Distribution of Brand Love, Brand Coolness, Self-brand Connections and Word-of-mouth Toward the Retail Format of Starbuck in Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effects of Brand Coolness, Brand Love, and Self-brand Connections on Word-of-mouth positively. The retail format of Starbuck in Vietnam is successful in distribution applied when it becomes the place for customers to express themselves. Consumers are now aware about Brand Coolness of the Starbucks developed in Vietnam then turn to love the brand of store and connect themselves to the brand. In this study, the closest relationship to form the basis for consumer Word-of-mouth about a brand is the relationship between Brand Coolness and Brand Love. Results: The findings show that Brand Coolness and Brand Love are important value factors in customers' minds toward their behavior, form there, it will contribute to the brand store in distribution. Research design, data and methodology: This article used the quantitative technique utilizing PLS-SEM software to test the hypothesis with 600 samples. The data obtained shows that people have Word-of-mouth about the retail format of Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated the conclusions and proposed solutions to help beverage brands build Brand Love, thereby achieving coolness, connecting brands with themselves, leading to customer Word-of-mouth in a positive way towards retail format.

1. Introduction

Starbucks has 32, 660 stores worldwide, especially in Ho Chi Minh City; Starbucks has thirty-five stores. Although the number is still relatively modest compared to the world, with eight stores, Starbucks still attracts most customers in a potential coffee market like Vietnam - the second largest coffee exporter globally with an output of 29 million bags. A potential coffee market like Vietnam with countless sidewalk cafes has had cases defeating foreign coffee brands in changing consumer habits or simply replacing traditional coffee in Vietnam with their products.

Starbucks is also one of such cases, but why with a glass of water quite expensive like Starbucks? Are there any factors that have made Starbucks have such a unique charm and character distribution? Because consumers buy a product not only for its function but also for its symbolism (Bellezza, Gino, & Keinan, 2014). Additionally, if a product satisfies consumer expectations, the consumer will be delighted and will regard the product as having an even greater standards of perceived quality (Garvin, 1988; Grönroos, 1984). Starbucks has successfully built up its retail brand to become the brand that has exciting points to retain and attract customers to be accepted and fulfilled by consumers and the place to show off their lifestyle to the world. Therefore, research is needed to clarify which factors have been applied to build up a retail format for a distributor that makes consumers connect with a brand. The variables such as Brand Coolness, Brand Love, Self-brand Connections, Word-of-mouth are mainly based on the Theory of Planned Behavior to clarify the research model. Thus, this research aims to find out the relationship between the brand coolness of Starbucks in customers’ minds and brand love, and self-brand connections. It means the study tries to connect the emotions of the customer towards the brand, and customers find themselves in the coolness of Starbucks brand retail image distribution. The connected brand emotionally turns customers’ behavior to spread out positive word to Starbuck to build up the coolness of the brand and also customer’s image.

Ho Chi Minh City is considered a key player in the development of Vietnam’s important economic region in the South, a place worth living in with modern and developed amenities. Because of that, Ho Chi Minh City has the highest population density in the country. Always attracting the population, most people choose Ho Chi Minh City as the destination to travel, live, work, and study. In particular, Starbucks branches in Ho Chi Minh City are the largest in Vietnam, with 34 branches, so this is an ideal and potential place to conduct research and surveys on the needs and satisfaction of consumers using Starbucks. Moreover, Ho Chi Minh City has attracted foreign investment with well-known F&B brands such as McDonald’s, Lotteria, KFC, Pizza Hut, Bugger King, Texas, and others, demonstrating that the city has strong cultural integration as well as the strong development of social media as it is today. The retail format in the marketing channel of those brands are different from Starbuck as the others dominate develop their brands to become convenience brand, fast and delicious.

According to Lebedko and Maria G (2014), the new generation that has grown up with Internet technologies has transformed their attitude toward communication. This is also the research’s target group. They will tend to assert themselves more by keeping up with the trend by using products or brands from other countries. This demonstrates why the elements of brand coolness, brand love, self-brand connections, word-of-mouth, and Ho Chi Minh City are all appropriate.

2. Literature Review and Hypotheses

2.1. Theory of Planned Behavior

The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) is an extension of the theory of reasoned action (Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA); Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) by adding an element of “perceived behavioral control” to TRA to overcome the limitations of the original model in dealing with behaviors over which humans are incapable of complete control.

Each behavior is determined by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, according to TPB (Ajzen, 1991). Ajzen (1998) defined attitude as a favorable or adverse response to things, people, businesses, or events. Subjective norms relate to the expectation that a major individual or group would approve of and support a given activity. Individuals’ personal standards are defined by their perception of societal pressure to act a particular way and their drive to comply with those ideas (Ajzen, 1998). Additionally, perceived behavioral control relates to the ease with which an action may be performed.

When reviewing the TPB, it is possible to assert that the interaction between attitudes and intents is a crucial component of the theory. Numerous investigations have shown this connection. Bentler and Speckart (1979) conducted one of the earliest experiments. They concluded that attitudes might impact behavior directly or indirectly through intention. Another link between behavior and perceived behavioral control is the one between behavior and perceived behavioral control. When a brand participates in socially responsible initiatives, it hopes to raise awareness and establish itself as a preferred brand (Chernev & Blair, 2015). As a result, when companies participate in socially responsible activities, customers have a more favorable image of the brand (Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2007). The purpose of this study is to examine the link between attitude, intention, and perceived behavioral control. The term “behavior” refers to the use of word-of-mouth to describe the connection between variables in a study model.

2.2. Brand Coolness

Brand Coolness is defined in many ways through the study of literature, psychology, sociology, anthropology (Dar-Nimrod, Hansen, & Proulx, 2012), as well as marketing (Belk, Tian, & Paavola, 2010). In general, greatness is studied and defined as a particular individual or object. Besides, the “cool” factor to create distinction has been recognized as an essential factor in creating a brand’s name, monetary, and symbolism as well as driving trends (Warren & Campbell, 2014). As for consumers, the concept of “coolness” is determined by context preferences with exciting and uninteresting things (Belk et al., 2010). According to Ferreira and Coelho (2020), depending on the industry and segment, some characteristics can serve as a premise to support Brand Coolness. Brand Coolness is an abstract concept and depends on the identification in the consumer’s perception, and based on the model (Tiwari, Chakraborty, & Maity, 2021), the research team chooses five characteristics, including rebelliousness, usability, desirability, reliability, reliability, attractiveness to clarify the greatness of Starbucks in the study.

Five Factors of Brand Coolness

The concept of rebelliousness is an aggressive tendency, disrupting the laws, social standards, or rebellion and overthrow (Nancarrow & Page, 2002; Pountain & Robins, 2000; Warren & Campbell, 2014). Besides, the uprising may be attractive because, by Warren, Batra, Loureiro, and Bagozzi (2019), something interesting is considered the most interesting in many cases. Usability is to understand the level of individual trust in a product that can be used to make handling work easier (Bruun, Raptis, Kjeldskov, & Skov, 2016). In addition, usability helps customers satisfy targets in community life and individual life (Higgins, Shah, & Friedman, 1997). Desirability is what customers want to express deliberately; as Belk et al. (2010) state, you are active-active, but to achieve what is above that will bring a highly relevant experience to the great extent of the trades (Warren et al., 2019). The capacity to fulfill a commitment and do the right thing is referred to as reliability (Izogo, 2015; Kuo, Wu, & Deng, 2009). According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988), reliability is the primary determinant of quality. Attractiveness is a composite of visual aesthetics that is socially and stylistically acceptable (S. S. Sundar, Tamul, & Wu, 2014). Of the two components of visual esthetics, the first is highly related to coolness (Bruun et al., 2016).

2.3. Self‐brand Connections

Self-brand Connections were described as a series of at least partially positive connections between the brand and the customer (Moore & Homer, 2008). Brand associations may include brand attitudes and perceptions of brand quality (Low & Lamb, 2000). Strong Self-brand Connections can be built when a consumer’s personal experience with a brand is connected to a brand image or when a consumer’s psychological need is satisfied.

In addition, the perception of a brand’s uniqueness can also strengthen the Self-brand Connection (Escalas & Bettman, 2003). Consumers often pick items and brands that complement their self-image via a matching or pairing process (Chaplin & John, 2005). This approach is facilitated by the inherent breadth of brands and the variety of images they embody (Chaplin & John, 2005). When customers establish a fit between their self-concept and brand image, Self-brand Connections are formed. When customers have a deep bond with a brand, the brand tends to become an extension of who they are. However, it is low for consumers who consider their association with the brand; they can consider that brand unrelated to themselves. Although a solid Self-brand Connections implies a positive attitude towards the brand, the opposite is not valid. Consumers can have positive attitudes toward many brands with no Self brand Connections (Escalas, 2004).

2.4. Brand Love

There are many concepts related to Brand Love. According to a study by Batra, Ahuvia, and Bagozzi (2012), Brand Love is a situation where reciprocity is considered imperative because consumers consider excellence as a prerequisite. In the study of J. G. Sarkar, Sreejesh, Sarkar, and Dwivedi (2021), Brand Love here is referred to as potent, and primarily positive consumer emotion once again reinforces this point. Previous studies show that Brand Love is mainly from a positive point of view.

Most brand concepts are based on Sternberg’s (1986) triangle theory and his three elements of love: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Ahuvia, Rauschnabel, and Rindfleisch (2020) conceptualize Brand Love as the level of passion, emotional passion a consumer has for a particular brand audience related to integrating the brand into the consumer’s sense of identity and as means of satisfaction. Therefore, unlike the idea of simple influence, Brand Love excludes the possibility of negative feelings towards the brand. Although there are many concepts, the research team, through understanding and conceptualizing definitions based on previous studies by Batra et al. (2012); A. Sarkar (2014), again describes “Brand Love” as the passionate and intense emotional attachment with which a consumer is satisfied with a particular Brand Love, in determining consumer use of the brand, and effectiveness of Brand Love in sharing the experience with others. In general, consumers’ love for the brand plays a vital role in that business or brand.

2.5. Word-of-mouth

The influence of Word-of-mouth is increasingly recognized as a necessary form of promotion. WOM is fundamentally a process of personal influence in which people interact between sender and receiver in order to affect the recipient’s behavior or opinions. According to Sweeney, Soutar, and Mazzarol’s study (2008), word of mouth may be crucial for creditworthy services. In parallel with the above definition that WOM is a process of personal influence, at the same time, it once again confirms more firmly the influence of consumers on the brand through the WOM concept of BR Bassett, Allsop, Bassett, and Hoskins (2007) has clear reasons when it comes to the power of Word-of-mouth: Word-of-mouth is considered more trustworthy than marketers because it is done through people who either indirectly or directly experience services and products. When trust in organizations is low, research shows that it can be controlled. WOM plays an important role in the dominant influence, often more than any other source, including perceptions.

The primary main idea behind Word-of-mouth is a company can spread that information about a product, service, or store from one consumer to another (Ismail & Spinelli, 2012). Research by De Angelis, Bonezzi, Peluso, Rucker, and Costabile (2012) also introduced a similar concept; Word-of-mouth is described as an activity in which consumers talk about their experiences with products and services that they directly experience. Word-of-mouth has been analyzed and validated through countless studies from scholars worldwide. Overall, Word-of-mouth is essential in influencing consumer behavior and perception. The research team describes Word-of-mouth as a process of influence through activities. Consumers talk about information, experiences, and understanding of products and services that they directly or indirectly experienced, and Word-of-mouth is considered a reliable source of information. So, this is something that businesses and brands need to pay attention to and care about.

2.6. Brand Coolness and Brand Love

Batra et al. (2012) claim that consumers’ interaction with Brand Coolness might result in an increase in Brand Love. Warren et al. (2019) conducted research in recent years on the connection category between Brand Coolness and related structures, including Brand Love. The authors of the same research stated that Brand Coolness is a perceived characteristic of a brand and that Brand Love should follow as a result of Brand Coolness. In their study, Warren et al. (2019) demonstrated that Brand Coolness significantly affects Brand Love and Brand Coolness is a prerequisite for building such Brand Love.

H1: Brand Coolness will have a positive impact on Brand Love

2.7. Brand Coolness and Self-brand Connections

When considering the concept of Self-brand Connections, the concept indicates the strength of the association between a brand and the self (Escalas, 2009). At the same time, Gaustad, Samuelsen, Warlop, and Fitzsimons (2018) argue that consumers tend to use brands to build their concepts and identities, and the way to do so is to associate specific brands as part of who they are. According to Warren et al. (2019), Self-brand Connections are influenced by Brand Coolness and are also a consequence of Brand Coolness.

However, Gaustad et al. (2018) also suggest that Self brand Connections can also have adverse outcomes, mainly when changes occur. Considering the existing literature, the Self-brand Connections can have positive consequences but can also have negative consequences (Gaustad et al., 2018), and Warren et al. (2019) argue that Self-brand Connections can be a consequence of Brand Coolness. However, as mentioned before, “interesting” is a dynamic and autonomous concept (Warren & Campbell, 2014). When a brand loses its autonomy and becomes more popular with the masses, the consumer’s degree of Self-brand Connections can also positively and negatively affect it. From the above discussion and research, the research team hypothesized that:

H2: Brand Coolness has a positive effect on Self-brand Connections

2.8. Self‐brand Connections and Brand Love

Brand Love is experienced by the relationship between the consumer and the brand or by the brand reflecting the consumer’s self (Aykut, Yildiz, & Ercis, 2019). In the study by Ercis and Unalan (2017), they asserted that consumers with high Self-brand Connections would have a favorable view of the brand because attachment substantially impacts the individual’s feelings towards the brand (Ferraro, Kirmani, & Matherly, 2013). The Self-brand Connections impacts Brand Love and brand experience (Hwang & Kandampully, 2012; Van der Westhuizen, 2018). Hwang and Kandampully (2012) also conclude that as consumers’ Self brand Connections increases, their love for the brand increases. Besides, Shirkhodaie (2016) examined the influence of Self-brand Connections to conclude that Self brand Connections influences Brand Love. Accordingly, this study proposes that:

H3: Self-brand Connections will have a positive impact on Brand Love

2.9. Brand Love and Word-of-mouth

Brand Loyalty and Word-of-Mouth Research by Albert and Merunka (2013). By defining the function and location of Brand Love within the psychological framework, this study demonstrates the critical nature of a consumer’s love for a brand, both in theory and practice. When customers place their trust in brands, they support the formation of a love emotion. For psychological, functional, and emotional reasons, love is critical in sustaining a connection with a brand. Brand Love generates good word-of-mouth, fosters favorable brand statements, and helps preserve the brand consumer connection. Kudeshia, Sikdar, and Mittal (2016) discovered a high correlation between Brand Love and Word-of-Mouth. Additionally, Batra et al. (2012) found that customers who are passionate about a brand are more inclined to speak about it. Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) illustrate that using and influencing brands, services, and goods results in behavioral change based on favorable word- of-mouth. Two researchers’ findings validated the impact of word-of-mouth on brand love. Additionally, according to Ismail and Spinelli’s study (2012), it is believed that Brand Love has a good effect on word-of-mouth. When customers develop an attachment to a brand, they will want to suggest it to their friends and family. From the above discussion and research, the research team hypothesized that:

H4: Brand Love will have a positive impact on Word-of- mouth

2.10. Self‐brand Connections and Word-of-mouth

The research in the brand connection study, Batra et al. (2012) established a key association between brand relationship and self-concept. Consumers prefer to develop a connection with a brand because it enables them to better understand themselves and interact with others. According to Sprott, Czellar, and Spangenberg (2009), Self-brand Connections represent an individual’s affiliation with a specific brand. According to Ahuvia et al.’s study (2020), consumers may spread brands that correspond to their image to others. As a result, highly connected consumers will often exhibit strong brand relationships and engage in active Word-of-mouth. Similarly, previous studies have demonstrated that Self-brand solid Connections lead to more good Word-of-mouth than weak Self-brand Connections (Kwon & Mattila, 2015). Accordingly, this study proposes that:

H5: Self-brand Connections will have a positive impact on Word-of-mouth

3. Research Methodology

3.1. Sample and Procedure

This research included a non-profit sampling technique. On the basis of the theories outlined before and past research, draft questionnaires were developed. The first version of the questionnaire was written in English and then translated into Vietnamese with the aid of an English specialist. This research was done in two parts, beginning with a qualitative pilot study, and concluding with a quantitative critical study that gathered input from Vietnamese consumers.

The group placed a premium on the question’s structure, its coherence, the substance of the inquiry, and the respondent’s ability to answer it. To verify that respondents understood all the questions, a neutral group was utilized to assess the Vietnamese version of the questionnaire. The group then reviewed and evaluated the questionnaire with the teacher. The panel also discussed whether the scale employed in the Vietnam research was suitable. Following the scale’s adjustments, all suggestions from the conversation were considered. The final questionnaire was modified somewhat to eliminate ambiguity, and many questions were eliminated or consolidated.

After translating and revising the final survey, the team created a questionnaire using Google Form and distributed it through the internet to students, part-time employees, office workers, and others. Following data collection, 735 questions were developed. However, only 600 replies met the data analysis criteria, with students, part-time employees, office workers, and other jobs garnering 271, 142, 112, and 75 responses, respectively.

3.2. Measurement

The primary questionnaire questions were rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Measures were included in the questionnaire, and scales were operationalized based on prior research. Nonetheless, several alterations have been madenello accommodate the contemporary research setting and objectives.

The main structure of Brand Coolness is composed of five elements, including the Rebellious S. S. Sundar et al. (2014); Usability from Raptis, Bruun, Kjeldskov, and Skov (2017); Desirability by Raptis et al. (2017); Reliability level of Mittal and Lassar (1996); and the Attractiveness of Bruun et al. (2016); Chen and Chou (2019). The six-item scale developed by Carrol and Ahuvia (2006) measures Brand Love. Word-of-mouth Scale comprises five items by Tuškej, Golob, and Podnar (2013); Kunzel and Halliday (2008). Connecting to Self‐brand Connections is adopted from six entries by Escalas and Bettman (2009).

4. Results

4.1. Respondent Profile

Based on the result of the analysis of the descriptive statistics, we can see that:

In terms of gender, the respondents are male (40.8%), female (40.2%), and other gender accounted for 19%. In which the age of the respondents is mainly under 16 years old (9.3%), from 16 to 25 years old (67.2%), from 25 to 35 years old (21.7%), over 35 years old (1.8%). This shows that 45.2% are students among young respondents, 23.7% are part-time employees, 18.7% are office workers, and 12.5% are in other occupations. The number of respondents in the class of students, students, and part-time employees are relatively high, so the average income of the research subjects is in the middle and relatively high range, with 30.7% having income from 3, 000, 000 đ/month to 5, 000, 000 đ/month, income from 5, 000, 000đ/month to 10, 000, 000 đ/month accounted for 26.3%, with income from 1, 000, 000đ/month to 3, 000, 000đ/month accounted for 18.8%, respondents with income above 10, 000, 000đ/month accounted for 13.8% and with income below 1, 000, 000đ/month accounted for 10.3%.

4.2. Measurement Model

Additionally, Henseler, Ringle, and Sarstedt (2015) suggested that using heterotrait monotrait correlations (HTMT) is necessary to confirm the discriminant validity of PLS by “comparison of the average variance extracted (based on consistent loadings) with the squared consistent construct correlations.” The result in Table 1 demonstrated that each construct’s Heterotrait Monotrait Ratio was less than 0.85 (range: 0.17 to 0.586), indicating high discriminant validity.

Table 1: Heterotrait - Monotrait Ratio (HTMT)

The composite reliability score for each of the constructs was more than 0.7, as shown in Table 2. Additionally, all structures have a convergence value larger than 0.5. (between 0.502 and 0.76). Brand Coolness = 0.502; Attractiveness = 0.649; Desirability = 0.631; Rebelliousness = 0.635; Reliability = 0.76; Usability = 0.642; Brand Love = 0.574; Self-brand Connections = 0.658; Word-of-mouth = 0.602. As a result, it displayed excellent convergent validity. According to Fornell and Larcker (1981), discriminant validity exists when the square root of the AVE for each latent variable is greater than the correlation coefficients for any other construct.

Table 2: Reliability and Convergent Validity

4.3. Mediation Paths Possibility Checking

Given that all p-values were less than 0.05, the findings in Table 3 indicated that Brand Love and Self-brand Connections moderated the relationship between Brand Coolness and customer Word-of-mouth (which were 0.000 and 0.000, respectively). Brand Coolness and Self-brand Connections had a regression weight of 0.536 and 0.120 on Brand Love, respectively. Following that, the regression weight for the effect of Brand Love on customer word-of- mouth was 0.526, whereas the regression weight for the Self-brand Connections was 0.215 (Source: Author’s calculation). It was discovered that Brand Coolness has a more substantial impact on Brand Love than Self-brand Connections, and Brand Love also has a more substantial impact on customers’ Word-of-mouth than Self-brand Connections. This data shows that Vietnamese consumers spend Word-of-mouth more on brands with high Brand Love than brands with low Brand Love.

Table 3: The Result of the Mediating Effect

Source: Author’s calculation

5. Discussion and Conclusion

Brand Love and Self-brand Connections are two mediating variables of Brand Coolness and Word-of-mouth. This shows that Brand Love and Self-brand Connections strongly influence customer Word-of-mouth. This study shows that Brand Love has a more substantial impact on customer Word-of-mouth than Self-brand Connections. At the same time, Brand Love and Self-brand Connection are both affected by Brand Coolness; this study shows that Brand Coolness has a more substantial impact on Brand Love than Self-brand Connections. Therefore, when Vietnamese consumers see a great thing in a distribution brand, they quickly form a love for it and are willing to spread Word-of-mouth positively about it. Moreover, the concept of a retail distribution brand like Starbuck in Vietnam strongly impacts customer behavior. The brand coolness of Starbuck makes the customer become connect themselves to the brand and gain behavior such as Word-of- mouth for the brand image of distributor. From there, the success of Starbuck retail brand will be the formalized concept for both global and local brands in order to develop the brand retail image.

The above study shows that Self-brand Connections also affect Brand Love. Therefore, when the factors of Brand Coolness and Self-brand Connections are improved, the love of the brand increases, which increases the Word-of- mouth of consumers. This result is entirely consistent with previous research (Shirkhodaie, 2016; Warren et al., 2019). With this result, the brand themselves become more emotional with the love of customer. Based on the love, the brand right now more emotionally connected with customers. This connection is the purpose of all distribution companies.

In order to perform this purpose, the research team suggested some suggestions later: as a referee to Brand Coolness that was formed from the 5-factor: rebelliousness, usability, desirability, reliability, reliability, and attractiveness. So, if you’re going to increase Brand Coolness, the business needs to invest in serious, full and comprehensive patterns and improve the quality of the product to satisfy the consumer’s needs. Today, the need and the value of human life are increasing. Therefore, the distribution business needs to take the lead in setting trends and leading the market to increase the value of the brand’s products. Thus, new consumers feel that using Starbucks branded products is a classy and different distribution brand.

In addition, the research team proposes increasing Self – brand Connections to increase Brand Love and gain Word- of-mouth positive from consumers by improving the first experience for first–time customers who start using the Starbucks brand and maintaining loyalty to customers who are familiar with the brand. The core, to bring satisfaction to customers about the money they spend and the value they perceive, will be through the attitude of the consultants, because that is the first feeling when they approach the process, through which businesses need to be trained professionally, in specific processes, and other soft skills related to communication and customer care, so that they feel they are in the initiative. For example, having time to choose dishes and being in the position to master your order. Thus, consumers will feel worthy and satisfied, which will create a resonance effect. They will tend to spread word of mouth more positively about Starbucks in the future.

While this research generated some notable results, it is not without limitations. The first constraint relates to the survey item. The research included students, office employees, and part-time workers as participants, but a few other jobs were deemed inconsequential. There are several types of clients with high buying power for beverage distribution firms, such as freelancers, employees, and others, but the research cannot concentrate only on the three issues mentioned above. Future research should broaden the survey sample to account for this constraint in order to acquire more accurate findings.

The second constraint is the difficulty of generalization. To show and survey Vietnamese consumers’ general perceptions of beverage brands, assumptions concerning various beverage brands must be evaluated. Nonetheless, this research focused only on the Starbucks beverage brand. As a result, surveys on a variety of beverage brands in Vietnam will be done shortly to get a better understanding of Vietnamese customers’ behavior.