Measuring the brandfan: Exploring a model for predicting the fandom of brands

Abstract

While the study of consumer brand relationships has been examined across different disciplines such as advertising, marketing, psychology, and sociology, there seems to be a lack of agreement on the constructs that fully explain strong brand relationships. This dissertation seeks to propose a model of social and individual constructs that measure a Brandfan. The Brandfan model explores the process an individual goes through to support salient role-identities by developing strong brand relationships that can be assessed through cognitive, affective, economic, and actionable measures. The Brandfan model examines the influence of identity theory, brand-self identification, attachment, commitment, loyalty, and fandom. An online survey was conducted with supporters of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to test and validate the model.