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

Abstract

Brand love is a person’s emotional attachment to a brand. We propose that brand love cannot be separated from the social context in which it exists. This paper’s objective is to analyze how different aspects of a person’s 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 participant’s network have a greater influence on the participant’s 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.