Journal of Product & Brand Management

Brand romance: a complementary approach to explain emotional attachment toward brands

Hemant Patwardhan Siva K. Balasubramanian

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Hemant Patwardhan Siva K. Balasubramanian, (2011),"Brand romance: a complementary approach to explain emotional
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Brand romance: a complementary approach to

explain emotional attachment toward brands
Hemant Patwardhan
Department of Management and Marketing, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA, and

Siva K. Balasubramanian

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Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Abstract
Purpose This research aims to explain consumer attraction to brands when stimulation needs are paramount using the perspective of the SelfExpansion Model. In doing so, it seeks to identiy brand romance a more proximal construct to brand loyalty and aims to offer a complementary
perspective to understand emotional attachment to brands.
Design/methodology/approach A series of four studies developed and validated a three-factor, 12-item measurement scale for brand romance
using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability, convergent, criterion, discriminant and nomological validities were established.
Findings Brand romance is a reliable, valid, and a more proximal construct that explains loyalty significantly better than attitudes.
Research limitations/implications Student subjects constitute the sample and the findings are cautiously generalizable to adult populations.
Future research should focus on teasing out product category effects, extending generalizability to other product categories and integrating the
Attachment Theory perspective with the studys findings to offer a more comprehensive explanation for loyalty.
Practical implications Consumers are likely to remain loyal to brands to which they are attracted. The brand romance construct captures this
attraction. Marketers need to infuse their brands with novel perspectives, resources and identities on a continuous basis to satisfy stimulation needs
and keep the attraction strong. This involves creating new brand associations that help the brand to stay relevant.
Originality/value To the authors knowledge, this is the first study to apply the Self-expansion Model to brand relationships. The research
contributes a unique perspective in explaining emotional attachment to brands brought on by stimulation needs. It fills a gap in the emotional
attachment literature and provides marketers with a tool to monitor consumers attraction to brands.
Keywords Brands, Emotional attachment, Brand loyalty, Self-expansion model, Brand relationships, Scale development, Brand attraction,
Brand management, Consumer behaviour
Paper type Research paper

McAlexander, 1995; Muniz and OGuinn, 2001), brand

commitment (Warrington and Shim, 2000) among others,
and various dimensions like passion, commitment and
intimacy considered by many researchers to better explain
brand loyalty (e.g. Kim et al., 2008).
Insights on emotional attachment to brands are provided by
Attachment Theory (Bowlby, 1979; Hazan and Shaver,
1987). This theory (Bowlby, 1979) was originally proposed to
explain deep attachments that infants formed with caregivers.
Specifically, it posits three features of a strong attachment:
proximity maintenance, safe haven and secure base. The
motive for such attachment may include the need for comfort,
support, security and consistency. For example, in adult
relationships (Hazan and Shaver, 1987) strong attachments
could develop among partners when such needs are fulfilled.
Such partners perceive each other as dependable and
trustworthy. When this theory is extended to consumers
brand relationships, the attachments that arise are also
primarily based on trust, dependability and consistency of
response. That is, consumers become attached to some
brands because they are dependable, consistent and always
there when you need them. Consumers take comfort in the
familiar; the primary motive for the attachment being security
and safety. Thomson et al. (2005) developed a three-factor
(affection, passion and connection) scale for measuring
emotional attachment to brands in a consumer-brand
relationship.

An executive summary for managers and executive

readers can be found at the end of this article.
Emotional attachment to brands has attracted recent research
attention (e.g. Thomson et al., 2005). Researchers have long
considered attitudes to be insufficient predictors of brand
commitment (e.g. loyalty), and suggest that true loyalty
requires the customer to form an emotional bond with the
brand (Park et al., 2009; Oliver, 1999). Calling for greater
research in this area, Park and MacInnis (2006) suggest that
the boundaries of the attitudes construct need to be
recognized so that another construct reflecting emotional
attachment can be articulated. Cohen and Reed (2006) echo
the call for greater research while cautioning against the
dismissal of attitudes in loyalty research. The nature and
character of the emotional attachment construct is reflected in
Fourniers (1998) discussion of brand relationships, brand
love (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006), lovemarks (Pawle and
Cooper, 2006), brand communities (Schouten and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Journal of Product & Brand Management

20/4 (2011) 297 308
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/10610421111148315]

297

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Brand romance: a complementary approach

Journal of Product & Brand Management

Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

However, another kind of attachment may result when the

primary motive is stimulation. Individuals looking for
stimulation may seek out a partner who provides novelty,
excitement, and arousal. Repeated interactions with such a
partner may result in an attachment that is better
characterized as attraction. The relationship features new
experiences, insights and perspectives, not unlike a developing
romantic relationship where partners progressively discover
each other, and long to be together. We believe this type of
attachment, explained by the Self-Expansion Model (Aron
et al., 2001), complements the attachment theory perspective.
For instance, attachment theory suggests that partners engage
in exploration behaviors once a secure base is established.
Pursuit of stimulation is an integral part of exploration
behaviors and the Self-expansion Model may predict another
attachment in the making. Notably, Hazan and Shaver (1994)
acknowledge the existence of multiple attachments and assert
that different attachments satisfy different class of needs.
Furthermore, attachment theory predicts that insecure
attachments inhibit exploration behaviors (Aron and Aron,
2006). That enhanced exploration behaviors compensate for
the insecurity in the attachment is a distinct possibility.
The search for stimulation is fundamental in consumers
shopping behaviors. For instance, Tynan (1997) associates it
with flirting, teasing and unremitting coquettishness.
Brown (2002) mentions that consumers actually love being
teased and tantalized and are repelled by anyone trying too
hard to be their friend. Brown (1998, p. 794) suggests
consumers do fall [. . .] truly, madly, deeply in love with
products and services. They have to have them; they are
passionate about them; they get a quasi-erotic charge from
examining, exhibiting and expending money on them.
Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) explain such consumption
behaviors as being driven by the pursuit of fantasy, feelings
and fun.
Extending this analogy to consumer brand relationships, we
note that consumers perceive some brands as providing
opportunities for stimulation and discovery; they provoke
longing, and offer pleasure from use. The consumers mental
state about such a brand reflects excitement, intense pleasure
and arousal. We focus on this mental state, describe its
properties, and offer empirical support for its existence. In
line with the underlying theme of attraction in romantic
relationships, we call this mental state brand romance. We
further propose that it offers a complementary perspective to
understand brand loyalty. Our approach is motivated by the
call for empirical research to understand the conceptual
properties of brand attachment (Park et al., 2009), and
underscores the wisdom in OMalley and Tynans (1999)
proposition that marketers ought to embrace alternative
metaphors to explain consumer-brand relationships.
The remainder of this paper is devoted to discussing the
theoretical basis of our research and describing the four
studies that validate the proposed construct.

affect. Second, such expansion entails close relationships that

include others in the self i.e. gaining access to others
perspectives (e.g., a partners point of view or biases),
resources (knowledge-based and social assets) and identities
(features, traits that differentiate one person from another). In
close relationships individuals may even perceive these as their
own. The Model suggests that the closer the relationship, the
more the partners perspectives, resources and identities may
be used to attain goals. According to the authors, the
relationship literature has documented the preponderance of
satisfaction and love in the early phase of any romantic
involvement (Aron et al., 2001). This relationship formation
phase depicts exhilaration, fascination and intense longing,
where partners seek to expand their selves through constant,
rapid and intense interactions. This process embeds the other
partner within a given partners self (i.e. gives access to the
other partners perspectives, resources and identities) and
yields positive affect and arousal/approach tendencies.
It is both simple and logical to extend this analogy from
romantic relationships to consumer-brand relationships (also
see examples in Reimann and Aron, 2009). Brands have their
own perspectives, resources and identities. For instance,
Blackberry users assume the brands perspective of doing
important work on the move, identify themselves with the
exclusive class of busy executives and adopt the attitudes
and behaviors of the brand (e.g. beliefs of greater self-worth)
as they proudly carry their telephones. In other words, they
integrate the brands perspectives, resources and identities
into their selves to enhance their ability to achieve certain
goals. This is facilitated through their purchase, ownership
and frequent use of the brand (i.e. forming a relationship with
the brand). Repeated interactions result in high levels of
excited positive affect, feelings of exhilaration and a strong
desire to re-engage with the brand. In sum, this engagement
and identification produces three notable outcomes for the
consumer: positive affect, high arousal, and a strong brand
presence or dominance,
What happens when the consumer brand relationship
matures? Aron et al. (2001) report that when self-expansion
slows down or rendered non-existent, the loss of enjoyable
emotion is disappointing and is attributed to the other
partner, leading to relationship dissolution. To avoid this, the
Self-expansion Model suggests that the partners pursue novel
and arousing activities to ensure its longevity. Novel activities
have new perspectives, resources and identities that motivate
partners to re-engage in the process of including the other in
the self. In a similar vein, a brand must be able to re-invent
itself, possibly through repositioning, creating new sets of
desirable brand associations and discarding older associations,
analogous to Kellers (1999) brand reinforcement and
revitalization strategies for the long run. This relationship
preservation effort by the brand offers consumers a renewed
opportunity for self-expansion. As a result, a thriving and
mature consumer-brand relationship is characterized by the
three outcomes noted earlier: positive affect; arousal, as
consumers exhibit approach tendencies towards a partner
brand; and dominance, as consumers tend to think about the
brand meaningfully and frequently.
In sum, we posit that emotional attachment from attraction
generates positive affect, arousal and dominance that also
constitute the three dimensions of our brand romance
construct.

The Self-expansion Model

The Self-expansion Model (Aron et al., 2001, 1998; Reimann
and Aron, 2009) is the theoretical backdrop for this study,
and rests on two themes. First, the model emphasizes a
central motive whereby individuals seek to expand their selves
by acquiring perspectives, resources and identities to enhance
their ability to achieve goals, in the process generating positive
298

Brand romance: a complementary approach

Journal of Product & Brand Management

Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

Brand romance defined

such dominance is perceived as negative when it limits the

freedom to think or act; but when it does not limit freedom, it
is actually preferred (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974).
The preceding discussion presents brand romance as a
three dimensional construct. To the extent that emotionally
attached partners are more likely to be committed to each
other, we also propose brand romance as an antecedent to
brand loyalty. Thus:

We define brand romance as a state of emotional attachment

(evoked in response to the brand as a stimulus) that is
characterized by strong positive affect toward the brand, high
arousal caused by the brand, and a tendency of the brand to
dominate the consumers cognition. Brand romance is
subject-specific. Different consumers may enjoy different
levels of romance with respect to the same brand. Figure 1
illustrates this definition, key aspects of which are elaborated
next.

P1.

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P2.
Pleasure
To the extent that the stimulus brand imparts pleasure to the
consumer, it is an integral element of brand romance.
Feelings like love, attraction, desire, pleasure, fun and
excitement belong to the same constellation of emotions.
We propose pleasure as the first dimension of brand romance
that associates positive feelings with the brand.

Brand romance is a three-factor (pleasure, arousal, and

dominance) construct (see Figure 1).
Brand romance is an antecedent to brand loyalty.

Brand romance and brand attitude and other

brand-attachment constructs
Park et al. (2009) differentiate emotional attachment to
brands from other brand-related constructs like attitudes,
involvement, commitment and love. As brand romance also
reflects an emotional attachment to a brand, we believe that it
is similarly different from these constructs. For instance, the
authors assert that consumers can be strongly involved with a
brand with which they have no emotional connection.
Involvement taps into the realm of cognition (Zaichkowski,
1986) while romance arguably taps into the realm of affect as
well. Brand romance is also different from brand
commitment. The latter is best characterized as an outcome
of an emotional attachment to a brand, rather than the
attachment itself. Besides, consumers may be committed to a
brand for reasons other than romance, like lack of competing
alternatives or moral or contractual obligations. Brand
romance bears some similarity with brand love (Ahuvia et al.,
2009; Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006). Love is the emotion that
one may develop pursuant to a strong attraction, while some
attachments based on attraction may not develop into love.
Thus brand love would indicate the presence of attraction.
Thus we suggest that romance characterizes the attraction,
while love may/may not develop eventually. Similarly
consumers may feel an intense attraction to certain brands
though they may not be agreeable to declaring their love for
these brands just yet.
Park et al. (2009) also point out that attitudes are based on
a thoughtful process involving a considerable analysis of the
brands merits. The affect component in an attitude is likened
to cold affect (Cohen and Areni, 1991) as opposed to
emotional attachment being more associated with hot affect
(Mikulincer et al., 2001). Several theories (e.g. Expectancy
Value Model (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975); Low Involvement
Theory (Krugman, 1977); Affect Primacy (Zajonc, 1980))
suggest that beliefs and/or affect are formed by mere exposure
to a stimulus. Since attitude is the cumulation of such beliefs
and/or affect, it may be argued that mere exposure to an
object may be enough to form an attitude to the object. Brand
romance however, is characterized by arousal and dominance,
so consumers are likely to have progressed beyond attitude
formation to expressing a desire to purchase/consume the
brand. Note that the conative stage in the Hierarchy-ofEffects model (Lavidge and Steiner, 1961) follows attitude
formation; it is also a necessary step to develop brand loyalty.
Therefore, in a nomological net context, brand romance not
only differs from brand attitude, it appears closer to brand
loyalty than brand attitude (see Figure 2):

Arousal
Even if positive feelings characterize consumer-brand
relationships, they must be intense enough to arouse the
consumer in order to be meaningful or effective. As discussed
earlier, self-expansion may find expression in shopping
experiences via strong arousal and approach tendencies.
Mehrabian and Russell (1974) summarized evidence in
support of a positive relationship between the intensity of
pleasure and the tendency to approach a stimulus. According
to them, physical approach, preference, liking or positive
attitudes, exploration, performance and affiliation reach a
peak at a moderate level of arousal. Therefore arousal is
proposed as the second dimension of brand romance.
Dominance
This characteristic captures the brands tendency to engage
the consumers cognition. Oliver (1999) and Schouten and
McAlexander (1995) report the complete immersion of
Harley Davidson bikers within their community, thereby
vividly illustrating the centrality of the focus brand in their
lives. Extant research on brand communities (e.g.
McAlexander et al., 2002) depicts the extent to which
brands [. . .] become inextricably embedded within some
portion of the consumers psyche, as well as his/her lifestyle
(Oliver, 1999, p. 40). Proshansky et al. (1970) observe that
Figure 1 Brand romance: the model

299

Brand romance: a complementary approach

Journal of Product & Brand Management

Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

Figure 2 Mediation hypothesis

provided statements that described their feelings toward the

recalled brands. This process created a candidate item pool
containing 70 face-valid items.

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Study 2
This study focused on removing items deemed to represent
the construct poorly, and to explore the factor structure of
brand romance. The item pool was administered to a sample
of 99 undergraduate students who participated in the study
for course credit. The mean age of the respondents was 20.25
years, with a standard deviation of 1.41 years. Males
accounted for 45.5 percent of the respondents.

P4.
P5.

Procedure
Participants read sample vignettes that depicted feelings
toward three sets of brands that consumers state that they
respectively love, like, or dislike (these represent the three
experimental conditions in this study). The use of the
keyword love is appropriate to describe high romance
brands because it is loosely used by people to identify people,
brands, objects, ideas, etc. they are attracted to (Ahuvia et al.,
2009). Similarly the keyword like sought to tap positive
attitudes towards the brand. Lastly, dislike was used as the
logical antithesis of like. Each subject evaluated three
specific brands that he/she loved, liked, or disliked
respectively, on each of the 70 scale items.

Brand romance and brand attitude are different

constructs.
Brand romance is closer to brand loyalty than brand
attitude.

We devote the remaining sections to measure and validate the

brand romance construct. To establish discriminant validity,
we also show that brand attitude and brand romance are
different constructs.

Results
We obtained a total of 297 brand-specific observations (99
subjects 3 brands/subject). Recall that the focus was to
reduce the number of pool items and to explore the
hypothesized three-factor structure of the brand romance
construct. Following Ohanian (1990), an exploratory factor
analysis (EFA) was first conducted to remove items that
loaded on more than one factor and to retain those with high
loadings.
A principal components analysis (PCA) with varimax
rotation was conducted. Of the 70 items in the original pool,
44 items were discarded for loading on multiple factors. This
procedure yielded two factors. Items that loaded on the first
factor reflected both pleasure and arousal derived from
the brand, while items loading on the second factor tapped
the brands dominance. The EFA did not successfully
discriminate between the first two hypothesized factors
(pleasure and arousal), thereby suggesting they may be
correlated.
To further test the existence of the hypothesized three factor
structure, items with maximal loadings on the EFA factors
were retained. These comprised eight items loading on the
first EFA factor (four highest loading items that appeared to
load on pleasure, and four highest loading items that appeared
to load on arousal) and four items loading on the second EFA
factor (see Table I study 2). These 12 items were subjected
to a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that specified the
three hypothesized factors for brand romance. Bartletts test
of sphericity indicated a good data fit. The measure of
sampling adequacy (MSA) was 0.98, further confirming data
suitability.
Our primary research objective is to test the plausibility of
the three factor model structure. This structure is supported if
the CFA results reflect acceptable fit indices and significant
item loadings on the three factors.
The factors were allowed to correlate and Robust
Maximum Likelihood Estimation approach (Bentler, 1995)

Studies
We sought to develop a measurement scale for brand romance
and to explore its relationship to brand loyalty and brand
attitude. Accordingly, four studies were conducted. Study 1
generated a pool of items to measure brand romance that
were purified in Study 2. The third study assessed the
reliability and validity of the proposed brand romance scale.
The final study explored the relationships between brand
romance, brand attitude and brand loyalty. The scale
development process reflects well-established practice (e.g.
Churchill, 1979; Anderson and Gerbing, 1988).
Study 1
We drew on relevant literature and participant reports to
generate an extensive inventory of candidate scale items. First,
a review of the romantic relationship literature pointed to
scales designed to measure romantic love in the inter-personal
domain (e.g. Fengler, 1974; Hobart, 1958; Rubin, 1970).
The emotion literature showcases scales that capture affective
intensity (e.g. Affect Intensity Measure (Larsen and Diener,
1987); Emotional Intensity Scale (Geuens and De
Pelsmacher, 2002)) or tap emotions (e.g. Izard, 1977;
Mehrabian and Russell, 1974; Plutchik, 1980). Additionally,
two related scales were considered The RomanticismClassicism Index (RC Index (Holbrook and Olney, 1995))
designed to measure an individuals romantic bent of mind,
and Brand Relationship Quality scale (Park et al., 2002).
Similarly, the emotion literature in marketing (e.g. Edell and
Burke, 1987; Holbrook and Batra, 1987; Richins, 1997)
provided helpful guidance for generating measurement items.
Second, an experience survey (Churchill, 1979) was
conducted to explore individuals relationships with brands.
A convenience sample of nine adult respondents was asked to
recall a brand in the context of the three conceptual
dimensions of brand romance. The researchers provided
personal examples to illustrate this task. Respondents
300

Brand romance: a complementary approach

Journal of Product & Brand Management

Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

Table I EFA and CFA item loadings

Study 2
EFA loading of
retained
CFA
items
Loading
SE

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Item

Study 3

t-value

CFA
Loading

SE

t-value

Factor pleasure
I love this brand
Using this brand gives me great pleasure
I am really happy that this brand is available
This brand rarely disappoints me

0.907
0.871
0.915
0.864

0.942
0.942
0.9a51
0.891

na
0.021
0.020
0.027

na
42.108 *
47.893 *
31.328 *

0.962
0.960
0.969
0.792

na
0.015
0.014
0.036

na
63.055 *
69.753 *
21.323 *

Factor arousal
I am attracted to this brand
I desire this brand
I want this brand
I look forward to using this brand

0.892
0.901
0.907
0.878

0.949
0.955
0.934
0.935

na
0.020
0.022
0.022

na
48.280 *
43.799 *
43.097 *

0.941
0.974
0.978
0.927

na
0.017
0.019
0.024

na
60.269 *
56.193 *
41.989 *

0.840
0.847

0.792
0.823

na
0.077

na
12.406 *

0.859
0.928

na
0.036

na
26.732 *

0.868
0.889

0.852
0.902

0.098
0.097

10.252 *
11.532 *

0.836
0.827

0.061
0.057

13.659 *
15.884 *

Factor dominance
My day-dreams often include this brand
This brand often dominates my thoughts
Sometimes I feel I cant control my thoughts as they are
obsessively on this brand
This brand always seems to be on my mind
Notes: *Significant at the 95 percent level; na not applicable

was employed (the normalized estimate of multivariate

kurtosis was 32.5814). Robust estimation methods are
useful under these circumstances (see Bentler and Yuan,
1999; Yuan and Bentler, 1998,). Further, simulation studies
(Chou et al., 1991; Curran et al., 1996; Hu et al., 1992) show
that robust statistics perform well under both normal and
non-normal conditions.
The CFA results in Table II study 2 show a significant
Satorra-Bentler (SB) scaled chi-square statistic. At first
glance, the estimated model does not appear to fit the data
well. However, it is well known that a significant chi-square
does not necessarily indicate poor fit (Hu and Bentler, 1995).
Table II study 2 shows several other measures that reflect
good model fit. The CFI, NFI and NNFI are all above 0.90
(Bentler, 1990). At 0.06, the RMSEA indicates a reasonable
model fit (Brown and Cudeck, 1993). Reliability (Cronbach
alpha) is also good at 0.954. All item loadings indicate that
specified items loaded significantly on their respective factors
(see t-values in Table I Study 2) supporting the plausibility
of the three factor solution.

Study 3
This study sought to confirm the three-factor structure of
brand romance by testing convergent and criterion validities.
The reduced set of items from the measure purification stage
was administered to a new sample of 112 student subjects
who participated for course credit. Mean age of respondents
was 20.95 years with a standard deviation of 1.55 years. Males
accounted for 40.2 percent of the respondents
Procedure and measures
The procedure was identical to study 2. Each subject
contributed three brand-specific observations, so 336 brandspecific observations were available. The brand romance scale
from the previous measure purification phase was
administered. We used Putrevu and Lords (1994) purchase
intentions scale to test criterion validity (reliability 0:91;
scale items were:
.
It is very likely that I will buy this brand.
.
I will purchase this brand the next time I need this
product.
.
I will definitely try this brand.

Table II Fit indices

Index

Acceptable values for good fit

Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square

NFI
NNFI
CFI
RMSEA
Reliability (Cronbach alpha)

Chi-square should not be significant

0.90
0.90
0.90
Less than 0.05: good; 0.05-0.08: acceptable
0.70

Note: * Significant at the 95 percent level

301

Study 2
CFA brand romance

Study 3
CFA brand romance

113.39 *
0.978
0.984
0.988
0.064
0.954

129.9329 *
0.977
0.982
0.986
0.068
0.951

Brand romance: a complementary approach

Journal of Product & Brand Management

Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

Convergence of the factors of brand romance was tested by

observing the significance of the item loadings on the
respective factors.

Measures
To test proximity, Mitchell and Olsens (1981) Attitude
toward the Brand scale (a four-item semantic differential scale
with a reported reliability of 0.88) was used, as also
Chaudhari and Holbrooks (2001) attitudinal brand loyalty
scale consisting of two items each for purchase loyalty and
attitudinal loyalty, respectively. The authors reported a
satisfactory Cronbachs alpha for both purchase loyalty
(0.90) and attitudinal loyalty (0.83) components. Brand
romance was measured with the scale developed in studies 2
and 3.

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Results
Scale reliabilities and factor structures were assessed through
CFA. Robust maximum likelihood estimation approach was
used. Fit statistics for brand romance were good (Table II
study 3). Both constructs showed satisfactory reliabilities
(Nunnally, 1978).
Convergent validity
Convergent validity of a construct is defined as the agreement
among measures of the same trait (Bagozzi et al., 1991). We
examined the magnitude and statistical significance of item
loadings for each of the three factors of the proposed brand
romance construct. The strength of the items is evident in the
standardized loadings. Table I showcases the significance and
strength of these loadings for the three factors in both studies 2
and 3. All loadings are acceptably high (the lowest loading is
0.792) and significant. Overall, these results provide satisfactory
evidence of convergent validity for each of the three factors.

Results discriminant validity

As per Bagozzi et al. (1991), five measurement models as
follows were estimated:
1 The hypothesized model with three factors (pleasure,
arousal and dominance) and 12 manifest variables (four
per factor).
2 Model with two factors (pleasure and arousal treated as
one factor and dominance as the second factor) and 12
manifest variables eight loading on the first factor and
four on the second.
3 Model with two factors (pleasure and dominance treated
as one factor and arousal as the second factor) and 12
manifest variables eight loading on the first factor and
four on the second.
4 Model with two factors (arousal and dominance treated as
one factor and pleasure as the second factor) and 12
manifest variables eight loading on the first factor and
four on the second.
5 The null model: model with no factors (brand romance is
the first order factor) and all 12 manifest variables loading
directly on brand romance.

Criterion validity
Does brand romance successfully predict the criterion
measure? This was addressed by regressing purchase
intentions on brand romance. The rationale for this
regression follows. Brand romance involves a highly positive
state of mind, so consumers in that state should be predisposed
toward brand purchase. Under the circumstances, brand
romance is positively related to high purchase intentions.
Therefore, a significant regression of purchase intentions on
brand romance will support criterion validity. Regression
results (adjusted R square 0:754; F 1,023:6, p 0:00)
indicate that brand romance is a significant (t 31:994,
p 0:00) predictor of purchase intentions, thereby affirming
the criterion validity of the former.

No correlations between variables were specified.

The factors in the first four models were allowed to
correlate and as before, Robust Maximum Likelihood
Estimation approach (Bentler, 1995) was employed. The
CFA results in Table III reports the chi-square values (the SB
scaled chi-square and the Normal ML chi-square) and the fit
statistics for all Models. Following Hu and Bentler (1995), fit
statistics (instead of chi-square) were evaluated, given the
sufficiently large estimation sample. It is clear that Model 1
(the hypothesized model) has the best fit. Since Model 2a has
the next best fit (also recall that the EFA in study 2 could not
successfully discriminate between pleasure and arousal) and
next lowest chi-square, a chi-square test of difference between
the two models was conducted after applying a scaling
correction (see Satorra and Bentler, 2001). This test was
statistically significant (SB scaled difference 28:2715,
df 2; p 0:00). That is, the test rejected the more
parsimonious model (Model 2a) that depicts pleasure and
arousal as one factor and dominance as the second factor. In
other words, Model 1 (the hypothesized model) has a better
fit than Model 2a. Given the characteristics of Model 1, this
analysis also affirms the discriminant validity of the threefactor structure of brand romance.

Study 4
The objective of this phase was to test discriminant validity
and proximity of brand romance to brand loyalty.
Discriminant validity was tested by comparing competing
models. More specifically, the objective was to check if the
hypothesized three factor solution outperformed all other
possible solutions i.e. three two-factor solutions and one
single-factor solution. Chi-square tests of difference were
conducted between alternative models to determine the
model best supported by the data. Proximity was tested by
examining if attitude toward the brand moderates or mediates
the impact of brand romance on brand loyalty.
Procedure
A total of 500 undergraduate students participated in this
study for course credit. The cover story stated that the study
sought to understand consumers response to brands.
Participants received a questionnaire booklet, and were
randomly assigned to one of three conditions (love, like,
and dislike). Overall, 173 respondents were assigned to the
love condition, 164 to the like condition and 163 to the
dislike condition. The instructions were similar to the
earlier studies. Each subject noted the name of a brand
recalled under his/her assigned treatment condition, the
corresponding product category and the frequency of its use.
Subsequently, they responded to the items in the proposed
brand romance scale, and provided demographic information.

Results proximity
Proximity was tested by examining whether attitude toward
the brand moderates or mediates the impact of brand
romance on brand loyalty. To investigate the moderation
effect, the statistical significance of the interaction variable
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Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

Table III Discriminant validity results competing models approach

Normal ML chi-square
SB scaled chi-square
Degrees of freedom
Fit indices
NFI
NNFI
CFI
RMSEA

Model 1

Model 2a

Model 2b

Model 2c

Model 3

235.60 *

447.46 *

1,109.020 *

1,086.58 *

129.93 *

220.68 *

547.55 *

1,302.03 *
582.89 *
54

51
0.977
0.982
0.986
0.068

53

544.36 *

53

0.961
0.963
0.970
0.097

53

0.904
0.890
0.912
0.167

0.904
0.891
0.912
0.167

0.897
0.885
0.906
0.171

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Note: *Significant at the 95 percent level

(brand romance attitude to brand) was examined in a

regression on brand loyalty.
A linear regression was specified with brand romance,
attitude toward the brand and the interaction term as
independent variables and brand loyalty as the dependent
variable. While the overall model was significant
(F 488:217, p 0:00, adjusted R square 0:75), the
interaction effect was not (F 2:816, p 0:09). Hence
attitude toward the brand does not moderate the impact of
brand romance on brand loyalty
To examine a mediation effect, the role of brand romance as
a significant channel of the effect of brand attitude on brand
loyalty is compared with the direct effect of brand attitude on
brand loyalty (Figure 2).
A second order factor model was specified and robust
maximum likelihood estimation approach was employed. The
loading of brand romance on brand loyalty was constrained to
1.0 as brand romance is a second order factor and not
exogeneous (Bentler, 1995). The results of the structural
model (Table IV) show excellent fit statistics in spite of a
significant SB chi-square, and a significant loading of brand
attitude on brand romance. However brand attitude does not
load significantly on brand loyalty. The significance of the
loading of brand romance on brand loyalty was separately
assessed in a regression context (Table V). The results show a
significant relationship (F 1,253:235, p 0:00) with brand

Table V Regression of brand loyalty on brand romance

Independent variable
Dependent variable
Model summary
Adjusted r-square
ANOVA
F value
Predictor
Beta
t-value

Brand romance
Brand loyalty
0.718
1,253.235 *
1.202
35.401 *

Note: *Significant at the 95 percent level

romance being a significant predictor of brand loyalty

(t 35:401, p 0:00). Together, these results indicate that
the effect of brand attitude on brand loyalty is channeled
through brand romance. Hence brand romance mediates the
relationship between attitude and loyalty. Along with the
unsupported moderation effect (the two constructs do not
share equal proximity to brand loyalty (Baron and Kenny,
1986), brand romance appears to enjoys greater relative
proximity to brand loyalty than brand attitude. In the process,
the nomological validity (Cronbach and Meehl, 1955) of the
brand romance construct is also supported.

Table IV Mediation results fit statistics and item loadings

Fit statistics (robust ML)

SB scaled chi-square
NFI
NNFI
CFI
RMSEA
Item loadings
Brand romance ! brand loyalty
Brand attitude ! brand loyalty
Brand attitude ! brand romance
Pleasure ! brand romance
Arousal ! brand romance
Dominance ! brand romance

278.1722
0.975
0.988
0.990
0.038

df

164

0.00

Specified as 1.0 as brand romance is a second order factor

0.082
0.724 *
0.962 *
0.166 *
0.724 *

Note: *Significant at the 95 percent level

303

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Brand romance: a complementary approach

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Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

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Discussion

it is inexplicably terminated and the consumer moves on to a

competing brand. While marketers understand the need to
monitor attitudes, the need to monitor consumer attraction to
their brands is of greater significance. The brand romance
construct assesses how much the brand satisfies their needs of
stimulation, excitement and arousal.

In summary, our research extends recent prior work by

exploring a relationship motivated by stimulation needs. We
described the relationship as being characterized by
attraction, rather than comfort and security, and proposed
the existence of a mental state not unlike that experienced by
partners in romantic relationships. Overall, our research:
.
describes and discusses brand romance, an antecedent
state that captures consumer attraction for brands;
.
develops scale items to measure the construct;
.
examines its reliability and validity;
.
differentiates it from brand attitude; and
.
confirms its greater relative proximity to brand loyalty over
brand attitude.

Future research directions

While we present brand romance as a construct to explain
consumer-brand attraction, and suggest that it complements
the attachment theory perspective, research is required to
integrate the two. For instance, what unique roles do
Attachment Theory and the Self-expansion Model play in a
relationship in its initial, growth, maturity and decline phases?
We suggest that the two perspectives complement each other
and are necessary to build and maintain a strong consumerbrand relationship. For example, Attachment Theory
supports the value of stability, tradition and endurance in a
relationship, while the Self-expansion Model emphasizes the
benefits of novelty and growth. Brand managers may need to
balance both perspectives as evident in the following recent
comment by Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney (Barnes,
2010):

Since loyalty demands that the consumer should like the

brand, pleasure (positive affect) represents the first dimension
of brand romance. Given the limited ability of affect to elicit
drive-like responses (Cohen and Areni, 1991), brand romance
further captures arousal and dominance to reflect strong
motivation to consume and stay loyal to the brand. A
sequence of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses
supported the three-factor structure over other solutions. The
studies also affirmed the reliability and validity of brand
romance and demonstrated its proximity to brand loyalty.
Notably, the study offers an alternative perspective to why
some consumers display strong affinities toward certain
brands.
While we find that brand romance predicts loyalty better
than brand attitude, we do not maintain that it is the only
driver of brand loyalty or that loyalty requires consumers to
display romance towards the brand. Rather we suggest that
brand romance predicts loyalty in a manner consistent with
the Self-expansion Model; therefore, it may be a useful
construct to measure consumer attraction to brands. Further,
the Self-expansion Model has interesting implications for
marketers seeking to maintain brand loyalty.

Our brand is so powerful because of our heritage. But youve got to innovate,
and not just in terms of what is new today but what will be new far into the
future.

Research that provides new insights on maintaining this

balance between tradition and novelty will be especially useful
to brand managers.
Park et al. (2009) make a strong call for future research in
emotional brand attachments, specifically in the context of
brand-supporting behaviors. We suggest that the role of brand
romance in various kinds of brand-supporting behaviors
presents a promising research opportunity. For example,
forgiving transgressions of a high-romance brand, overlooking
its faults, exaggerating its virtues, restricting recall of
competing brands, etc, are possible areas of future research.
Additional research efforts could focus on identifying
factors that contribute to brand romance. Candidate factors
range from the consumers self-concept, desired self and the
brands personality. The relationship between brand romance
and force of habit is another promising line of research
inquiry. Finally, explicating the relationship between brand
romance and brand equity is also an important line of
research.

Managerial implications and applications

New consumer-brand relationships represent novel
perspectives, resources and identities. They provide
opportunities for expanding the self. Frequent interactions
between the brand and the consumer may generate positive
affect. Under the circumstances, the brand is dominant and
brand romance quickly increases. The consumer-brand
relationship becomes strong. If the expansion of the self is
too rapid it may cause stress, so marketers may need to slow
the process by rationing out novel perspectives, resources and
identities. This may also serve to lengthen the consumerbrand relationship. In mature relationships, there is a
diminished role for novel perspectives, resources and
identities; opportunities for self-expansion may also decline.
Consumers may attribute the loss of enjoyable emotion to the
brand and a break in the relationship may result. The Selfexpansion Model suggests incorporating novel activities in the
relationship so that partners continue to feel attracted to each
other. Marketers would need to re-invigorate brands, perhaps
through repositioning, creating new sets of brand associations,
modifying advertising campaigns, marketing strategies, etc.
Such activities would offer more opportunities for selfexpansion and the consumer-brand relationship is
maintained. In fact, the absence of novel elements in a
long-standing consumer-brand relationship may explain why

Limitations
Although students are arguably consumers, this study is
somewhat limited by its sample characteristics. Our subjects
were mostly undergraduate students, so the generalizability of
our research findings to the adult population needs to be
explored. Moreover, this research does not clarify whether the
effects obtained were due to the brand or the product
category. Because certain expressive product categories (e.g.
clothes, cars) are likely to inspire greater romanticism than
others, it is useful to know how the observed brand romance
should be attributed at the brand level. In other words, the
differential effects of the category and the brand should be
separately estimated. We observed that mainly lifestyle
categories and brands (e.g. in Study 4, clothing and
accessories 27.2 percent; automobiles 13.4 percent;
beverages 11.2 percent; and footwear 10.2 percent
predominant brands were Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, Ford,
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Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

Coca Cola, Dr Pepper, Cingular and Sprint) were recalled

suggesting their greater relevance to our sample. Extending
our findings to other product categories needs to be explored.
Finally, we acknowledge that our research does not shed light
on why consumers feel romantic about certain brands (and
not about others in the same product category) or on how
brand romance is engendered. Other qualitative/interpretive
research methods could shed new light on these topics.

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Conclusion
In a highly competitive world, marketers find it increasingly
difficult to make their brands sticky enough. While
marketers aggressively pursue loyalty programs, the results
remain less than spectacular. Is it possible to build brands that
create and maintain a powerful attraction for consumers?
Throughout this research, we maintain that a key metric for
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pp. 151-75.

The concept is central within relationship studies, where it

has been argued that desire for emotional attachment is
motivated by a need for comfort, support, security and
consistency. In the context of consumer-brand relations, it is
claimed that consumers become attached to brands which are
dependable, consistent and always there as such brands
provide safety and security.
When the main motive is stimulation, it is argued that a
different form of attachment emerges. In a personal
relationship, people might look for someone to provide
novelty, excitement and arousal. Analysts claim that
constant interactions with such a person can lead to
attraction and perhaps a romantic relationship.
According to certain scholars, consumers search for
stimulation in their shopping activities too. They supposedly
love to be flirted with and teased and can become extremely
passionate about products and services that have this effect on
them. A pursuit of fantasy, feelings and fun is one way such
a relationship has been described. The literature claims that
consumers see some brands as offering scope for stimulation
and discovery and they long for such brands because of the
pleasure they give them. The resulting mental state of the
consumer has been termed brand romance since it reflects
excitement, intense pleasure and arousal. It is proposed by
Patwardhan and Balasubramanian that this provides a
complementary perspective to better explain brand loyalty.
Brand romance is founded on a theoretical viewpoint
whereby people form close relationships that result in their
partners becoming part of their self. It is argued that the
partners perspectives, resources and identities become
more influential as the relationship deepens. The assumption
is that brands too have these characteristics and that
consumers can become similarly close to them through
repeated encounters. This generates excitement and a desire
to re-engage with the brand. According to the authors,
engagement generates for the consumer positive affect, high
arousal and a strong brand presence or dominance. A brand
can help sustain these relationships by refreshing and
relocating itself so that new positive associations materialize.
It is proposed that brand romance is a three-dimensional
construct incorporating pleasure, arousal and dominance. In
the first case, the brand stimulates the consumer and imparts
pleasure. Arousal emphasizes that the positive sentiments a
consumer feels towards a brand must be intense in order to be
significant. The dominance element refers to the brands
ability to engage the consumers cognition. Previous
research has used the example of Harley Davidson bikers to
show how a brand possesses the power to become the central
focus in consumer lives to an extent that whole communities
can form around it. Dominance is viewed as positive,
although not when it restricts freedom to think or act.
Patwardhan and Balasubramanian believe that emotional
attachment is likely to mean commitment, and on that basis
regard brand romance as an antecedent to brand loyalty.
Because of the emotional attachment, they also argue that
brand romance differs from constructs that include
involvement, attitude and love. Academics point out the
possibility of becoming involved with or committed to a brand
without any emotional strand. Attitude is perceived as less
strong and it is proposed that the presence of brand romance
indicates that the consumers relationship with a brand has
risen to greater heights. As for love, the notion is that it might
develop once attraction is established.

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About the authors

Hemant Patwardhan (PhD, Southern Illinois University,
Carbondale) is Associate Professor of Marketing at Winthrop
University, Rock Hill, South Carolina. Since completing his
doctorate in 2004, his research has appeared in several
journals, including Journal of Advertising, Journal of Current
Issues and Research in Advertising, and Journal of Promotions
Management. He is also the recipient of the 2007 Research
Fellowship award from the American Academy of Advertising
for conducting research in account planning. His research
interests are in branding, product placements and advertising.
Hemant Patwardhan is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: patwardhanh@winthrop.edu
Siva K. Balasubramanian (PhD, State University of New
York at Buffalo) is Harold L. Stuart Professor of Marketing
and Associate Dean, Stuart School of Business, Illinois
Institute of Technology, Chicago. His career as a manager,
educator, and academic administrator spans over three
decades. A recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Research
Chair award and several competitive research grants, he
serves on the editorial board of several journals, as web site
editor for Journal of Marketing and as regional editor (North
America) for the British Food Journal. He is the author or coauthor of over 30 publications in leading journals in
marketing (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing
Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of
Research in Marketing) and advertising (Journal of
Advertising, Journal of the Current Issues and Research in
Advertising), among others. The bulk of his research has an
empirical/inter-disciplinary orientation.

Executive summary and implications for

managers and executives
This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives
a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a
particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in
toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the
research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of the
material present.
Consumer attitude towards a brand can result in loyalty,
although some researchers believe that attitude alone does not
accurately predict this outcome. Scholars have consequently
focused on the notion of consumers becoming emotionally
attached to brands and research interest in this area has grown
over recent years. Emotional attachment has been examined
by various researchers, incorporating dimensions such as
passion, commitment and intimacy.
307

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Brand romance: a complementary approach

Journal of Product & Brand Management

Hemant Patwardhan and Siva K. Balasubramanian

Volume 20 Number 4 2011 297 308

In order to test their brand romance construct and examine

how it relates to brand loyalty and brand attitude, the authors
conducted a series of studies. These studies involved a
literature survey and questionnaires submitted to several
subject groups respectively consisting of adults and different
undergraduate participants. Respondent were asked to recall
certain brands and express positive or negative feelings
towards them in terms of love, like or dislike. Various analyses
were carried out and this helped to validate brand romance as
incorporating the three factors noted earlier. Patwardhan and
Balasubramanian point out the highly positive state of mind
associated with brand romance. They suggest it will have a
likely favorable influence on purchase intention and this was
subsequently confirmed by the data.
Analysis also revealed that brand romance functions as a
much stronger predictor of brand loyalty than does brand
attitude. On this evidence, the attitude-loyalty relationship is
mediated by brand romance. However, the authors do
acknowledge that brand loyalty can be driven by other
means and that brand romance is unlikely to be its sole
antecedent.
When consumers form relationships with a new brand, it
opens up new horizons and offers scope to expand the self.
The onset and increase of brand romance makes the
relationship even stronger. Maturity is a critical point in a
relationship as the novel perspectives, resources and identities
reduce to a point where opportunities for self-expansion
diminish as well. Stripped of these aspects, consumers lose

their emotional attachment to the brand in question and

become willing to engage with an alternative. Marketers must
therefore constantly evaluate consumer attraction to their
brands and to revitalize the brands them where necessary.
This can be achieved through repositioning, developing fresh
associations and revamping advertising campaigns and
marketing strategies.
Future study could focus on both brand romance and
attachment theories. While the former emphasizes novelty
and growth, a need for stability and tradition is at the core
of the latter. It is assumed that brand managers might need to
jointly incorporate heritage and innovation is order to keep
their brands vibrant and successful. The authors additionally
believe that researchers might explore brand romance with
regard to various types of brand-supporting behaviors.
Another idea is to identify factors that shape brand romance,
such as brand personality and the consumers actual and
desired self. How force of habit impacts on brand romance
could also be investigated.
Patwardhan and Balasubramanian acknowledge the need to
extend this study to include different subject groups and
product categories before any generalization of findings
becomes possible.
(A precis of the article Brand romance: a complementary
approach to explain emotional attachment toward brands.
Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

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