The effects of brand identity on brand performance in the service sector

Abstract

This paper investigates the mechanisms through which brand identity affects brand performance. The study proposes that brand identity influences brand preference and affective brand identification which in turn drive desirable performance outcomes such as willingness-to-pay premium price and share of wallet. The investigation was undertaken with 376 US respondents recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the research hypotheses. The analysis found that brand identity has indirect effects on willingness-to-pay premium price through brand preference and affective brand identification. Further, the mediating effect of brand identification is enhanced when customers have had a strong, memorable experience with the service brand. This research provides empirical evidence of the mechanisms through which brand identity affects brand performance outcomes and the moderating role of memorable experiences in consumer-brand relationships.