Brand Love with Its Antecedents and Consequences: A Research Specific to Mekteb-i Mülkiye

Brand love is one of the most prominent marketing topics in recent years. Although marketing studies widely researched this concept, our knowledge about the love between higher education institutions and students is very limited. This study investigates some antecedents and consequences of brand love in higher education. As the antecedents of brand love, we examined the effects of actual self-congruence, ideal self-congruence, brand reputation, and education quality. Also, we investigated the impact of brand love on supportive behaviours for school and recommending the school to others, which are considered the outcomes of love. The study was conducted specific to Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences, one of Turkey’s deep-rooted higher educational institutions. Two hundred sixty-nine surveys collected from this faculty have been analysed by structural equation modelling. According to the results, actual self-congruence, brand reputation, and education quality are the determinants of brand love. However, ideal self-congruence was not found as an influential factor in brand love. Besides, brand love was found that have strong positive effects on supportive behaviours for school and recommending the school to others.