The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and

Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market

Gaurav Shukla

, Satish Kumar Sahu

and Niket Shukla

Department of Commerce and Management, Dr. C.V. Raman University, Khandwa, M. P, India

Department of Commerce and Management, Dr. C.V. Raman University, Kargi Road Kota, Bilaspur,

Chhattisgarh‑495004, India

Keywords: Brand Love, Luxury Fashion Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Impulse Buying, Willingness to Pay a

Premium, Positive Word‑of‑Mouth (WOM).

Abstract: The luxury fashion industry has experienced significant transformations driven by evolving consumer

preferences, digitalization, and emotional branding strategies. This study explores the influence of Brand Love

on key consumer behaviors, including willingness to pay a premium, impulse buying, emotional connection,

brand engagement, and positive word-of-mouth (WOM). Using a structured quantitative approach, data was

collected from 400 college students across four Indian states through a five-point Likert scale questionnaire.

The findings reveal a strong positive correlation between Brand Love and both willingness to pay a premium

(R² = 0.798, β = 0.792, p < 0.01) and impulse buying (R² = 0.727, β = 0.714, p < 0.01), reinforcing the idea

that emotional brand attachment significantly influences purchasing decisions. Interestingly, the study found

a negative correlation between Brand Love and both emotional connection (R² = 0.289, β = -0.277, p < 0.01)

and brand engagement (R² = 0.342, β = -0.308, p = 0.038), suggesting that strong brand affinity does not

always lead to increased interaction. However, the research reaffirms the role of Brand Love in driving

positive WOM (R² = 0.761, β = 0.7459, p < 0.01), indicating that emotionally invested consumers are more

likely to advocate for luxury brands. These insights offer valuable implications for brand managers looking

to refine emotional branding strategies to strengthen consumer loyalty, justify premium pricing, and enhance

engagement in the luxury fashion market.

1 INTRODUCTION

The luxury fashion industry has experienced

remarkable changes in recent years, influenced by

shifting consumer preferences, the rise of digital

technology, and the growing emphasis on emotional

branding. As high-end brands aim to preserve their

exclusivity while appealing to a wider audience, the

concept of psychological attachment particularly

brand love has become increasingly relevant. Brand

love represents a deep emotional bond consumer form

with a brand, shaping their level of engagement,

advocacy, spontaneous purchasing habits, and

willingness to pay a premium Given that luxury

fashion extends beyond just the physical product to

encompass status, identity, and aspiration,

understanding the power of brand love is crucial for

marketers and brand strategists.

Previous studies suggest that brand love nurtures

long-term consumer relationships, strengthens

loyalty, and encourages positive behaviors like

advocacy and repeat purchases. However, there is still

limited research exploring how brand love directly

influences consumer behavior in the luxury fashion

market. While luxury consumers often develop strong

emotional ties with their favorite brands, the extent to

which this emotional attachment drives engagement,

word-of-mouth recommendations, impulse buying,

and a willingness to pay higher prices remains an area

that requires further exploration.

The aim of this study was to find out how brand

love impacts on some consumer actions specific to

the luxury fashion sector. It tries to see if there is a

connection between brand love and consumer

engagement, brand advocacy, impulse buying

behavior for things they need emotionally as well as

rationally or even instant-gratification purchases

which are both reactionary and automatic responses

to soothing feelings in the form of material

possessions that they can give to others. Moreover, it

666

Shukla, G., Sahu, S. K. and Shukla, N.

The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market.

DOI: 10.5220/0013918500004919

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Research and Development in Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies (ICRDICCT‘25 2025) - Volume 4, pages

666-675

ISBN: 978-989-758-777-1

will also explore spontaneous brand purchasing

tendencies, emotional attachment and perceived

value in premium pricing. Through this study, we

hope to shed light on these aspects of luxury branding

so to give brand strategists practical insight into

strategy. In turn consumer loyalty for luxury items

will be enhanced, consumer engagement further

deepened and greater profitability obtained.

2 RELATED REVIEW

2.1 Brand Love and Positive

Word-of-Mouth (WOM)

Research (Dahrouj, R., et al,2025) explored how

brand love plays a crucial role in enhancing customer

engagement within the framework of corporate social

responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Their research

revealed that when consumers feel a strong emotional

connection to a brand, they are more likely to identify

with and actively engage in its CSR efforts

Author (Duraes, E. M. 2025). examined the

influence of brand activism on brand love and its

subsequent effect on consumer engagement. The

study found that socially conscious brands tend to

build deeper emotional bonds with their customers,

which, in turn, drives stronger engagement.

This study highlighted how brand love encourages

active participation in brand-related discussions and

activities.

Study (Anwar, M. M. 2024) focused on brand love

in the Halal fashion industry and discovered that

emotional brand attachment plays a significant role in

driving consumer engagement. Brand love motivates

the active involvement of consumers in brand

conversation and interactions.

Articles (Mandal, M., & Dash, S. 2025) examined

the connection between brand love and customer

value with adolescent consumers. Their study shows

that brand love improves customer engagement

because the emotional and experiential customer-

brand relationships are both strengthened, and the

effects were particularly prominent in the food

industry.

Research (Bazi, S., Filieri, R., & Gorton, M. 2023)

investigated the impact of aesthetic quality of social

media content on brand love and loyalty in the luxury

fashion industry. Their study also found that visually

stimulating and visually high-quality content

augments customer engagement which, in turn, results

in an enhanced brand love and consumer loyalty.

Research (Burnasheva, et al,2019) focused on

online luxury brand communities and examined the

role of social identity and a sense of community in

brand love. They found that consumers who have a

strong sense of belonging to these communities were

more likely to experience brand love, which leads to

increased engagement.

Article (Nyadzayo, M. W., etal,2020) examined

that self-concept affects brand engagement in the

luxury fashion industry. The study noted that

consumers show greater engagement toward luxury

brands they feel reflected their personal self an effect

that is mediated by brand love.

2.2 Brand Love and Positive

Word-of-Mouth (WOM)

Study (Shindy, S., & Hariandja, E. S. 2021) explored

how brand credibility influences the word-of-mouth

and evaluations of luxury fashion. Analyzing Prada, it

determined that when consumers see a brand as both

trustworthy and emotionally relevant, they’re more

likely to recommend it. This enhances the brand’s

prestige and desirability, which making it even more

appealing in the competitive luxury market.

In article (Rodrigues, C., & Rodrigues, P. 2019)

the authors investigated the impact of brand mystique,

sensuality, and intimacy on generating brand love of

neo-luxury fashion brands. Their work shows that

these emotional factors lead to increased brand love,

which drives positive WOM.

Paper (Kashif, M., et al,2021) examined the

positive and negative impacts of brand love and brand

hate in the luxury fashion industry. They found that

deeply loyal consumers can promote a brand with

positive WOM, while consumers who experience a

perceived betrayal will engage in negative WOM.

This underscores the need for authenticity and

consistency in communicating brand values to ensure

consumer trust and advocacy.

Article (Song, S., & Kim, H. Y. 2022) investigated

how social media marketing strategies influence brand

love and subsequent WOM. Their findings indicated

that consumer satisfaction with a brand’s social media

presence strengthens emotional attachment, which, in

turn, boosts positive WOM and long-term loyalty.

This underscores the importance of high-quality

digital experiences in reinforcing brand love.

The study (Wahyadyatmika, I. B. P., et al, 2025)

investigates how perceived quality and brand

innovativeness is mediated by brand love with WOM

in the luxury fashion market. In their study, they found

that brand love plays a vital role in turning positive

perceptions of the brand into brand advocacy WOM is

more likely to be translated into real behaviours if the

The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market

667

product is considered excellent in quality and

innovative.

2.3 Brand Love and Emotional

Connection in Luxury Fashion

Brands

Study (Ortiz Pages, A., & Motsiopoulou, C. 2024)

examined the intersection of luxury and sustainable

consumption. Their article shed light on the

significance of emotional investment and affection

towards brands anew in nurturing consumer loyalty

specifically in the context of sustainable luxury

brands.

Author (Ali, F., Enaba, P., & Labib, H. M. 2024)

studied the impact of brand love and respect on

emotional attachment: A study in the context of the

Egyptian luxury market. They described how

consumers develop strong emotional bonds with

brands based on a combination of prestige, emotional

appeal and cultural relevance.

2.4 Brand Love as a Predictor of

Impulse Buying in Luxury Fashion

Research (Chen, M., etal,2024) investigated at how

internet personalities affect luxury fashion sector

impulse buying. Their research highlights how

emotional attachment might heighten impulse buying

behavior when brand love acts as a mediator between

influencer credibility and spontaneous purchases.

Author (Liapati, G.,et al ,2015) examined at how

hedonic consumption affected spontaneous fashion

purchase. Their studies verified that consumers are far

more inclined to make spontaneous purchases when

brand love is coupled with high fashion participation.

This emphasizes how emotional ties to luxury

companies influence impromptu purchase decisions.

Study (Rodrigues, P., & Brandão, A. 2018)

focused on how self-concept affects brand love and its

impact on consumer behavior. He found that having a

high self-brand integration meant people are

disruptive purchasers, especially so with luxury

goods. This indicates that if consumers view a brand

as part of their inner self, they are prone to impulse

purchases, regardless of the price.

In article (Mrad, M.,et al2020), more information

on how luxury brands feed addiction in consumers is

offered and the connection between this phenomenon

and unplanned buying behavior is examined. Their

study showed that emotional attachment to a brand can

lead into compulsive buying, and therefore brand love

plays an important role in guiding the shopping habits

of luxury consumers.

Research Djohan, (N. S., & Brahmana, R. K. M.

R. 2017) examined at how luxury market impulse

buying was impacted by brand personality alignment.

Driven by great emotional attachment and brand love,

their results revealed that consumers who sense a

strong link between their personal identity and a brand

are more likely to make impulsive purchases.

2.5 Brand Love and Willingness to Pay

a Premium in Luxury Fashion

Brands

Research (Shetty, K., & Fitzsimmons, J. R. 2022) on

consumer willingness to pay a premium for luxury

apparel labels in Indonesia revealed brand love as a

main determining factor. Strong emotional

attachment, according to their research, improves

perceived brand value and increases consumer

inclination to pay more for betterment.

Study Examining brand love in the Indian luxury

market, shown that consumers' desire to pay a

premium is influenced by emotional connection and

personal identification with a brand. Their studies

showed that brand love improves impressions of

distinctiveness and reputation, so supporting the

premium pricing approach used by luxury brands.

Author explored researched how buyers'

reasoning for paying a premium for Chinese luxury

fashion companies related to brand-self-identity.

Given the brand is fundamental to their identity, the

study found customers with a close connection to a

brand especially those who are actively involved on

social media are more likely to see premium pricing

as suitable.

Research lookd at the influence of brand jealousy,

materialism vs. emotion and consequential premium

pricing. The findings indicated that brand love and

exclusivity play a significant role in whether

consumers will pay premium prices, particularly true

for high-end handbags.

Paper appeared in Management World, the

authors tested how effective brand origin strength

(PSBO) was in pushing consumers towards premium

levels and above. According to their research Al and

Exbinrex serve as mediators between brand love and

consumers' perception of heritage and authenticity,

thus raising their willingness to pay a price for luxury

items.

Author did a study on the impact of brand

authenticity and consumer-brand identification

whether it is real (as opposed to counterfeit) or

counterfeit, on whether consumers are willing to pay

premium prices in the luxury fashion sector. Their

research found that the stronger people identify with

ICRDICCT‘25 2025 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

668

a luxury brand, and the more they see it as authentic,

then their emotional commitment and brand loyalty

make them more likely to tolerate higher prices.

Figure 1 shows the Conceptual framework of the

study.

Figure 1: Conceptual framework of the study.

2.6 Objective and Hypothesis

Objective: To find the effect of brand love on brand

engagement, positive WOM, emotional connection,

impulse buying, and willing to pay premium.

Hypothesis: Brand love has a significant positive

relationship on brand engagement, positive WOM,

emotional connection, impulse buying, and willing to

pay premium.

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design and Population

This study utilizes a blend of descriptive and

correlational research methods to explore consumer-

brand interactions within India's luxury fashion

market. The descriptive approach helps outline the

characteristics of the target population, while the

correlational analysis investigates the relationships

among key variables.

3.2 Sample Size

Selected for this study were 400 college students from

four Indian states Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya

Pradesh, and Bihar ensuring a well-rounded

representation. Because of their increasing buying

power, more fashion awareness, and interaction with

internet branding, college students are a vital target

market for luxury fashion companies. To ensure

statistical accuracy in the quantitative research, the

sample size was calculated with Cochran's formula.

3.3 Instruments and Data Collection

Data was collected using a questionnaire developed

to measure key variables demonstrating consumer-

brand relationships in luxury fashion. A five-point

Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly

agree) was used in the questionnaire to systematically

analyze participant responses. In terms of credibility,

adapted questionnaire items were adopted from

known research scales.

3.4 Reliability and Validity Assessment

To ensure the reliability and validity of the research

instrument, a confirmatory study was conducted.

Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal

consistency of the measurement tool and a score of

0.70 was considered acceptable. Construct validity

was established by means of a two-step approach:

exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to

reveal the underlying factor structure, followed by

confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the

measurement model. Composite reliability (CR) and

average variance extracted (AVE) metrics were also

used to analyze discriminant and convergent

validity.

3.5 Data Analysis Techniques

Data were analysed through the SPSS (Statistical

Package for the Social Sciences) and the Smart PLS

(Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling

- PLS-SEM). Descriptive statistics, including

frequency distributions, means comparisons and

standard deviations were carried out using SPSS.

PLS-SEM modeling was conducted through Smart

PLS, a modeling technique well-suited for predictive

research involving complex relationships.

Table 1

shows the Item Loading and Reliability Statistics of

Brand Love, Brand Engagement, Emotional

Connection, Word of Mouth Impulse Buying, Willing

to Pay Premium.

The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market

669

4 DATA ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION

Table 1: Item loading and reliability statistics of brand love, brand engagement, emotional connection, word of mouth impulse

buying, willing to pay premium.

Variables Item Factor loading Average Cronbach CR AVE

1 Brand Love

BL-1 0.860

0.92 0.93 0.94 0.87

BL-2 0.740

BL-3 0.911

BL-4 0.860

BL-5 0.888

BL-6 0.796

BL-7 0.765

BL-8 0.796

BL-9 0.851

BL-10 0.731

2 Brand Engagement

BEng-1 0.779

0.89 0.96 0.97 0.79

BEng-2 0.760

BEng-3 0.821

BEng-4 0.850

BEng-5 0.792

WOM-1 0.810

0.76 0.74 0.76 0.71

3 Word of Mouth

WOM-2 0.730

WOM-3 0.780

WOM-4 0.821

Emotional

Connection

ECON-1 0.874

0.74 0.69 0.72 0.81

ECON-2 0.711

ECON-3 0.846

ECON-4 0.812

ECON-5 0.713

5 Impulse Buying

IB-1 0.801

0.81 0.78 0.73 0.77 IB-2 0.899

IB-3 0.746

Willing to Pay

Premium

WPP-1 0.786

0.79 0.72 0.81 0.86

WPP-2 0.812

WPP-3 0.765

WPP-4 0.744

WPP-5 0.723

WPP-6 0.716

WPP-7 0.832

ICRDICCT‘25 2025 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

670

4.1 Reliability and Validity Measures

4.1.1 Measures of Reliability

The values of Cronbach’s alpha for the constructs in

this study are as follows: Brand Love (0.93), Brand

Engagement (0.96), Positive Word of Mouth (0.74),

Emotional Connection (0.69), Impulse Buying (0.78),

and Willingness to Pay Premium (0.72). Study

indicate that a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.7 or higher

is regarded as desirable. The values demonstrate that

all constructs show acceptable to excellent internal

consistency, thereby affirming the reliability of the

scales employed in this study. This approach is

considered more appropriate for the assessment of

reliability for SEM measures through Composite

Reliability (CR). These results assert that the

constructs' composite reliability values are Brand

Love (0.94), Brand Engagement (0.97), Positive

WOM (0.76), Emotional Connection (0.72), Impulse

Buying (0.73), and Willingness to Pay Premium

(0.81). According to the author CR ≥ 0.7 would

reflect an acceptable reliability. These results endorse

the reliability of the scales used in this study.

4.1.2 Convergent Validity

In this study reflective model approaches were

utilized to assess the CR and AVE that are

commonly assessed for establishing convergent

validity. Composite Reliability (CR) of ≥ 0.7 and

Average Variance Extracted (AVE) of ≥ 0.5 Table 1

were proved indicative of internal consistency

reliability and convergent validity

The Composite Reliability (CR) values of Brand

Love (0.94), Brand Engagement (0.97), Positive

Word of Mouth (0.76), Emotional Connection (0.72),

Impulse Buying (0.73), and Willingness to Pay

Premium (0.81) reflects a high level of internal

consistency and reliability of the scales.

Convergent validity is confirmed with Average

Variance Extracted (AVE) values exceeding 0.50,

such as AVE values for Brand Love (0.87), Brand

Engagement (0.79), Positive Word of Mouth (0.71),

Emotional Connection (0.81), Impulse Buying (0.77),

and Willingness to Pay Premium (0.86), that signify

sufficient variance explanation by items with each

construct.

Table 2: Direct effect, path coefficients (total effect) brand satisfaction as independent factor.

Variables Path coefficient (β)

Direct effect (R

Square)

T Value P Value

Brand Love-> Willing Pay

Premium

0.792 0.798** 79.442 0.000

Brand Love-> Impulse Buying 0.714 0.727** 72.132 0.000

Brand Love-> Emotional

Connection

-0.277 0.289** 25.270 0.006

Brand Love-> Brand

Engagement

0.308 0.342** -2.169 0.038

Brand Love-> Positive WOM 0.7459 0.761** 76.112 0.000

p < 0.05*, p < 0.01**

The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market

671

Figure 2: Structural equation model of all the variables (brand love on brand engagement, positive WOM, emotional

connection, impulse buying, and willing to pay premium).

Table 2 shows that all path coefficients in the

model are statistically significant, showing strong

relationships between the variables. The study

revealed a strong positive correlation between Brand

Love and Willingness to Pay a Premium (R² = 0.798,

β = 0.792, t = 79.442, p < 0.01), indicating that Brand

Love explains 79.8% of the variability in Willingness

to Pay a Premium. This emphasizes the crucial

significance of Brand Love in motivating clients to

pay premium rates for luxury fashion businesses.

Figure 2 shows the Structural equation model of all

the variables (brand love on brand engagement,

positive WOM, emotional connection, impulse

buying, and willing to pay premium).

The study found a significant and positive

correlation between Brand Love and Impulse Buying

(R² = 0.727, β = 0.714, t = 72.132, p < 0.01),

indicating that Brand Love explains 72.7% of the

variability in Impulse Buying. This suggests that

buyers who experience a profound emotional

connection with a brand are more inclined to engage

in spontaneous buying decisions.

Surprisingly, there was a negative relationship

between Brand Love and Emotional Connection. The

statistical analysis showed that Brand Love explained

28.9% of the variance in Emotional Connection, with

a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.289, a beta

coefficient (β) of -0.277, a t-value of 25.270, and a p-

value less than 0.01. This implies a more intricate

correlation where a higher level of Brand Love may

not necessarily result in a more powerful emotional

bond, maybe due to contextual or situational

influences.

The study found that Brand Love had a significant

and negative effect on Brand Engagement. The

statistical analysis showed that Brand Love explained

34.2% of the variability in Brand Engagement, with a

coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.342. The beta

coefficient (β) was -0.308, indicating a negative

relationship between Brand Love and Brand

Engagement, where higher levels of Brand Love are

associated with lower levels of Brand Engagement.

The t-value was -2.169, indicating the significance of

the relationship, and the p-value was 0.038, further

confirming the significance of the findings. This

suggests that, contrary to expectations, customers

who have a strong affinity for a brand may be less

inclined to engage with it.

Brand Love was discovered to have a strong

correlation with Positive Word of Mouth (WOM) (R²

= 0.761, β = 0.7459, t = 76.112, p < 0.01), accounting

for 76.1% of the variation in Positive WOM. This

highlights the significance of Brand Love in

motivating customers to actively endorse the brand to

others.

ICRDICCT‘25 2025 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

672

5 DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

This study examined the influence of brand love on

key consumer behaviors in the luxury fashion sector,

specifically focusing on willingness to pay a

premium, impulse buying, emotional connection,

brand engagement, and positive word-of-mouth

(WOM). The findings reinforce established theories

while also challenging some conventional

perspectives, offering fresh insights into the role of

emotional branding in the luxury industry.

5.1 Brand Love and Willingness to Pay

a Premium

The analysis identified a strong positive correlation

between brand love and willingness to pay a premium

showing that brand love accounts for nearly 79.8% of

the variation in premium price justification. This

aligns with prior studies suggesting that consumers

with strong emotional ties to a brand perceive it as

more exclusive and prestigious, making them more

inclined to accept higher pricing Furthermore, these

findings support study who emphasized the role of

brand authenticity in justifying premium pricing.

Similarly, Author highlighted how emotional

engagement enhances the perceived uniqueness of

luxury products, reinforcing the effectiveness of

premium pricing strategies. These insights

underscore the importance of emotional branding in

driving consumer value perception within the luxury

fashion industry.

5.2 Brand Love and Impulse Buying

A strong positive relationship was found between

brand love and impulse buying indicating that brand

love explains 72.7% of variations in spontaneous

purchasing behavior. These results align with the

findings of both of whom concluded that emotional

attachment significantly increases the likelihood of

unplanned purchases. Luxury consumers with deep

brand love are often driven by emotional gratification

and exclusivity when making impulse purchases

Additionally, Study noted that impulse buying

tendencies are amplified when brands use scarcity-

driven marketing tactics, such as limited-edition

releases. This suggests that luxury brands can

strategically leverage emotional branding and

exclusivity to encourage impulsive purchasing

behavior.

5.3 Brand Love and Emotional

Connection

The study surprisingly revealed a negative

association between brand love and emotional

connection, implying that more brand love does not

always translate into a closer emotional bond. The

present results contradict earlier research, including

which maintained that emotional connection and

brand love are naturally connected. This outcome

more fits who proposed that social identification can

affect brand love apart from personal emotional

connection. One theory is that some customers

establish brand love depending more on aspirational

value than on a strong emotional connection. Luxury

companies often inspire respect by distinction and

exclusiveness instead of by personal emotional

involvement. This realization implies that outside

views of status and desirability may rather generate

brand love than always transfer into emotional

dependency.

5.4 Brand Love and Brand

Engagement

The first surprise of the study is that a negative

relationship between brand love and brand

engagement was found, suggesting that increased

levels of brand love result in consumers being less

engaged. This is in contrast to some earlier research

which has generally found a positive association

between these two. One potential reason why

consumer do not search for brands they love is that

those who develop profound emotions for a brand

may not require brand contact if they are already

deeply attached to it, nor may they want to be exposed

to additional information. if that leads to

oversaturation with information and a passive form of

consumption. Article also emphasized the importance

of considering consumer engagement conducted by

brands, with the implication that consumer

engagement deteriorates over time when brands do

not adjust to ongoing dynamic and interactive

experiences, also leading to decreased interaction

even among the same consumer. Their findings

underscore the distinction and subsequent need by

luxury brands to differentiate between passive brand

admiration versus active consumer engagement, thus

preventing luxury brands from inadvertently

allowing, through marketing operations, for mere

admiration (albeit passive admiration) for their brand

to occur and perpetuate.

The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market

673

5.5 Brand Love and Positive Word-of-

Mouth (WOM)

The research found a robust positive association

between brand love and positive WOM, which

explained 76.1% of the variance in consumer

advocacy. This result corresponds well to previous

research showing that consumers that are strongly

emotionally attached to a brand actively promote and

endorse the brand. Even supported this conclusion

stating that Brand love increases WOM engagement,

particularly in digital spaces. Likewise,mentioned

that luxury consumers tend to share positive WOM of

high-end brands due to the status gained by

endorsing high-end brands. Insights from various

studies indicate that luxury brands must nurture brand

love in a strategic manner, so that they can enjoy

organic advocacy from consumers, something which

they can get via influencer engagements and social

media. The upgrades and utilization power of

positive WOM in luxury can be maximized through

strong emotional ties with potential customers.

6 CONCLUSIONS

This leads to the research implications of this study:

it provides the following contributions: The

contribution of this study is to understand the delicate

relationship between brand love and consumer

behavior in the context of luxury fashion. These

results confirm an important role of brand love in

consumers' decision processes such as justification of

premium price, impulse purchase, and word-of-

mouth advocacy. Consumers that show a strong

emotional connection with luxury brands tend to be

less price sensitive and also more impulsive, and so

emotional branding can be a persuasive marketing

decision for luxury products. Yet there may be not as

welcome surprise by observing that brand love is still

negatively correlated to both emotional connection

and brand engagement, which goes against the

traditional view of positive correlation. The love of a

brand makes people admire and affects their purchase

decisions, but love does not directly create emotional

awareness or human participation. This indicates that

luxury brands themselves need an optimization of

emotional branding on demand, consented by

personalized experiences and meaningful consumers

touchpoints. The findings of the study are of

particular relevance for luxury brand strategists

looking to adapt marketing approaches. Luxury

fashion brands can use it to tap into customer loyalty,

bolster organic brand advocacy, and fortify premium

pricing mechanisms. Future research should delve

further into relevant contexts (e.g., culture, social

identity and digital engagement mechanisms) to

better understand the complex dynamics governing

consumer-brand interactions in the luxurious garment

industry.

REFERENCES

Ali, F., Enaba, P., & Labib, H. M. (2024). Lovemarks

influence on luxury brands’ emotional attachment in

Egypt. Scientific Journal for Studies and Business

Research. https://masf.journals.ekb.eg/article_396261_

b986828d2b5c284edb404d2a6b2bbd4f.pdf

Anwar, M. M. (2024). Halal fashion insights: Understandi

ng brand dynamics in consumer perception. Journal of

Islamic Marketing. https://www.emerald.com /insight

/content/doi/10.1108/ jima-04-2024-0149/full/html

Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2012). Brand love.

Journal of Marketing, 76(2), 1- 16. https://doi.org/10.

1509/jm.09.0339

Bazi, S., Filieri, R., & Gorton, M. (2023). Social media

content aesthetic quality and customer engagement:

The mediating role of entertainment and impacts on

brand love and loyalty. Journal of Business Research.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/ science/article /pii/S0

148296323001364

Burnasheva, R., Suh, Y. G., & Villalobos- Moron, K. (201

9). Sense of community and social identity effect on

brand love: Based on the online communities of a

luxury fashion brands. Journal of Global Fashion

Marketing, 10(1), 50-65.

Carroll, B. A., & Ahuvia, A. C. (2006). Some antecedents

and outcomes of brand love. Marketing Letters, 17, 79-

89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-006-4219-2

Chen, M., Xie, Z., Zhang, J., & Li, Y. (2021). Internet

celebrities' impact on luxury fashion impulse buying.

Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Comme

rce Research, 16(6), 136.

Dahrouj, R., Itani, O. S., Hollebeek, L. D., Eslami, H., &

Kassar, A. N. (2025). Which corporate social responsi

bility (CSR) approach optimizes customer engagement

behavior? The role of customer-brand identification,

brand love, and social communication. Journal of

Retailing and Consumer Services, 84, 104230.

Dijkstra, T. K., & Henseler, J. (2015). Consistent and asy

mptotically normal PLS estimators for linear structural

equations. Computational statistics & data analysis, 81

, 10-23.

Djohan, N. S., & Brahmana, R. K. M. R. (2017). Willingn

ess to pay premium for luxurious fashion brands in

Indonesia: Is it love? International Journal of Business

and Economics, 5(1), 45-60.

Duraes, E. M. (2025). The influence of brand activism in

brand love to promote brand advocacy in the fashion

industry (Doctoral dissertation).

ICRDICCT‘25 2025 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION,

COMMUNICATION, AND COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

674

Hair Jr, J. F. (2006). Successful strategies for teaching

multivariate statistics. In Proceedings of the 7th Intern

ational Conference on (pp. 1-5).

Hasdiansa, I. W., & Balqiah, T. E. (2019). Understanding

the Influence of Brand Jealousy, Brand Love and

Materialism Towards Willingness to Pay Premium:

Study on Coach's Handbag. In 3rd Asia – Pacific Rese

arch in Social Sciences and Humanities Universitas

Indonesia Conference (APRISH 2018) 283- 289. Atla

ntis Press.

Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). Testing

measurement invariance of composites using partial

least squares. International marketing review, 33(3),

405-431.

Hu, L., Bentler, P. M., & Kano, Y. (1992). Can test statistics

in covariance structure analysis be trusted? Psychologi

cal Bulletin, 112(2), 351–362.

Huang, R. (2017). The influence of brand love on word of

mouth communication. Marketing Intelligence &

Planning, 35(4), 499-512. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-

10-2016-0190

Japutra, A., Ekinci, Y., & Simkin, L. (2018). Tie the knot:

Building strong brand relationships. Journal of

Strategic Marketing, 26(3), 223- 240. https://doi.org/1

0.1080/0965254X.2016.1195862

Joshi, R., Garg, P., & Kamboj, S. (2023). Examining the

effects of brand authenticity and brand identification on

consumers' willingness to pay premium. International

Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 19(2),

112-130.

Kapferer, J. N., & Bastien, V. (2012). The luxury strategy:

Break the rules of marketing to build luxury brands.

Kogan Page Publishers.

Kashif, M., Korkmaz Devrani, T., Rehman, A., & Samad,

S. (2021). Love is not blind: investigating a love-hate

transition among luxury fashion brand consumers. Jou

rnal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An

International Journal, 25(4), 625-643.

Ko, E., Costello, J. P., & Taylor, C. R. (2019). What is a

luxury brand? A new definition and review of the

literature. Journal of Business Research, 99, 405-413.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.08.023

Kostritsa, M., Liebl, H., & Beinhauer, R. (2020). Consumer

brand love for luxury brands in India. Acta Universitatis

Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis,

68(1), 221-238.

Liapati, G., Assiouras, I., & Decaudin, J. M. (2015). The

role of fashion involvement, brand love, and hedonic

consumption tendency in fashion impulse purchasing.

Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 6(1), 55-68.

Mandal, M., & Dash, S. (2025). Indian adolescents' custo

mer relationship with food brands: Exploring the role

of brand love. South Asian Journal of Business Studies.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/

sajbs-05-2024-0174/full/html

Mrad, M., Majdalani, J., Cui, C. C., & El Khansa, Z. (2020).

Brand addiction in the contexts of luxury and fast-

fashion brands. Journal of Retailing and Consumer

Services, 54, 101949.

Ni, Y., Mu, Y., Lu, M., Wang, J., & Chen, Z. (2024). The

effects of brand-self connection on the willingness to

pay a price premium: A new look at the consumer–

brand relationship in the Chinese luxury fashion

industry. Advances in Economics, Management, and

Political Sciences, 2(3), 87-105.

Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric

theory (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Nyadzayo, M. W., Johnson, L. W., & Rossi, M. (2020).

Drivers and outcomes of brand engagement in self-

concept for luxury fashion brands. Journal of Fashion

Marketing and Management.https://www.emerald.com

/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JFMM-05-2018-0070

/full/html

Ortiz Pages, A., & Motsiopoulou, C. (2024). A study on

luxury and sustainable consumption: Mixing and

matching. DiVA Portal. https://www.diva- portal.org/s

mash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1880814

Rodrigues, C., & Rodrigues, P. (2019). Brand love matters

to Millennials: the relevance of mystery, sensuality and

intimacy to neo-luxury brands. Journal of Product &

Brand Management, 28(7), 830-848.

Rodrigues, P., & Brandão, A. (2018). The importance of

self in brand love in consumer- luxury brand relations

hips. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 17(3), 216-233.

Shetty, K., & Fitzsimmons, J. R. (2022). The effect of brand

personality congruence, brand attachment, and brand

love on loyalty among HENRY’s in the luxury

branding sector. Journal of Fashion Marketing and

Management, 26(2), 305-325.

Shindy, S., & Hariandja, E. S. (2021). The influence of

brand credibility towards words of mouth of fashion

brand. Journal of Economics, Business, & Accountancy

Ventura, 23(3), 2-4.

Siew, S. W., Minor, M. S., & Felix, R. (2018). The influen

ce of perceived strength of brand origin on willingness

to pay more for luxury goods. Journal of Brand

Management, 25(4), 304-319.

Song, S., & Kim, H. Y. (2022). Is social media marketing

worth it for luxury brands? The dual impact of brand

page satisfaction and brand love on word-of-mouth and

attitudinal loyalty intentions. Journal of Product &

Brand Management, 31(7), 1033- 1046.https://www.e

merald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jpbm-06-

2020-2936/full/html

Wahyadyatmika, I. B. P., & Mahyuni, L. P. (2025). Brand

Love Mediates Fashion Innovativeness, Perceived

Quality, Value for Money, and Word of Mouth Effects

. Indonesian Interdisciplinary Journal of Sharia Econo

mics (IIJSE), 8(1), 2071- 2093.https://www.e- journal.

uac.ac.id/index.php/iijse/article/download/5768/2393

Werts, C. E., Linn, R. L., & Jöreskog, K. G. (1974).

Intraclass reliability estimates: Testing structural assu

mptions. Educational and Psychological measurement,

34(1), 25-33.

The Role of Brand Love in Driving Consumer Engagement and Purchasing Behavior in the Luxury Fashion Market

675