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Emotional Brand Attachment and Attitude toward Brand Extension

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Emotional Brand Attachment and Attitude toward

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Arash Vahdat , Hanieh Hafezniya , Younis Jabarzadeh & Park Thaichon

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SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY
https://doi.org/10.1080/15332969.2020.1786245

Emotional Brand Attachment and Attitude

toward Brand Extension
Arash Vahdata, Hanieh Hafezniyab, Younis Jabarzadeha, and Park Thaichonc
a
Department of Management, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran; bFaculty of Management,
University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; cDepartment of Marketing, Griffith Business School, Gold
Coast, QLD, Australia

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
This study aims to investigate how emotional brand attach- Emotional brand
ment contributes to attitude toward brand extension. Data attachment; attitudinal
were collected from 1236 users of Apple and Samsung loyalty; customer
satisfaction; customer
Smartphones using structured questionnaire and analyzed by commitment; attitude
structural equation modeling using AMOS. First, emotional toward brand extension
brand attachment significantly affects attitudinal loyalty, com-
mitment, and customer satisfaction. These attitudes, in turn,
have positive effects on attitude toward brand extension of
which the impact of customer satisfaction on attitude toward
the brand extension is noticeable. These effects, however, are
different across different groups of customers (i.e. gender,
marital status, and education).

Introduction
Great emphasis is put on developing long-term relationships with
customers in marketing, thereby creating trust, commitment, and loyalty
(Levy & Hino, 2016, Quach et al., 2019). The concept of emotional brand
attachment has multiple facts and reflects socio-emotional attachments,
behavior ties, and supportive, cognitive beliefs (Korhonen et al., 2018).
Since emotional brand attachment as an emerging construct plays a vital
role in the representation of customer-brand relationships (Kim et al.,
2017), this view of customer-brand relationships is increasingly considered
as a core of market differentiation and continuous competitive advantage
(Thompson et al., 2006). It acts as an incentive, which encourages compa-
nies to employ it to strengthen relationships with customers (Mal€ar et al.,
2011). It is also critical in affecting customers attitude that generate brand
profitability and customer lifetime value (Whan Park et al., 2010). Building
strong brand connections with customers is a solid basis for cultivating
customers positive attitudes specifically in retailing (Frasquet et al., 2017)

CONTACT Younis Jabarzadeh yjabarzade@tabrizu.ac.ir Department of Management, University of Tabriz,

Tabriz, Iran.
ß 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

and customers attached to brands, evaluate those brands positively

(Fedorikhin et al., 2008).
Previous studies found that emotional brand attachment has a positive
effect on attitude toward a brand extension. Authors such as Yeung and
Wyer, (2005), Boush and Loken (1991), Fedorikhin et al. (2008), and He
and Li (2010) noted that customers with higher attachment were more
likely to associate the extension with the parent brand. Despite numerous
studies on emotional brand attachment and attitude toward a brand exten-
sion there has been limited research on mechanisms through which emo-
tional brand attachment affects attitude a toward a brand extension. This
mechanism helps retailers to attract new customers as it has been proven
to be more expensive than retaining existing customers. Thus, retailers use
the existing attachment in order to increase positive attitudes toward the
extension (Arsenos et al., 2018). In addition, it is critical to identify cus-
tomers attitudes as the factors facilitating the relationship between emo-
tional brand attachment and attitude toward a brand extension since they
are the outcomes of emotional brand attachment (Alnawas and Altarifi,
2016) and determinants of attitude toward a brand extension (Ozretic-
Dosen et al., 2018). Based on the foregoing discussion, this study attempts
to investigate how emotional brand attachment affects attitude toward the
brand extension through customersattitudes.
Accordingly, the purpose of this study is twofold. First, to specify cus-
tomers attitudinal consequences of emotional brand attachment and
second, to verify whether these consequences contribute to attitude toward
brand extension. For this purpose, this article is to combine four distinctive
and unique constructs (i.e. emotional brand attachment, attitudinal loyalty,
commitment, and customer satisfaction) into one model to delineate the
customer’s psychological path from emotional brand attachment to attitude
toward the brand extension. The benefits of this article in the business
world are justified based on two reasons. First, the failure rate of brand
extension in many products exceeds 80% (V€ olckner & Sattler, 2006). Thus,
emotional brand attachment helps retailers to reduce the failure rate of the
brand extension and its irreversible costs and leads to increase income,
which may be spent on other strategies of the company. Second, the wrong
extension could lead to negative associations that may be expensive (Aaker
& Keller, 1990). Under this condition, the extended brand ravages the par-
ent brand’s reputation. Therefore, recognizing the factors affecting a posi-
tive attitude toward the brand extension can maintain the parent brand’s
credibility. Furthermore, for authors, the current study is an attempt to
understand emotional brand attachment, customer attitudes, and attitude
toward the brand extension by employing a new research approach.
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 3

Emotional brand attachment

Attachment is a basic human need, defined by an emotion-laden, target-
specific relationship between a person and a target (Orth et al., 2010).
People establish emotion-laden bonds with other people as well as objects
(Proksch et al., 2015). However, research in marketing poses that attach-
ment is a construct, which relates customers with a brand, which can
extend from the person-person and person-object relationships context to
customer-brand relationships (Park et al., 2006). In a marketing context,
people can also develop and maintain emotionally charged relationships
with brands. These feelings include affection, passion, and connection
(Alnawas & Hemsley-Brown, 2018).
Researchers have distinguished two branches of brand attachment meas-
urement, each of which focuses on different elements of attachment (Yao
et al., 2015). The literature on brand attachment distinguishes two measures
of brand attachment: the Thomson et al. (2005) scale of emotional attach-
ment and the more recent Whan Park et al. (2010) scale of brand attach-
ment (Dolbec & Chebat, 2013). While the scale of Thomson et al. (2005)
measures the feelings associated with attachment (affection, passion, and
connection), the scale of Whan Park et al. (2010) is centered on more cog-
nitive dimensions of brand accessibility and integration into a customers
identity (Dunn & Hoegg, 2014). Based on this consideration, in our study,
we focused on emotional brand attachment adopted from the measurement
of Thomson et al. (2005). Thus, we define emotional brand attachment as
“the overall emotional connection between the customer and the brand”
(Shi et al., 2011).

Hypotheses development and conceptual model

Emotional Brand attachment and attitudinal loyalty
Loyalty, by definition, is getting customers to commit themselves to the
rewarding long-term transactions (Shahin Sharifi & Rahim Esfidani, 2014).
It is generally understood as “a deeply held commitment to rebuy or
repatronise a preferred product/service consistently in the future (Khan &
Rahman, 2016). Traditionally, most definitions of brand loyalty have
focused on behavioral loyalty, which is based on the concept of repeat pur-
chases and the constant use of a brand (Thaichon & Quach, 2016).
However, other studies focus on attitudinal loyalty (Thaichon & Quach,
2015). In the context of this study, attitudinal loyalty has been used to
measure brand loyalty.
Attitudinal loyalty is determined by the durability of the emotional
attachment a customer forms with a particular brand (Kosiba et al., 2018).
4 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

Creating a strong brand attachment decreases the search costs and per-
ceived risks, and thereby increases attitudinal loyalty (Cheng et al., 2016).
This may be because strong emotional bonds are a prerequisite to strong
attitudinal loyalty (Irfan et al., 2019, Frasquet et al., 2017, Moussa &
Touzani, 2017). Schmalz and Orth (2012) and Wu et al. (2017) contend
that building strong relationships between customers and brands carries
important implications for increasing brand loyalty; it helps to buffer pos-
sible negative effects in the event of facing negative information. Therefore,
our first hypothesis is as follows:
H1. Emotional brand attachment has a positive effect on attitudinal loyalty.

Emotional brand attachment and commitment

Commitment is more emotional and has its roots in the identification,
shared values, attachment, and trust (Albert & Merunka, 2013). Individuals
who are strongly attached to a person are more likely to feel committed to
that person. Similarly, customers’ emotional attachments to a brand antici-
pate their commitment (Whan Park et al., 2010). Thus, brand attachment
is a better predictor in explaining a higher level of customers’ attitudes that
reflect investment in resources and commitment (Park et al., 2006). Hence,
one would predict that customers firmly attached to a brand show commit-
ment even during times of marketplace failures, such as product recalls,
terrible product crises, and negative information about the company or the
people who work for it (Ahluwalia et al., 2000). The second hypothesis
is this:
H2. Emotional brand attachment has a positive effect on commitment.

Emotional brand attachment and customer satisfaction

Satisfaction has been defined as an evaluation of expectations and actual per-
formance of a product (Thaichon et al., 2014, Oliver, 1999). Previous studies
indicate that customer satisfaction contains emotional components and cus-
tomer satisfaction acts as an emotional reaction to the consumption experience
(Levy & Hino, 2016). As a result, an individual who is emotionally attached to
a brand is likely to be satisfied with it (Bianchi & Drennan, 2012) because sat-
isfaction might be the result of emotional attachment (Moussa & Touzani,
2017). The study of firm-focused attachment has shown that customers with
low anxiety, avoidance, or both (i.e. high emotional brand attachment) are
more encouraging in terms of satisfaction toward the firm (Japutra et al.,
2018a). Accordingly, the third hypothesis is as follows:
H3. Emotional brand attachment has a positive effect on customer satisfaction.
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 5

Attitudinal loyalty and attitude toward the brand extension

Loyalty to a brand results from the positive perceptions and feelings toward
that brand (Ozretic-Dosen et al., 2018). When extending a brand, loyal cus-
tomers are mostly considered because they invest more than other custom-
ers do in the brand as a trusted relationship partner (Spiggle et al., 2012)
since attitude toward the extension of a brand is positively affected by the
loyalty of a customer (Anwar et al., 2011). In essence, to have a successful
brand extension, the first step is to establish positive attitude of customers
to brand extension which is critically resulted from brand loyalty (Shujie,
2017). Our next proposition is:
H4. Attitudinal loyalty has a positive effect on attitude toward brand extension.

Commitment and attitude toward the brand extension

A customer’s high commitment to a brand leads to a wish and motivation to
maintain the relationship. This makes customers less vulnerable to another
newly introduced brand product regarding their attitude toward extension
(Hansen & Hem, 2004). The attitude to an extension becomes better when the
customer shows a commitment to it (Martınez et al., 2009).
Commitment in many studies has been shown to augment attitude
toward the brand extension. For example, Fedorikhin et al. (2006) and
Hansen and Hem (2004) pointed out the important role of commitment in
the brand extension evaluation. Ozretic-Dosen et al. (2018) referred to
commitment and subsequent future intentions. The authors added that
brand commitment influences attitude toward brand extension. Finally,
Wang et al. (2017) indicated that brand commitment is a moderating factor
and can suggest a strong relationship between image fit and extension atti-
tude for customers with a high level of brand commitment. Accordingly,
the following is proposed:
H5. Commitment has a positive effect on attitude toward brand extension.

Satisfaction and attitude toward brand extension

Customers who have strong attitudes toward the quality of a brand tend to
transfer these positive features to the brand extension. In other words, the
more the parent brand is perceived to be of a high level, the more acceptance
of the brand extension (M€ uge Arslan & Korkut Altuna, 2010), which in turn
increases customer satisfaction (Bansal & Taylor, 2015). To that end, it is
expected that when the extended brand is launched, the satisfaction factor will
show its importance; if the customer is satisfied with the parent brand, there is
a good probability that they will select the extended brand because they have a
6 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

Figure 1. Conceptual model of the research (psychological path to attitude toward the
brand extension).

good attitude toward the extension (Reast, 2005). This may be because satisfac-
tion leads to successful relationships, and together with emotional brand
attachment, influences purchase possibility and regular brand choice (Japutra
et al., 2014b). Our final proposition is this:
H6. Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on attitude toward brand extension.

Moderating variables
It has been suggested that gender, education, and marital status should be
investigated as moderators because these variables come along with a high level
of attachment (Bidmon, 2017) and are related to customer attitudes (Moussa &
Touzani, 2017). In a study, the analysis showed that gender plays a moderating
role in predicting attitudes (Japutra et al., 2018b). Moreover, individual predis-
positions interact with personal characteristic traits such as education (Henry
Xie, 2008). This is the reason for the call to study the moderating effect of
these variables in the relationship between brand-related variables and loyalty
toward the brand (Frasquet et al., 2017). Thus, these variables will be assessed
for their moderating role in the relationships of the model.
We summarize our proposed hypotheses in Figure 1. This model demonstrates
four distinctive and unique constructs (i.e. emotional brand attachment, attitu-
dinal loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction), which together delineate
the customers’ psychological path to attitude toward the brand extension.

Methodology
Sample and data collection
This study was carried out among users of Apple and Samsung in Iran.
The choice of this sample is because these two brands have high brand
attachment among users. The data were collected from July to September
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 7

2018. Permissions were got from official retail centers of the two brands to
distribute the questionnaires to customers. The participants were asked to
complete the questionnaire only if they had experience with either of the
two brands. Participants were asked to think of two extended brands,
namely Apple brand’s laptop if they were iPhone users and Samsung’s TV
if they were Samsung’s smartphone users. These two extended products
were chosen because, first, they are well-known brands. Second, the pro-
cedure of extending these two brands into the other mentioned products
seems to be plausible because these two companies are among the key play-
ers in TV and laptop markets. Even though Apples laptop was produced
after its mobile phone, and thus it may not be Apples extended product to
mobile phones, the authors just asked the respondents to think that the
laptop would be an extended product of Apples mobile phone and fill the
items related to attitude toward the brand extension based on their imagin-
ation. The questionnaires were distributed among the users, and 1236 of
the questionnaires were complete and usable. Respondents were asked to
rate their agreement using a Likert scale, where one was “strongly disagree”
and five was “strongly agree.”

Measurement
To measure the proposed model, this study modified the measurement
items whose reliability and validity had already been tested in relevant pre-
vious studies and all scales in the present study have shown a high validity
in previous studies (Table 1). This section describes the measurement items
used in this study. The survey instrument consisted of the study variables
measures. Scale items for emotional brand attachment included three items,
which were taken from the study of Thomson et al. (2005). The construct
of attitudinal loyalty had three items as well, which were derived from
Martinelli et al. (2015). Customer satisfaction was adopted from Jimenez
and Voss (2014), commitment from Thomson (2006), and attitude toward
brand extension items was derived from Albrecht et al. (2013). Attitude
toward brand extensions items consist of two scales; attitude toward brand
extension and overall fit between the parent and the extended brand. These
two scales were selected because they have been shown to play an import-
ant role in a successful brand extension (V€olckner & Sattler, 2006).

Results
Demographic characteristics
Descriptive statistical analysis, which includes frequencies and percentages,
was used to identify participants’ demographics. The demographic
8 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

Table 1. Instrument items and reliability indices.

Items FL a CR AVE
EBA No other brand can take the place of this brand .729 .755 .756 .509
I feel like I am missing out if I haven’t got this brand .727
Im very attached to this brand .683
AL I prefer this brand or retailer than other brands and retailers .700 .772 .779 .542
I consider this brand or retailer as the best choice for my .827
household expenditure
I rank this brand or retailer as No. 1 amongst the other .672
retailers I shop with
CO How committed are you to the relationship? .829 .836 .839 .635
How dedicated are you to the relationship? .815
How devoted are you to the relationship? .743
CS How satisfied are you with your brand or retailer? .665 .788 .781 .544
How content are you with your brand or retailer? .776
How happy are you with your brand or retailer? .767
ABE I like <Parent Brand> <Extension> .728 .857 .861 .509
<Parent Brand> <Extension> is attractive .702
<Parent Brand> <Extension> is appealing .693
<Extension category> fits well with <Parent Brand> .713
<Extension category> is a logical extension for <Parent Brand> .780
<Extension category> should be offered by <Parent Brand .657
Note: All values are represented at a significance level of p < .05, CS ¼ customer satisfaction, CO ¼ Commitment,
EBA ¼ emotional brand attachment, AL ¼ attitudinal loyalty, and ABE ¼ attitude toward brand extension,
respectively.

Table 2. Sample structure.

Composition Number %
Gender
Male 795 64.3
Female 441 35.7
Age
18–28 512 41.4
29–39 546 44.2
40–49 152 12.3
50þ 26 2.1
Education
Bachelor and below 428 34.6
Master and above 808 65.4
Marital status
Single 672 54.4
Married 564 45.6
The amount of average money spent per month on a mobile phone (US $)
0 545 44.1
10–40 543 43.9
41–70 99 8
71–100 49 4
The frequency of buying a mobile phone
3 years and less 1014 84.2
More than 3 years 195 15.8
Buying platform
In-store 1127 91.2
Online 109 8.8

questions contained in this study were gender, age, level of education,

marital status, the average spent money on a mobile phone each month,
the frequency of buying a mobile phone, and the way respondents prefer to
buy a mobile phone. The results are shown in Table 2.
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 9

Table 3. Results of convergent and discriminant validity.

CS EBA AL CO ABE
CS .738
EBA .472 .713
AL .306 .312 .736
CO .312 .259 .278 .797
ABE .377 .426 .289 .335 .713
Note: CS ¼ customer satisfaction, CO ¼ commitment, EBA ¼ emotional brand attachment, AL ¼ attitudinal loyalty,
and ABE ¼ attitude toward brand extension, respectively.

Reliability and validity tests

To measure the reliability and validity of the scales, a Confirmatory Factor
Analysis was performed using the method of Structural Equation Modeling
(SEM) via AMOS. Based on the measurement model, The Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient values met the minimum cutoff value of .70 (Nunnally, 1978)
for all the constructs. Similarly, as recommended by Hair et al. (2012), CR
(composite reliability) and AVE (average variance extracted) values met the
minimum cutoff value of .70 and .50, respectively. The average variance
extracted from two standardized constructs was more than the squared cor-
relation between two constructs indicating discriminant validity among
constructs (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The values are reported in Table 3.
Before testing the hypotheses, this paper conducted the measurement
model test using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Model fit indices were (v2/
degrees of freedom ¼ 4.04 (p ¼ .000); NFI (.94); GFI (.956); CFI (.954);
RMR (.049); RMSEA (.050), indicating an acceptable measurement model
fit (Byrne, 2016).

Hypotheses testing
To examine the hypotheses, AMOS was employed. Structural equation
modeling is an appropriate way to test hypothesized relationships
(Thomson & Johnson, 2006). To test hypotheses, the full structural model
and fit indices were tested: (v2/degrees of freedom ¼ 4.86); (p ¼ .000);
NFI (.926); GFI (.944); CFI (.94); RMR (.073); RMSEA (.056). The results
of the structural model analysis showed that all hypotheses are supported.
These results are represented in Table 4.

Moderating effect
In this paper, we analyzed the moderating effect of gender, marital status,
and education between every two variables in the model. Even though the
chi-square approach is mostly used for evaluating interaction effect, we fol-
lowed the stats tool for this effect, which is run based on regression weights
and pairwise parameter comparisons, because the former is tedious and
10 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

Table 4. Results for structural equation analyses.

Path Estimate S.E. C.R. P
EBA —> AL .358 .045 9.590 
EBA —> CO .314 .045 8.650 
EBA —> CS .521 .043 13.040 
CO —> ABE .228 .028 6.958 
AL —> ABE .166 .030 4.980 
CS —> ABE .294 .035 8.290 
Note: CS ¼ customer satisfaction, CO ¼ Commitment, EBA ¼ emotional brand attachment, AL ¼ attitudinal loyalty,
and ABE ¼ attitude toward brand extension respectively.

Table 5. Moderating effect.

Male Female
Gender
Estimate P Estimate P z-score
EBA —> AL .549 .000 .347 .000 2.250
EBA —> CO .315 .000 .380 .000 .747
EBA —> CS .397 .000 .545 .000 1.635
CO —> ABE .180 .000 .116 .000 1.340
AL —> ABE .578 .000 .284 .000 3.988
CS —> ABE .161 .000 .146 .000 -.325
Marital Status Married Single
Estimate P Estimate P z-score
EBA —> AL .492 .000 .475 .000 -.231
EBA —> CO .388 .000 .292 .000 1.205
EBA —> CS .478 .000 .409 .000 -.832
CO —> ABE .222 .000 .120 .000 1.968
AL —> ABE .378 .000 .571 .000 2.429
CS —> ABE .218 .000 .116 .000 2.138
Education Bachelor and below Master and above
EBA —> AL .365 .000 .588 .000 2.947
EBA —> CO .330 .000 .354 .000 .295
EBA —> CS .460 .000 .428 .000 -.376
CO —> ABE .160 .000 .181 .000 .377
AL —> ABE .360 .000 .566 .000 2.522
CS —> ABE .263 .000 .145 .000 2.057
Note: CS ¼ customer satisfaction, CO ¼ Commitment, EBA ¼ emotional brand attachment, AL ¼ attitudinal loyalty,
and ABE ¼ attitude toward brand extension respectively.

perplexing, while the latter is handier. Regression weights conducted by

stats tool provides more insight on the moderating effect of any variables
in the structural model. Findings showed that gender has a moderating
effect on the relationship between emotional brand attachment and attitu-
dinal loyalty since the value of z-score is less than threshold 1.96. Also,
gender moderates the link between attitudinal loyalty and attitude toward
the brand extension.
Moreover, we found that marital status has a moderating effect on the
relationship between attitudinal loyalty and attitude toward the brand
extension as z-score for this path is greater than threshold 1.96 shown
in Table 5. Two paths also are moderated by marital status because of z-
score less than 1.96; the relationship between commitment and attitude
toward the brand extension, the link between customer satisfaction and
attitude toward the brand extension. For education, two z-scores are greater
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 11

Table 6. Indirect effect using the bootstrapping method.

Indirect effect Lower Upper P
EBA—>ABE .284 .229 .346 .002
Note: EBA ¼ emotional brand attachment, ABE ¼ attitude toward brand extension.

Table 7. Results for attitudinal loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction as mediators
on the relationship between emotional brand attachment and attitude toward the brand.
EBA with EBA EBA with EBA EBA with EBA
AL as a without CO as a without CS as a without
mediator AL SIE mediator CO SIE mediator CS SIE
ABE .284 .247 .063
ABE .284 .248 .076
ABE .284 .168 .163
Note: p < .01, CS ¼ customer satisfaction, CO ¼ Commitment, EBA ¼ emotional brand attachment, AL ¼ attitudinal
loyalty, and ABE ¼ attitude toward brand extension respectively.

than 1.96 and another is less than 1.96. Thus, we can conclude that this
variable has a moderating effect on the relationship between emotional
brand attachment and attitudinal loyalty, on the link between attitudinal
loyalty and attitude toward the brand extension, and finally on the path
between customer satisfaction and attitude toward the brand extension.

Mediating effect
From the mediators perspective, all three variables namely attitudinal
loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction have full mediation role on
the relationship between emotional brand attachment and attitude toward
the brand extension and all the effect of emotional brand attachment flow
completely through these full mediators. To estimate the indirect effect
of emotional brand attachment, we used bootstrapping method and the
indirect effect of .284 is resulted and indicated in Table 7. As shown
in Table 7, the influence of emotional brand attachment on attitude
toward the brand extension decreases from .302 to .247, .248, and .168
for attitudinal loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction respectively
when we remove these variables from the model.

Discussion
Unique to the context of brand attachment, this study aims to examine the
influence of emotional brand attachment on attitudinal loyalty,
commitment, and customer satisfaction and the effect of these antecedents
on attitude toward the brand extension. The results of the current study
confirm that emotional brand attachment has different influences
on attitudinal loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction. Also, it was
revealed that these antecedents (attitudinal loyalty, commitment, and
12 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

customer satisfaction) have significant and different effects on attitude

toward the brand extension.
The results show that emotional brand attachment was positively related
to attitudinal loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction. In particular,
emotional brand attachment manifested its positive and significant impact
on attitudinal loyalty. This finding mirrors the findings of Japutra et al.
(2018b) that assessed the effects of emotional brand attachment as a media-
ting factor between ideal self-congruence and brand loyalty. They empha-
size that ideal self-congruence leads to higher emotional brand attachment
and thereby increases brand loyalty. This result is also in line with the
research of Frasquet et al. (2017), in that brand attachment has a positive
influence on offline loyalty, but the relationship between brand attachment
and online loyalty is not significant for the Spanish customer, nor for the
British ones. As shown in our results, many of the respondents prefer to
buy offline. This is derived from Iranian’s culture because they prefer not
to participate in online buying due to deficiencies in online methods of
buying products. Similarly, Alnawas and Hemsley-Brown (2018) concluded
that emotional outcome of customers (i.e. emotional brand attachment) is
influential on switching resistance loyalty which is another term for loyalty.
Furthermore, our finding for this hypothesis supports the finding of
Bidmon (2017). His finding shows that different styles of emotional brand
attachment have different effects on brand loyalty. Moreover, this is con-
sistent with Pedeliento et al. (2016). Their findings lead to the discussion of
the positive and direct relationship between emotional brand attachment
and brand loyalty in an industrial context, even though they did not con-
firm the direct effect of product attachment on brand loyalty.
The positive result of the second hypothesis is confirmed by the study of
Park et al. (2006). They acknowledge that brand attachment reflects a cus-
tomers’ psychological state of mind (strong self-brand linkages and auto-
matic retrieval of thoughts and feelings about the brand). Also, this finding
highlights the conclusion made by the study of Schmalz and Orth (2012),
who suggested that emotional brand attachment debilitates the adverse
effects of wrong information and triggers commitment. Both their study
and ours focusses on the cognitive aspect of emotional brand attachment,
which results in commitment toward the brand.
About H3, customer satisfaction is significantly affected by emotional
brand attachment with the greatest influence. This finding concedes the
outcome of Thomson and Johnson (2006), which implies that when cus-
tomers display attachment feelings, they show higher levels of satisfaction.
On the other hand, the positive effect of brand attachment on satisfaction
did not endorse the result of the research conducted by Belaid and
Temessek Behi (2011) in industrial products. This is justifiable by saying
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 13

that customers’ satisfaction in this area is further formed by the cognitive aspect
and is based on meeting expectations (Shabani Nashtaee et al., 2017).
Loyalty and commitment, as well as customer satisfaction, were significant
antecedents of attitude toward the brand extension. In particular, the role of
attitudinal loyalty on the brand extension was confirmed. Anwar et al. (2011)
supports this, having found that loyalty has a significant influence on attitude
toward brand extension because if a customer is loyal to a parent brand, then
the chances of choosing the extended brand are higher, which lowers failure
risk of trying a new product. This is similar to the finding of Martinelli et al.
(2015), who concluded that attitude toward brand extension is affected by atti-
tudinal loyalty and not by behavioral loyalty because the abstraction process
takes place in the mind of customers and leverages the positive associations in
the core brand toward the extended brand. More than that, this finding lends
support from the study of He and Li (2010) in which brand loyalty was indi-
cated to affect attitude toward the brand extension with the mediating effect of
fit between the extended brand and parent brand, especially for an upward
extension since the downward extension is evaluated more favorably than the
upward extension.
For H5, commitment is depicted as a determinant factor of attitude
toward the brand extension, and this is consistent with the study of Raju
et al. (2008). The rationale behind their argument is that committed indi-
viduals feel attached to a brand and are less willing to change brands when
compared with less committed individuals. Contrary to these outcomes, the
results of Wang et al. (2017) indicate that the relationship between category
fit and extension attitude is stronger for customers with a low level of com-
mitment. They advocate this finding by suggesting that this effect occurs
for two moderately low fit extensions: the extension and the parent are in
similar product categories with inconsistent attributes or dissimilar product
categories with consistent attributes.
Surprisingly, the direct effect of customer satisfaction on attitude toward
the brand extension rated higher than other factors, and it is the predomin-
ant predictor of attitude toward the brand extension. This can be explained
because satisfaction leads to successful relationships and, together with
emotional brand attachment, influence purchase likelihood and repeated
brand choice (Japutra et al., 2014a). This result supports the previous find-
ing of Reast (2005), which upholds that if a customer is satisfied with the
parent brand, there is a good chance that they will try the extended brand.
Considering the fact that Hem et al. (2003) used the items related to the
satisfaction provided by the brand to measure the reputation of the parent
brand and studied its effect on attitude toward the brand extension, they
found that the parent brand’s reputation (i.e. satisfaction) has a paramount
effect on attitude toward the brand extension.
14 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

Implications
Managerial implications
Involvement in the emotional brand attachment – Retailers, hence, should
work continuously to realize and establish affectionate relationships with
profitable customers (Moussa & Touzani, 2017). The brand attachment
consists of emotional components and is an emotional reaction to the con-
sumption experience. Since brand experience takes place throughout the
entire purchasing process, and even after the consumption experience,
retailers should consider communicating and interacting effectively with
their customers (Kang et al., 2017). The important thing is that they should
strive to deliver superior functional benefits in their relationship with cus-
tomers constantly to build stronger emotional attachments (Read et al.,
2011). They can strengthen their functional benefits by improving necessary
product qualities such as durability, practicality, and design (Theng So
et al., 2013).
Attempts to improve customers’ attitudes toward an extended brand -
Our findings show that retailers should rely on customer satisfaction as a
predominant factor in increasing the flow of commoditised products and a
fragmented marketplace that easily helps and facilitates the acceptance of a
new product. Customer satisfaction is an important and constant predictor
of loyalty and commitment. Thus, it is the easiest way of reaching a posi-
tive attitude toward a brand extension, even without loyalty and commit-
ment. Sales promotion points for customers are another area that could
augment appropriate customer attitudes toward a brand extension, by let-
ting them try the new extended product in retail outlets where customers
repeatedly connect with it. Furthermore, Retailers can develop customers’
attitudes and encourage customers to elaborate upon their brand choice by
activating their motivation and the capacity of them to evaluate it. This can
be done by relating the brand to an engaging issue or personal matters, by
underlying the differences between different brands and emphasizing an
important characteristic of the extended product, by giving obvious and
understandable information about it, or by building a stable relationship
with the customer.

Theoretical implications
This study raises some theoretical implications. First, the study proposes a
theoretical framework, identifies the consequences of emotional brand
attachment, and describes how emotional brand attachment affects them
(attitudinal brand loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction). Many
studies have shown that stronger attachment results in many favorable
 SERVICES MARKETING QUARTERLY 15

outcomes (Rossiter & Bellman, 2012, Vlachos et al., 2010). If marketers

build strong attachment between their brands and the customers, these atti-
tudes occur more likely (Japutra et al., 2014a). Extant research under the
relational paradigm indicates that consumers’ post-consumption appraisals
(e.g. satisfaction judgments) represent core drivers of customers attitudes
(Yim et al., 2008). However, while most service loyalty programs depend
on satisfaction-trust-loyalty paradigm, these attitudes are still unpredictable.
To that end, our study provides a path that considers consumer-firm emo-
tional attachment as the crux of these attitudes (Vlachos et al., 2010).
Second, our study contributes to a growing body of research on attitudes
toward the brand extension and introduces a model for assessing it in the
mobile phone service sector (Apple and Samsung), develops testable
hypotheses, and shows how these may be used to guide a systematic ana-
lysis of the state of customer-service provider relationships in any particular
setting. Indeed, it enhances our understanding of the antecedents of atti-
tude toward the brand extension. Previous research has explored a number
of drivers of attitude toward the brand extension, including perceived fit
(M€ uge Arslan & Korkut Altuna, 2010), perceived image and category fit
(Wang et al., 2017), brand reliability and product attachment (Pedeliento
et al., 2016), brand strength and brand emotion (Abosag et al., 2012). This
research adds to the literature by documenting the positive effects of attitu-
dinal brand loyalty, commitment and customer satisfaction on attitude
toward the brand extension. Ultimately, it is among the few empirical
works to examine specifically the impact of customers’ emotional attach-
ment on customer satisfaction, rated higher than other factors, represented
valuable source of brand extension.

Limitations and future research directions

Although this study has provided valuable findings, several limitations
must be noted. First, this is a cross-sectional study. It could be worthwhile
for future research to conduct a longitudinal study in examining attitude
toward the brand extension development over time to uncover any changes
in a customer’s emotional attachment. Second, future studies might con-
sider testing the proposed framework in other cultural settings and differ-
ent product categories. Third, our sample mostly consists of the young
generation (i.e. younger than 40 years) who are the main force of innov-
ation and technology in general and mobile phones in particular. Thus, the
authors recommend future studies to be conducted based on generational
differences. Next, the current research studied only the linear relationships
between variables. Non-linear relationships could be included in future
studies to give better insights on the links between them. Finally, the focus
16 A. VAHDAT ET AL.

of this study was on attachment as an internal feeling connecting customers

to brands. Future studies may explore the role of detachment and assess
how the consequences of these two concepts differ.

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