Are consumers inherently or situationally brand loyal?—A set intercorrelation account for conscious brand loyalty and nonconscious inertia
研究提出并检验了唤起集结构是消费者重复购买行为的非意识记忆表征的假设，发现品牌忠诚是消费者固有的且随时间恒定，而惯性随营销变量波动，且两者呈U型关系。
Why do some consumers stick with a certain brand(s), whereas others are prone to switch? This study proposes, and empirically examines, the hypothesis that the structure of the evoked set is the nonconscious memory representation of consumers' repeat purchase behavior. Two causes of repeat purchase are identified: Brand loyalty, which is inherent to consumers and is constant over time, and inertia, which fluctuates with marketing variables. A model selection procedure is performed to compare the relative efficiency of using multinomial and binary logit models to examine the theoretical accuracy of the hypotheses. Findings suggest a U-shaped relation: Consumers who hold moderately intercorrelated evoked sets are intrinsically brand loyal, but are susceptible to the impact of marketing variables. They are intrinsically prone to switch, but less open to marketing variables, when their evoked sets are high or low in intercorrelation. The findings contribute to the understanding of both conscious and nonconscious aspects of repeat purchase patterns. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.