Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2018
Capstone Advisor
Stanislav Treger
Honors Reader
Eunkyu Lee
Capstone Major
Psychology
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Humans are inherently social creatures. For this reason, it is important to understand the role of social psychology in all other disciplines. This study focuses on the role of social psychology in marketing and brand management. The goal of any brand manager is to develop and foster a mutually beneficial relationship between brand and consumer. The nature of human relationships has been studied in the past and significant results have been found. The purpose of this study is to test if those results still occur when the relationship involves a brand rather than another person. Studies such as this one are of interest because they can help future brand managers understand the formation of the relationships they seek.
This study provided 200 participants with a questionnaire regarding their relationship to their favorite brands. The questions were a combination of free response, multiple choice, and likert scales aimed at assessing loyalty, investment, satisfaction, commitment, and perceived quality of alternatives. These questions were modified from Rusbult’s Investment Model Scale, which was used to study person-to-person relationships. Correlations and T-Tests were used to analyze relationships within the data set. Using Cronbach’s alpha, all likert scale items were found to be reliable at levels of .769 or higher. Significant correlations were found between loyalty and the individual constructs of investment, satisfaction, and commitment for all three brands in question. T-Tests showed no significant differences between men and women but some significant differences between those who have switched from their favorite brands in the past and those who have not. In conclusion, some significant relationships were found between the constructs assessed.
Recommended Citation
Perez, Kristian, "Consumer-Brand Relationships: How and Why We Form Them" (2018). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 1207.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1207
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