Brand consumer relationship: A case of Levi's brand in Vietnam
Abstract
Branding has emerged as a top management priority in the last decade due to the growing realization that brands are one of the most valuable intangible assets that firms have (Keller & Lehmann, 2006). As a result, academic researchers have explored a number of different brand-related topics in recent years, generating scores
of papers, articles, research reports, and books. In recent years, many studies have applied the relationship theory to understand the relationship between consumers and brand. For instance, there are some researches about this topic such as ―Observations: Building Brand Equity by Managing Brands’ Relationships‖ (Blackston, 2000),
―Brand as a Relationship Partner: Gender Differences in Perspectives‖ (Monga,
2002), ―Brand Commitment in Consumer– Brand Relationships: An Investment
Model Approach‖ (Sung, 2007).
However, few studies have actually tested consumer-brand relationship models. Hence, this study investigates the consumer-brand relationship in a specific case – Levi’s brand. The researcher of this study aims at evaluating the perceived quality of the relationship between Levi’s and its customers based on six factors of the Brand Relationship Quality model. When the consumer-brand relationship is stable, it leads
to brand loyalty. Data triangulation approach is used to conduct this research. Furthermore, after reviewing all marketing activities of Levi’s brand, a strategy to attract new customers as well as satisfy loyal customers is suggested.
Keywords: Consumer-brand relationship, the brand relationship theory, the Brand
Relationship Quality model, data triangulation approach, brand loyalty.