Abstract:
Brand love is a recent consumer construct that examines the passionate and emotional feelings of satisfied consumers. The present study examines the journey that consumers have with their loved brands from the first contact to the present moment through the lens of ‘turning points.’ Using semi-structured interview and Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT), the present study identifies nine turning points and five different trajectory types. Out of the nine turning points that have been identified, six turning points were found to help the brand love development, and three of the turning points were found to hinder the development of brand love. Further, five patterns of brand love trajectories were inductively categorized, which shows that the formation of brand love does not follow a specific pattern. The trajectories indicate that consumers do not experience love at first sight, thereby suggesting that brand love formation is complex.