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THE INTERACTIVE MODERATING ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM AND INDEPENDENT SELF-CONSTRUAL ON BRAND EVALUATIONS: A CROSSNATIONAL STUDY
This study aims to show that cultural differences in self-concepts define the effect of brand evaluations on purchase intention. Self-brand connection (SBC), which refers to “the extent to which individuals have incorporated brands into their self-concepts (Escalas & Bettman, 2003)”, has been identified as an important factor that leads brand loyalty and repurchase (Batra et al., 2012; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Loureiro et al., 2012; Park et al., 2010; Zarantonello et al., 2016). However, Sugitani (2018) demonstrated that SBC was a significant predictor of repurchase intention only among people with independent self-construal (Westerners), while brand evaluations based on public reputation (i.e. public-based evaluation; PBE) significantly predicted repurchase intention among people with interdependent self-construal (East Asians). This study raises questions about other factors relevant to the self that might moderate the effect of brand evaluations. Therefore, in addition to self-construal, this study focused on individual selfesteem as another moderating factor, and investigated its effects on the relations between brand evaluations and purchase intentions. Cross-national online surveys were conducted in the U.S., Italy (independent selfconstrual culture) and Japan (interdependent self-construal culture). The results of data analyses using multi-group structural equation modelling and ANOVAs provided the important discoveries. First, the finding of previous literature was reproduced that SBC was a significant predictor of repurchase intentions among people with independent selfconstrual. However, self-esteem significantly moderated the result. Specifically, SBC was a significant antecedent of repurchase intention when consumers with interdependent self-construal possess high self-esteem. Second, self-esteem also moderated the effect of PBE on repurchase intention among Italian consumers. Italians with low self-esteem were averse to choosing high PBE brands, while those with high self-esteem were not. The U.S. and Japanese consumers consistently avoided and preferred high PBE brands respectively; self-esteem did not affect the result. This study contributes to global brand management by showing that cultural differences in two important self-concepts, self-construal and self-esteem, have an interactive moderating effect on brand evaluations and purchases.
