Site：B129

Time：9：30-11:30 Oct.31(Tuesday) 2017

Abstract：Contemporary consumer research shows that sacred meanings often manifest in mundane consumption objects. The authors propose ‘brand sacredness’ as the extent of a brand being perceived of possessing extraordinary and spiritual properties inspiring veneration that would make the brand distinct from other brands in the eyes of a group of brand devotees. To capture the strength of consumer’s perceived brand sacredness, the authors developed and validated a measurement scale composed of three related dimensions: supremacy, mesmerization and communitas. The findings from a series of studies provided robust supports for the scale structure and demarcated the construct domains from other consumer-brand relationship measures. The authors showed the utility of the scale to differentiate the strength of a given brand possessing sacred status, as perceived by their respective brand communities. Testing of nomological validity of the scale further demonstrated that brand sacredness is influenced by brand love, emotional brand attachment and brand loyalty, and meanwhile provides explanatory power to predict theoretically related outcome variables including transcendent consumer experience, defense of brand, incorporation brand in extended-self, brand ritualism and brand evangelism.