Emergence of Consumer-Brand Relationship from the Perspective of Schema
Journal
行銷科學學報
Journal Volume
11
Journal Issue
2
Pages
193-227
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
楊達凱(Ta-Kai Yang)
Abstract
A well-established relationship between a consumer andmarketers, including their brands, could be a major source of customer-focused competitive advantage for the firm. Therefore, it is important to understand why consumers form and maintain long-term relationships with some brands and not with others. To address this question, the present study adapts cognition view and develops a schema-based Consumer-Brand Relationship (CBR) process model to explain the mechanism through which consumers mentally represent their relationships with brands. Such a consumer-brand relationship framework attempts to tap into the ＂black box＂ in consumers' minds. The specific objectives of the present study are (1) Uncovering CBR formation process, (2)How schema are developed and affect consumerbrand relationship volatility. (3) Identifying the driver that encourage strengthening the CBR. Broadly, these findings have important implications for CBR and cognition domain. This study adopts qualitative research to explore how differently apple products user in four periods developed a new schema to interpret what became known as Apple Company from 1977-2010. Eighteen Apple product users in Taiwan were recruited for in-depth interviews. This study found that brand activities such as product-related activities, founder-related activities, and community-related activities all cause changes in consumers' cognitive structure. Stages of such changes include assimilation and deconstruction of existing schema, negotiation about the classification of a knowledge structure in the deconstructed schema, and the eventual unitization to form a novel cognitive structure. In addition, stages of schema development may affect the stability of consumer-brand relationships.
Type
journal article