Brand Loyalty versus Brand Switching: Revisiting the Concept from Young Consumers’ Perspective

Abstract

Over the years, the usage of smartphoneshas burgeoned worldwide. However, it is noteworthy that with this multiplied usage and popularity of smartphones,most of the consumers demonstrateerratic behavior in the selection oftheir preferred brand. Therefore,in order to understand this phenomenon further, this study wasconducted in Pakistan to examine the brand switching behavior of young consumers in the smartphoneindustry.For the purpose of this study, a theoretical framework marks out the relationships between social influence, sales promotion, variety seeking and brand switching. Themethodologyadopted for thisstudy comprised of a quantitative researchdesign,followingapositivistic research paradigm. A sample of 500 young smartphone users from the population of major cities of Pakistan was approached using purposive-sampling method,from which 482 responses were acknowledged. The data was collected via the survey method,following close ended questionnaires. The data was then analyzedby applying the structural equation modeling technique. The research findings filled in theresearch gaps by revealing apositive relationshipbetweensocial influences, variety seekingand sales promotion onbrand switching. However,brand loyalty was found to have a significantunfavorableimpacton these relationships. Brand loyalty weakens the relationship of social influence, variety seeking and salespromotion with brand switching.Hence, the presence of brand loyalty restrictsconsumers from switching theirsmartphone brand due to the influenceof the above mentionedfactors.