Fueling the passion: The role online brand experiences play in developing harmonious or obsessive brand passion

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The internet environment brings many challenges to brands through its intangibility, uncertainty, and information complexity. Inspiring consumers’ brand passion is the key to brand success in the internet environment.

OBJECTIVE:

Based on the dualistic division of harmonious or obsessive brand passion, this study explores the relationship between online brand experiences and brand passion. This study also examines the mediating effect of customer psychological ownership and the moderating effect of gender in this relationship.

METHODS:

In this study, we used a quantitative analysis approach to test how online brand experience affects brand passion and Mplus 8.0 was used for the structural equation model.

RESULTS:

The results indicate that (1) online sensory experiences and online affective experiences have a significant effect on both harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion; online intellectual experiences and online behavioral experiences positively affect harmonious brand passion; (2) customer psychological ownership mediates the relationship between different online brand experiences and harmonious brand passion; (3)Gender moderates the relationship between online affective experience, online intellectual experience and harmonious brand passion such that the relationship is stronger for women than men.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results of this paper provide some suggestions for marketers to enhance their marketing strategies in an internet environment.

Keywords

Harmonious brand passion obsessive brand passion online brand experience customer psychological ownership gender

Chunxiao Chen is a Ph.D candidate of the School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, her major is management psychology and behavior, and the main research direction is individual’s emotion.

Jian Zhang is a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China, the main research fields are organizational behavior and human resource management, consumer behavior.

Xing Bu is a Ph.D candidate of the School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China, the main research fields are human resource management.

Jian Gao is an employee in Sunac Service, Tianjin, China. Her main research field is consumer behavior.

1 Introduction

The creation of an effective consumer-brand relationship is a key for a brand to obtain success [1]. The internet environment is an important marketing area for brands, but it is characterized by uncertainty, intangibility, and information extensivity [2], which makes it difficult for brands to establish stable consumer-brand relationships. As the core of a high-quality consumer-brand relationship [3], brand passion refers to “a strong emotional connection to a brand that people value, find important, desire to own and/or use, incorporate into their identity, and invest resources in over a period of time”. Brand passion can connect brands to consumers that are with strong stability and to high profitability in the internet environment. Extant studies have explored and verified the positive effects of brand passion, such as promoting brand loyalty [4] and increasing the intention to pay a higher price [5] or purchase a product or service [6]. Only a few studies have explored how motivation, brand self-expression, and psychological need satisfaction affect brand passion in traditional marketing environment [7]. But the phenomenal rise of the Internet has reshaped the way businesses in traditional and marketing in particular are approached [8], it is a fresh and relatively unexplored topic in contemporary marketing literature about how to create brand passion in internet marketing environment.

As the immediate way to establish and improve a consumer-brand relationship [9, 10] and stimulate brand passion, online brand experience refers to an individual’s internal subjective response evoked by brand-related stimuli in the internet environment [11]. However, the extant studies can’t reflect the online brand experiences that consumers experience objectively and effectively. For example, Veloutsou’sMorgan-Thomas and Veloutsou [1]’s study does not identify the components of an online brand experience accurately. Khan’sYunpeng and Khan [10] study does not comprehensively include the dimensions of an online brand experience. Fortunately, Brakus, Schmitt [12]’s definition and measurement of brand experience are accepted and used popularly by scholars in the marketing field. By applying their measurement to the internet environment, this study divides an online brand experience into an online sensory experience, online affective experience, online behavioral experience, and online intellectual experience, which reflect the complete content of an online brand experience comprehensively.

Given the important effect of online brand experience on brand passion, it is crucial to detect their relationship. There are only a few studies have explored the impact of online brand experiences on consumer attitudes [13]. Moreover, research on the impact of online brand experiences has had divergent opinions. For example, some studies believe that online brand experiences can improve purchasing behavior [14], while others find that online brand experiences do not have a significant impact on purchasing behavior [15]. These inconsistent results may be because extant studies have simply summed up different online brand experiences. In fact, different online brand experiences exist simultaneously, independently, and irreplaceably [16]. Furthermore, prior studies have detected the influence of online brand experiences on consumers’ emotional responses in a general way and have ignored the differences in consumer reactions caused by different brand experiences [12]. Therefore, it is reasonable to distinguish the influences of different online brand experiences and to differentiate consumers’ emotional responses.

However, most of the existing research has opera-tionalized brand passion as a unidimensional construct [17], resulting in inconsistent conclusions as to brand passion’s effects [17]. Prior studies emphasized the emotional components of brand passion and ignored the importance of identity in the generation of brand passion [18]. It is difficult for these studies to illustrate certainly related but distinct components of brand passion [19]. In fact, when individuals internalize an activity into their identity in different ways according to the degree to which they like and participate in the activity, they will generate different passions for the activity [20]. In line with this, Swimberghe, Astakhova [17] have divided brand passion into the categories of harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion based on how a brand is internalized in one’s identity. They argue that harmonious brand passion can enhance a consumer’s affective attitude, behavioral intention [21], and purchase behavior; obsessive brand passion can weaken a consumer’s affective attitude, behavioral intention [21], and well-being [17], even allowing a consumer to end his or her relationship with a brand. Hence, it can be inferred that distinct online brand experiences enable consumers to internalize brands into their identities in different ways. Different online brand experiences result in harmonious brand passion or obsessive brand passion and have different effects on consumer behaviors. This may be the reason for the divergent research results regarding the effects of online brand experiences. From this point of view, it may be reasonable to explore the effect of an online brand experience on the formation of brand passion from a dualistic perspective: harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion.

In addition, customer psychological ownership is defined as a consumer’s psychological sense of ownership of a brand [22, 23], which reflects the active connection between a consumer and a brand. Customer psychological ownership can affect customers’ participation in brand-related activities, which become an important channel through which online brand experiences stimulate brand passion. At the same time, marketing is an important social process involving multiple groups. Gender is a social concept shared by men and women through their respective characteristics. It reflects the behavioral intentions of different genders [24]. It is an important factor that affects the relationship between an online brand experience and brand passion. Customer psychological ownership and gender may play important mediating and moderating roles in the process through which an online brand experience affects the formation of brand passion.

2 Literature review and hypothesis development

2.1 Brand passion

Brand passion is defined as a strong emotional connection to a brand [17]. Most of the existing research has suggested that brand passion is a unidimensional construct that includes only emotional components, ignoring the differences in emotional sources and nonspecificity of emotions. Therefore, these studies are largely unable to account for why consumers with brand passion behave differently. For example, Bauer, Heinrich [25] have found a significantly positive relationship between brand passion and consumer acceptance for high-priced goods and services, but Albert, Merunka [19] have not found a significant relationship between the two. To address these contradictory findings, Swimberghe, Astakhova [17] introduced Vallerand, Blanchard [20]’s study. Brand passion includes two components— emotion and identity. According to how a brand is internalized into one’s identity (through autonomous internalization and controlled internalization), there are two types of brand passion— harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion. The division between harmonious and obsessive brand passion suggests that identity is an important factor for distinguishing different displays of individual brand passion and for analyzing the influence of different internalizations on the formations of brand passion. This division can make up for the, thus far inadequate, definition of brand passion and facilitate further and more useful results.

Harmonious passion results from an autonomous internalization of a brand into one’s core self or identity [17]. Autonomous internalization occurs when consumers freely accept an activity as important for them without attaching any contingency to it. This type of internalization allows individuals to freely choose to purchase or use a brand. With harmonious brand passion, owning or using a brand can generate positive effects. Obsessive brand passion results from the controlled internalization of a brand into a consumer’s identity [17]. Such internalization occurs when individuals feel compelled to purchase or use a brand via intrapersonal or interpersonal pressures, such as social acceptance or self-esteem. Alternatively, individuals may feel that the sense of excitement derived from an activity engagement becomes uncontrollable. The obsessive brand passion among consumers will cause individuals to overspend, experience emotional distress, and even avoid brand-related activities [17]. Obsessive brand passion is harmful to the maintenance of long-term consumer-brand relationships [17].

Few studies have explored the effects of ante-cedents such as brand identifications, personal traits, and social influences on the formation of brand passion. For example, Swimberghe, Astakhova [17] found that brand self-expression can promote harmonious or obsessive brand passion, but susceptibility can only promote an obsessive brand passion; Ahn, Back [21] found that intrinsic motivations can enhance harmonious brand passion, and extrinsic motivations can enhance obsessive brand passion; Das, Agarwal [16] found that a high perceived brand ethicality can strengthen the relationship between a traditional brand experience and a harmonious or obsessive brand passion; Wang, Thai [26] found that social endorsement can enhance self-verification and self-enhancement and thus increase a harmonious or obsessive brand passion.

Some scholars have conducted empirical examinations to reveal the effect of harmonious and obsessive brand passion. They found that a harmonious brand passion has a positive effect on consumer behavior or intention, and obsessive brand passion has a negative effect on consumer behavior or intention. For example, Ahn, Back [21] observed that harmonious brand passion can promote consumers’ affective attitudes, but obsessive brand passion has a significantly negative relationship with affective attitudes. They found that an affective attitude has a significantly positive relationship with behavioral intention. Swimberghe, Astakhova [17] observed that harmonious brand passion has a positive effect on positive word-of-mouth and that obsessive brand passion has a positive effect on brand evangelism. However, obsessive brand passion is uncontrollable and can result in consumer addiction to a brand, intrapersonal conflicts, and decreased consumer well-being [17].

The essential reasons for the different effects of harmonious and obsessive brand passion may be their distinct formation processes [21]. It is the key to promoting brand success by distinguishing the type of brand passion and exploring the formation path of a distinct brand passion. However, few studies have explored the formation of harmonious or obsessive brand passion in traditional marketing. The internet and related technologies have dramatically changed the marketing environment [1] and increased the novelty and diversity of the consumer experience. Therefore, exploring the relationship between consumer experience and brand passion in the internet environment has become an important focus of marketing practice and academic research.

2.2 Online brand experience and brand passion

An online brand experience is defined as “the individual’s internal subjective response to the contact with an online brand” [1]. There are two main ways to measure an online brand experience: Morgan-Thomas and Veloutsou [1] utilized online brand equity and online brand service to measure an online brand experience; Yunpeng and Khan [10] adopted the study of Brakus, Schmitt [12] and adapted it to suit the online context of their study, choosing affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects of brand experience. This means neither of these two studies can reflect the full extent of online brand experience. In Veloutsou’sMorgan-Thomas and Veloutsou [1] study, online brand equity and online brand service are three different constructs. In Khan’sYunpeng and Khan [10]’s study, they chose to use only a portion of the full measurement of brand experience. The measurement of an online brand experience is therefore still incomplete or even unreasonable.

Brakus, Schmitt [12] conceptualized brand experiences as “subjective, internal consumer responses (sensations, feelings, and cognitions) and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging, communications, and environments”. This definition has been widely accepted and adopted by some researchers. Based on Brakus, Schmitt [12], the present study believes that online brand experiences refer to consumers’ sensory, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli in the internet environment. An online brand experience can be divided into an online sensory experience, online affective experience, online intellectual experience, and online behavior experience.

Online sensory brand experiences involve the aesthetic and sensory qualities that appeal to the senses in the online environment, for example, consumers’ visual or auditory responses. The corporate name, color, logo, slogan, and design of a brand can have implications for online consumers, and this can explain why some consumers stay loyal to some online banks [27]. Brand loyalty stems from a specific emotion felt for a brand [28] and can provide a positive affective experience. In addition, an online sensory experience is mainly a visual experience. This sense of experience can bring pleasure to consumers and make consumers pursue beauty [13]. Pleasurable experiences can be controlled autonomously by consumers, which may affect consumers’ harmonious brand passion. The pursuit of beauty is related to individual external goals, which stimulate controlled internalization and may promote consumers’ obsessive brand passion. Therefore, online sensory brand experiences can promote harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion.

An online affective brand experience captures consumers’ emotions in an online context. Schmitt [29] observed that a brand can establish a lasting connection with consumers by providing a “good feeling”. This kind of connection can be established either autonomously or through external pressure. For example, Schmitt and Bernd [30] found that the affective aspect of a brand experience can stimulate the individual self, which is related to autonomous internalization. Yunpeng and Khan [10] observed that consumers purchase brands according to brand awareness, and this purchase behavior may be an obsessive choice made by consumers due to the pressures of social identity. Hence, an online affective brand experience can enhance harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion.

An online intellectual brand experience involves a brand’s capability to stimulate thinking, including both analytical and imaginative thinking. Individuals are prone to purchase and experience brands that are consistent with their self-images and personalities [27]. When the value of a brand’s symbol is consistent with the self-expression of an individual, the individual will generate a self-identity related to the brand [31]. For example, Hamzah, Syed Alwi [27] found that online banking has enhanced customers’ self-images since they are described as modern people. An online intellectual brand experience involves individual thinking and conscious psychological processes [13], which are related to consumers’ self-expression and self-control. This may involve autonomous internalization, which then generates harmonious brand passion.

An online behavior brand experience involves actions, bodily experiences, and lifestyle changes associated with a brand. Hamzah, Syed Alwi [27] observed that some participants enjoy online banking websites because they have the freedom of and control over their interactions on their own time. Compared to offline transactions, online transactions can save consumers time and help resolve other difficulties, such as traffic. That is, online experiences can have a positive influence on consumers by changing their lifestyles. Harmonious brand passion can coexist with other aspects of a consumer’s life, while obsessive brand passion conflicts with other aspects of a consumer’s life. An online behavior brand experience can promote a consumer’s harmonious brand passion. Therefore, we posit the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: (a) an online sensory/ affective experience is positively associated with harmonious or obsessive brand passion, (b) an online intellectual/behavior experience is positively associated with harmonious brand passion but not obsessive brand passion.

2.3 Mediating effect of consumer psychological ownership

Consumer psychological ownership refers to a psychological state in which consumers regard all or part of their target objects (such as a corporation, brand, product, or service) as “it is mine” [23], reflecting feelings of possessiveness. Customer psychological ownership connects the most stable and profitable consumers to a brand [22, 23] and provides a new perspective for explaining the emotional and behavioral responses generated by customer relationships [32]. Therefore, this study introduces customer psychological ownership to explore the influence path of virtual brand experiences on brand passion.

Online brand experiences can increase the investment of time and energy through brand-related activities and enhance consumer contact and understanding with a brand. Psychological ownership stems from the individual’s control of a target, the individual’s self-investment, and the intimate understanding between the individual and a target [33]. Therefore, an online brand experience can promote customer psychological ownership; specifically, an online sensory experience can provide consumers with imagined brand contact and thus enhance customer psychological ownership. This is because imagined contact increases their understanding of a brand and their perception of their degree of control over a target [34]. An online affective experience can strengthen the emotional connections between consumers and brands and then promote customer psychological ownership. This is because the connection between individual and target enhances the feelings of attachment and that “this is mine” [33, 35].Pier Ce, Kostova [33] observed that the self-connection between an individual and a possession can promote psychological ownership. An online intellectual experience can stimulate a consumer’s thoughts, for example, when the values advocated by a brand are consistent with a consumer. Consumers are more likely to love a brand that is consistent with their self-concept and values [36]. This will increase consumers’ understanding of a brand and promote the establishment of psychological ownership. An online behavior experience is related to the changes in an individual’s life [29] that will cause interactions between a consumer and a brand. Hence, an online behavior experience can also establish a connection between consumers and brands.

Based on the psychology of possession, [37] believed that the perception of possession of a target will stimulate an individual’s positive attitude toward the target. That is, possession will promote an individual’s preference [37]. Kamleitner and Feuchtl [38] confirmed this view. Their results showed that customers’ psychological ownership of body washes can positively affect their brand attachment and attitudes. In addition, psychological ownership makes individuals regard possessions as a part of the extended self [39], improving their sense of ownership. Brand passion includes two components: positive emotion and identity. Thus, customer psychological ownership may promote consumers’ harmonious or obsessive brand passion.

An Online brand experience can improve consumers’ feelings of possession and increase their psychological ownership of a brand by increasing their contact and understanding with it. Possession is a reflection of an individual’s identity [35]. A consumer identity that integrates a brand is the key to brand passion [19]. In addition, as mentioned above, online sensory experiences and online affective experiences can influence harmonious or obsessive brand passion. Therefore, online sensory experiences and online affective experiences can promote consumers’ brand passion through customer psychological ownership. Online intellectual experiences and online behavioral experiences can influence harmonious brand passion. Thus, online intellectual experiences and online behavioral experiences can affect harmonious brand passion through customer psychological ownership. We propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2: (a) consumer psychological ownership acts as a mediator between online sensory experiences/ online affective experiences and harmonious or obsessive brand passion, and (b) consumer psychological ownership acts as a mediator between online intellectual/ behavior experiences and harmonious brand passion.

2.4 Moderating effect of gender

A marketing process can reflect the influence of a society on the behavior patterns of different groups. Gender is not only the reflection of an individual’s identity but also includes important social considerations [40, 41]. That is, gender-based expectations are among the most pervasive stereotypes in societies [24, 42]. Gender plays an important role in consumers’ reactions [43]. It is necessary to consider gender in the study of brand passion because different genders may display distinct emotional responses.

According to theories of role congruity, gender roles are social concepts shared by men and women through their respective characteristics, rather than simple physiological features, reflecting the behavioral intentions of individuals of different genders [24]. Gender identities play an important role in self-construal [44]. Men tend to form independent self-construal [45, 46], and independent self-construal emphasize autonomy and place less significance on relationships [47]. Women tend to create interdependent self-construal [45, 46], and interdependent self-construal prioritize interrelatedness and connectedness to others [47]. Therefore, women are more likely to connect with a brand and form brand passion. Accordingly, online sensory experiences and online affective experiences affect harmonious or obsessive brand passion. Therefore, when compared to men, women’s online sensory experiences and online affective experiences have a stronger influence on harmonious or obsessive brand passion. Online intellectual experiences and online behavioral experiences affect harmonious brand passion. Hence, women’s online intellectual experiences and online behavior experiences have a stronger influence on harmonious or obsessive brand passion than those of men. Thus, we hypothesize:

Hypothesis 3: (a) gender moderates the relationship between online sensory/ affective experiences and harmonious or obsessive brand passion, whereby the relationship is stronger for women than men; and (b) gender moderates the relationship between online intellectual/behavioral experiences and harmonious brand passion, whereby the relationship is stronger for women than men.

The conceptual model of this study is as following (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Conceptual model.

3 Method

3.1 Sampling and data collection

The respondents were selected based on random and convenience sampling. The respondents were requested to browse Starbucks’ website and then were provided with the study’s questionnaire to enter their responses. Starbucks articulates the importance of brand experience in their mission statement: to build strong brand loyalty among competitors [48]. Therefore, we selected this brand, considering its relevance to online brand experiences in this study.

An online self-administered survey was conducted by use of email on the web. To collect data, research through online medium can prove to be more effective than survey method in offline settings [10]. In using email surveys, voluntary participation has been sought in the main body of email. Nonetheless, email questionnaire method offered data that is statistically significant at a low cost. In total, 202 responses were collected. Before our analysis, the data were scrubbed by eliminating incomplete responses and outliers.The social-demographic profiles of the respondents were gender, 68.31% male and 31.69% female; age in years, 20–30, 29.21% and 30–40, 31.19%; education level, 6.93% higher than secondary, 66.83% graduate, 21.7% postgraduate and 4.54% PhD or equivalent.

3.2 Measures

3.2.1 Measure scales

Brand passion. Brand passion scale was derived from the study by Vallerand, Blanchard [20] according to Gilal, Zhang [49]’s study. It includes two dimensions: harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion. And each dimension has both intense positive emotion and identity as its components. A sample item was “this brand reflects the qualities I like about myself”. The scale was assessed by using 1 to 5 Likert-type response scale.

Online brand experience. The measurement scales for online brand experiences were adopted from the study of Brakus, Schmitt [12] and modified to suit the online context of this study. The scale consists of four dimensions: online sensory experience, online affective experience, online intellectual experience, and online behavior experience. The example item was “when I browse the website, I find this brand interesting in a sensory way”. All items were rated on a 5- point Likert-type response scale.

Customer psychological ownership. Customer psychological ownership was assessed by adapting from Fuchs, Prandelli [50] and Pierce, O’Driscoll [39]. A sample item of customer psychological ownership was “I feel the brand is extension of myself in some extent”. Respondents were required to rate each item on a five-point scale.

The main variables were measured using predeveloped instruments from prior published research. Relevant experts ensured the readability and textual validity of the descriptions of the items in the instrument.

3.2.2 Reliability and validity of scales

The reliability test results of each scale showed that the Cronbach’s alpha of online brand experiences is 0.852; the Cronbach’s alpha of brand passion is 0.862; and the Cronbach’s alpha of customer psychological ownership is 0.912. The value of Cronbach’s alpha indicates that these scales have high internal consistency and reliability. The convergent validity analysis results of each scale showed that CR > 0.7 and AVE > 0.5, indicating that the measurement items of each scale can reflect the validity of the content to be measured [51].

We further tested the discriminant validity of the constructs by adapting the procedure used by Gilal, Jing [52] and compared alternative models using MPLUS (see Table 1). The 7-factor (includ-ing online sensory experience, online affective experience, online intellectual experience, online behavioral experience, customer psychological ownership, harmonious brand passion, obsessive brand passion) model was compared with a 6-factor model, a 5-factor model, a 4-factor model, a 3-factor model, a 2-factor model, and a 1-factor model (all variables loaded onto one factor). As shown in Table 1, our results confirmed that the 7-factor model fits data better than the other models, indicating that the variables significantly differed from each other.

Table 1
Model comparison

Mode Factor loaded X²/ /DF RMSEA CFI TLI SRMR

1 7 factors: SE. AE, TE, BE, CPO, HBP, OBP 1.27 0.037 0.972 0.968 0.044

2 6 factors: SE, AE, TE, BE, CPO/HBP/OBP 4.72 0.136 0.608 0.566 0.149

3 5 factors: SE/HBP/OBP/CPO, AE, TE, BE 5.11 0.143 0.562 0.521 0.155

4 4 factors: AE/HBP/OBP/CPO. SE, TE, BE 5.09 0.142 0.565 0.524 0.152

5 3 factors: TE/HBP/OBP/CPO, AE, SE, BE 4.99 0.14 0.576 0.536 0.152

6 2 factors: BE/HBP/OBP/CPO, AE, TE, SE 5.50 0.149 0.521 0.476 0.154

7 1factor: All variables combined 6.39 0.163 0.417 0.372 0.162

Mode	Factor loaded	X²/ /DF	RMSEA	CFI	TLI	SRMR
1	7 factors: SE. AE, TE, BE, CPO, HBP, OBP	1.27	0.037	0.972	0.968	0.044
2	6 factors: SE, AE, TE, BE, CPO/HBP/OBP	4.72	0.136	0.608	0.566	0.149
3	5 factors: SE/HBP/OBP/CPO, AE, TE, BE	5.11	0.143	0.562	0.521	0.155
4	4 factors: AE/HBP/OBP/CPO. SE, TE, BE	5.09	0.142	0.565	0.524	0.152
5	3 factors: TE/HBP/OBP/CPO, AE, SE, BE	4.99	0.14	0.576	0.536	0.152
6	2 factors: BE/HBP/OBP/CPO, AE, TE, SE	5.50	0.149	0.521	0.476	0.154
7	1factor: All variables combined	6.39	0.163	0.417	0.372	0.162

Abbreviations: SE, online sensory experience; AE, online affective experience; TE, online intellectual experience; BE, online behavior experience; CPO, Customer psychological ownership; HBP, Harmonious brand passion; OBP, Obsessive brand passion.

4 Results

4.1 Descriptive statistical analysis

Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations, and correlations for our variables.

Table 2
Means, standard deviations, and correlations among variables

Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 Gender 1.69 0.47 1

2 Age 2.38 1.27 –0.13 1

3 Education 2.25 0.68 –0.24^ 0.45^ 1

4 Online sensory experience 8.12 1.80 –0.07 0.01 –0.04 1

5 Online affective experience 7.56 1.88 –0.18^ 0.03 –0.00 0.5^0 1

6 Online intellectual experience 7.51 1.91 –0.20^ 0.10 0.06 0.34^ 0.47^** 1

7 Online behavioral experience 8.94 2.13 –0.08 0.04 0.02 0.14^* 0.27^ 0.44^ 1

8 Customer psychological. ownership 8.06 3.05 –0.16^* 0.27^ 0.22^ 0.17^* 0.31^ 0.39^ 0.32^** 1

9 Harmonious brand passion 14.52 3.70 –0.16^* 0.07 0.13 0.29^ 0.45^ 0.54^ 0.49^ 0.53^ 1

10 Obsessive brand passion 13.58 5.39 0.05 –0.04 –0.10 0.23^ 0.30^** 0.10 0.06 0.15* 0.09 1

	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1 Gender	1.69	0.47	1
2 Age	2.38	1.27	–0.13	1
3 Education	2.25	0.68	–0.24^**	0.45^**	1
4 Online sensory experience	8.12	1.80	–0.07	0.01	–0.04	1
5 Online affective experience	7.56	1.88	–0.18^**	0.03	–0.00	0.5^0 **	1
6 Online intellectual experience	7.51	1.91	–0.20^**	0.10	0.06	0.34^**	0.47^**	1
7 Online behavioral experience	8.94	2.13	–0.08	0.04	0.02	0.14^*	0.27^**	0.44^**	1
8 Customer psychological. ownership	8.06	3.05	–0.16^*	0.27^**	0.22^**	0.17^*	0.31^**	0.39^**	0.32^**	1
9 Harmonious brand passion	14.52	3.70	–0.16^*	0.07	0.13	0.29^**	0.45^**	0.54^**	0.49^**	0.53^**	1
10 Obsessive brand passion	13.58	5.39	0.05	–0.04	–0.10	0.23^**	0.30^**	0.10	0.06	0.15*	0.09	1

Note. SD = standard deviation, ^**p < 0.01, ^*p < 0.05.

4.2 Hypothesis testing

First, we examined the main effect of online brand experiences on brand passion, as displayed in Table 3. Online sensory experiences had a statistically significant effect on harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.29, p < 0.01)and obsessive brand passion (ß= 0.23, p < 0.01). Therefore, Hypotheses H1a was supported. Online affective experiences were determined to significantly affect harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.45, p < 0.01) and obsessive brand passion (ß= 0.30, p < 0.01). Therefore, Hypothesis H1b was supported. Online intellectual experiences only had a significant effect on harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.54, p < 0.01) but not on obsessive brand passion (ß= 0.10, p > 0.05). Hypothesis H1c was supported. Online behavior experiences were a significant predictor of harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.49, p < 0.01) but not of obsessive brand passion(ß= 0.06, p > 0.05). Hypothesis H1d was supported.

Table 3
Main effect of online brand experience

Path coefficients SE P 95% confidence interval

ULCI LLCI

OSE→HBP 0.29 0.08 0.00 0.15 0.42

OSE→OBP 0.23 0.08 0.00 0.10 0.36

OAE→HBP 0.45 0.06 0.00 0.36 0.54

OAE→OBP 0.30 0.07 0.00 0.18 0.41

OIE→HBP 0.54 0.06 0.00 0.42 0.63

OIE→OBP 0.10 0.07 0.12 –0.01 0.21

OBE→HBP 0.49 0.06 0.00 0.39 0.58

OBE→OBP 0.06 0.06 0.29 –0.04 0.15

	Path coefficients	SE	P	95% confidence interval
OSE→HBP	0.29	0.08	0.00	0.15	0.42
OSE→OBP	0.23	0.08	0.00	0.10	0.36
OAE→HBP	0.45	0.06	0.00	0.36	0.54
OAE→OBP	0.30	0.07	0.00	0.18	0.41
OIE→HBP	0.54	0.06	0.00	0.42	0.63
OIE→OBP	0.10	0.07	0.12	–0.01	0.21
OBE→HBP	0.49	0.06	0.00	0.39	0.58
OBE→OBP	0.06	0.06	0.29	–0.04	0.15

Abbreviations: LLCI, lower limit confidence interval; ULCI, upper limit confidence interval; SE, standard error. OSE, online sensory experience; OAE, online affective experience; OIE, online intellectual experience; OBE, online behavior experience; HBP, harmonious brand passion; OBP, obsessive brand passion.

Then, we tested the mediation of customer psychological ownership in the relationship between online brand experiences and brand passion, as depicted in Table 4. The results partly validate the mediation of customer psychological ownership in the relationship between different online brand experiences and harmonious brand passion(online sensory brand experience, ß= 0.09, p < 0.05; online affective brand experience, ß= 0.13, p < 0.01; online intellectual brand experience, ß= 0.15, p < 0.01; online behavior brand experience, ß= 0.13, p < 0.01) but not in the relationship between different online brand experiences and obsessive brand passion(online sensory brand experience, ß= 0.02, p > 0.05; online affective brand experience, ß= 0.02, p > 0.05; online intellectual brand experience, ß= 0.05, p > 0.05; online behavior brand experience, ß= 0.05, p > 0.05). Thus, Hypotheses H2a and H2b were partially supported; Hypotheses H2c and H2c were also supported.

Table 4

Mediation effect of customer psychological ownership

	Path coefficients	SE	P	95% confidence interval
				ULCI	LLCI
Direct effect
OSE→HBP	0.21	0.07	0.00	0.09	0.32
OSE→OBP	0.21	0.08	0.00	0.08	0.35
OAE→HBP	0.32	0.06	0.00	0.23	0.42
OAE→OBP	0.28	0.08	0.00	0.16	0.41
OIE→HBP	0.39	0.07	0.00	0.28	0.49
OIE→OBP	0.05	0.07	0.00	–0.07	0.17
OBE→HBP	0.36	0.06	0.00	0.26	0.46
OBE→OBP	0.01	0.06	0.00	–0.08	0.11
OSE→CPO	0.17	0.08	0.03	0.06	0.45
OAE→CPO	0.31	0.07	0.00	0.16	0.41
OIE→CPO	0.39	0.07	0.00	0.28	0.50
OBE→CPO	0.32	0.07	0.00	0.20	0.43
Indirect effect
OSE→CPO→HBP	0.09	0.04	0.04	0.02	0.16
OSE→CPO→OBP	0.02	0.02	0.25	–0.00	0.05
OAE→CPO→HBP	0.13	0.04	0.00	0.08	0.19
OAE→CPO→OBP	0.02	0.03	0.46	–0.03	0.06
OIE→CPO→HBP	0.15	0.04	0.00	0.09	0.21
OIE→CPO→OBP	0.05	0.04	0.15	–0.00	0.11
OBE→CPO→HBP	0.13	0.04	0.00	0.07	0.19
OBE→OPO→OBP	0.05	0.03	0.09	0.01	0.09

Finally, the moderation effect of gender on the relationship between online brand experiences and online brand passion is shown in Table 5. We used gender as a dummy variable (0 = male, 1 = female), and we multiplied it with different online brand experiences to obtain the interaction term. The results showed gender significantly moderates the relationship between the online affective experience and harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.32, p < 0.01) but not on obsessive brand passion (ß= –0.06, p > 0.05). Hypothesis H3a was partially supported. The results showed gender significantly moderates the relationship between the online intellectual experience and harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.13, p < 0.05) but not on obsessive brand passion (ß= 0.05, p > 0.05). Hypothesis H3b was partially supported. The results showed gender can’t moderate the relationship between the online sensory experience and harmonious brand passion (ß= 0.16, p > 0.05)/obsessive brand passion (ß= 0.14, p > 0.05). And the results showed gender can’t moderate the relationship between the online behavior experience and harmonious brand passion (ß= –0.01, p > 0.05)/ obsessive brand passion (ß= 0.01, p > 0.05). Therefore, Hypotheses H3c and H3d were not supported.

Table 5

Moderating effect of gender

	Path coefficients	SE	P	95% confidence interval
				ULCI	LLCI
OSE→HBP	0.19	0.10	0.07	0.01	0.36
GEN^*OSE→HBP	0.16	0.09	0.08	0.02	0.31
OAE→HBP	0.28	0.07	0.00	0.15	0.39
GEN^*OAE→HBP	0.32	0.06	0.00	0.23	0.41
OIE→HBP	0.46	0.08	0.00	0.33	0.58
GEN^*OIE→HBP	0.13	0.06	0.04	0.03	0.24
OBE→HBP	0.49	0.07	0.00	0.36	0.60
GEN^*OBE→HBP	–0.01	0.07	0.89	–0.11	0.10
OSE→OBP	0.16	0.10	0.12	–0.02	0.33
GEN^*OSE→OBP	0.14	0.09	0.13	–0.02	0.28
OAE→OBP	0.35	0.09	0.00	0.20	0.49
GEN^*OAE→OBP	–0.06	0.09	0.49	–0.21	0.09
OIE→OBP	0.09	0.09	0.28	–0.05	0.23
GEN^*OIE→OBP	0.05	0.08	0.55	–0.08	0.17
OBE→OBP	0.06	0.07	0.40	–0.05	0.17
GEN^*OBE→OBP	0.01	0.06	0.87	–0.09	0.11

5 Discussion

Drawing on the dualistic division of harmonious and obsessive brand passion, this study explored how online brand experience fuel the brand passion, by exploring the mediating effect of customer psychological ownership and the moderating effect of gender.

Online sensory experiences can promote both harmonious brand passion and obsessive brand passion. A sensory experience in the internet environment is mainly a visual experience [13]. The sense of sight increases consumers’ experiences of aesthetic pleasure and senses of beauty [13]. Experiences of aesthetics are mostly self-controlled by a consumer and evoke an autonomous internalization of the brand, which promotes the formation of harmonious brand passion. The pursuit of a sense of beauty is related to an individual’s external goals [53]. The external goals are more related to controlled internalization and generate obsessive passion [54]. Thus, a consumer’s sense of beauty is more likely to evoke a controlled internalization and form obsessive brand passion. Online affective experiences immerse consumers in a certain emotional state for a long period. Existing studies have found that such immersion is a typical emotional experience at work [55], but “immersion” does not always generate positive and beneficial emotions [56, 57]. The immersion that results from online affective experiences may not only have a positive effect on an individual— promoting an autonomous internalization and then harmonious brand passion— but also may have a negative effect on an individual— promoting a controlled internalization and then obsessive brand passion. Online intellectual experiences can promote harmonious brand passion. The extant research has argued that intellectual experience is a reflection of one’s self-identity, value [16] and even private self [58]. These are related to an autonomous internalization [20] and can enhance harmonious brand passion. Online behavioral experiences enhance harmonious brand passion. Online behavioral experiences involve changes in behavioral patterns and lifestyles [27]. These changes are closely related to an individual’s independent choices or judgments. They are rarely affected by external factors. Das, Agarwal [16] found that behavioral experiences are related to an individual’s goal orientation and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy can make individuals make autonomous efforts to reach their targets [59], which may be related to harmonious passion.

Customer psychological ownership plays a vital role in the relationship between online sensory experiences, online affective experiences, online intellectual experiences, online behavioral experiences, and harmonious brand passion. The results of this study are similar to previous studies that have included the mediating effect of customer psychological ownership. For example, Zhang, Lin [60] found that psychological ownership partially mediates the relationship between customer innovation participation and word of mouth. Fuchs, Prandelli [50] observed that when consumers are given the right to decide on an upcoming product’s style, this will promote the psychological ownership of a brand by consumers and thus enhance product demand. While different online brand experiences involve various aspects of consumer responses, they all increase consumer engagement in brand-related activities. Different online brand experiences also enhance the connections between consumers and brands and thus promote consumer psychological ownership. In addition, Pier Ce, Kostova [33] believed that psychological ownership originates from internal motivations, such as self-efficacy and self-identity. Customer psychological ownership frees consumers from the interference of external factors and generates motivations according to their intentions, which will stimulate consumers’ harmonious brand passion. Obsessive brand passion is formed by controlled internalizations and caused by external pressures [20]. When compared to customer psychological ownership, external factors, such as social prestige or social status, are more likely to influence the formation of obsessive brand passion.

Compared with those of males, females’ online affective experiences and online intellectual experiences have a stronger influence on harmonious brand passion. Women are more likely to establish connections than men [45]. The extant research also found that the relationship between intrinsic motivations and brand passion is stronger for women than for men. Intrinsic motivations are formed from autonomous internalizations and thus are related to harmonious passion. Hence, when experiencing online affective experiences or online intellectual experiences, women generate more harmonious brand passion than men. In addition, Zarantonello and Schmitt [61] divided consumers into five types according to different brand experiences. They found that the score action-oriented consumers exhibit are close to the average with respect to the sensory and behavioral dimensions. Action-oriented consumers are interested in changes in sensory or behavior but not brand experiences. Men and women differ primarily in how they make connections rather than in general visual and behavioral participation. Therefore, there is no difference between men and women in how they connect with a brand through online sensory experiences and online behavioral experiences.

5.1 Theoretical implications

First, this study extends understanding about the formation of harmonious or obsessive brand passion in the internet environment. The internet environment has greatly changed traditional marketing patterns, leading consumers’ experience become the key to disturbing the consumers’ emotion. However, the extent research hasn’t explored the relationship between online brand experience and brand passion. To our knowledge, this is the first study to differentiate four types of brand online experiences and explore its influence on different brand passion. Different brand experiences cannot be replaced by each other [16] and have different efficiency. By introducing different brand experience, this study can move beyond previous brand passion research.

Second, from the perspective of the psychology of possession, this study introduces customer psychological ownership to fill the knowledge gap regarding the mechanism connecting online brand experiences with brand passion. Although studies have explored the effects of traditional brand experiences on harmonious and obsessive brand passion, they have not explained why distinct brand experiences have different relationships with brand passion. This may be because the extant studies did not distinguish different brand experiences. Research on the psychology of possession has pointed out that possession and ownership perceptions can promote individuals to protect their ownership and stimulate their positive attitudes, self-connections and senses of responsibility [23, 62]. The online brand experience causes a change in the relationship between consumers and a target object, which leads to a change in the attitude toward that target object. This stimulates the formation of different types of brand passion.

Third, this research enriches the application of role congruity theory in the consumer field. Both men and women follow social stereotypes. Individuals of different genders will process gender-related information differently and formulate behaviors based on their views on gender. Gender is an important reflection of the way individuals construct themselves in the consumption process. This research introduces gender from the perspective of self-construction and expands the boundary conditions of the relationship between online brand experiences and brand passion.

5.2 Practical implications

First, marketers should establish effective online sensory experiences and online affective experiences for consumers. More importantly, they should establish online intellectual experiences and online behavioral experiences to stimulate consumers’ harmonious brand passion to the greatest extent. Harmonious brand passion can improve consumers’ brand loyalty, their willingness to pay higher prices for brands, and strengthen their word-of-mouth [17]. Therefore, from the perspective of sustainable brand development, harmonious brand passion is beneficial to the consumer-brand relationship. Second, marketers should give attention to the establishment of consumers’ psychological ownership. When consumers feel a sense of ownership over a brand through online brand experiences, this is conducive to the establishment of a more stable consumer-brand relationship. Finally, in marketing practices, we should give attention to the specific characteristics of male and female consumers. Brands can provide specific online brand experiences that account for different consumer characteristics. For example, for women, brands can provide more online affective experiences to build stronger emotional bonds with female consumers.

5.3 Limitations and future research directions

This study has several limitations that can lead to avenues for future research. First, the brand selected in this study is Starbucks. Such a rapidly consumed product may not be well-suited to measure individuals’ obsessive brand passion. Different brands provide different online experiences. For example, online clothing brands may give more attention to online sensory experiences, while household appliances may give more attention to customers’ online behavioral experiences. Future research can give attention to the different types of brands to explore the effects of online brand experiences. Second, this study finds that customer psychological ownership can mediate the influence of different brand experiences only for harmonious brand passion. Future research can further explore the paths or conditions through which different brand experiences can promote the generation of obsessive brand passion. For example, the brand experiences of individuals with high external goals [63] are more likely to generate obsessive brand passion. Third, this study only explores the formation of intraindividual brand passion. However, marketing is a social process, and future research could add interpersonal factors to detect brand passion. For example, individuals with close relationships may share their brand passion with each other.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (9202010), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (71771022).

Author contributions

CONCEPTION: Chunxiao Chen and Jian Zhang

METHODOLOGY: Xing Bu and Chunxiao Chen

DATA COLLECTION: Jian Gao and Chunxiao Chen

INTERPRETATION OR ANALYSIS OF DATA: Chunxiao Chen and Jian Zhang

PREPARATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT: Chunxiao Chen and Jian Zhang

REVISION FOR IMPORTANT INTELLECTUAL CONTENT: Jian Zhang and Chunxiao Chen

SUPERVISION: Jian Zhang and Chunxiao Chen

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