Failing in love with a product: The structure of a romantic consumer-product relationship

    Authors

    Y. O. Whang; J. Allen; N. Sahoury;H. T. Zhang

    Comments

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    Keywords

    BRAND COMMUNITY; CONSUMPTION; ATTACHMENT; CULTURE; STYLES; Business

    Abstract

    Consumers often say they are "in love with a product or brand," but what does being in love with a product really mean? Do consumers actually find themselves in a romantic product relationship that resembles a love relationship with another person? To address this question, a sample of male bikers (n=179) was surveyed with an instrument used in psychology to study different styles of interpersonal love. Findings suggest that bikers' love toward their motorcycles resembles an interpersonal love that is passionate, possessive and selfless in nature. Only the passion component of interpersonal love had an impact on loyalty to their bikes.

    Journal Title

    Advances in Consumer Research, Volume Xxxi

    Volume

    31

    Publication Date

    1-1-2004

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    320

    Last Page

    327

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000225920700136

    ISSN

    0098-9258; 0-915552-53-1

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