Brand resonance and planned behaviour: a framework to analyse the impact of brand preferences on customer loyalty

The research project combines empirical and theoretical approaches to define a variant of framework that analyses the impact of food values, subjective norm and brand preferences on customer loyalty in the pasta food sector. The framework integrates the constituent elements of Keller's Customer-Based Brand Equity model with Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. A quantitative methodology was adopted to test the proposed model. In particular, a questionnaire was designed with the aim of gathering information relative to the socio-demographic, geographic and behavioural profile of the respondents and to all the dimensions and sub-dimensions underlying the framework. 510 valid responses were collected on which an Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) was conducted in order to verify the correct functioning of the framework presented, to detect any significant relationships between the 61 variables of the dataset and to study the trend and homogeneity of the data collected. We observed a potentially good predictive capacity of the model and we believe that the same may represent – if its predictive validity is confirmed through the performance of a more specific statistical analysis conducted on a larger sample – a valid tool for marketing managers intent on concretely investigating the phenomenon of customer loyalty. The research project is therefore proposed as a work in progress whose data collection and analysis activities will continue in the near future. Companies would have a practically usable conceptual framework at their disposal through the conduct of researches developed specifically for their brand.