Title : THE INFLUENCE OF ACTUAL AND IDEAL SELF-CONGRUENCE ON CUSTOMER LOVE AND LOYALTY IN LUXURY BRANDS IN JAKARTA AND SURABAYA
Author : YOHANES TOTOK SUYOTO
Universitas Airlangga
Item Type : Thesis (Dissertation)
Abstract
The contemporary interest in customer loyalty to brands has resulted in a variety of research conducted in many areas. Our investigation indicates that there are a few studies which address the relationship between personal self-congruence and customer loyalty to specific luxury brands. This research was conducted to examine the influence of actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence on customer love and customer loyalty to two luxury brands. In order to give an expected explanation, this study constructs a conceptual and theoretical model based on Self-Congruity Theory (Sirgy, 1982). This research was conducted using a quantitative approach. Specifically, the research applied a survey method to finding and collecting data. Based on the sample random sampling technique, this research collected 214 data through self-administrative survey from 250 respondents of two luxury handbag brands in Surabaya and Jakarta, the two largest cities of Indonesia. A Structural Equation Modeling is used in analyzing the collected data. The findings reveal that the two direct relationships are not significantly related to one another. Otherwise, there are three indirect relationships that are significantly related to one another. The results also indicate something similar and contrary to previous researches on customer loyalty. Results of the previous researches show that there is a significant relationship between actual self-congruence with customer loyalty to brand and between actual self-congruence with customer love for brand, which by this study could not be proven. Same as previous researches, this study proved that there are significant relationships between ideal self-congruence with customer love to brand, between ideal self-congruence with customer loyalty to brand, and between customer love and customer loyalty to brand. Relating to the mediation relationship constructed, the results of the study also indicated that the relationship between actual self-congruence, brand love, and brand loyalty is not significant. Otherwise, the relationship between ideal self-congruence and brand loyalty mediated by brand love is significant. On the theoretical level, this research contributes to a better understanding of how to create customer loyalty to a brand through tracking the self-congruence construct and the customer's love for the brand. At the managerial level, this research intends to provide a very useful actionable guidance to loyalty program managers on how to create a luxury brand which incorporates customer self-congruence and simultaneously arises a strong emotional bonding to the brand.
Keywords: luxury brand, self-congruence, brand love, brand loyalty
