Brand Pride in Consumer–Brand Relationships: Towards a Conceptual Framework

Brands are rapidly moving away from the traditional transactional approach to a relational journey with their users. In most cases, Consumer- Brand Relationships are based on the extent of congruence between individuals and their favourite brands. This paper aims to contribute to this journey and understand the genesis and outcomes of such a relationship wherein the consumer feels “proud†to be associated with his/her brand. Specifically the purpose of the paper is to understand the antecedents and consequences of a less explored construct, Brand Pride. This conceptual paper is based on an extensive and detailed review of literature pertaining to the areas of emotional branding, consumer-brand relationships, pride in brand associations, self-congruence and behavioral outcomes. It also evaluates the impact of a narssistic personality on such relationships. The authors propose a conceptual framework for Brand Pride which would lead to a deeper understanding in the phenomenology of Brand Pride and its subsequent impact on higher order Consumer-Brand Relationships. Crystallization of this concept would lead to invaluable insights in the advancement in emotional branding both for academicians and practitioners, with Brand Pride being the emotion in focus.