Predicting smartphone brand loyalty: Consumer value and consumer-brand identification perspectives

With the growth and competition of the smartphone industry, developing a better understanding of what drives consumers' loyalty to smartphone brands has become an important issue for academics and practitioners. This study hypothesizes four determinants of smartphone brand loyalty based on the perspectives of consumer value and consumer-brand identification. Furthermore, this study also explores the moderating effects of age and gender differences on the determination process of smartphone brand loyalty. Data collected from 157 respondents was tested against the research model using a partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results indicate that functional value, emotional value, social value, and brand identification have a positive influence on smartphone brand loyalty. Of the two moderators, results show that age enhances the emotional value-brand loyalty and social value-brand loyalty linkages but weakens the brand identification-brand loyalty relationship. However, gender does not play a moderating role in the determination of smartphone brand loyalty. The results of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for smartphone brand management.