Does age affect love? Exploring the antecedents and outcomes of brand love and the influence of generational cohorts on streaming services

Abstract

In recent years, changes in customer–brand relationships have represented a major challenge for branding research. This study explores how the dimensions of perceived customer value influence brand love, by examining significant effects on the outcomes of brand love and the moderating effect of the consumer’s generational cohort. The quantitative study uses a questionnaire survey to collect data from 279 TV streaming service subscribers, which is analysed with the PLS-SEM methodology. Results show that the hedonic dimensions of perceived customer value have a significant positive effect on brand love, while the more utilitarian dimensions lack a significant effect. Furthermore, brand love plays a significant role in building brand experience, but not for switching intention. Moreover, for millennial consumers, brand love has a significantly higher impact on switching intention than for Generation Z consumers. This study contributes by testing the dimensions of the perceived customer value model in building brand love in the streaming TV context. In addition, this study is one of the few to compare differences between millennials and Gen Z consumers in relation to brand love and its outcomes.