Brand trust and brand loyalty in mall shoppers

Abstract

PurposeIn today's competitive business environment the success of an organisation depends on its ability to create brand trust and loyalty in the customers. Therefore, the present study focusses on some major constructs of emotional attachment that help in creating brand trust and brand loyalty.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modelling using SmartPLS 2.0 software has been utilised to analyse 332 mall shoppers' data from the age group between 16 and 30 years, as they are highly brand conscious and willing to purchase branded products.FindingsThis study findings show that brand loyalty is not only directly or indirectly influenced by emotional attachment antecedents such as perceived quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and perceived differentiation but also directly affected by brand trust. Moderating analysis on different income group structures shows that the high-income group customer moderates the result findings, as he/she is highly brand conscious and loyal towards a particular brand.Research limitations/implicationsResearch outcome provides some valuable insights to the retailers for further expansion of consumer market by using various promotional programmes and strategies that focus on the emotional factors of the customer and generate strong brand attachment. This study also suggests some useful factors such as buying pattern, paying capacity and lifestyle, which the future researchers can focus.Practical implicationsThis study suggested that shopping mall retailers should try to increase customer involvement and perception towards the brand during shopping process and clearly differentiate their brand from competitive brands by showing why and how it is better than alternative brands.Originality/valueMajor contribution of this study is the empirical analysis of emotional attachment antecedents such as perceived quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and perceived differentiation on brand trust and loyalty especially in emerging organised retail markets.