Emotional Brand Attachment (Huang et al.)

What it measures

Three items tap how emotionally bonded and connected a consumer feels toward a specific brand, drawing on the idea that strong brand attachment involves feelings of friendship and deep personal connection. Huang, Huang, and Wyer (2018) created the scale for use across multiple studies, drawing conceptually on Batra, Ahuvia, and Bagozzi's (2012) work on brand love. The scale was used in Studies 3, 6, and 9.

Response format

9-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 9=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I feel a bond between me and this brand of _____.
• This brand of _____ feels like a friend to _____.
• I am emotionally connected to this brand of _____.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Alphas were .88 (Study 3), .95 (Study 6), and .92/.89 for the two brands compared in Study 9. Blanks in items should be replaced with a generic product category label (e.g., pen). Note that item 2 contains a second blank that should also be completed (e.g., 'me'). The 9-point format distinguishes this from most brand attachment scales, which use 7-point response options.

Citation

Huang, X., Huang, Z., & Wyer, R. S. (2018). The influence of social crowding on brand attachment. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(5), 1068–1084.

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