Self-brand connections: The role of attitude strength and autobiographical memory primes

According to the self-brand connection (SBC) construct, brand associations are used to construct one's self or to communicate one's self to others [Escalas JE. Narrative processing: building connections between brands and the self. unpublished dissertation 1996; Duke University.]. Study 1 reveals that: (1) SBCs significantly influence brand evaluations and attitude strength; (2) females exhibit stronger SBCs overall relative to their male counterparts; and (3) higher levels of SBCs impact attitude strength particularly for females in response to the gendered brand studied here -- a sports organization, the WNBA. Study 2 focused on a non-gendered brand. The results showed that consumer fans who identified with the in-group (the home team) reported higher levels of SBCs than those who identified with the out-group. Finally, when autobiographical memory primes are presented from the perspective of the in-group, SBCs are higher than when these memory primes are presented from the perspective of an out-group.