| Brand communities are defined as aggregates of individuals bound by a shared admiration for a brand. Brand community research tends to bifurcate into one stream dealing with consumers' identification with the brand and another relating to the social influence of brand loyalty. However, some consumers join brand communities because they are driven by a desire to achieve an identity-related goal that may be only tangentially related to the brand. These individuals depend on support from other members who not only share their mission, but who also hold a vision for them of their achieving their identity quest. Ideal identity affirmation (IIA) describes the process in which people, by treating each other as versions of their sought identities, assist each other in becoming those ideal selves and as a result, become committed to the affirming relationships.; This study tests a framework that unites IIA to consumer-brand relationships within the context of brand communities such that members of the community, i.e., other consumers, do the affirming. Partial least squares structural equation modeling demonstrates reliability and validity for the measures of IIA and reveals that IIA predicts consumer-brand relationship outcomes. The results suggest that identity affirming relationships among brand community members ultimately build strong consumer-brand relationships. The study concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research. |
