Influence of Brand Personality Congruence, Brand Attachment, Brand Love and Obsessive Passion on Compulsive Buying Behavior
Keywords:
Brand attachment, brand love, materialism, luxury branding, brand personality congruence, obsessive passion, compulsive buying behavior.Abstract
The importance of brand personality congruence (BPC), brand attachment (BA) and brand love (BL) in the luxury marketing is paramount. Still, their relationships in enhancing the customers obsessive passion (OP) and compulsive buying behavior (CBB) through the moderating role of materialism remains tenuous in luxury branding. Addressing these gaps, this study aims to empirically investigate the BPC framework and its impact on customers CBB in the luxury branding of Pakistan by using self-congruity theory. In a cross-sectional study design, survey-based data is collected from 377 consumers of luxury brands, visiting retail stores. For data analysis, PLS-SEM technique is employed by using SmartPLS 4.
The findings reveal positive relationship between brand personality congruence and customers' positive feelings, including brand love and brand attachment which subsequently transforms into compulsive purchase behavior. Additionally, materialism moderates, thus strengthens the relationship between the customers OP and CBB in luxury branding. This study is significant since it has examined the relationships from self-congruity theory which is giving a new lens of understanding how the brand personality congruence can lead to unexplored and hidden but important aspects such as feelings, love and attachment which subsequently enhances the compulsive buying behavior. The study will help practitioners and marketers in developing advertising and promotional strategies that target consumer self-identity and align with the brand's personality to encourage compulsive purchasing.
References
Aaker, J. L. (1999). The Malleable Self: The Role of Self-Expression in Persuasion.
Journal of Marketing Research, 36(1), 45-57.
Achtziger, A., Hubert, M., Kenning, P., Raab, G., & Reisch, L. (2015). Debt out of control: The links between self-control, compulsive buying, and real debts. Journal of Economic Psychology, 49, 141-149.
Aguilar, A., Yagüe Guillén, M. J., & Villaseñor Roman, N. (2016). Destination brand personality: An application to Spanish tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 18(3), 210-219.
Agyekum, O., Kwame Addae, E., & Yeboah, A. (2025). Examining the nexus between self-congruity, brand love and negative consumer behavioural outcomes. Cogent Business & Management, 12(1), 2476701.
Ahuvia, A., Rauschnabel, P. A., & Rindfleisch, A. (2020). Is brand love materialistic?
Journal of Product & Brand Management, 30(3), 467-480.
Ahuvia, A. C. (2005). Beyond the extended self: Loved objects and consumers' identity narratives. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(1), 171-184.
Aiken, K. D., Bee, C., & Walker, N. (2018). From passion to obsession: Development and validation of a scale to measure compulsive sport consumption. Journal of Business Research, 87, 69-79.
Akter, S., D'ambra, J., & Ray, P. (2011). An evaluation of PLS based complex models: the roles of power analysis, predictive relevance and GoF index. AMCIS 2011 Proceedings -
All Submissions. 151. Seventeenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Detroit, Michigan August 4th-7th 2011.
Albert, N., Merunka, D., & Valette-Florence, P. (2008). When consumers love their brands: Exploring the concept and its dimensions. Journal of Business Research, 61(10), 1062- 1075.
Ali, F., Tauni, M. Z., & Ali, A. (2022). The Big Five dyad congruence and compulsive buying: A case of service encounters. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 68 103007.
Atanasova, A., & Eckhardt, G. M. (2021). The broadening boundaries of materialism.
Marketing Theory, 21(4), 481-500.
Attiq, S., Abdul Hamid, A. B., Khokhar, M. N., Shah, H. J., & Shahzad, A. (2022). “Wow! It’s Cool”: How brand coolness affects the customer psychological well-being through brand love and brand engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 923870.
Bairrada, C. M., Coelho, F., & Coelho, A. (2018). Antecedents and outcomes of brand love: Utilitarian and symbolic brand qualities. European Journal of Marketing, 52(3/4), 656-682.
Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2012). Brand love. Journal of Marketing, 76(2), 1-16.
Belk, R. W. (1985). Materialism: Trait aspects of living in the material world. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(3), 265-280.
Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the Extended Self. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(2), 139-168.
Belk, R. W. (1995). Collecting as luxury consumption: Effects on individuals and households. Journal of Economic Psychology, 16(3), 477-490.
Bergkvist, L., & Bech-Larsen, T. (2010). Two studies of consequences and actionable antecedents of brand love. Journal of Brand Management, 17(7), 504-518.
Carroll, B. A., & Ahuvia, A. C. (2006). Some antecedents and outcomes of brand love.
Marketing Letters, 17, 79-89.
Cheah, J.-H., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Ramayah, T., & Ting, H. (2018). Convergent validity assessment of formatively measured constructs in PLS-SEM: On using single-item versus multi-item measures in redundancy analyses. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(11), 3192-3210.
Chua, R. Y. J., & Zou, X. (2009). The devil wears prada? Effects of exposure to luxury goods on cognition and decision making. Harvard Business School Organizational Behavior Unit, Working Paper No. 10-034.
Çifci, S., Ekinci, Y., Whyatt, G., Japutra, A., Molinillo, S., & Siala, H. (2016). A cross validation of Consumer-Based Brand Equity models: Driving customer equity in retail brands. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3740-3747.
Das, M., Jebarajakirthy, C., & Sivapalan, A. (2022). How consumption values and perceived brand authenticity inspire fashion masstige purchase? An investigation. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 68, 103023.
De Mooij, M. (2021). Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications.
Delgado-Ballester, E., Palazón, M., & Pelaez-Muñoz, J. (2017). This anthropomorphised brand is so loveable: The role of self-brand integration. Spanish Journal of Marketing- ESIC, 21(2), 89-101.
Demirbag, M., Sahadev, S., & Mellahi, K. (2010). Country image and consumer preference for emerging economy products: the moderating role of consumer materialism. International Marketing Review, 27(2), 141-163.
Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2006). Formative versus reflective indicators in organizational measure development: A comparison and empirical illustration. British Journal of Management, 17(4), 263-282.
Ehrenberg, A., Juckes, S., White, K. M., & Walsh, S. P. (2008). Personality and self-esteem
as predictors of young people's technology use. Cyberpsychology & behavior, 11(6), 739-741.
Eisenstadt, L. (2019). Data Analytics and the Erosion of the Work/Nonwork Divide.
American Business Law Journal, 56(3), 445-506.
Escalas, J. E., & Bettman, J. R. (2003). You are what they eat: The influence of reference groups on consumers’ connections to brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13(3), 339- 348.
Faber, R. J., & O'guinn, T. C. (1992). A clinical screener for compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 459-469.
Farah, M. F., & Ramadan, Z. B. (2020). Viability of Amazon’s driven innovations targeting shoppers’ impulsiveness. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 53, 101973.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with
unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Researh, 18(1), 39-50.
Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343-353.
Gohar, N. A., Magdi, D. M., Abdullah, A. A., Ghali, A. Y., Marzouk, O. A., Soliman, D. A., & Sheikh, S. A. H. E. (2023). Measuring the antecedents of university students’ obsessive–compulsive buying behaviour of apparel: the mediating role of brand attachment. Future Business Journal, 9(1), 105-117.
Goldsmith, K. (2023). Exploring the Bidirectional Relationship Between Threats and Goals. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 42(4), 354-355.
Hair, J., Hollingsworth, C. L., Randolph, A. B., & Chong, A. Y. L. (2017). An updated and expanded assessment of PLS-SEM in information systems research. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 117(3), 442-458.
Holmberg, C., Chaplin, J. E., Hillman, T., & Berg, C. (2016). Adolescents' presentation of food in social media: An explorative study. Appetite, 99, 121-129.
Horváth, C., & Adıgüzel, F. (2018). Shopping enjoyment to the extreme: Hedonic shopping motivations and compulsive buying in developed and emerging markets. Journal of Business Research, 86, 300-310.
Huang, Z., Zhang, C., & Hu, J. (2017). Destination brand personality and destination brand attachment–the involvement of self-congruence. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 34(9), 1198-1210.
Huber, L., & Karim, S. (2018). The internationalization of security sector gender reforms in post-conflict countries. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 35(3), 263-279.
Inglehart, R. (2000). Globalization and postmodern values. Washington Quarterly, 23(1), 215-228.
Islam, T., Attiq, S., Hameed, Z., Khokhar, M. N., & Sheikh, Z. (2019). The impact of self-
congruity (symbolic and functional) on the brand hate. British Food Journal, 121(1), 71-88.
Islam, T., Wang, Y., Ali, A., & Akhtar, N. (2022). Path to sustainable luxury brand consumption: face consciousness, materialism, pride and risk of embarrassment. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 39(1), 11-28.
Jalees, T., Khan, S., Zaman, S. I., & Miao, M. (2024). The effect of religiosity, materialism and self-esteem on compulsive and impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 15(11), 2697-2731.
Japutra, A., Ekinci, Y., & Simkin, L. (2018). Positive and negative behaviours resulting from brand attachment. European Journal of Marketing, 52(5/6), 1185-1202.
Japutra, A., Ekinci, Y., & Simkin, L. (2019). Self-congruence, brand attachment and compulsive buying. Journal of Business Research, 99, 456-463.
Japutra, A., Ekinci, Y., & Simkin, L. (2022). Discovering the dark side of brand attachment: Impulsive buying, obsessive-compulsive buying and trash talking. Journal of Business Research, 145, 442-453.
Japutra, A., Gordon-Wilson, S., Ekinci, Y., & Adam, E. D. (2025). The dark side of brands: Exploring fear of missing out, obsessive brand passion, and compulsive buying. Journal of Business Research, 186, 114990.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(3), 280-287.
Kaufmann, H. R., Petrovici, D. A., Gonçalves Filho, C., & Ayres, A. (2016). Identifying moderators of brand attachment for driving customer purchase intention of original vs counterfeits of luxury brands. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5735-5747.
Kim, J. H., & Hyun, Y. J. (2013). The importance of social and ideal social dimensions in
self‐congruity research. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 16(1), 39-49.
Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. The Guilford Press, New York.
Kressmann, F., Sirgy, M. J., Herrmann, A., Huber, F., Huber, S., & Lee, D.-J. (2006). Direct and indirect effects of self-image congruence on brand loyalty. Journal of Business Research, 59(9), 955-964.
Kukar-Kinney, M., Scheinbaum, A. C., & Schaefers, T. (2016). Compulsive buying in online daily deal settings: An investigation of motivations and contextual elements. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 691-699.
Lacoeuilhe, J. (2000). L'attachement à la marque: proposition d'une échelle de mesure.
Recherche et Applications en Marketing (French Edition), 15(4), 61-77.
Langner, T., Bruns, D., Fischer, A., & Rossiter, J. R. (2016). Falling in love with brands: a dynamic analysis of the trajectories of brand love. Marketing Letters, 27, 15-26.
Le, M. T. (2021). Compulsive buying of brands, its antecedents, and the mediating role of brand love: insights from Vietnam. Current Psychology, 40(9), 4287-4298.
Le, M. T. (2023). Does brand love lead to brand addiction? Journal of Marketing Analytics, 11(1), 57-68.
Lee, S.-H., & Workman, J. E. (2015). Compulsive buying and branding phenomena.
Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 1(1), 1-12.
Li, F., Cheng-Xi Aw, E., Wei-Han Tan, G., Cham, T.-H., & Ooi, K.-B. (2022). The Eureka moment in understanding luxury brand purchases! A non-linear fsQCA-ANN approach. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 68, 103039.
Louis, D., & Lombart, C. (2010). Impact of brand personality on three major relational consequences (trust, attachment, and commitment to the brand). Journal of Product & Brand Management, 19(2), 114-130.
Malär, L., Krohmer, H., Hoyer, W. D., & Nyffenegger, B. (2011). Emotional brand attachment and brand personality: The relative importance of the actual and the ideal self. Journal of Marketing, 75(4), 35-52.
Malhotra, N. K. (1981). A Scale to Measure Self-Concepts, Person Concepts, and Product Concepts. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(4), 456-464.
Malhotra, N. K. (1988). Self concept and product choice: An integrated perspective.
Journal of Economic Psychology, 9(1), 1-28.
Mehdi, R. (2021). Thieves and khojis in a non-state, collectivist system of justice under transformation*: An example from a village of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. In Re- Interrogating Civil Society in South Asia (pp. 101-128). Routledge India.
Moldes, O., & Ku, L. (2020). Materialistic cues make us miserable: A meta‐analysis of the experimental evidence for the effects of materialism on individual and societal well‐being. Psychology & Marketing, 37(10), 1396-1419.
Moon, M. A., Faheem, S., & Farooq, A. (2022). I, me, and my everything: Self conceptual traits and compulsive buying behavior. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 68, 103075.
Moschis, G. P. (2017). Research frontiers on the dark side of consumer behaviour: The case of materialism and compulsive buying. Journal of Marketing Management, 33(15- 16), 1384-1401.
Mrad, M. (2018). Brand addiction conceptual development. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 21(1), 18-38.
Nam, J., Ekinci, Y., & Whyatt, G. (2011). Brand equity, brand loyalty and consumer satisfaction. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(3), 1009-1030.
O'Guinn, T. C., & Faber, R. J. (1989). Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Exploration. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(2), 147-157.
Park, C. W., MacInnis, D. J., & Priester, J. (2008). Brand attachment: Constructs, consequences, and causes. Foundations and Trends® in Marketing, 1(3), 191-230.
Park, C. W., MacInnis, D. J., Priester, J., Eisingerich, A. B., & Iacobucci, D. (2010). Brand attachment and brand attitude strength: Conceptual and empirical differentiation of two critical brand equity drivers. Journal of Marketing, 74(6), 1-17.
Patwardhan, H., & Balasubramanian, S. K. (2013). Reflections on emotional attachment to brands: Brand romance and brand love. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 12(1), 73-79.
Purwanto, A., & Sudargini, Y. (2021). Partial least squares structural squation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis for social and management research: a literature review. Journal of Industrial Engineering & Management Research, 2(4), 114-123.
Quach, S., Septianto, F., Thaichon, P., & Nasution, R. A. (2022). The role of art infusion in enhancing pro-environmental luxury brand advertising. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 64, 102780.
Rahman, M. S., Bag, S., Hossain, M. A., Abdel Fattah, F. A. M., Gani, M. O., & Rana, N.
P. (2023). The new wave of AI-powered luxury brands online shopping experience: The
role of digital multisensory cues and customers’ engagement. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 72, 103273.
Ranjbarian, B., Kazemi, A., & Borandegi, F. (2013). Analyzing the antecedents and consequences of brand love with a case study on apple cell phone users. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(11), 320-329.
Reyneke, M., Pitt, L., & Berthon, P. R. (2011). Luxury wine brand visibility in social
media: an exploratory study. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 23(1), 21-35.
Richins, M. L. (2017). Materialism pathways: The processes that create and perpetuate materialism. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(4), 480-499.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 303-316.
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1-65). Elsevier.
Segev, S., Shoham, A., & Gavish, Y. (2015). A closer look into the materialism construct: The antecedents and consequences of materialism and its three facets. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 32(2), 85-98.
Šegota, T., Chen, N., & Golja, T. (2022). The impact of self-congruity and evaluation of the place on WOM: Perspectives of tourism destination residents. Journal of Travel Research, 61(4), 800-817.
Septyani, S. D., & Alversia, Y. (2020). How Self-Expressive Brands Influence Brand Love and Brand Advocacy: A Study on Social Media. Journal of Management & Marketing Review, 5(3), 188-196.
Shah, H. J., Khattak, Q. A., & Attiq, S. (2016). Soft power and its efficacy: A case study of Pakistan. IRPI Journal,, 16(2), 119-139.
Shamim, A., Ahn, J., Khan, I., Shah, M., & Abid, M. F. (2023). Make every interaction count-assessing the role of customers’ self-construal on value co-creation at service encounters. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 33(2), 178-201.
Shetty, K., & Fitzsimmons, J. R. (2022). The effect of brand personality congruence, brand attachment and brand love on loyalty among HENRY's in the luxury branding sector. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 26(1), 21-35.
Shi, B., Zhang, D., Xie, H., & Zhou, Y. (2016). Antecedents of Chinese adolescents’ purchase intention for local brands: the moderating influence of materialistic values. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 33(4), 292-301.
Shimp, T. A., & Madden, T. J. (1988). Consumer-object relations: A conceptual framework based analogously on Sternberg's triangular theory of love. Advances in Consumer Research, 15(1), 163-172.
Shimul, A. S., & Phau, I. (2023). The role of brand self-congruence, brand love and brand attachment on brand advocacy: a serial mediation model. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 41(5), 649-666.
Shrum, L. J., Wong, N., Arif, F., Chugani, S. K., Gunz, A., Lowrey, T. M., Nairn, A., Pandelaere, M., Ross, S. M., & Ruvio, A. (2013). Reconceptualizing materialism as identity goal pursuits: Functions, processes, and consequences. Journal of Business Research, 66(8), 1179-1185.
Siahtiri, V., & Lee, W. J. T. (2019). How do materialists choose prominent brands in emerging markets? Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 46, 133-138.
Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-Concept in Consumer Behavior: A Critical Review. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(3), 287-300.
Sirgy, M. J. (1985). Using self-congruity and ideal congruity to predict purchase motivation. Journal of Business Research, 13(3), 195-206.
Sirgy, M. J. (2018). Self-congruity theory in consumer behavior: A little history. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 28(2), 197-207.
Sirgy, M. J., Grewal, D., & Mangleburg, T. (2000). Retail Environment, Self-Congruity, and Retail Patronage. Journal of Business Research, 49(2), 127-138.
Sop, S. (2020). Self-congruity theory in tourism research: A systematic review and future research directions. European Journal of Tourism Research, 26, 2604-2604.
Srikant, M. (2013). Materialism in consumer behavior and marketing: a review.
Management & Marketing, 8(2), 329-352.
Sullivan, G. M., & Feinn, R. (2012). Using effect size—or why the P value is not enough.
Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 4(3), 279-282.
Swimberghe, K. R., Astakhova, M., & Wooldridge, B. R. (2014). A new dualistic approach
to brand passion: Harmonious and obsessive. Journal of Business Research, 67(12), 2657-2665.
Tantawi, P. I. (2024). Materialism, life satisfaction and Compulsive Buying Behavior: An empirical investigation on Egyptian consumers amid Covid‑19 pandemic. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 21(1), 1-25.
Tarka, P., Kukar-Kinney, M., & Harnish, R. J. (2022). Consumers’ personality and compulsive buying behavior: The role of hedonistic shopping experiences and gender in mediating-moderating relationships. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 64, 102802.
Tarka, P., & Kukar‐Kinney, M. (2024). How different religiosity facets affect materialism, hedonistic shopping values, and compulsive buying: Toward mediation‐moderation effects. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 58(4), 1126-1160.
Thomas, T. A., Schmid, A. M., Kessling, A., Wolf, O. T., Brand, M., Steins-Loeber, S., & Muller, A. (2024). Stress and compulsive buying-shopping disorder: A scoping review. Compr Psychiatry, 132, 152482.
Vallerand, R. J. (2012). The role of passion in sustainable psychological well-being.
Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice, 2, 1-21.
Vallerand, R. J., Blanchard, C., Mageau, G. A., Koestner, R., Ratelle, C., Léonard, M., Gagné, M., & Marsolais, J. (2003). Les passions de l'ame: on obsessive and harmonious passion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 756-767.
Vernette, E. (2008). Les atouts et les pièges de la personnalité de marque. Décisions Marketing, 49, 19-31.
Wallace, E., Buil, I., & de Chernatony, L. (2017). Consumers’ self-congruence with a “liked” brand: Cognitive network influence and brand outcomes. European Journal of Marketing, 51(2), 367-390.
Wallace, E., Torres, P., Augusto, M., & Stefuryn, M. (2022). Do brand relationships on social media motivate young consumers’ value co-creation and willingness to pay? The role of brand love. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 31(2), 189-205.
Xue, M. T., & Chawdhary, R. (2023). ‘Co-branding as a masstige strategy for luxury brands: Desirable or not? Journal of Business Research, 158, 113704.
Yang, S., Isa, S. M., Ramayah, T., Wen, J., & Goh, E. (2022). Developing an extended model of self-congruity to predict Chinese tourists' revisit intentions to New Zealand: the moderating role of gender. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 34(7), 1459-1481.
Zhao, M., Hoeffler, S., & Zauberman, G. (2011). Mental Simulation and Product Evaluation: The Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Process versus Outcome Simulation. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(5), 827-839.
Zhou, F., Mou, J., Su, Q., & Wu, Y. C. J. (2020). How does consumers' Perception of Sports Stars' Personal Brand Promote Consumers’ brand love? A mediation model of global brand equity. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 102012.




