Brand centrality is a religion-like brand–customer relationship, which refers to the extent to which a brand is in the centre or heart of a consumer’s life. This idea is prominent in the fast fashion industry where consumers have a strong customer-brand relationship due to the fast fashion brands’ ability to quickly make dreams of luxury branded designs affordable.
However, fast fashion brand centrality has not been thoroughly studied. To date, little is known about the drivers of brand centrality from the consumers’ perspective, and research on the outcomes of brand centrality is also limited. In addition, little is known about how brand centrality affects the quality of the relationship between the drivers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the psychological drivers (i.e. fashion consciousness, chronic shopping orientation, self-esteem) and a behavioural factor (i.e. purchase frequency) of brand centrality and how brand centrality impacts their relationship quality.
To make it clear, fashion-conscious consumers seek to be up to date on fashion trends and feel fulfilled when buying new clothes, hence expected to regard fashion brands as central to their lives. Meanwhile, consumers with a stronger chronic shopping orientation tend to focus more on taking time in the pleasure and the gains of the shopping experience, hence may experience positive emotions more easily when buying new clothes. In terms of self-esteem, clothing may help low self-esteem consumers elevate their image and cause them to feel good about the brands, which may lead to brand centrality. Five hypotheses were developed accordingly.
Method and sample
The study conducted a written survey in Portugal – a country prominence in the fashion industry. Data collection happened during Fall and Winter shopping season in September and October 2019 in shopping malls in Lisbon. Consumers’ purchase behaviours in fast fashion brand stores were observed by trained research assistants – who would then approach potential participants among the shoppers. Out of 320 distributed questionnaires, 250 valid and completed responses were received and used for analysis. Participants were mostly Gen Y (born 1980 – 1996) who are creative, social, willing to accept new ideas, enjoy shopping, and have a higher propensity to spend.
Key findings
- Higher fashion-conscious consumers are more likely to have higher brand centrality.
- Similarly, consumers with strong chronic shopping orientation are more likely to have stronger brand centrality.
- Consumers with lower self-esteem tend to have higher brand centrality.
- Higher level of brand centrality leads to stronger relationship quality with the brand – higher satisfaction, commitment, and connection.
- The average frequency of shopping strengthens the above relationship between fashion-conscious and brand centrality: the more frequently a higher fashion-conscious consumer shops, the higher their brand centrality.
- However, the average frequency of shopping decreases the above relationship between chronic shopping orientation and brand centrality: the more a consumer who is focused on gains and positive experiences from shopping purchases, the lower their brand centrality.
- There is no interaction effect between the average frequency of shopping and self-esteem.
Recommendations
First, managers should understand the crucial role of brand centrality in forming high-quality relationships with consumers by knowing the drivers of brand centrality. Hence, businesses should target consumers who are more fashion-conscious, have a strong chronic shopping orientation, and have lower self-esteem, then try to appeal to them to strengthen their brand centrality.
Second, fast fashion brands should create consumption rituals like new fashion releases with sales promotions online and offline to attract the above targeted consumer segment. In order to tailor such marketing strategies effectively and be more appealing, brands should fully leverage their consumer databases and conduct surveys for more insights into the psychological factors of their customers.
Third, brands can establish both online and offline brand communities to foster a sense of belonging and loyalty from customers, which will enhance brand centrality as customers become more engaged. Also, brands can collaborate with consumers who have developed strong brand centrality to promote the brand as brand ambassadors and reinforce the brand centrality for others.
Finally, as the average frequency of shopping may have different impacts, businesses should pay attention to their targeting sales promotion programs. For example, marketing programs that encourage one-time bulk purchases (e.g., buy one get one free) are more suitable for consumers with high chronic shopping orientation, whereas programs that stimulate frequent store visits (e.g., loyalty stamp cards) are more effective for fashion-conscious consumers.
Researcher
More information
The research article is also available on eprints.