The Grounded Theory Approach to Consumer-brand Engagement: The Practitioner's Standpoint

Since currently there is no established, unitary and shared theory on consumer–brand engagement (CBE), this exploratory study is aimed at inductively proposing a preliminary conceptual framework of CBE disclosing the knowledge embedded in marketing practice. Our study is designed according to a Grounded Theory approach and it is focused on how practitioners conceive and pursue CBE through their branding strategies and tactics. Findings reveal that CBE is seen by practitioners as a dynamic and process-based concept evolving in intensity on the basis of the brand capability of increasingly intercepting consumers' desires and expectations using all possible physical and virtual touchpoints between brand and consumers. CBE appears as an overarching marketing concept encapsulating different consumer decision-making dimensions, from brand preference to brand purchase. Furthermore CBE emerges as a multi-dimensional construct that beyond traditional cognitive, emotional and conative dimensions seems to be based on emerging experiential and social dimensions that appear as its central elements.

[1]  K. Charmaz,et al.  Constructing Grounded Theory , 2014 .

[2]  I. Russo,et al.  Marketing internazionale e resilienza. Analisi degli elementi endogeni ed esogeni che influenzano i percorsi di sviluppo delle Pmi italiane in contesti critici , 2013 .

[3]  R. Brodie,et al.  Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis , 2013 .

[4]  R. Morgan,et al.  Customer Engagement: Exploring Customer Relationships Beyond Purchase , 2012 .

[5]  L. Hollebeek Exploring customer brand engagement: definition and themes , 2011 .

[6]  R. Brodie,et al.  Customer Engagement , 2011 .

[7]  L. Hollebeek Demystifying customer brand engagement: Exploring the loyalty nexus , 2011 .

[8]  D. Schultz,et al.  Understanding customer brand engagement behaviors in today's interactive marketplace , 2011 .

[9]  Guendalina Graffigna,et al.  The Concept of Engagement: A Systematic Analysis of the Ongoing Marketing Debate , 2010 .

[10]  L. Flynn,et al.  Status Consumption and Price Sensitivity , 2010 .

[11]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions , 2010 .

[12]  W. Reinartz,et al.  Customer Engagement as a New Perspective in Customer Management , 2010 .

[13]  김현철,et al.  체험마케팅(Experiential Marketing)의 오해와 진실 , 2010 .

[14]  J. Wind,et al.  Guest Editorial: Is Marketing Academia Losing Its Way? , 2009 .

[15]  R. Heath,et al.  Emotional Engagement: How Television Builds Big Brands At Low Attention , 2009, Journal of Advertising Research.

[16]  S. Czellár,et al.  The Importance of a General Measure of Brand Engagement on Market Behavior: Development and Validation of a Scale , 2009 .

[17]  J. Corbin,et al.  Developing Grounded Theory: The Second Generation , 2009 .

[18]  P. Mouncey Editorial: Engaging Practitioners and Academics , 2009 .

[19]  J. Bowden The Process of Customer Engagement: A Conceptual Framework , 2009 .

[20]  B. Cova Marketing tribale e altre vie non convenzionali: quali ricadute per la ricerca di mercato? , 2008 .

[21]  R. Heath,et al.  How do we predict advertising attention and engagement , 2007 .

[22]  M. Kilger,et al.  Do Measures of Media Engagement Correlate with Product Purchase Likelihood? , 2007, Journal of Advertising Research.

[23]  C. Boddy,et al.  Forum - The Strength of British Market Research is British Market Researchers: A Reply to Piercy , 2007 .

[24]  H. J. Frank About the authors , 2021, Gov. Inf. Q..

[25]  Alex Wang Advertising Engagement: A Driver of Message Involvement on Message Effects , 2006, Journal of Advertising Research.

[26]  Jean Hartley,et al.  Co-research: insider/outsider teams for organizational research , 2004 .

[27]  C. Cassell,et al.  Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research , 2004 .

[28]  J. Morse,et al.  Verification Strategies for Establishing Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research , 2002 .

[29]  M. Catterall,et al.  Improving the Interface between the Profession and the University , 2000 .

[30]  S. Fournier,et al.  Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research , 1998 .

[31]  S. Fournier,et al.  Reviving brand loyalty: A reconceptualization within the framework of consumer-brand relationships , 1997 .

[32]  T. Muhr ATLAS/ti — A prototype for the support of text interpretation , 1991 .

[33]  James M. Lattin,et al.  A Two-State Model of Purchase Incidence and Brand Choice , 1991 .

[34]  M. Holbrook,et al.  On the Scientific Status of Consumer Research and the Need for an Interpretive Approach to Studying Consumption Behavior , 1988 .

[35]  E. Hirschman,et al.  Hedonic Consumption: Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions , 1982 .

[36]  B. Glaser Theoretical Sensitivity: Advances in the Methodology of Grounded Theory , 1978 .

[37]  A. Strauss,et al.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory , 1967 .