The Importance of the Interdependence in the Relationship With Brands

Abstract

The study proposes a breakthrough in brand relationship literature by proposing a scale for measuring interdependence with brands. As a secondary contribution, it evaluates the influence of this construct on loyalty. Two specific contexts were analyzed during empirical phase: sports shoes and jeans. In view of the first purpose, we tried to develop the scale following the precepts of Churchill (1979), Rossiter (2002) and Heere and James (2007), organized into eight stages of implementation: 1) Theoretical definition of the analyzed construct; 2) Generation of items (qualitative proceeding); 3) Collection of quantitative data (196 cases); 4) Scale purification; 5) New collection of quantitative data (508 cases); 6) New scale purification; 7) Verification of reliability and validity (AFC); and 8) Proposition of the final items. Moreover, a structural model was tested in order to investigate the relationship between interdependence with brand and loyalty. This relationship was seen as positive and significant, especially when comparing gender and product category.