IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v87y2018icp118-127.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Brand addiction: Exploring the concept and its definition through an experiential lens

Author

Listed:
  • Cui, Charles Chi
  • Mrad, Mona
  • Hogg, Margaret K.

Abstract

Brand addiction is one of the most important ways that consumers engage with brands. Other types of consumer-brand relationships include brand attachment, brand love, brand loyalty, brand passion and brand trust. This study provides an experientially grounded conceptualization and definition of brand addiction that distinguishes it clearly from other forms of consumer-brand relationships; and also from compulsive buying and acquisitive desire. Qualitative data from focus groups and projective-technique-based interviews were used to identify eleven salient properties which, in combination, characterize brand addiction: acquisitiveness; anxiety-irritability, bonding, brand exclusivity, collecting, compulsive urges, financial management versus debt tolerance, dependence, gratification, mental and behavioral preoccupation, and word of mouth. We compare brand addiction with the features of other consumer-brand relationships. The findings suggest that brand addiction is different from other consumer-brand-relationship concepts, and does not necessarily lead to harmful consequences for all brand addicts (unlike many other types of addiction).

Suggested Citation

  • Cui, Charles Chi & Mrad, Mona & Hogg, Margaret K., 2018. "Brand addiction: Exploring the concept and its definition through an experiential lens," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 118-127.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:87:y:2018:i:c:p:118-127
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.02.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296318301036
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.02.028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Swimberghe, Krist R. & Astakhova, Marina & Wooldridge, Barbara Ross, 2014. "A new dualistic approach to brand passion: Harmonious and obsessive," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2657-2665.
    2. Spiggle, Susan, 1994. "Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(3), pages 491-503, December.
    3. Noël Albert & Dwight Merunka & Pierre Valette-Florence, 2008. "When consumers love their brands: Exploring the concept and its dimensions," Post-Print hal-01822299, HAL.
    4. O'Guinn, Thomas C & Faber, Ronald J, 1989. "Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Exploration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 147-157, September.
    5. Albert, Noël & Merunka, Dwight & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2008. "When consumers love their brands: Exploring the concept and its dimensions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(10), pages 1062-1075, October.
    6. June Cotte & Kathryn A. Latour, 2009. "Blackjack in the Kitchen: Understanding Online versus Casino Gambling," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(5), pages 742-758, September.
    7. Martin, Ingrid M. & Kamins, Michael A. & Pirouz, Dante M. & Davis, Scott W. & Haws, Kelly L. & Mirabito, Ann M. & Mukherjee, Sayantani & Rapp, Justine M. & Grover, Aditi, 2013. "On the road to addiction: The facilitative and preventive roles of marketing cues," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1219-1226.
    8. Faber, Ronald J, et al, 1995. "Two Forms of Compulsive Consumption: Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(3), pages 296-304, December.
    9. Fournier, Susan, 1998. "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 343-373, March.
    10. Hirschman, Elizabeth C, 1992. "The Consciousness of Addiction: Toward a General Theory of Compulsive Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(2), pages 155-179, September.
    11. Fisher, Robert J, 1993. "Social Desirability Bias and the Validity of Indirect Questioning," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(2), pages 303-315, September.
    12. Fetscherin, Marc & Heinrich, Daniel, 2015. "Consumer brand relationships research: A bibliometric citation meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 380-390.
    13. Schouten, John W & McAlexander, James H, 1995. "Subcultures of Consumptions: An Ethnography of the New Bikers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(1), pages 43-61, June.
    14. Barbara Carroll & Aaron Ahuvia, 2006. "Some antecedents and outcomes of brand love," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 79-89, April.
    15. Faber, Ronald J & O'Guinn, Thomas C, 1992. "A Clinical Screener for Compulsive Buying," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(3), pages 459-469, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tran, Trang P. & Lin, Chien-Wei & Baalbaki, Sally & Guzmán, Francisco, 2020. "How personalized advertising affects equity of brands advertised on Facebook? A mediation mechanism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-15.
    2. Battisti, Enrico & Alfiero, Simona & Leonidou, Erasmia, 2022. "Remote working and digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Economic–financial impacts and psychological drivers for employees," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 38-50.
    3. Minh T. H. Le, 2023. "Does brand love lead to brand addiction?," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 57-68, March.
    4. Ramadan, Zahy B., 2021. "“Alexafying†shoppers: The examination of Amazon's captive relationship strategy," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Vesna Babić-Hodović & Alisa Mujkić & Maja Arslanagić-Kalajdžić, 2023. "We need both brand love and emotional attachment: a serial mediation framework toward addictive buying and loyalty," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(1), pages 9-33, January.
    6. Laurence Dessart & Grégory Bressolles, 2023. "Intensity of collective consumption practices in brand communities: the case of crossfit," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(3), pages 227-244, May.
    7. Alvarez, Claudio & David, Meredith E. & George, Morris, 2023. "Types of Consumer-Brand Relationships: A systematic review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    8. Chandon, Jean-Louis & Laurent, Gilles & Lambert-Pandraud, Raphaëlle, 2022. "Battling for consumer memory: Assessing brand exclusiveness and brand dominance from citation-list," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 468-481.
    9. Miruna PATRICHE, 2021. "Smart consumption behavior? An approach related to fast fashion industry," Smart Cities International Conference (SCIC) Proceedings, Smart-EDU Hub, Faculty of Public Administration, National University of Political Studies & Public Administration, vol. 9, pages 379-392, November.
    10. Zahy B. Ramadan, 2019. "Brand–brand relational moments," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(6), pages 705-716, November.
    11. P. Rodrigues & M. Junaid & A. Sousa & A. P. Borges, 2024. "Brand addiction’s mediation of brand love and loyalty’s effect on compulsive buying: the case of human brands," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(4), pages 382-400, July.
    12. Farah, Maya F. & Ramadan, Zahy B., 2020. "Viability of Amazon’s driven innovations targeting shoppers’ impulsiveness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    13. Aksel Tjora & Lisbeth Elvira Levang Løvik & Frank Hauboff Hansen & Marianne Skaar, 2021. "Shameful Technological Impertinence: Consumer Ambivalence among iPad Early-Buyers," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, July.
    14. Guy Assaker & Wassim Shahin, 2022. "What Drives Faculty Publication Citations in the Business Field? Empirical Results from an AACSB Middle Eastern Institution," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-29, November.
    15. Mrad, Mona & Cui, Charles Chi, 2020. "Comorbidity of compulsive buying and brand addiction: An examination of two types of addictive consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 399-408.
    16. Mrad, Mona & Majdalani, Joelle & Cui, Charles Chi & El Khansa, Zeinab, 2020. "Brand addiction in the contexts of luxury and fast-fashion brands," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    17. Di Domenico, Giandomenico & Premazzi, Katia & Cugini, Antonella, 2022. "“I will pay you more, as long as you are transparent!”: An investigation of the pick-your-price participative pricing mechanism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 403-419.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mrad, Mona & Cui, Charles Chi, 2020. "Comorbidity of compulsive buying and brand addiction: An examination of two types of addictive consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 399-408.
    2. Shir-Way Siew & Michael S. Minor & Reto Felix, 2018. "The influence of perceived strength of brand origin on willingness to pay more for luxury goods," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(6), pages 591-605, November.
    3. Alvarez, Claudio & David, Meredith E. & George, Morris, 2023. "Types of Consumer-Brand Relationships: A systematic review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Ching-Wei Ho & Yu-Bing Wang, 2020. "Does Social Media Marketing and Brand Community Play the Role in Building a Sustainable Digital Business Strategy?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Mrad, Mona & Majdalani, Joelle & Cui, Charles Chi & El Khansa, Zeinab, 2020. "Brand addiction in the contexts of luxury and fast-fashion brands," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    6. Gilal Faheem Gul & Memon Amjad Ali & Gilal Naeem Gul & Gilal Rukhsana Gul & Memon Ahsan Ali, 2022. "Enhancing Service Brand Passion Through Self-Congruity: The Moderating Role of Gender and Age," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 30(2), pages 83-102, June.
    7. Andreini, Daniela & Pedeliento, Giuseppe & Zarantonello, Lia & Solerio, Chiara, 2019. "Reprint of "A renaissance of brand experience: Advancing the concept through a multi-perspective analysis"," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 355-365.
    8. Richard L. Flight & Devon Sacramento, 2015. "Brand Attachment and the Compulsive Buyer," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 5(8), pages 157-171, August.
    9. P. Rodrigues & M. Junaid & A. Sousa & A. P. Borges, 2024. "Brand addiction’s mediation of brand love and loyalty’s effect on compulsive buying: the case of human brands," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(4), pages 382-400, July.
    10. Gilal Faheem Gul & Memon Amjad Ali & Gilal Naeem Gul & Gilal Rukhsana Gul & Memon Ahsan Ali, 2022. "Enhancing Service Brand Passion Through Self-Congruity: The Moderating Role of Gender and Age," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 30(1), pages 83-102, June.
    11. Andreini, Daniela & Pedeliento, Giuseppe & Zarantonello, Lia & Solerio, Chiara, 2018. "A renaissance of brand experience: Advancing the concept through a multi-perspective analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 123-133.
    12. Sehrash Siddique & Amer Rajput, 2022. "Self-expressiveness and hedonic brand affect brand love through brand jealousy," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    13. Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro, 2023. "Overview of the brand journey and opportunities for future studies," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2023(2), pages 179-206, June.
    14. Fetscherin, Marc & Heinrich, Daniel, 2015. "Consumer brand relationships research: A bibliometric citation meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 380-390.
    15. Tarcia Camily Cavalcante Quezado & Nuno Fortes & William Quezado Figueiredo Cavalcante, 2022. "The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics on Brand Fidelity: The Importance of Brand Love and Brand Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, March.
    16. Kukar-Kinney, Monika & Ridgway, Nancy M. & Monroe, Kent B., 2012. "The Role of Price in the Behavior and Purchase Decisions of Compulsive Buyers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 63-71.
    17. Noor Hasmini Binti Abd Ghani & Mohammad Kashedul Wahab Tuhin, 2016. "Consumer Brand Relationships," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 6(4), pages 950-957.
    18. Hatice AYDIN, 2017. "Marka Guveni, Farkindaligi ve Benlik Imaj Uyumunun Marka Bagliligina Etkisinde Marka Askinin Aracilik Rolu," Ege Academic Review, Ege University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 17(2), pages 281-294.
    19. Iivi Riivits-Arkonsuo & Anu Leppiman, 2015. "Young Consumers and their Brand Love," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 5(10), pages 33-44, Octomber.
    20. Swimberghe, Krist R. & Astakhova, Marina & Wooldridge, Barbara Ross, 2014. "A new dualistic approach to brand passion: Harmonious and obsessive," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2657-2665.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:87:y:2018:i:c:p:118-127. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.