Brand image and customer loyalty: Transmitting roles of cognitive and affective brand trust

In this study we explored the effect of brand trust on the relationship between brand image and customer loyalty. We took Procter & Gamble as the target brand and developed and tested a theoretical model regarding the relationships among brand image, brand trust (i.e., cognitive and affective), and customer loyalty (i.e., repurchase and advocacy intention) using path analysis and bias-corrected bootstrapping. Empirical results of data from 283 consumers revealed that brand image was positively related to both cognitive and affective brand trust. Brand image was indirectly correlated with both repurchase and advocacy intention through cognitive brand trust, and brand image was indirectly related to advocacy intention through affective brand trust. These findings provide a basis for enterprise marketing management to enhance customer loyalty by shaping the brand image.