Today, in a world of consumption where almost everything is branded, every consumer has a brand that they love, a so called lovemarks. Nowadays, it takes more than just a commercial to make consumers stay committed to a brand. Consumers need to relate on a more personal level. There lies a deep rooted love, consistent over long periods of time, making the luxury brand consumer’s one the most loyal consumers in the world. Consequently, it is the consumers that decide what a lovemarks is, and why they go back to repurchasing that brand again, a kind of on-going romance between consumer-brand.   The purpose of this dissertation is to explore why consumers develop emotional attachment and loyalty towards brands, leading to a long-lasting, devoted relationship between the consumer and the brand. The aim is to find out elements that are needed to love a brand consistently. The outcome of this study will provide a better look into the consumer’s attitude towards lovemark brands.   A qualitative study has been performed on consumer attitudes towards their lovemarks brand, and the language they use when describing their motive to stay loyal to their brand of preference. Furthermore, the view of what elements are needed for them develop emotional attachment towards that brand is explored.   The conclusion of this dissertation is that in order for consumers to develop loyalty and emotional attachment to brands, they need the elements of emotion, quality, trust, image, timeless fashion, and tradition. These elements combined, make the ultimate consumer that many brands want to have.

This study sought to understand factors driving repurchase intentions for consumer electronics (CE) hardware and in particular mobile phones. The outcome of the study was expected to be of interest in academia and practice because it develops upon existing literature and identifies actionable variables that could be used to optimise market offerings. Based on a literature review it was hypothesised that the intent was driven by hedonic and utilitarian factors. These included conspicuousness and visibility; product bundling; reliability; technological features, usability of the product and the buyers’ age. The study tested these hypotheses using primary data. The method was employed to confirm the postulated drivers as well as to determine the direction of the effects. Data collection was conducted through a cross sectional internet survey enumerated in August 2010. The survey reached a broad sample of 144 responders. The analysis supported two of the six hypothesised drivers. The supported drivers were conspicuousness and usability. The recommendation was therefore to encourage the CE industry to focus on creating aesthetically appealing, fashionable devices that were intuitively easy to use requiring minimal assistance or product manuals. It also recommends that less emphasis be placed on durability, advanced features, on bundling additional extras and on targeting particular age groups. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted