(The Effect of Brand Love on Brand Loyalty in The Context of Generations: A Research in Afyonkarahisar)

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this study is to determine the effect of consumers' brand love on brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypotheses created for this purpose, two different scales were used as a questionnaire. Within the context of this study, by reaching 300 participants with “convenience sampling method”, the questionnaire was applied in Afyonkarahisar. The compiled data was analyzed with SPSS 21.0 statistical analysis program. In order to analyze the data obtained in the study, methods such as frequency, average and percentage were used. Additionally, the data was analzyed with The Kruskal-Wallis H Test, which was used for the analysis of three and more groups that do not show normal distribution, and Mann-Whitney U Test which was used for the analysis of qualitative data. Then, the analyzed data was interpreted. Findings – According to the results, X, Y and Z generation consumers’ brand love have a statistically signficant effect on their brand loyalty. Discussion – The findings of the study supported the previous studies conducted on brand love and brand loyalty in the relevant literature. The situation that makes the customers feel emotionally close to and connect with brand is regarded as brand love. The academic studies displayed that brand love has strong emotional outcomes, and as a result of this, it leads to several behavioral consequences such as brand loyalty. The extent of whether the relationship between brand and consumer is strong depends on whether the enterprises are open to innovations or not. Therefore, by extending beyond their functional qulities and increasing the brand experiences of their customers, enterprises need to create brand love