The moderating role of brand involvement between brand authenticity And brand relationship quality and its impact on behavioral outcome (In the Case of Selected National and International Brands)

Abstract

Despite a century-long interest with authenticity as a human enticement, marketing experts have only recently become interested in the concept of authenticity as a result of increased consumer demand for authenticity in purchased products and services. Consumers' desire for authenticity is one of the cornerstones of contemporary marketing. The purpose of this study is to examine the Moderating Role of Brand Involvement in the Link between Antecedents of Brand Authenticity, Brand Authenticity, Relationship Quality and Behavioral Outcome. A total of 384 questionnaires were distributed and 300 questionnaires were returned at the end of the data collection process and used for the subsequent statistical analysis, which gave the response rate of 82 percent. In this study, SMART PLS was used to analyze the data set and the antecedents of brand authenticity--Brand heritage, Brand nostalgia, Brand Clarity, Social Commitment, Brand Legitimacy, Actual Self-Congruence, and employees' perceived passion--had a positive and significant effect on brand authenticity, whereas Brand Commercialization had a negative and significant effect on brand authenticity.  Furthermore, brand authenticity has a significant and positive impact on brand relationship quality, which in turn had a beneficial impact on customers' behaviour intentions. On the other hand, brand involvement moderated the link between antecedents of brand authenticity and brand relationship quality and failed to moderate the relationship between antecedents of brand authenticity and brand authenticity. Furthermore, the quality of a brand's relationship was found to have a substantial impact on willingness to pay a price premium, purchase intent, and willingness to forgive mistakes. The findings concerning the antecedents of brand authenticity indicate that a company can influence brand authenticity in a variety of ways, and that it is thus critical to analyse which of the identified antecedents brand management should manipulate in order to positively impact the perception of the brand's authenticity.

Keywords: Branding, Brand perception, Brand authenticity, Brand involvement, Brand relationships Quality

DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/90-06

Publication date:August31^st 2023