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Introduction
The branded coffee shop chain segment is increasing by 3.1 percent in outlets; and the coffee shop market is expected to reach $85 billion by 2025 (ctPRESS, 2016). Due to the intense competition among coffee brands, developing customers' brand loyalty is a crucial factor in sustaining business in the coffee shop industry (Han et al., 2018). To cultivate strong brand loyalty, coffee shops launch innovative promotion programs. For instance, Starbucks offers a happy hour with a BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free) offer to boost sales. It also provides special offers to Starbucks Rewards members only, such as the opportunity to redeem rewards points in exchange for a planner at the beginning of the year.
The brand relationship paradigm, which explains customers' long-lasting relationships with the brand (Fournier, 1998), is important to better understand brand loyalty. Research into the brand relationship paradigm proposes and tests various concepts, such as brand image (Park et al., 1986) and brand identification (Escalas and Bettman, 2003). These different concepts are important to understand customers' brand loyalty (Oliver, 1999). As a matured industry, the coffee shop business is highly competitive; thus, marketers need to search for innovative ways to improve brand loyalty and attract more customers (Cha et al., 2016).
Academics show an increased interest on the effectiveness of marketing communication mix since it is considered a key benefit for developing a strong brand (Keller, 2009). The communication mix is a set of components that reintegrate with each other to attain desirable marketing objectives (Kotler et al., 2006). The communication mix positively influences organizational performance and the development of customers' brand loyalty (Berezan et al., 2016). However, research in the relationship between the marketing communication mix and customers' brand evaluation is scant and calls for more investigation in the hospitality industry (Yoo and Bai, 2013). Previous researchers point out the importance of understanding coffee shop brand marketing management techniques (Choi et al., 2017). Despite the significance of understanding brand loyalty, prior study has not examined how marketing communication influences brand loyalty in the Korean coffee shop industry. Thus, this study explores relationships among the elements of a marketing communication mix, brand identification, brand image, brand love and brand loyalty. Based on the Buil et al.'s (2013)...