【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 xpression?. They enable consumers to express their identity. They are considered as very apt for doing so because of their intense relation to the consumer?s personality. Thus one way that objects are relevant to consumers is because they contribute to and municate the consumer?s selfimage and personality. The products? contribution to the individual?s sense of self (in terms of establishment, definition, and maintenance of selfconcept and selfimage) leads to a view of the product as not only being deeply linked to the personality, but also as being highly capable of municating aspects of the personality. This further contributes to, and reinforces, the emotional centrality of the object for the consumer. Therefore, we hypothesize that: H1: Person–brand congruity is related to product attachment. Product attachment relates to the consumer?s attachment to the possession of a specific object. Schultz Kleine and Baker argue that brand bonds and possession attachments should be considered as related but distinct phenomena. Tangible possessions for which consumers develop attachments are irreplaceable and have the potential for carrying indexical value, as the ?specific object . . . has been psychologically appropriated, deco modified, and singularized through person–object interaction?. Hence, the relationship is between the consumer and the specific, discrete object. So, how is product attachment related to intentional brand loyalty? Brand loyalty has been defined as ?a deeply held mitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive samebrand or same brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior?. For loyalty to occur, frequent or cumulative satisfaction episodes that bee aggregated or blended are necessary. In other words, when products deliver value to the customer in single usage situations and create satisfaction, loyalty is likely to occur. Literature on relationship marketing has also shown that satisfaction precedes trust, as satisfaction with past outes nurtures a customer?s confidence that (s)he will be treated fairly and that the seller cares about his/her welfare. Product attachment by definition describes a very close relationship with the product, as this product – as a durable good with repeated usage episodes strongly satisfies the customer?s needs. Since the product, in the context of brand munities, is a branded object, we assume that the brand is seen as an integral aspect of the product itself and that, therefore, it can be expected that attachment to the discrete product leads to both loyalty and trust to the brand associated with it. H2: Product attachment is related to customers? intentions to stay loyal to the brand. H3: Product attachment is related to brand trust. 3 The consumer–munity relationship in brand munities The munity member?s identification with the brand munity is seen as a central characteristic of a brand munity. It has been defined as ?the perception of belonging to a group with the result that a person identifies with that group?. Previous research has shown that IWC is an important determinant of the munity member?s behavior. IWC has a cognitive ponent (the consumer?s selfawareness of the membership with the munity and the perceived similarities with the munity members) and an affective ponent (the consumer?s emotional involvement with the group, . an affective mitment with the group). Relying on personality research, we assume that a munity member?s relationship with the munity in total depends on his/her individual personality. The ?Big Five? personality traits consisting of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness constitute a pattern of traits across individuals. These five personality traits have been theorized, empirically investigated, and confirme d in numerous empirical studies. Many studies also link personality traits to different constructs such as thinking styles, values and different needs. In marketing research, personality traits have been adopted to study a variety of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral variables, such as emotions and customer satisfaction, adevoked feelings and responses to advertising, consumer problemsolving modes, brand affect, word of mouth, and product knowledge. Drawing on literature in personality research, two traits of the Big Five should be related to IWC: extraversion and agreeableness. Extraversion is associated with being sociable, gregarious, assertive, and active. Extraverts like people and prefer large groups and gatherings. Individuals with high scores on extraversion have been characterized as socially ascendant, speaking without hesitation. On the other hand, individuals with low scores are described as preferring to keep in the background and tending to let others do the talking. Obviously, the group is important to extraverts. Hence, we hypothesize that: H4: Extraversion is positively related to the munity member?s identification with the brand munity. People who score high on agreeableness are described as being goodnatured, fiving, courteous, helpful, generous, and cooperative. It is also argued that agreeable individuals are especially altruistic, sympathetic, and eager to help others, and this personality trait is characterized by the individual?s strive for cooperation rather than petition. Hence, agreeableness involves getting along with others in pleasant, satisfying relationships. In an anizational setting, it has been found that high