are able to ‘provide individualized cues for self-expression’. They enable consumers to express their identity. They ar

46、e considered as very apt for doing so because of their intense relation to the consumer’s personality. Thus one way that objects are relevant to consumers is because they contribute to and communicate the consumer’s self

47、-image and personality. The products’ contribution to the individual’s sense of self (in terms of establi</p><p>　　H1: Person–brand congruity is related to product attachment.</p><p>　　Product a

48、ttachment relates to the consumer’s attachment to the possession of a specific object. Schultz Kleine and Baker argue that brand bonds and possession attachments should be considered as related but distinct phenomena. Ta

49、ngible possessions for which consumers develop attachments are irreplaceable and have the potential for carrying indexical value, as the ‘specific object . . . has been psychologically appropriated, deco modified, and si

50、ngularized through person–object interaction’. Henc</p><p>　　Brand loyalty has been defined as ‘a(chǎn) deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereb

51、y causing repetitive same-brand or same brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior’. For loyalty to occur, frequent or cumulative satisfact

52、ion episodes that become aggregated or blended are necessary. In other words, when products deliver value to the customer in single us</p><p>　　Product attachment by definition describes a very close relatio

53、nship with the product, as this product – as a durable good with repeated usage episodes - strongly satisfies the customer’s needs. Since the product, in the context of brand communities, is a branded object, we assume t

54、hat the brand is seen as an integral aspect of the product itself and that, therefore, it can be expected that attachment to the discrete product leads to both loyalty and trust to the brand associated with it.</p>

55、<p>　　H2: Product attachment is related to customers’ intentions to stay loyal to the brand.</p><p>　　H3: Product attachment is related to brand trust.</p><p>　　3 The consumer–community r

56、elationship in brand communities</p><p>　　The community member’s identification with the brand community is seen as a central characteristic of a brand community. It has been defined as ‘the perception of be

57、longing to a group with the result that a person identifies with that group’. Previous research has shown that IWC is an important determinant of the community member’s behavior. IWC has a cognitive component (the consum

58、er’s self-awareness of the membership with the community and the perceived similarities with the community members)</p><p>　　Relying on personality research, we assume that a community member’s relationship

59、with the community in total depends on his/her individual personality. The ‘Big Five’ personality traits consisting of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness constitute a pattern of tra

60、its across individuals. These five personality traits have been theorized, empirically investigated, and confirmed in numerous empirical studies. Many studies also link personality traits to differe</p><p>　

61、　Extraversion is associated with being sociable, gregarious, assertive, and active. Extraverts like people and prefer large groups and gatherings. Individuals with high scores on extraversion have been characterized as s

62、ocially ascendant, speaking without hesitation. On the other hand, individuals with low scores are described as preferring to keep in the background and tending to let others do the talking. Obviously, the group is impor

63、tant to extraverts. Hence, we hypothesize that:</p><p>　　H4: Extraversion is positively related to the community member’s identification with the brand community.</p><p>　　People who score high

64、on agreeableness are described as being good-natured, forgiving, courteous, helpful, generous, and cooperative. It is also argued that agreeable individuals are especially altruistic, sympathetic, and eager to help other

65、s, and this personality trait is characterized by the individual’s strive for cooperation rather than competition. Hence, agreeableness involves getting along with others in pleasant, satisfying relationships. In an orga

66、nizational setting, it has been found </p><p>　　H5: Agreeableness is positively related to the community member’s identification with the brand community.</p><p>　　Studies on the Harley-Davidson

67、’s Harley Owners’ Group show that participation in this brand community increases members’ affection for the Harley brand, increasing their brand commitment and making the members evangelists. Community members increase

68、knowledge sharing among them, support each other, and communicate about the product. Recently, Elliot and Yannopoulou found evidence that trust towards a brand can be created through recommendations of close peers, such

69、as friends or family members. </p><p>　　H6: Identification with the brand community increases Brand Trust. </p><p>　　Algesheimer et al. studied social interactions among brand community members

70、and found that the individuals’ identification with the brand community has a strong impact on their level of community engagement. Bagozzi and Dholakia argue that when ‘one’s social identity with the brand community inc

71、reases and participation in group activities is fostered, a greater involvement with the brand occurs, which should promote the assimilation of the brand’s images into one’s identity’, and they predict t</p><p

72、>　　H7: Identification with the brand community is associated with increased brand loyalty.</p><p>　　4 Brand trust and loyalty</p><p>　　Morgan and Hunt consider trust as the key factor of any

73、long-term relationship. If people trust another party, it is likely that they will develop some form of positive behavioral intention towards the other party. Brand loyalty, as an important consequence of brand trust, ha

74、s been conceptualized either as a behavioral intention towards the brand or as an actual pattern of purchase behavior or both. Brand trust together with brand affect is also seen as one of the fostering elements of brand

75、 com</p><p>　　H8: Brand trust is positively related to loyalty intentions.</p><p>　　5 Discussion and implications</p><p>　　In this study, we focused on two central relationships wit

76、hin brand communities: the relationship between the individual customer and the brand and the relationship between the customers to the brand community. Product attachment embodies the first relationship type, while the

77、member’s identification with the brand community captures the strength of his or her ties to the community itself. In order to examine heretofore neglected aspects of these relationships, we investigated individual deter

78、mi</p><p>　　The results of this study contribute to the branding literature in two ways. First, we find that individual differences in personality traits actually influence the brand community member’s ident

79、ification with the community, which itself is considered an important variable that influences loyalty intentions towards the brand. Thus whether one develops strong ties with the community depends on one’s own inclinati

80、on to do so.</p><p>　　Extraverts, people who are sociable, gregarious, assertive, socially ascendant, and active, are more likely to feel attached to a brand community, to identify themselves with other memb

81、ers of the community, to build friendships with other community members, to share the same objectives, to see themselves as part of the community, and so on. For customers who are less extraverted, brand community is les

82、s important. This finding has important implications for marketing theory and for practice. It </p><p>　　Profiling segments of customers based on personality can guide the tailoring and targeting of communic

83、ations towards those most likely to become active, interested, and engaged members of the brand community and, in turn, to become brand evangelists.</p><p>　　Contrary to our expectations, the personality tra

84、it agreeableness has no significant impact on the individual’s identification with the brand community. This hypothesis was formulated based on theory and construct definitions that describes agreeable individuals as hel

85、pful, cooperative, and interested in getting along with others in pleasing, satisfying relationships and on empirical studies in organizational behavior that indeed found that agreeable employees show a higher attachmen

86、t to, ident</p><p>　　To attribute the missing relationship between extraversion and identification with the brand community on the nature of the community, however, is a speculation and needs more theoretica

87、l and empirical investigation. Another variable that is related to the consumer’s personality strongly influences the second important relationship we examined – that to the branded product. The product’s congruity with

88、customers’ self-perceptions influences the strength of this relationship. Hence, we show that </p><p>　　Second, our study simultaneously investigates the role of the community and the role of the product as

89、antecedents of two central post-purchase variables. It has been shown that IWC has a direct and product attachment a direct and an indirect impact on customers’ loyalty intentions. This is important, since practitioners

90、jump on the brand community bandwagon mainly for its promise of higher financial revenues.</p><p>　　We were, however, surprised to find no significant relationship between identification with the brand commu

91、nity and brand trust. In this study, we used a scale that was developed based on the definition of trust as expectancy and to measure two specific components of trust, i.e. </p><p>　　brand reliability, which

92、 is based on the extent to which the consumer believes that the brand accomplishes its value promise, and brand intentions, which is based on the extent to which the consumer believes that the brand would hold consumers’

93、 interest ahead of its self-interest when unexpected problems with the consumption of the product arise’, p. 575).</p><p>　　Hence, this conceptualization of brand trust differs from Chaudhuri and Holbrook’s

94、conceptualization in three ways. First, their definition focuses on the perceived performance of the brand but ignores the motivational aspects associated with it, ‘which may strangle the conceptual richness of the pheno

95、menon’ (p. 576). Second, Delgado-Ballester’s conceptualization does not incorporate the behavioral willingness into their definition. Third, Delgado-Ballester’s definition with its two dimensions r</p><p>　　

96、We believe that our findings contribute to a better understanding of the formation of community-related and product-related aspects of a brand community. They show that there are at least two routes that allow for attain

97、ing brand loyalty and brand trust. Thus, depending mainly on the consumers themselves and their personality, they can obtain loyal and trusting customers of the brand either via their personal attachment to the branded p