Exploring the role of brand identification and brand love in generating higher levels of brand loyalty

The aim of this study is to develop a model that integrates brand identity, brand-life congruence, customer hotel brand identification (CHBI), and brand love into one model and to test its predictive power in explaining brand loyalty. The survey data were gathered from (432) guests who were staying in seven well-known hotels located in Jordan. Data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling SmartPLS2.0. Four key findings emerged from the current research. First, compared to brand identity, brand-lifestyle congruency appears to have a stronger and more significant relationship with CHBI. Second, CHBI contributes only to the development of brand love. Third, CHBI appears to influence brand loyalty only indirectly via brand love. Fourth, the current research provides an empirical support on the applicability of Sternberg’s love theory in the hotel industry. This research adds to the body of knowledge on hotel brand loyalty through examining its relationship with four key constructs, whose effect either had been examined in isolation or had never been examined. It tests for the first time how brand identity and brand-lifestyle congruence contribute to the development of CHBI, which in turn, engenders a powerful emotional experience with hotel brands and cultivates affection and passion to that brand. Those heavy emotional feelings in turn provide an important basis upon which hotel brand loyalty is established.