Emotional intelligence, external emotional connections and brand attachment

<jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>The purpose of this research is to develop a better understanding of emotional brand attachment by examining two of its antecedents: external emotional brand connections and emotional intelligence.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> <jats:p>Data were collected using survey methodology (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 419), and the hypotheses were tested by using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> <jats:p>Findings reveal that emotional intelligence is positively related external emotional brand connections (i.e. connecting a brand to important people, events and experiences in memory) which, in turn, has a positive influence on emotional brand attachment. Findings also show that emotional brand attachment is positively related to brand purchase intentions and brand attitudes.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title> <jats:p>This research shows that both external emotional connections and emotional intelligence are important antecedents of emotional brand attachment, even after controlling for different types of brand use (social and special occasion brand use) and product category. Other control variables, such as brand characteristics, are not examined.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title> <jats:p>The findings suggest that brand managers can enhance emotional brand attachment by helping consumers establish external emotional brand connections.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> <jats:p>This research addresses a gap in previous research by examining antecedents of emotional brand attachment. The findings showcase that emotional intelligence is an antecedent to external emotional brand connections and emotional brand attachment. This research also goes beyond the loyalty focus of previous research to show that emotional brand attachment has an impact on general purchase intentions and brand attitudes.</jats:p> </jats:sec>