Branded app attractiveness: investigating its influence on branded app engagement from the interpersonal attraction perspective

Purpose As competition in the app market intensifies, branded apps must continuously maintain their attractiveness to foster positive brand and app outcomes. The aim of this study is to propose a model of branded app attractiveness, clarify its conceptualisation and construct a scale to measure the construct. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from well-known branded apps in Taiwan. Study 1 included 173 and 203 valid samples, respectively, to explore and validate the factor structure of branded app attractiveness. Study 2 collected 291 valid samples to test whether branded app attractiveness influences app and brand outcomes through branded app engagement. Findings The results identified branded app attractiveness as a construct comprising six subdimensions: propinquity attractiveness, reciprocity attractiveness, similarity attractiveness, uniqueness attractiveness, task attractiveness and physical attractiveness. The newly developed scale consisted of 24 items and demonstrated satisfactory reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity and criterion-related validity. Additionally, the findings showed that branded app attractiveness promoted branded app engagement, which subsequently drove app outcomes such as continuance intention, word-of-mouth intention and willingness to pay, as well as brand outcomes such as brand loyalty and feedback intention. Moreover, brand anthropomorphism positively moderated the relationship between branded app attractiveness and branded app engagement. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature by identifying six types of branded app attractiveness and developing scales to measure them. Furthermore, we examine the mediating role of branded app engagement and the moderating role of brand anthropomorphism in the proposed model.