Consumer‐brand identification and happiness in experiential consumption

Although the marketing literature has extensively studied consumer‐brand identification, scholars have not fully explored its well‐being benefits. Drawing from the social identity approach and the bottom‐up theory of subjective well‐being, we examine how consumer‐brand identification can be a source of happiness in experiential consumption settings. We conduct two studies to test the proposed research model. In Study 1, results from 322 fans of a professional football team show that consumer happiness positively mediates the association between consumer‐brand identification and overall happiness. We subsequently conduct a partial‐least‐square multigroup analysis with three groups (nonpurchase, one‐time‐purchase, and repeat‐purchase) based on purchase frequency during the season. The results reveal that the path coefficient between consumer‐brand identification and consumer happiness is stronger in the one‐time‐purchase group than in the nonpurchase group. In Study 2, we reexamine the proposed model while accounting for the effects of core product quality. Results from 500 fans of a professional baseball team support Study 1's findings. Overall, our findings add to the knowledge surrounding the well‐being benefits of consumer‐brand identification and demonstrate the role of experiential consumption in facilitating happiness.