When do family brand personalities lead to brand loyalty? A study of family-owned fashion retailers in Pakistan

Abstract

Despite the benefits that it can bring, family firms in emerging markets rarely take brand loyalty into account. Using self-congruity theory and data from a sample of 381 customers of family-owned fashion retailers in five major shopping malls in Lahore, this research sets out to answer the question, how do brand personalities help to generate a brand image, and ensure brand loyalty, for family firms in emerging markets? It focuses on the influence of three brand personalities—sincerity, competence, and excitement—on brand loyalty, and examines the mediating effect of brand image, and the moderating effect of brand sophistication. The results show that brand sincerity, competence, and excitement have a positive effect on brand image, which in turn positively influences brand loyalty, and that brand sincerity and brand excitement also have positive indirect effects on brand loyalty. The study highlights some avenues for future research and discusses the implications for managers working in family firms in emerging markets such as Pakistan.