Exploring the Relationship between Apparel Brand Differentiation and Brand Purchase Intention with a Focus on Roles of Brand Identification and Brand Awareness

Authors

  • Abolghasem Ebrahimi Associate Prof. Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences,, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6410-8809
  • Seyyed Moslem Alavi PhD Candidate, Department of System Management, Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran
  • Esmaeil Bazyar Hamzekhani Master of Marketing, Faculty of Management and Acounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3076-5875

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between apparel brand differentiation and brand purchase intention, by concentrating on the roles of (individual/social) brand identification and brand awareness. In doing so, the study analyzed the data gathered from customers of a branch of Benetton Group in Shiraz, Iran. Through the non-probability sampling method, 384 customers who had purchased clothing items from the brand were selected. To collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire was constructed that included 19 items. Construct validity and content validity were used to examine the validity of the questionnaire. Its reliability was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha (75%) and split-half (71%). The statistical analysis showed that “apparel brand differentiation†affected “brand purchase intention.†However, it was revealed that, contrary to “individual brand identificationâ€, “social brand identification†indirectly mediated the aforementioned relationship. Meanwhile, “brand awareness†moderated the relationship between “apparel brand differentiation†and “individual brand identification.†The findings can guide apparel brands in the market on how to design distinctive clothing items that can meet consumers’ functional needs, while helping them to constitute identities congruent with their individual/social self-concept and self-expression.

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Published

2021-09-22

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Scholarly Articles

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