브랜드 애호도에 대한 인적동일시 경로와 브랜드 동일시 경로 연구 (A Study of Brand Identification Path and Personal Identification Path on Brand Loyalty)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국마케팅학회
· 수록지 정보 : 마케팅연구 / 25권 / 3호 / 169 ~ 191페이지
· 저자명 : 나광진

초록

소비자와 기업 간의 장기적 관계 형성은 현대 마케팅 전략에 있어 중요한 의미를 갖는다는 점에서 소비자가 기업과 동일시를 구축하도록 유도하는 것은 기업에게 장기적인 이익을 가져다 줄 수 있는 가장 중요한 수단이 될 수 있다. 마케팅 분야에서 동일시에 대한 연구는 주로 브랜드에 대한 소비자의 동일시를 다루어 왔으나, 기업의 인적 구성원들에 대한 동일시에 대해서는 충분한 연구가 이루어지지 못하고 있으며, 특히 브랜드 동일시와 인적동일시를 형성하는 선행요인과 결과변수에 대한 종합적이고 포괄적인 연구는 매우 부족하다고 할 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 동일시 이론을 이용하여 브랜드와 서비스 제공자에 대한 소비자의 동일시에 영향을 미치는 변수들을 탐색하고 브랜드 동일시와 서비스 제공자와의 인적동일시가 태도적․행동적 애호도에 어떠한 영향을 미치는 지를 탐색하였다.
연구결과 소비자가 지각하는 브랜드에 대한 동일시는 자아표현성에 의해 긍정적으로 영향을 받는 것으로 나타났으며, 브랜드의 자아 표현성은 기업의 매력성과 기업능력 연상에 의해 영향을 받는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 우리의식은 소비자가 지각하는 서비스 제공자에 대한 인적동일시에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 소비자가 지각하는 서비스 제공자에 대한 연결성과 기업의 사회적 책임연상은 우리의식의 형성에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 브랜드 동일시와 인적동일시가 태도적 애호도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치고 태도적 애호도는 행동적 애호도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다.

영어초록

In order to manage effective relationship marketing with customers, companies must approach to finding the reason that customers form long-term relationships with them. From the perspective of companies, the reason that they maintain the positive relationship with customers is increasing profits by enhancing consumers’ loyalty. However, it is difficult to define the reason of forming positive relationship with companies. In recent research, identification has been considered as a critical factor to explain the reason of building up positive relationship. In other words, a consumer forms the relationship with a company because the identification between a consumer and a company can satisfy consumer’s personal desire of the self-definition(Ahearne and Bhattacharya, 2005).
The establishment of identification between consumers and companies can be an important tool for bringing about profits to companies because constructing a long-term relationship between consumers and companies is necessary for the marketing strategy. Research regarding identification in marketing has mostly conducted on consumer identification on brands however, there are little research conducted on identification between consumers and human resources of companies. Furthermore, there are almost no comprehensive and studies on antecedents and consequences that formulate brand identification and personal identification.
Therefore, in this research, the identification theory is used to explore the variables that affect identification of brand and service providers, while also examining the affects of brand identification and personal identification with service providers on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.
Results of this research showed that identification on brands recognized by consumers had a positive affect through self-expression. It means that the more consumers recognize that a brand has characters which express consumers, the more consumers construct identification on the brand. In addition, self-expression of brands are found to be affected by company's attractiveness and company ability associations. In other words, it can be said that consumers formulate identification with brands by perception of positive characteristics of a company expressing one's self by connecting with the goal that the consumer desires. Positive features such as associations with the attractiveness or abilities of a company act as factors that satisfy the needs for self-distinctiveness or self-enhancement for consumers, and in turn, it establishes identification with brands.
In addition, it was found that we-ness had a positive effect on personal identification with service providers perceived by the consumer. Results showed that social responsibility associations and connectedness with service providers perceived by consumers had positive effects on establishing we-ness.
Brand identification and personal identification had positive effects on attitudinal loyalty, while attitudinal loyalty had a positive influence on behavioral loyalty. Thus, when consumers build up identification with a brand or service providers, they evaluate company's products or services favorably, which results in loyalty to the company.
Based on the results of this research, the following theoretical implications and managerial implications can be suggested.
Firstly, this study expands the target of identification established by consumers to company's human resources, and it provides the theoretical contribution in approaching identification between consumers and companies by examining the relationship between loyalty and antecedents that affect personal identification. As antecedents of personal identification, by revealing that consumers' perceptions of connectedness with service providers and associations with social responsibility activities of companies are important factors for establishing personal identification via we-ness, it contributes in the development of the identification theory.
Secondly, it was found that brand identification and personal identification had affects on the attitudinal loyalty of consumers. It represents that establishing consumer's identification can have a major effect on relative buying behavior. In particular, it was found that the consumer's formation of identification with service providers has an affect on attitudinal loyalty, and it means that interactions between service providers and consumers have to be managed so that consumers establish identification with service providers by feeling a sense of unity and psychological closeness with them.
Thirdly, results of the study showed that the company attractiveness and company ability associations perceived by the consumer formed brand identification through self-expression. It represents that when consumers recognize a company's positive features that they would like to express as their images, they form identification with the brand. Therefore, in order to establish brand identification for long-term relationships with consumers, it is essential for the company to establish and manage distinctive and favorable brand images which are related to company's abilities. Moreover, it is necessary to conduct marketing communication in order to make consumers connect the distinctive and friendly company features with their images.
Lastly, results of this research showed that connectedness with service providers and associations of company's social responsibility activities formed personal identification through we-ness. This result represents that in order to establish personal identification between consumers and companies, it is necessary to strengthen a sense of unity as 'we' by not only emphasizing the connectedness between consumers and companies through execution of social responsibility activities but also using various communication activities.

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