AUTHENTICITY AS AN ANTECEDENT OF BRAND IMAGE IN A POSITIVE EMOTIONAL CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP: THE CASE OF CRAFT BEER BRAND

Purpose: The brand authenticity is a determinant factor of brand image perception and a success factor for brands when their consumers shows a strong brand relationship and being determinant for a greater level of brand satisfaction. This research has two objectives: (1) understanding the importance of brand authenticity in the brand image perception of craft beers and (2) verified if exist a reinforced in the emotional relation of the consumer with the craft beers brands because the consumer brand image perception. Methodology: The conceptual model proposed use the concept of brand authenticity of Bruhn, Schoenmuller, Schafer and Heinrich (2012) how considers that brand authenticity has four dimensions - continuity, originality, reliability and naturalness. To this end, information was collected from final consumers about different craft beer brands to test the assumptions underlying the conceptual model proposed. 166 surveys were collected and the model was estimated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings: The results obtained confirm that brand authenticity is a strong antecedent of brand image of craft beers and that the brand image affects both brand satisfaction and brand love, which allows to confirm the importance of both, brand authenticity and brand image in the building a strong consumer relationship with craft beer brands. Originality: This research contributed to the theory by studying the importance of the brand authenticity in building a strong emotional relationship with craft beer consumers that goes beyond brand satisfaction.