Is love really blind? The effect of emotional brand attachment on the perceived risk of really new p...

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emotional brand attachment in consumers’ evaluation of new products that represent technological innovation.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>A quantitative study was conducted using survey data from a nationally representative probability sample of US consumers (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic>= 624) to understand the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of consumers’ evaluation of really new products (RNPs). A framework was developed and tested using structural equation modeling that included emotional brand attachment, brand trust, product incongruity, product familiarity, perceived risk, willingness to try, product evaluation and word-of-mouth intentions.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The results support the role of emotional brand attachment in the diffusion of RNPs. Specifically, results indicated that increased brand attachment reduces consumers’ perceived risk associated with a RNP and increases brand trust. Both constructs played a key role in shaping willingness to try the innovation, word-of-mouth intentions and product evaluation. Findings of this paper add explanatory power to demand-prediction models that more accurately describe the mechanism of the innovation adoption process. For marketing managers, the results emphasize the importance of consumer–brand emotional connections.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title><jats:p>The paper used a cross-sectional design; it would be interesting to use a longitudinal design to examine if the role of emotional brand attachment changes over time and how the changes might impact consumers’ perceptions and behaviors in the context of RNPs.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>This is the first paper to explore the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of RNPs and consumers’ potential behavioral outcomes.</jats:p></jats:sec>