The Impact of Brand Image on Repurchase Intention in Chinese Tea Brands: A Study on the Mediating Role of Customer Engagement

Main Article Content

Luo Rui
Umawasee Sriboonlue
Suraporn Onputtha

Abstract

Tea industry is one of the pillar industries of China's agriculture. With the development of society, the competition in China's tea industry is becoming more and more severe. This study fills in tea as a case study of the impact of brand image on customer loyalty through customer engagement. The objectives of this research were threefold: 1. analyze the direct impact of brand image on repurchase intention of Chinese tea brands, and gain an in-depth understanding of the important role of brand image in the consumer decision-making process; 2. explore the mediating role of customer engagement between brand image and repurchase intention, including analyzing how customer engagement enhances the positive impact of brand image on repurchase intention; and 3. based on the findings of the study, provide practical suggestions for Chinese tea brands to formulate marketing strategies and customer relationship management, especially in terms of enhancing customer engagement and strengthening brand image. This study adopts a quantitative research method. The quantitative analysis was conducted using a questionnaire survey, with data from five randomly selected tea brands among the top 20 tea brands in Sichuan Province as the research subjects, and the data was collected using a questionnaire star, and analyzed by structural equation model using SMARTPLS 4.0 software. The results of the study show that tea brand image has a direct and significant effect on repurchase intention; tea brand image has a significant effect on customer engagement; customer engagement has a significant effect on repurchase intention; and customer engagement plays a significant role as a mediator variable in the effect of tea brand image on customer engagement. This study provides constructive recommendations for marketing strategies and customer relationship management for Chinese tea brands, with particular emphasis on the key role of customer engagement in enhancing tea brand image and repurchase intention.

Article Details

How to Cite
Rui, L., Sriboonlue, U., & Onputtha, S. (2024). The Impact of Brand Image on Repurchase Intention in Chinese Tea Brands: A Study on the Mediating Role of Customer Engagement. Journal of Multidisciplinary in Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(3), 1409–1429. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jmhs1_s/article/view/270723
Section
Research Articles

References

Aaker, D. A. (1991). Managing brand equity: Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. New York: The Free Press.

Aaker, D. A., & Biel, A. L. (1993). Brand equity and advertising: Advertising’s role in building strong brands. Hillsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Abdul-Ghani, E., Hyde, K. F., & Marshall, R. (2011). Emic and etic interpretations of engagement with a consumer-to-consumer online auction site. Journal of Business Research, 64(10), 1060-1066.

Adhikari, K., & Panda, R.K. (2019). The role of consumer-brand engagement towards driving brand loyalty: Mediating effect of relationship quality. Journal of Modelling in Management, 14(4), 987-1005. DOI: 10.1108/JM2-03-2019-0067

Bilgihan, A., Kandampully, J., & Zhang, T. (2016). Towards a unified customer experience in online shopping environments: Antecedents and outcomes. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 8(1), 102-119.

Brodie, R. J., Hollebeek, L. D., Jurić, B., & Ilić, A. (2011). Customer engagement: Conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research. Journal of Service Research, 14(3), 252-271.

Clement Addo, P., Fang, J., Asare, A. O., & Kulbo, N. B. (2021). Customer engagement and purchase intention in live-streaming digital marketing platforms. The Service Industries Journal, 41(11-12), 767-786.

Cumming, G. (2014). The new statistics: Why and how. Psychological Science, 25(1), 7-29.

Cuong, D. T. (2022). The relationship between product quality, brand image, purchase decision, and repurchase intention. In Paper presented at the Proceedings of International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Intelligent Systems: ICETIS 2021 (Volume 1).

De Vries, L., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. S. (2017). Effects of traditional advertising and social messages on brand-building metrics and customer acquisition. Journal of Marketing, 81(5), 1-15.

Edelman, D. C. (2010). Branding in the digital age. Harvard business review, 88(12), 62-69.

Fei Wen, W. G., & Yaling Zhai. (2023). Study on the enhancement strategy of the brand image perception of 'Xiangxi Golden Tea' — Based on data analysis from questionnaire survey. Modern Agricultural Technology, (2), 6.

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50.

Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343-373.

Fournier, S., & Yao, J. L. (1997). Reviving brand loyalty: A reconceptualization within the framework of consumer-brand relationships. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 14(5), 451-472.

Garderner, B., & Levy, S. (1955). The product and the brand. Harvard. Busianess Review, 33.

Hair, J., Sarstedt, M., Matthews, L., & Ringle, C. M. (2015). Identifying and treating unobserved heterogeneity with FIMIX-PLS: part I–method. European Business Review, 28(1), 63-76. DOI:10.1108/EBR-09-2015-0094

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (1998). Multivariate data analysis. Multivariate Data Analysis, 5(3), 207-219.

Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115-135.

Ho, M. H.-W., & Chung, H. F. (2020). Customer engagement, customer equity and repurchase intention in mobile apps. Journal of Business Research, 121, 13-21.

Hollebeek, L. D. (2011). Demystifying customer brand engagement: Exploring the loyalty nexus. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(7-8), 785-807.

Hollebeek, L. D., Glynn, M. S., & Brodie, R. J. (2014). Consumer Brand Engagement in Social Media: Conceptualization, Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 149-165.

Islam, J. U., & Rahman, Z. (2016). Examining the effects of brand love and brand image on customer engagement: An empirical study of fashion apparel brands. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 7(1), 45-59.

Jain, S., Khan, M. N., & Mishra, S. (2017). Understanding consumer behavior regarding luxury fashion goods in India based on the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 11(1), 4-21.

Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22.

Ketut, Y. I. (2018). The role of brand image mediating the effect of product quality on repurchase intention. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 83(11), 172-180.

Kim, A. J., & Johnson, K. K. (2016). Power of consumers using social media: Examining the influences of brand-related user-generated content on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 58, 98-108.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th global ed.). England: Pearson.

Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Ancarani, F., & Costabile, M. (2014). Marketing management 14/e: Pearson.

Kumar, V., Rajan, B., Gupta, S., & Pozza, I. D. (2019). Customer engagement in service. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47, 138-160.

Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69-96.

Luo, X., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2006). Corporate social responsibility, customer satisfaction, and market value. Journal of Marketing, 70(4), 1-18.

Macdonald, G. K., Jarvie, H. P., Withers, P. J., Doody, D. G., Keeler, B. L., Haygarth, P. M., . . . Powers, S. M. (2016). Guiding phosphorus stewardship for multiple ecosystem services. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 2(12), e01251.

Nurfitriana, R., Surachman, S., & Hussein, A. S. (2020). The influence of brand image and brand love on customer loyalty mediated by customer engagement: Study on consumers of Wardah cosmetics. MEC-J (Management and Economics Journal), 4(2), 105-116.

Ögel, İ. Y. (2021). The Interaction Between Brand Image, Brand Attachment and Brand Loyalty in Green Branding Context: The Mediating Role of Customer Engagement. Journal of Applied & Theoretical Social Sciences, 2(4).

Oliver, R. L. (1999). Whence consumer loyalty?. Journal of Marketing, 63(4_suppl1), 33-44.

Parris, D. L., & Guzmán, F. (2023). Evolving brand boundaries and expectations: Looking back on brand equity, brand loyalty, and brand image research to move forward. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 32(2), 191-234.

Patterson, P.G., & Yu, T. (2006). Understanding customer engagement in services. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242076259_Understanding_Customer_Engagement_in_Services

Reichheld, F.F., & Sasser, W.E. (1990). Zero defections: Quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, 68, 105-111.

Reichheld, F.F., & Schefter, P. (2000). E-loyalty: Your secret weapon on the web. Harvard Business Review, 78(4), 105-113.

Rovinelli, R., & Hambleton, R. (1977). On the use of content specialists in the assessment of criterion-referenced test item validity. Tijdschrift Voor Onderwijs Research, 2, 49-60.

Sari, L. N., & Padmantyo, S. (2023). The effect of customer experience on repurchase intention with customer engagement as an intervening variable. JEMSI (Jurnal Ekonomi, Manajemen, dan Akuntansi), 9(2), 514-522.

Schmitt, B. (1999). Experiential marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 15(1-3), 53-67.

Scott, J., & Craig-Lees, M. (2010). Audience engagement and its effects on product placement recognition. Journal of Promotion Management, 16(1-2), 39-58.

Shafiq, M.A., Muhammad, H., & Arshad, A. (2022). An analysis of social media marketing on consumer brand engagement and repurchase intention. SMART Journal of Business Management Studies, 1(3), 35-47.

Shengjun Yuan, D. C., & Xin Su (2021). Based on big data and the bell model, a study of Chinese and Foreign...—Taking Wu Yutai and Lipton as Examples. Mathematics In Practice and Theory, 51(10), 16.

Smith, J., & Taylor, A. (2020). The impact of brand image on customer loyalty and repurchase intentions. Journal of Marketing Research, 57(3), 15.

So, K. K. F., King, C., & Sparks, B. (2014). Customer engagement with tourism brands: Scale development and validation. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 38(3), 304-329.

Sprott, D., Czellar, S., & Spangenberg, E. (2009). The importance of a general measure of brand engagement on market behavior: Development and validation of a scale. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), 92-104.

Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: A means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2-22.