EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE ANTECEDENTS OF BRAND LOYALTY: A RESEARCH ON AN APPAREL BRAND

There is a severe competition in apparel industry both in the world and Turkey. With the consumers' increasing needs and wants and the change of their needs from functional to symbolic benefits, clothing style has become an important way of expressing personal identity. Thus, companies which are operating in the apparel industry are being forced to imply efficient marketing strategies and to increase the loyalty of their customers for their brands. Brand loyalty generates numerous benefits like erecting barriers to competitors, generating greater sales and revenues, reducing customer acquisition costs, and inhibiting customers' susceptibility to marketing efforts of competitors. Because of these reasons, it has been used by companies as a strategic tool to obtain sustainable competitive advantages in markets. It is also argued in the extant literature that a critical issue for the continued success of a firm is its capability to retain its current customers and make them loyal to its brands. Understanding how those factors affect brand loyalty will help companies in gaining competitive advantages. The aim of this study is to explore the relationships among the antecedents of brand loyalty on an apparel brand that is very popular among university students. Brand communication, brand image, brand trust are taken as the antecedents of brand loyalty in the research model. Main sample of the research consists of university students in Bursa. Hypotheses are tested with the help of structural equation modelling. This study is expected to make academic and practical contributions to the existing branding literature and the companies in apparel industry, Turkey in particular.