Ciencias Administrativas, Teoría y Praxis

Num. 2 o 12, Julio-Diciembre 2016, pp. 211-225

 

You love it, i love it, too: a social network analysis approach to brand love1

 

Lo amas, yo también lo amo: las redes sociales como enfoque en el análisis del amor hacia las marcas

 

Teresa Treviño*, Flor Morton**, Carolina Robles***

 


Abstract

 

Brand love is a persons emotional attachment to a brand. We propose that brand love cannot be separated from the social context in which it exists. This papers objective is to analyze how different aspects of a persons network influence the love that a person feels toward a brand. Our research contributes to the existing branding literature by identifying: a) the more a person consumes a brand, the greater love the consumer feels toward that brand; b) men and women love (or express their love) for brands in significantly different ways, and women are likely to express or feel greater brand love than men; and c) differences in consumers’ ages have an impact on brand love. Additionally, by using a personal network analysis approach, we conclude that people who love a brand and occupy a central position in the participants network have a greater influence on the participants brand love. Furthermore, the results suggest that people of the same gender as the participant will have a greater influence on the brand love that the participant feels as well. Overall, these findings suggest that attitudes toward brands are socially constructed.

 

Keywords: brand love, reference groups, social network analysis, homophily, centrality.


Resumen

El amor hacia una marca se refiere al apego emocional  que  tiene  un  consumidor  hacia ésta.  En  este  trabajo,  se  propone  que  el amor a la marca se debe de entender en el contexto en el que este fenómeno existe. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar cómo los diferentes aspectos de las relaciones personales de un consumidor influyen en el amor que éste siente hacia una determinada marca. Específicamente, nuestra investigación contribuye  a  la  literatura  de  mercadotecnia al identificar que: a) Entre más se consuma una marca, mayor será el apego emocional del  consumidor  hacia  ésta;  b)  los  hombres y las mujeres aman (o expresan su amor) a las marcas de diferentes maneras, siendo las mujeres  quienes  tienen  mayor  probabilidad de expresar el amor hacia una marca; y c) las diferencias en las edades de los consumidores influyen en el amor hacia las marcas. Adicionalmente, mediante un análisis de redes personales, se concluye que los consumidores que aman a una marca y que ocupan una posición central en la red del participante, tienen mayor influencia en el amor de marca que siente el participante. Además, los resultados sugieren que la igualdad de género entre participante y personas en su red, tiene mayor  influencia en el amor de marca que


 

1 Un resumen del presente artículo fue presentado y publicado en la memoria del Tercer Coloquio de Mercadotecnia de la EGADE Business School efectuado en Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, el 12 de Diciembre, 2013.

*    Doctora en Ciencias Administrativas, Profesora de Cátedra, Tecnológico de Monterrey. E-mail: ttreviño@itesm.mx

**   Doctora en Ciencias Administrativas, Profesora de Cátedra, Tecnológico de Monterrey. E-mail: flormorton@itesm.mx

***  Maestra en Mercadotecnia, Candidata a Doctorado en Ciencias Administrativas, Tecnológico de Monterrey.

E-mail: crobles@tca-ss.com

Artículo recibido: 5 de febrero de 2016

Artículo aceptado: 10 de junio de 2016


 


dicho participante siente. En general, estos resultados sugieren que las actitudes hacia las marcas especialmente el amor de marca - se construyen socialmente.

Palabras  clave:  amor  de  marca,  grupos de referencia, análisis de redes sociales, homofilia, centralidad.

Clasificación JEL: M30

Introduction

Brand  love  is  a  concept  that  encapsulates the relationship between consumers and their brands,  how  this  relationship  is  developed and strengthened, and the consequences of this  relationship. According  to  the  literature, brand love is equivalent to interpersonal love; a person falls in love with a brand due to its qualities, and this love can then grow over time (Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2012). Previous research   has   focused   on   studying   brand love as an individual behavior that a person develops. Other research has addressed the antecedents and consequences of brand love, such as brand loyalty and positive word-of- mouth (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006).

However, what remains unclear is how other individuals influence consumers in this area, encouraging them to fall and/or stay in love with a brand. We propose that brand love cannot be separated from the social context in which it exists.

The literature on reference group theory is a relevant basis for this research. It is said that people tend to compare themselves with others because the latter serve as a source of information that facilitates decision-making and criteria selection. Using reference group theory to analyze consumer behavior is interesting, as previous research has shown that there is congruency between group membership and brand usage (Escalas & Bettman, 2003).

Some   concepts   from   social   network theory can also be used to examine how the characteristics of the members of a persons network influence this persons decisions with respect to brands. More specifically, homophily, which suggests that people with similar characteristics tend to interact more frequently,


and centrality, which recognizes the influence of the most central person in a network, may be relevant to the concept of brand love. Additionally, concordantly to literature on social networks, in this paper we refer to the focal node  as  “ego”  and “alters” to  the nodes to which the ego is directly connected (Borgatti, Mehra, Brass, & Labianca, 2009).

 

This papers objective is to analyze how different aspects of a persons network influence the love that this person feels for a brand. In our research, we attempt to understand how the characteristics of the members in a persons close network affect the love that this person feels for a brand.

 

This paper is structured as follows. The first section addresses the literature on brand love and references concepts from group theory and social network theory that help to form a foundation for the present research. The second section presents the methodology used to collect and analyze the data. The third section presents the results of the statistical analysis. Next, the findings are discussed. Finally, the implications of the results are described, and possibilities for further research are suggested.

 

Literature review

 

Brand love

 

The   choice   of   one   brand   over   another presents an opportunity for consumers to show themselves to others as they are or as they wish to be (Parker, 2009). Brands reinforce how consumers see themselves; consumers choose brands that are congruent with their self-image  (Maehle,  Otnes,  &  Supphellen,

2011). Self-congruity theory explains that consumers prefer brands that have a symbolic meaning that matches their self-perception; consumers become more emotionally attached to brands that are congruent with what they are, want, or wish to be (Govers & Schoormans,

2005; Sirgy, 1982).

 

Aaker  and  Fournier  (1995)  argued  that “the brand is treated as an active, contributing partner in the dyadic relationship that exists


 


between the person and the brand” (Aaker & Fournier, 1995, p. 393). Previous research has established that consumers develop a sense of security by creating connections with their brands  and  that  they  develop  relationships with their brands as they do with other people (Fournier, 1998). Brand love is a feeling within the consumer-brand relationship and is often described as having elements, characteristics, and dimensions that are similar to those of interpersonal love (Batra et al., 2012).

 

According to Batra et al. (2012), the elements of the brand love prototype are antecedents, the core, and consequences. The antecedents of brand love are what cause consumers to fall in love with a brand: the brands exemplary qualities  (Batra,  et  al.,  2012).  The  core  of brand love is the consumers feelings for the brand, and the elements of the consumer- brand relationship that might deepen that bond are: (1) strongly held values and existential meaning, (2) intrinsic rewards, (3) self-identity, (4) positive affect, (5) passionate desire and a sense of natural fit, (6) emotional bonding and anticipated heartbreak, (7) willingness to invest, (8) frequent thought and use, and (9) length of use (Batra, et al., 2012). Finally, the consequences of brand love are the consumer actions  and  intentions  that  are  associated with brand love: (1) repurchase intentions, (2) willingness to pay a higher price, (3) positive word-of-mouth (WOM), and (4) resistance to negative information (Batra, et al., 2012).

 

Because   the   repurchase   or   frequent use of items by a particular brand reflects a consumers loyalty to the brand and because consumer loyalty is highly correlated with brand love (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006), we hypothesize that the more a person visits or consumes the brand´s beverages, the greater his/her brand love for that company will be.

 

H1: The more the ego visits/consumes the brand (Ego Frequency), the greater the egos brand love.

 

Past research suggests that men and women differently express emotions such as happiness,  sadness,  loneliness,  and  love,


indicating that women tend to express these emotions  more  than  men  do  (Balswick  & Avertt, 1977; Brody, 1985; Simpson & Stroh,

2004). For example, the results of a study of the gender differences in self-rated emotional expressiveness  show  that,  in  general, women  have  significantly  higher  confidence in expressing their love or affection to males than vice versa (Blier & Blier-Wilson, 1989). Additionally, because previous research in marketing describes brand love as having characteristics,   elements,   and   dimensions that are similar to those of interpersonal love (Batra et al., 2012), we believe that men and women will also differently express their love of particular brands. More specifically, we hypothesize that women will express greater brand love than men.

 

H2: Women (Ego Female) will be more likely to express brand love than men.

 

Other research about brand behavior and choice has shown that age is positively related to brand loyalty, which means that older people tend to exhibit more loyal behavior toward brands. Previous studies about age and brand behaviors  show  that  “middle-aged”  people are more likely to express high loyalty to brands (Wood, 2004). Because loyalty is one variable that is related to brand love, indicating strong attachment to a particular brand, we propose that this age-loyalty phenomenon can also be applied to brand love. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

 

H3: The older the ego is (Ego Age), the more brand love the ego will express.

 

Reference groups

 

A  reference  group  can  be  described  as  a social group that is important to a person and against  which  he  or  she  compares  himself or herself. Using reference group theory to analyze consumer behavior is interesting given that previous research has shown that there is  congruency  between  group  membership and brand usage (Escalas & Bettman, 2003). Because consumers use other people as information sources, they also evaluate their


 


beliefs and decisions by comparing those beliefs and decisions with those of other individuals. We argue that consumers actively construct their preferences and, more importantly, their love for brands using their reference groups as a source of information. This conjecture is based on the theory that people tend to behave in a manner that appears consistent with the choices of the social group to which they belong.

 

Two types of reference groups have been identified in previous research. The first group is the normative referents, which include parents, peers and teachers. Because the members in this group interact directly, they influence   the   individuals   attitudes,   values and  norms.  Research  has  proposed  that family members in particular are likely to be of greater importance to the individual because individuals tend to identify more closely with their families. The second group comprises the comparative referents, which include people such as celebrities and professional athletes. Although individuals do not have direct contact with these referents, they provide aspirational behaviors and standards that others emulate (Childers & Rao, 1992).

 

The  literature also suggests that  society can influence purchase decisions. Specifically for products that are classified as high in social involvement,  the  influence  of  ones  social group on brand choice has been found to be significant (Witt & Bruce, 1972). Because the selected brand for this study can be considered a brand that involves socialization, we propose that the influence of the group members in a persons close network and the degree to which those members love this brand will influence that persons brand love. In other words, if A (ego) has close friends, family, or coworkers (alters) who love this brand, the more likely it is that s/he will love the brand as well.

 

Social networks

 

Centrality

 

Centrality is one of the most important structural attributes of social networks. The concept of


centrality  has  been  widely  discussed,  and it can be described as the node or point in a network that occupies the most central position. A person who is positioned on the central node is expected to be structurally more central than any other person in the network (Freeman, 1978). There are several measures that can be used to analyze centrality, such as degree, betweenness, and closeness. The concept of centrality is relevant to this research because we suggest that a persons structural position will help to determine his/her level of influence. For example, if A is a central person in the network of his/her friend B, then A will influence B to a greater degree. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

 

H4: The more central the network position of an alter who loves the brand (Central Alter Brand Love), the greater the brand love of the ego.

 

Homophily

 

Homophily is a phenomenon in which contact between similar people occurs more frequently than contact among dissimilar people (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001). This concept is especially interesting in the context of this research because we are attempting to study how people who engage in a specific behavior (consuming one brand and loving it) influence another persons brand consumption and love. Previous research has found that the demographic characteristics of a person, such as age and gender, usually show substantial homophily (McPherson, et. A., 2001). In other words, people of the same sex and age will tend to interact more frequently. In a study of young boys and girls, it was found that boys tend  to  play  with  other  boys  and  that  girls tend to socialize with other girls. Interestingly, girls were shown to interact with smaller and more homogeneous groups (McPherson, et. Al., 2001). With respect to age, studies have also shown that social groups tend to form based on their members’ ages and that these groups may vary depending on the type of ties involved. In the case of friendship, age is one of the dimensions that seem to have a stronger influence  on  homophily  (McPherson,  et  al.,


 


2001).  Taking  previous  findings  about  age and  sex  into  consideration,  we  hypothesize that because women tend to have smaller, more homogeneous and closer networks, the members of their group will influence their brand love decisions to a greater degree.

 

H5: If the alter is the same gender as the ego, the more the alter loves the brand (Alter Gender Brand Love), the greater the egos brand love.


Finally,  because  the  interaction  between the variables is relevant, we also hypothesize that brand love can be understood in terms of several variables, as the following hypothesis describes:

 

H6: Brand love depends on (a) Alter Gender Brand Love, (b) Central Alter Brand Love, (c) Ego Frequency, (d) Ego Age, and (e) Ego Female.


 

 

 

Figure 1: Brand love proposed model

 


Methodology

 

To test our hypotheses, we used a personal network analysis methodology. The three authors conducted individual interviews with the study participants as part of the data collection process. Individual responses were documented  using  the  EGONET  program, a software program that was designed to collect and analyze egocentric network data. This program facilitated the creation of the questionnaire and the data collection process while also providing general global network measures  that  we  used  for  further  analysis in  SPSS.  We  selected  a  popular American coffeehouse brand as the focus of our analysis because this brand has several important characteristics.  First,  because  of  its  more than  23,000  stores  worldwide,  the  brand  is


considered a well-known brand in Mexico and around the world. All of the participants in the study were very familiar with the brand, even if they were non-users or non-frequent users of the brands products. Second, this brand is characterized for being an enabler and promoter of social interaction between people; achieved by the special and personalized experience they provide in all their store locations.

 

A  basic  procedure  for  network  data  is to get respondents (egos) to identify other people (alters) to whom they are directly related and then to ask the ego if the alters are related in some way (Borgatti et al., 2009). Therefore, in this research participants were asked  several  questions  about  their  brand love for this particular brand and were asked


 


to name 15 persons (alters) with whom they interact often. Then, answers to questions about each alter and his/her attitudes toward the brand were recorded, along with answers to questions about the interactions between the participant-alter pairs. To conclude the interview,   the   network   graph   was   shown to the participants and then discussed. In general, all of the participants agreed that the social groups to which they belonged were accurately represented. In total, 40 participants were invited to be part of the experiment following a convenience and snowball sample technique. Since each of the 40 participants (“egos”) answered information about other 15 people, we have information about 600 alters. The interviews were conducted by the three authors, in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. This city is characterized by having strong influence by the US culture, due to the closeness to the American border. Additionally, all participants belong to a medium-high socioeconomic status. The distribution of the sample was 42.5% male and 57.5% female; their ages ranged from 15 to 55 years, with an average of 32 years (SD =

12.05) (for additional demographic information, see Annex1). The participants’ responses were later  grouped  and  analyzed  using  a  series of  linear  regressions  in  SPSS  to  determine the  influence  of  several  variables  on  brand love and the frequency of consumption of the brands products.

 

The interview was divided into three sections. First, the participants personal information was collected, such as demographics and frequency of attending the brands  stores. Additionally,  this  part  of  the interview also focused on measuring brand love. For this construct, items were selected from previous instruments that were intended to  measure  brand  love  (Carroll  &  Ahuvia,

2006; Batr et al., 2012). More specifically, six items were used to measure brand love in this research: a) Ego Love (How much do you love to go to this brands stores?), b) Ego Wellbeing (How good does going to this brands stores make you feel?), c) Ego Happiness (How happy does going to this brands stores make you feel?), d) Ego Fan (How much of a this


brands fan do you consider yourself?), e) Ego Competition (When you are searching for a coffee shop, how often do you wait until you find this brands stores instead of going to the first coffee shop you see?, and f) Ego Price (Do you feel this brand is worth the higher price?). All items were measured using a five-point Likert scale. As the original instruments were in  English,  we  used  qualitative  approaches to construct our instrument: collaborative approach and back translation to capture the same essence of the questions in Spanish (Brislin, 1976; Douglas & Craig, 2007). Although our sample is small, and therefore this study may be considered as explorative in nature, a reliability test was conducted to determine whether these items measure brand love as intended. The Cronbachs Alpha was

.923, which suggested that the items used in the questionnaire could be used to obtain a valid measure of brand love.

 

The second part of the interview considered the network information, in which participants were asked to mention fifteen persons (also known as “alters”) that he/she considers his/ her   closest   relationships.   We   specifically asked participants to mention people from different activities and groups in which they belong, in order to improve the criteria of independence of observations. Additionally, several characteristics for each of the “alters” were  collected,  such  as  age,  gender,  type and strength of relationship, and the extent to which the participant believe this person (“alter”) loves the brand under study. Finally, the software EGONET allows us to question whether different pairs of the mentioned alters are likely to interact without the person (ego) being present. This is especially useful to construct the network and relationships around the main participant. To see the complete interview questions, please see Annex 2.

 

Results

 

Analyzing the individual networks of participants revealed some similarities among the  participants;  however,  the  participants also differed in important ways that are worth discussing. For example, two types of networks


 


were identified. On the one hand, we identified a very dispersed network in which two or more groups were clearly separated (See Figure 2). People in one group were not connected to people in the other groups. The participants who were members of this type of network were usually involved in several activities that did not require interaction among people in various groups. On the other hand, there were


also participants who reported belonging to very close networks in which all or nearly all of the people knew each other or interacted in some way amongst themselves (See Figure 3). Participants who were members of this type of network usually had one main activity in which they could involve family, friends and other acquaintances.


 

 

Figure 2: Dispersed network                              Figure 3: Single group network

 


To test H1, H3, H4, and H5, we conducted correlation analyses for Ego Brand Love and Ego Frequency (H1), Ego Age (H3), Central Alter Brand Love (H4), and Alter Gender Brand Love (H5). The results of these correlation analyses show significant (p=.000) positive correlations between each variable and brand love, providing support for the four hypotheses (See Annex 3).

 

To test H2, we compared the means for brand love for men and women. The results of a Student t-test show that there are significant differences between the two groups’ means for brand love (p=.000), with a mean of 2.382 (SD=.764) for the men and 3.688 (SD= 1.199) for the women. This finding provides support for H2, suggesting that women show greater brand love than men.


Finally, to test H6, we conducted a multiple regression analysis with brand love as the dependent variable and Alter Same Gender Brand  Love,  Central Alter  Brand  Love,  Ego Frequency, Ego Female, and Ego Age as the independent variables. The model was run using 600 observations (previously explained); this model explained a considerable percentage of the variation in the dependent variable, with R2  = .515. In addition, all of the independent variables were significant at a .01 significance level (See Annex 4 and 5). More specifically, based on the coefficients of the regression we found that: (1) the more the ego visits/consumes the brand, the more the egos brand love (ßegofrecuency= .117, t=6.806, p<.01);  (2)  women  expressed  more  brand love than man (ßegofemale= .831, t=10.736,


 


p<.01); (3) the older the ego, the more brand love (ßegoage=.010, t=3.211, p<.01); the more central an alter who loves the brand, the more egos   brand   love   (ßaltercentralbrandlove=

.003,  t=3.693,  p<.01);  and  (4)  the  more  an


alter of the same gender as the ego loves the brand, the more the egos love for the brand (ßaltersamegenderbrandlove=.220, t=10.379, p<.01). (See Figure 4 for the complete model).


 

 

 

Figure 4: Brand love model


Discussions and conclusions

To understand how other individuals encourage consumers to fall in love and/or stay in love with a brand, we analyzed the different aspects of a consumers personal network. Based on this research, we conclude that the love that consumers feel toward a brand is influenced by others, and more specifically, by the characteristics of the persons in their network. These findings are congruent with reference groups literature, as previous studies have suggested  that  decisions  to  select  a  brand can   be   influenced   by   society,   especially when the brand is classified as high in social involvement, or is publicly consumed (Childers

& Rao, 1992).  Additionally, previous research suggested that the construct of social identity within a brand community context, influence brand identification. This phenomenon occurs because increased identification with a particular brand community or group leads to greater involvement with the brand (Bergkvist

& Bech-Larsen, 2010). In line with these ideas,


this research is one of the first to consider and measure the consumers close social ties and analyzes their influence on brand love.

 

In the first phase of our study, we analyzed the personal characteristics of the ego that influence his/her brand love toward this brand. First, we found that the more the consumer visits/consumes the brand, the more brand love the consumer feels for the brand. This finding supported  our  theory  regarding  brand  love and repurchase intentions (Batra, et al., 2012; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006). More specifically, literature has suggested that consumer trust and satisfaction with a brand have an impact on  purchase  intentions  (Zboja  &  Voorhees,

2006). Findings of this research allow us to

expand  this  knowledge,  by  considering  not only  satisfaction  and  trust  as  determinants of repurchase intentions, but also stronger emotional  bonds  -  brand  love.  Additionally, this results may offer managers the vision that focusing on developing more emotional bonds with their consumers is important to achieve


 


desirable post-purchase behaviors (Carroll &

Ahuvia, 2006).

Second, we found that men and women love (or express their love) significantly differently,  and  that  women  are  more  likely to express or feel brand love than men are. This  is  congruent  with  previous  literature on gender and brand relationships, as it has been identified that women exhibit more and stronger  interpersonal  relationships  and brand involvements (Fournier, 1998). Finally, consistent with the brand loyalty literature, we concluded that the older the consumer is, the more likely it is that s/he will feel and/or express brand love.

In the second part of our research, we analyzed the characteristics of consumer networks  that  might  influence  their  love  for the brand. First, we analyzed the centrality of the alters because the most central person in a network may have more influence than the other network members (Freeman, 1978). In a  consumers  (an  egos)  personal  network, the central person (the central alter) is the one who occupies the middle of the egos network, and this individual has a higher probability of knowing and interacting with the rest of the alters. Validating this centrality theory, we conclude that if an alter who loves a brand has a more central network position, the ego will feel greater love for the brand. Second, because people with similar characteristics tend to interact more frequently with each other (homophily), (McPherson, et. al, 2001), we concluded that if the alter is the same gender as the ego, then the more the alter loves the brand, the greater the egos brand love will be.

Overall, the proposed model explains how consumers’ personal and social (network) characteristics influence brand love. We conclude that all of the previously discussed variables combine to influence the brand love that consumers feel. These variables include how frequent the consumer visits/consumes the brand, whether the consumer is a man or a woman, the consumers age, the brand love of the central alter, and whether the alter is the same gender as the consumer.


Implications, limitations and future research

 

The   findings   obtained  in  this  study  may have important theoretical and managerial implications.   In   suggesting   that   attitudes toward brands are socially constructed, we attempt to contribute to brand love theory by generating discussion and further research on this topic. Hopefully, the research presented in this paper will represent one of the first of many attempts to consider the social influence that people have on other individuals’ feelings and emotions about brands. Managers and marketing practitioners can also benefit from this papers results. If it is understood that brand love develops from consumer interactions with others, specific communication strategies can be designed that promote social gatherings related to the brand.

Naturally, this research is not without limitations.  First,  a  relatively  small  sample was used in this first attempt to study this phenomenon. Additional analysis with a larger sample of personal networks may generate more conclusive results. Second, because the methodology employed in this investigation was quantitative, we were unable to develop a full understanding of the phenomenon at play. Future research could use an emic approach to study how a persons network influences his/her brand love. Finally, because the participants answered questions about their perceptions of the feelings that the members of  their  networks  had  about  the  brand,  we did  not  directly  measure  the  alters’  brand love. This is a popular methodology for social networks   studies,   however,   our   database of 600 observations was constructed by 40 participants   that   answer   questions   about their known alters. Additionally, we cannot ignore the fact that people from the same “group” or network tend to be similar among them, meaning that they are likely to not be independent observations per se. Considering all this, our results should be treated as explorative in nature, emphasizing the overall hypotheses  of  this  paper.  Therefore,  next steps for this research could consider directly interviewing the members of each participants


 


network to explore the entire network, and/or utilizing other complex statistical analysis to obtain a more accurate measurement of the construct.

Finally, this research could also be expanded through analyses of other brands that have fewer social implications, such as


toothpaste brands. These brands are not consumed during social interaction; however, close family and friends may still recommend these brands. If such research is conducted, it  will  be  interesting  to  compare  the  results for brand love that are obtained for different product categories.


 


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Annex 1

Participants Demographics

 

 


 

 

Annex 2

Interview in EGONET

 

 

Part I. Egos Personal Information

1. Participants gender.

2. Participants age.

3. How many times a week, approximately, do you attend to this brands stores?

 

 

Brand love scale (Likert Scale, 5 points)

1. How much do you love to go to this brands stores?

2. How good does going to this brands stores make you feel?

3. How happy does going to this brands stores make you feel?

4. How much of this brand fan do you consider yourself?

5. When you are searching for a coffee shop, how often do you wait until you find this brands store instead of going to the first coffee shop you see?

6. Do you feel this brand is worth the higher price?

 

 

Part II. Network Information

Now, please mention 15 persons that you consider are your closest relationships. You can mention friends, family and people from different groups and activities you have.

 

 

Characteristics of each Alter:

1. Age

2. Gender

3. Type of relationship: Family, friend, work friend, other.

4. How important is this person for you.

5. How many times a week do you see this person.

6. How frequent to you attend this brands stores with this person?

7. How much do you think this person loves this brand?

 

 

Part III. Relationship Information

Between actors - for each pair of alters:

1. How likely is that these two persons interact or relate among them without you being present?


 

 

Annex 3

Correlation Analysis

 

 

EF                   EA

CABL

AGBL

EBL

EF Pearson Correlation

.244**

.104*

.343**

.478**

 

Sig.  (2-tailed)

o

 

0.011

o

o

N

600                 600

600

600

600

 

EFEM Pearson Correlation

 

Sig. (2-tailed)

 

.321**                0.034

 

o               0.411

 

.120**

 

0.003

 

.338**

 

o

 

.529**

 

o

N

600                 600

600

600

600

 

EA Pearson Correlation

 

.244**

 

.119**

 

.222**

 

.249**

 

Sig. (2-tailed)

o

 

0.003

o

o

N

600                 600

600

600

600

 

CABL Pearson Correlation

 

.104*               .119**

 

 

.116**

 

.193**

 

Sig. (2-tailed)

o               0.003

 

 

0.004

o

N

600                 600

600

600

600

 

AGBL Pearson Correlation

 

.343**               .222**

 

.116**

 

 

.557**

 

Sig. (2-tailed)

o                      o

 

0.004

 

o

N

600                 600

600

600

600

 

EBL Pearson Correlation

 

.478**               .249**

 

.193**

 

.557**

 

 

Sig.  (2-tailed)

o                      o

o

o

 

N

600                 600

600

600

600

Note: **Correlation    is  significant

at the 0.01   level (2-tailed)

 

 

 

* Correlation is significant  at the 0.05  level (2-tailed)

EF= Ego Frequency,  EA= Ego Age,  CABL= Central Alter Brand Lave,  AGBL=Alter

Gender Brand Lave,  EBL=Ego Brand Love


 

 

Annex 4

Regression Brand Love Model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex 5

Regression analysis-ANOVAb