JOURNAL ARTICLE CRITIQUE

by

MARK ANDREAU R. MALBAS

on

Minh T.H. Le The Impact of Brand Loyalty: the moderating role of self-esteem and

social influences. Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 25 / No. 1, 2021

I. Title

The title of the study is brief and informative. However, it is not completely clear at first

glance on what is the study is all about without looking at the abstract of purpose. Perhaps

a better title would be, The Impact of brand love on brand loyalty. However, the title makes

clear the population of interest the moderating role of self-esteem and social influences.

Other than that, the title avoids emotion-laden terms.

II. Discussion

Minh T.H. Le (2020) explored the consumer’s loyalty on brands and how this love would

equate to sales. Regardless of price increase, an individual who truly patronizes a brand

would still purchase the items or goods. This consumer may likely to have attachment to

this brand. This specific brand manifests durability and worthiness, hence the consumer

would stick to the brand, and would recommend to their friends and colleagues. A loyal

customer would love talking about his or her recent purchases, and this would entice his

or her audiences in acquiring from the similar brand.

In this journal, “consumers build engagement with brand love through the overlap of their

self-expression and self-esteem with the brand identity (Albert et al., 2008; Leventhal et

al., 2014).” Fashion is an expression of one’s self. A brand that could help boost the

individual’s confidence would tend to have more buyers, thus having bigger sales.

Showing off items which carry credible brand names exude poise. A confident person

seems to have control in life and knows what he or she wants. It projects that the individual

has goals which he or she desires to accomplish.

A person who frequently buys from the same brand would endorse it to his or her peers.

And if that happens, a group of friends would purchase items from that store,

consequently would lead to surge of sales. People belonging to the same group or

community normally show the same attitude and preferences. Therefore, they exhibit

identical purchasing patterns. They would flock to the store to get a hold of the items from

their trusted brand.

Loyalty comes with having long-term relationship. In this case, a commitment to the

chosen brand. “Brand loyalty is a consequence of brand love in consumer brand

relationships.” The researcher implied that “brand managers should create

advertisements that foster ideal self-congruence to influence brand attachment, which

then increases loyalty and brand value (Le, 2020). Moreover, to make the brand globally

known, it was recommended that “brand managers may invite these brand-loyal members

to provide reviews of their product usage experiences, by acting as influencers to other

consumers.” In this technological age, social media has been a powerful tool in promoting

brands through posting photos with remarkable reviews.

III. Research

Convenience sampling was used in a survey of students and staff at a university in

Vietnam. A screening question was used to ensure the eligibility of the respondents. 218

out of 230 valid questionnaires can be used in the survey.

IV. Conclusion

The conclusions clearly prescribed and follow logically from the results of the study.

According to the researcher, the survey found that both self-esteem and susceptibility to

normative influence significantly and positively influence this relationship and contribute

to consumer psychology. Although the data collected are only in Vietnam, which is in a

specific culture and the study conducted was at a specific point in time. But to a good

extent the study was representative of the article, and in the correct form. Who reads it

can understand the overall purpose and method of the study. Moreover, the purpose of

the study was made clear by the researcher. It was made clear that this study examines

the impact of brand loyalty.