A new dualistic approach to brand passion: Harmonious and obsessive Krist R. Swimberghe 1 , Marina Astakhova 2 , Barbara Ross Wooldridge ⁎ The University of Texas Tyler, 3900 University Blvd, Tyler, TX 75707, United States abstract article info Article history: Received 2 August 2013 Received in revised form 9 April 2014 Accepted 12 April 2014 Available online xxxx Keywords: Brand passion Harmonious brand passion Obsessive brand passion Consumer–brand identity theory Brand passion is increasingly seen as the ultimate emotional connection between the consumer and a brand. Limited previous research relied exclusively on Sternberg's triangular interpersonal theory in developing the brand passion concept. This research paper integrates consumer brand identity theory, refines the definition of brand passion, and proposes a dualistic approach to brand passion which distinguishes between two different types of brand passion: harmonious and obsessive. Four separate studies confirm the existence of harmonious and obsessive passion in a consumer–brand context and begin to develop a nomological network of both antecedent and outcome variables for each type of brand passion. This research demonstrates that the conceptualization of consumer passion for a brand is much more complex than previously suggested. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In an increasingly competitive global marketplace where countless brands can satisfy consumer wants and needs, marketing practitioners and academicians have argued that the creation of highly emotional consumer–brand relationships is the driving force in consumer market- ing (Fournier, 1998). It is in this context that the focus increasingly lies on generating brand passion. Brand passion is seen as the ultimate emo- tional connection between a consumer and a brand. Consumers become personally invested in the brand, sometimes even more so than they do with their friends and loved ones (McEwen, 2004). Consensus exists among marketing academicians that passion is a “core element” of this emotional connection and may translate in consumer loyalty (Albert, Merunka, & Valette-Florence, 2008; Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2012; Bauer, Heinrich, & Marin, 2007; Sternberg, 1997). Yet, notwith- standing the importance of passion and in contrast with other disciplines such as philosophy and psychology, marketing scholars have just recently begun to examine the complex phenomenon of passion in a consumption context (Albert, Merunka, & Valette-Florence, 2013). Despite the acknowledgement that brand passion is not homoge- neous in nature but is rather comprised of “excitation, infatuation, and obsession” (Albert et al., 2013, p. 905), the existing research operationalizes brand passion as a unidimensional construct. Such operationalization leads to mixed findings. For example, positive relationships between brand passion and consumers' acceptance for a higher price are shown to be significant in some (Bauer et al., 2007) but not in other studies (Albert et al., 2013). This evidence indicates that brand passion is not unidimensional, but is rather a complex phe- nomenon that may include interrelated, yet distinct components, resulting in different relationships with other variables. The existing inconsistencies in brand passion research can be attrib- uted to the lack of theoretical foundation which may explain the nuances and complexities of the passion construct. Previous research has consistently applied Sternberg's triangular interpersonal theory of love as the foundation for studying brand passion. Although Sternberg's theory advances a multi-dimensional structure of love, it fails to clearly distinguish between different types of love and, therefore, does not encourage analytical comparisons of different components and their combinations (Sternberg & Barnes, 1988). Furthermore, Sternberg's theory fails to discuss how a loved brand is integrated into the consumer's identity (Batra et al., 2012). In order to understand the dimensionality of brand passion, it is essential to account for its psychological mechanisms which can be better understood through the framework of identity theory. Brands have been previously described as “a relationship partner that is im- portant to (1) the private self, such that individual consumers use the brand to define who they are, and (2) the social self, such that these consumers consider themselves part of an in-group of consumers who identify with the same brand” (Lam, Ahearne, Hu, & Schillewaert, 2010, p. 129). The mechanisms that shape one's pri- vate or social self may be either autonomous or controlled, therefore, generating a harmonious or obsessive type of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003). While these types of passion have been established in psychology and management research (e.g., Vallerand et al., 2003), no studies have applied the duality of passion to the consumer Journal of Business Research xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 903 566 7246; fax: +1 903 566 7372. E-mail addresses: kswimberghe@uttyler.edu (K.R. Swimberghe), barbara_wooldridge@uttyler.edu (B.R. Wooldridge). 1 Tel.: +1 903 565 5803 (office); fax: +1 903 566 7372. 2 Tel.: +1 903 565 5897 (office); fax: +1 903 566 7372. JBR-08062; No of Pages 9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.04.003 0148-2963/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research Please cite this article as: Swimberghe, K.R., et al., A new dualistic approach to brand passion: Harmonious and obsessive, Journal of Business Re- search (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.04.003