Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Date of Award
8-2010
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Marketing
First Advisor
Dr. Michael S. Minor
Second Advisor
Dr. Chiquan Guo
Third Advisor
Dr. Sibin Wu
Abstract
The objective of this dissertation is to better understand the phenomenon of brand evangelism and the dimensions that are involved in a consumer becoming a brand evangelist. A brand evangelist is a consumer who actively “spreads the good word” of the brand while attempting to influence others’ consumption behavior. Through the development and testing of a model, this study helps to realize the concepts that are involved in a consumer becoming a brand evangelist. To date, little research has examined the dimensions of brand evangelism. It is proposed here that the attributes leading to brand evangelism include brand satisfaction, brand salience, consumer-brand identification, social motivation, and opinion leadership. The results of the study garnered some mixed results. It was found that consumer-brand identification, brand salience, and opinion leadership are all concepts that lead to brand evangelism. However, neither brand satisfaction nor sociability has a statistically significant relationship directly related with brand evangelism. It must be noted, though, that brand satisfaction does have a mediated relationship with brand evangelism through consumer-brand identification. Finally, for the overall proposed model, it was found that there is no statistical difference between males and females, income level of higher/lower than $100,000, ages of 50 years and older versus under 50 years of age, or being a college graduate versus an individual without a bachelor’s degree.
Granting Institution
University of Texas-Pan American
Comments
Copyright 2010 Samuel K. Doss. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/spreading-good-word-toward-understanding-brand/docview/871544072/se-2