Malär et al. (2011): Emotional Brand Attachment and Brand Personality: The Relative Importance of the Actual and the Ideal Self
15 important questions on Malär et al. (2011): Emotional Brand Attachment and Brand Personality: The Relative Importance of the Actual and the Ideal Self
Why are companies always searching for ways to create strong emotional brand connections with consumers?
What are the two objectives of the study by Malär et al. (2011)?
- To understand the implications and the relative impact of consumers’ actual versus ideal self-congruence on emotional brand attachment
- To gain insight into how the effect of actual versus ideal self-congruence on consumers’ emotional brand attachment varies across different contexts and consumers
Which concept is centered in the paper by Malär et al. (2011) and what does this concept entail?
- Higher grades + faster learning
- Never study anything twice
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
How can actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence be defined?
- Actual self-congruence reflects the consumer’s perception of the fit between the actual self and the brand’s personality
- Ideal self-congruence is the perceived fit of the brand personality with the consumer’s ideal self
How can a consumer achieve self-congruence?
Explain the conceptual model of the study. Wich main effects and which moderators are examined?
However, this effecct may vary, depending on three moderators:
- The consumer’s level of product involvement
- Self-esteem
- Public self-consciousness.
How can a consumer achieve self-congruence?
How can self-concept be defined and which two forms has it?
- The actual self (=who and what I think I am now)
- Ideal self (=shaped by imaginations of what you believe you would like to be)
How can emotional brand attachment be defined?
Which three moderators are examined and what do they entail?
- Product involvement: The personal relevance of the product, which is determined by the extent to which the product is interesting and important to the consumer
- Self-esteem: A person’s overall evaluation of his or her worthiness as a human bein
- Public selfconsciousness: The awareness of the self as a social object or the awareness that others are aware of the self.
- People with high public self-consciousness are more aware of how others perceive them and try harder to create a favorable public image
Which 3 hypothesis are formulated with regard to the direct effect of the conceptual model? And are they supported or not?
- H1: Actual self-congruence has a positive effect on emotional brand attachment
- H2: Ideal self-congruence has a positive effect on emotional brand attachment
- H3: Actual self-congruence has a stronger effect on emotional brand attachment than ideal selfcongruence
H1 en H3 were supported, H2 was not supported (no sig effect)
Which 6 hypothesis are formulated with regard to the moderating effect of the conceptual model? And are they supported or not?
- H4a: Product involvement strengthens the relationship between actual self-congruence and emotional brand attachment.
- H4b: Product involvement weakens the relationship between ideal self-congruence and emotional brand attachment.
- H5a: Self-esteem strengthens the relationship between actual self-congruence with a brand and emotional attachment.
- H5b: Self-esteem weakens the relationship between ideal self-congruence and emotional brand attachment
- H6a: Public self-conscious strengthens the relationship between actual self-congruence and emotional brand attachment.
- H6b: Public self-consciousness weakens the relationship between ideal self-congruence and emotional brand attachment
All these hypotheses are supported.
What are the 5 academic and managerial implications of the paper by Malär et al. (2011)?
- To provide knowledge regarding the issue of whether to focus on the actual or ideal self in generating emotional brand attachment
- Four important issues for managers to consider when trying to increase consumers’ emotional brand attachment:
- (1) incorporating consumers’ selves into branding considerations
- (2) focusing on authentic branding
- (3) reconsidering aspirational branding
- (4) individualizing their branding efforts
- On a general level, the actual self is more important for consumers’ emotional brand attachment
- Aspirational branding strategies (aim at ideal self-congruence) may need to be reconsidered
- A call for more individual branding
What are the two main findings with regard to the three moderators?
- All three moderators can significantly increase the relative importance of actual self-congruence as a driver of emotional brand attachment (compared with ideal self-congruence)
- The relatively stronger effect of actual self-congruence on emotional brand attachment becomes reliably less pronounced when product involvement, self-esteem, or public self-consciousness is low
What are the 4 main conclusions of the paper by Malär et al. (2011)?
- Self-congruence can increase emotional brand, but both the type of self-congruence and the context/consumer characteristics must be considered
- Brands with actual self-congruence generated higher levels of emotional brand attachment. Even more pronounced when consumers were involved with the product or had a high level of selfesteem or public self-consciousness.
- Brands with ideal self-congruence were less successful in increasing emotional brand attachment
- Aspirational branding may still work under certain conditions, specifically when involvement, self-esteem, or public self-consciousness is low
The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:
- A unique study and practice tool
- Never study anything twice again
- Get the grades you hope for
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
![Trustpilot Logo](/images/design_2020/lp/clp-trustpilot-en.png)