Reply to Viewpoint: Tainted love

This article responds to the Viewpoint 'The power of brand love' in this issue of IJMR, arguing that the authors fall short in two key areas: the relationship stages don't fit with decades of evidence about buyer behaviour, and when using BERA scores, correlation does not mean causation.

Tainted love

Jenni Romaniuk

Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, University of South Australia

In 2013 I wrote a Viewpoint that criticised the concept of brand love. Two years later, I am impressed by the romanticism (or is it a religious fervour?) with which some hold on to this concept. Barker, Peacock and Fetscherin weave an interesting story about how to manage brand relationships to get buyers to love your brand, but they fall short in two key areas.

1. The relationship stages don’t fit with decades of evidence about buyer behaviour

Barker, Peacock and Fetscherin suggest five stages of brand love: new, dating,...

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