Brand and product attachment in an industrial context: The effects on brand loyalty

• We extend the domain of studies on attachment as driver of brand loyalty in industrial markets.
• We examine the existence of brand and product attachment in an industrial context and test their influence on brand loyalty.
• We develop and test a theoretical framework by drawing on the theory of attachment and on the theory of self-expansion.
• Brand attachment directly drives brand loyalty and mediates the relationship between product attachment and brand loyalty.
• This is the first research to combine brand and product attachment in the same empirical design.

The role of attachment as a driver of industrial brand loyalty has largely been investigated at the inter-organizational level, while there is a notable lack of studies on industrial buyers' attachment to industrial brands and products. By researching an empirical setting in which buyers have first-person experience of product use, this study proposes the existence of brand attachment and product attachment in an industrial context and tests their influence on brand loyalty based on the results of a survey of 317 owner-operators of heavy trucks. Findings suggest that while brand attachment positively and directly influences brand loyalty, product attachment indirectly drives brand loyalty through the mediating effects of brand attachment. Product irreplaceability, however, was found to be a direct driver of brand loyalty. The current research also proposes tests to measure the relationship between the constructs of brand attachment and product attachment. This research has several managerial and theoretical implications indicating that paying attention to the emotional meanings of industrial brands and products is warranted, as are further studies on the application of attachment in industrial marketing.