A causal model of some antecedents and consequences of hot and cold brand relationship quality (BRQ) dimensions : an empirical test in a Vietnamese context

The understanding of Vietnamese consumer behaviors toward brands is crucial for not only local but also foreign marketers to be prepared for the competition in the Vietnamese market. In addition, marketers are increasingly trying to build and to understand the relationship between their brands and consumers. So, this research focuses on a causal model of some antecedents and consequences of hot and cold brand relationship quality (BRQ) dimensions: an empirical test in a Vietnamese context. The investigation is based on the theories of brand personality, antecedents (self-congruence and partner quality), consequences (WTP, consideration set size, and WOM), hot and cold BRQ, and brand purchase intention.The aim behind of this research can be summed up in the following objective: firstly, to determine the effects of brand personality on antecedents of two components of BRQ in the context of Vietnam; secondly, to investigate the impacts of antecedents and consequences of two components of BRQ on brand purchase intention in the context of Vietnam. A structure model was developed illustrating the relationships (assumed) between brand personality on antecedents and consequences of brand relationship quality (BRQ). This resulted in the developed of twenty hypotheses. To address the research aims, data were collected which focused on six product classes and 634 questionnaires were collected in final. Regarding the current of theoretical development, PLS path modeling was used to analyze the data.The key findings emerged from the findings of the current research, which supports our expectation. First, the results of our findings reveal that brand personality has a positive influence on two variables self-congruence and partner quality, but it is clearly seen that there is a different level of influence and importance. Secondly, given that self-congruence is a more significant effect on hot than cold BRQ, on the other hand, partner quality is a more significant effect on cold than hot BRQ. However, based on the path coefficient of self-congruence and partner quality, the results reveal that self-congruence has a positive significant effect on both hot and cold BRQ compared to partner quality. Next, to see how the effects of hot and cold BRQ on the consequences of its, the findings reveal that hot and cold BRQ have positive on consequences with WTP, consideration set size, WOM, which are supported to our proposal hypotheses. Regarding the results of consequences of two components of BRQ on brand purchase intention. We found that consideration set size and WOM have no relationship with brand purchase intention, while WTP has a positive significant effect on brand purchase intention.The key contributions of this research provide a better understanding consumer behavior in the Vietnamese market. The findings of our study show that hot BRQ has been shown to have a stronger and significant influence on consumer’s WTP. Cold BRQ, however, was found to strongly impact the consumer’s WOM. Therefore, hot BRQ, which is the emotional relationship quality, mainly increases the loyalty behavior of customers; in contrast, cold BRQ helps to attract new customers by positively word-of-mouth communication of customers. Both the retention of current customers and the attraction of news customers are crucial drivers for the sustainable future of a brand or a product. Managers need, therefore, try to positively impact both hot and cold BRQ of their customers. Furthermore, based on the research results, they should focus on a willingness to pay price premium in order to increase their brand purchasing intention.