It takes time to tango: The relative importance of values versus traits in consumer brand relationships

Brand managers have several options in their quest to connect their brands with consumers. They may stress functional brand attributes and benefits, their brand's personality traits, or their brand's values (the human values attached to the brand). Which of these is most important to consu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consumer behaviour 2018-11, Vol.17 (6), p.532-541
Main Authors: Voorn, Ronald J.J., Veen, Gerrita, Rompay, Thomas J.L., Pruyn, Ad T.H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brand identification
Brands
Consumer behavior
Consumers
Life goals
Personality traits
Values
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Brand managers have several options in their quest to connect their brands with consumers. They may stress functional brand attributes and benefits, their brand's personality traits, or their brand's values (the human values attached to the brand). Which of these is most important to consumers is an open question, however. This article proposes that values may take on increased importance over time, as long‐term relationships (in general) require more than just getting the job done (functional aspect) or a sense of recognition (trait correspondence). What is required most of all is a correspondence between long‐term objectives and goals in life. Values are arguably the most relevant factor in longer relationships. An experiment was put together to determine if this is indeed the case. The results of our study suggest that values are indeed considered more important than traits in the case of longer relationships and that this is particularly true with decisions regarding prospective relationships and in the case of services.
ISSN:1472-0817
1479-1838
DOI:10.1002/cb.1737