Iconic brand is a new topic in the field of branding that has started to attract researchers’ attentions; yet, it is still mostly discussed in the non-academic field. Brand community is also an evolving topic in marketing. These two new concepts are the focuses of this research. The main subject of this research is to explore the componential factors of iconic brand and brand community and the influences of the former ones on the latter ones. Even though there are few books and articles related to iconic brand, so far no quantitative research has been conducted. Thus, in this study, quantitative method is used to explore the componential factors of iconic brand. The same method is applied to brand community as well to explore the impacts of iconic brand on brand community. This research also accounts for a fact that cultural differences of the three countries (Sweden, Taiwan, and Vietnam) may affect respondents’ perceptions on the factors of iconic brand and brand community, as well as the impact levels between them. This study starts with examining the relevant literatures of branding, iconic brand, brand community, and cultural aspects of branding. Then, the hypotheses and research model are proposed based on theories. Questionnaires are distributed to Swedish, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese respondents in accordance with convenience sampling and snowball sampling. A total collection of 486 accepted questionnaires (which includes 171 questionnaires from Sweden, 163 ones from Taiwan, and 152 ones from Vietnam) is coded and analyzed by using SPSS and AMOS. Factor Analysis (EFA and CFA) and Cronbach’s Alpha are used to test the measurement reliability and consistency. Together with them, other statistical techniques, such as ANOVA and SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) are employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Semi-structured interviews are then conducted, based on the results of quantitative analysis, with six dynamic consumers from the three countries to explore further the cultural differences for the topic in Sweden, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The results show that iconic brand has three componential factors: brand personality, brand myth, and brand storytelling, while brand community has two factors: brand loyalty and emotional attachment to brand community. Also, the findings reveal that brand personality has the most positive impacts on brand loyalty while brand storytelling has the lowest positive impact on brand loyalty. Other impacts of iconic brand’s factors on brand community’s factors are positively moderate. Furthermore, both quantitative and qualitative results confirm the hypotheses of cultural differences in respondents’ perceptions (in the three countries) on iconic brand’s factors, brand community’s factors, and the positive impact levels between them.

This dissertation research showcases six ethnographic case studies that focus on the experiences of Puerto Rican transnational youths and their families upon returning from the US to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a remarkable setting to study transnationalism because of its particular historical and sociopolitical relationship with the US, which grants Puerto Ricans citizenship and thus ease of movement, while retaining a strong attachment to the Island. It can be argued that Puerto Ricans define transnationalism, being simultaneously insiders and outsiders to the US national scene. The youths involved in these dynamics learn to navigate different educational and social settings on the Island and the US. Factors like language and the educational contexts are highly influential in the students' lives and their educational outcomes. The study was conducted over a period of seven months in two public schools in Puerto Rico. The data were collected through interviews, classroom observations, and home visits with return migrant students, their parents, and their teachers and school staff. The combination of these data collection methods and the variety of participants, provided a nuanced portrayal of the nature of their transnationalism and the social and educational experiences of the families in and out of the school context.

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 is concerned with investigating whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives provide a means to build brand equity, specifically emotional connections known as share of heart, in bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets. Research has found that brand experiences, positive product outcomes and nostalgia are antecedents to share of heart; however, this presupposes developed markets in which categories have already achieved primary demand.In underdeveloped BOP markets, market expansion is challenging and necessitates investments into social initiatives to increase the welfare of the community. The study proposes the use of CSR initiatives to encourage brand building as consumers were found to form an emotional attachment with brands, which brings about loyalty and intentions to purchase.A correlation study was carried out to determine whether a relationship existed between CSR and emotional attachment and whether this predicts greater intentions to purchase. The research confirmed that CSR is an antecedent to EA; however, the results revealed that certain conditions have to be met before consumers can connect with brands emotionally. The findings also indicated that CSR awareness fosters positive CSR beliefs, whereas consumers‟ emotional attachment towards the brand explains their intention to purchase the brand. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Forming attachments to other creatures and things is not a phenomenon that is contingent on the entity existing in the real world. It’s a common thing in video games that the player grows attached to certain characters in some way, and it can sometimes even be a driving factor for a game’s gameplay. However, the process of creating an entity that the player may form an attachment to, especially for such games where this is a vital aspect, is not defined. By taking the popular virtual pet game Tamagotchi as an example and looking into various character design theories, we developed our own virtual pet game and reviewed our design process in an attempt to establish a baseline model.

The monetization model Gacha has spread from its country-of-origin Japan and become a global phenomenon. Genshin Impact, a Chinese Gacha game, is currently one of the highest grossing mobile games in the world. Despite its high revenue, Genshin Impact is free to download and play, all purchases in game are voluntary. A question can then be asked: What aspect of Genshin Impact games makes players spend money? This paper aims to answer that question through qualitative interviews with Genshin Impact players and their reasons for paying for in game items. The results show that players chose to spend money on Genshin Impact because they formed emotional attachment to content, and that the enjoyment of the game justified the money they paid. Further research can be conducted on the difference in opinion between players who pay for in game items and players who do not.

With the emergence of the internet as a new business channel and its impact on the overall role of today¿s customers, existing models for the measurement of perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty are worth revisiting. This is specifically important in light of the prominent progress of some of the new business concepts, particularly customer experience management, and the rising emphasis on customers¿ hedonic and emotional needs. This study attempts to bridge the gap in existing literature by examining the online customer experience in its entirety, attending within the study to both the utilitarian and hedonic needs of online customers and giving special attention to emerging aspects in the online environment, such as customer engagement in self-driven experiences. Therefore, the study includes a comprehensive review of a large body of knowledge, both in consumer behaviour and marketing literature as well as quality management literature, in addition to a scrutiny of 50 studies for different evaluation models in the online environment. This is in order to identify a list of attributes and factors that impact customer evaluations of online experiences. Upon the synthesis of the list of attributes and factors that impact customer evaluations of online experiences, an online blog was created as an environment for asynchronous focus groups. The online blog was beneficial in creating a deeper understanding of what online customers want and what impacts their experiences. Following, an online questionnaire was administered in two stages, once for measure purification purposes which received 90 pilot responses and once for mass data collection purposes which received 366 responses. As a result of this study, an integrated model for the measurement of online customer experience that emphasises the significance of the emotional component was proposed. The model consists of three components, each serve a specific measurement purpose. The XQual construct which consists of 7 attributes and 30 factors, is a performance measure of the experience in relation to specific aspects that address customers¿ utilitarian and hedonic needs. The satisfaction continuum consists of four factors and is an output measure for each experience or transaction with the online firm. The loyalty continuum consists of four factors and is an outcome measure that indicates customers¿ attitudinal commitment towards the online firm.

The primary focus of this research is explicating the role of emotion in IT post-adoption behavior. Studied in the context of intelligent personal assistants (IPA), a class of conversational artificial intelligence (AI), the first study integrates elements from computer science, communications, and IS disciplines. The research identifies two constructs vital for speech-based technologies, natural language understanding, and feedback, and examines their role in use decisions. This work provides guidance to practice on how best to allocate R&D investments in conversational AI. The second essay examines the IT continuance through the theoretical lens of the expectation-confirmation model (ECM), incorportating cognitive and emotional satisfaction into the ECM framework. Empirical testing of the model suggests that it offers additional clarity on IT continuance phenomena and provides a significant improvement to the explanatory power of ECM in the context of an emerging technology. The third essay is one of the earliest efforts to conceptualize and test a theoretical model that considers emotional attachment in IT continuance behavior. This essay develops a novel model to investigate this phenomenon based on emotional attachment theory, and empirically validates the proposed model in the context of conversational artificial intelligence systems. While the existing theories of IT continuance focus on purely rational, goal-oriented factors, this study incorporates non-cognitive aspects by including the emotional consequences of IT continuance and offers evidence that attachment can exist even in the absence of cognitive factors.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to broaden the horizon of customizable features available in the luminaire design industry. The aim was to study if enhanced customization features like light distribution, colour of light and use of sustainable materials can help foster emotional attachment and increased usage with the possibility of extending luminaire life. The conclusion here is drawn based on literature review, survey, prototype development and user experiment followed by assessment questionnaire. The table lamp prototype created allowed participants to change colour of light, materials and light distribution of the luminaire according to their mood and preferences. The study indicates these enhanced customization features positively influenced the participants mood, ambience and usage of the product. The survey and user assessment were both qualitative and quantitative in nature. However, all the data collected was quantified for a better understanding of the impact these enhanced features had on the participants. The participants felt a sense of ownership, satisfaction, and accomplishment because of the customization process. As a result, participants say they would prefer repair and replacement over disposal and would want to keep using the luminaire for a long time. The study concluded that enhanced customization features in luminaries can foster emotional connections, increase longevity, and promote sustainable consumption.

Mothers are known to have an emotional attachment to their infant; however, some mothers also experience an emotional attachment to their own milk. Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding with complementary solids are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. Some mothers produce enough surplus milk to donate to a human milk bank. This thesis considers the emotional attachment to milk experienced by women who donate milk to a milk bank. This research is based on participant observation in a human milk bank in Florida and interviews collected from 14 milk bank donors. These methods were informed by the frameworks of moral motherhood and emotive value to foreground and enhance understanding of mothers' experiences. The results of this study show that mothers do not emotionally attach to breastmilk itself, but rather what the breastmilk represents. This study starts a conversation and brings awareness to women's emotional experiences at the beginning of motherhood, especially as they pertain to breastfeeding and human milk.