From clicks to affection: How online convenience cultivates brand love through impulsive buying in apparel retail

Undoubtedly, in the modern age of digitalization, Millennials, who are considered digital natives, have become a massive target market for salespersons. Changes in the way Millennials think accompanied by an explosion of social media have led to an increased focus on social media influencer marketing in the company sector. To help establish a new marketing paradigm that accounts for these changes, this research aims to conceptualize and investigate the process of building consumer-brand relationships with Millennial consumers through social media micro-influencers. Findings based on structural equation modeling revealed that four core characteristics of social media micro-influencers (i.e., authenticity, the meaning of the influencer, specific content, and secret sharing) were a significant antecedent of brand engagement and brand love, which, in turn, mediated the pathway from social media micro-influencer characteristics to brand evangelism. Understanding what social media micro-influencers mean to Millennials offers the promise of improving brand evangelism through more precise market analysis and market strategy. In the discussion, the paper introduces a three-stage building method towards brand evangelism through social media micro-influencer, including: (1) the stage of selecting influencers; (2) the stage of constructing intense emotional responses to the brand (brand engagement and brand love); and ultimately (3) the stage of becoming a brand evangelist. Lastly, limitations and future directions were discussed.

This paper aims to explore the factors that drive brand love for Apple in Saudi Arabia, which have not been studied previously. The study utilized the PROCESS macro on SPSS with models 4 and 15 to analyze the data collected from Saudi Arabian consumers. The findings confirmed that self-image congruence has both a direct effect, which equals 0.429, and an indirect effect through price perception, amounting to 0.083, on brand love. This means consumers who perceive themselves as similar to the brand in terms of personality, values, and lifestyles are more likely to develop a strong affection for Apple. The study also revealed the negative moderation of prestige sensitivity in the relationship between self-image congruence and brand love. In fact, the effect of self-image congruence on brand love is significantly higher (0.504) among individuals displaying low prestige sensitivity compared to those exhibiting high prestige sensitivity (0.323). However, the results did not support the moderation of prestige sensitivity in the relationship between price perception and brand love. Overall, this paper contributes to the existing literature on brand love, self-image congruence, price perception, and prestige sensitivity. The findings provide valuable insights for marketers to develop effective strategies to enhance consumers’ emotional connection with their brands. By understanding the importance of self-image congruence and considering the role of prestige sensitivity, marketers can better tailor their marketing messages and branding efforts to appeal to Saudi Arabian consumers. This study highlights the importance of cultural differences in consumer behavior and provides a basis for future research.

Acknowledgment
The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this paper through a large group Research Project under grant number RGP2/407/44.

The main aim of this study is to examine the antecedents and consequences of consumer engagement in the Saudi airline industry. In total, 403 usable responses were collected using an electronic survey. The study respondents include airline travelers who are living in Saudi Arabia. The survey data were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the theoretical model. The major study findings suggest that a positive correlation is found between online brand experience, brand love, and customer engagement. Moreover, customer engagement is positively associated with repatronage intention. In addition, the moderating results show that service quality has a moderating influence on the relationship between customer engagement and repatronage intention. As a consequence, the findings indicate the existence of service quality and its role in determining customer behavior intentions. This study also offers a great understanding of the interaction between the important factors. Thus, they may be utilized as a guideline for managing air traveling and improving airline sales in the country.