Perceived status enhancement, brand involvement and brand loyalty

Abstract

A sample of 170 Starbucks brewed coffee customers from four Starbucks coffeehouses in South Florida were administered a survey to determine their perceptions of Starbucks brewed coffee as status-enhancing as well as their attitudinal and behavioural brand loyalty and their brand involvement. Reliability and factor analyses confirmed the internal reliability and unitary structure of the multi-item constructs. Linear regressions revealed that customers’ perceptions of the branded product as status-enhancing were positively associated with their brand involvement (R = 0.174, p = 0.023) and their attitudinal brand loyalty (R = 0.214, p = 0.005), but not with their behavioural brand loyalty (R = 0.091, p = 0.240). These results add to the theory of status consumption and may aid companies in deciding whether to use status enhancement as a marketing strategy for their brands and products.