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Introduction
Several concepts have been used in marketing literature to describe the strength of consumer-brand relationships, such as trust, satisfaction and commitment ([24] Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; [65] Morgan and Hunt, 1994). Recent research identifies the vital role of the higher order construct of relationship quality (RQ) as a mediating variable between relationship marketing activities and outcomes ([41] Fournier, 1998; [67] Palmatier et al. , 2006). Existing research on the conceptualisation of RQ and its relational outcomes is conducted on two different streams, relationship marketing and branding.
Research in the field of relationship marketing, as conducted mainly in the domain of services and in the context of business-to-business marketing ([85] Veloutsou, 2007), has developed a typology consisting of trust, satisfaction and commitment to describe the level of RQ ([28] de Wulf et al. , 2001; [73] Roberts et al. , 2003). On the other hand, the branding field has developed a six-faced conceptualisation based on aspects of human relationships ([41] Fournier, 1998), which has received support by subsequent research as better capturing the quality of consumer-brand relationships ([55] Kressmann et al. , 2006; [77] Smit et al. , 2007). Thus, the literature on brand management and relationship development has so far emerged as two separate streams, despite the possibilities for complementarity between the two fields ([68] Palmer, 1996). Although the construct of RQ has been widely applied as a relational mediator, a common definition and measurement of consumer-brand RQ that integrates research findings from both fields is lacking. Those two alternative conceptualisations seem to have some common elements, yet each also describes some different aspects of the relationship strength; thus, comparing and combining those two streams in defining and measuring RQ can have both academic and managerial implications.
Recently, the concept of identification, stemming from social identity theory and mainly tested in member relationships with groups and organisations ([12] Bergami and Bagozzi, 2000; [59] Mael and Ashforth, 1992; [82] Tajfel and Turner, 1985), has also been applied in the branding context as an indicator of the strength of the consumer-brand relationship expressed through in- and extra-role behaviours ([34] Du et al. , 2007). Hence, consumer-brand identification (CBI) appears to serve as an alternative relational mediator leading to similar behavioural outcomes; yet the conceptual similarities...