Can The Loyalty Be Resold? The Impact Of Brand Merge And Acquisition On Consumer Loyalty

Brand acquisition is recognized as a penetration speed, controlled a higher degree ofbrand expansion strategy, while hugely successful in practice in a small number of enterprises,more brand acquisitions led to the target brand was purchased markets shrink and die.Academia and the business community have called for the consumer’s perspective on brandacquisitions, but there were no scholars clearly explain how consumers view the brandacquisition, did not clearly reveal the brand acquisition of consumer loyalty mechanisms, itdifficult theory to explain why some brand mergers and acquisitions fail, some are successful.Not provide guidance brand operating model of the M & A work in practice. In the context ofcustomer-oriented awareness deepening, and China’s Ministry of Commerce made it clear thatsupport for local businesses to acquire international brands to enhance our corporate image,consumer perception and loyalty intention in the research and brand acquisitions becomesmore urgent.In order to reveal the acquisition process of consumer perception of brands, to explorebrand acquisitions affect the share target brand loyalty, this study is based on trigger eventsand prospect theory analysis of consumer perception of brand acquisition process and results,and design of both studies : Research on the basis of the results of a theoretical analysis,through interviews and exploratory factor analysis established the six dimensions of consumerperception of brand acquisitions (friendly and coordination, sense of separation, the quality ofthe coupling, the expected value of the acquirer impression and strengthen the potential), andconsumer perception of brand acquisition (hereinafter referred to as "the perception of brandacquisition") measurement scale; Study 2 by the situational research method, testing theperception of brand acquisition of the impact on customer loyalty.The results showed that:(1) whether it is combining the strengths of the type of brand acquisitions, or mergersand acquisitions to the weak and strong brand, the result is customer loyalty significantlydecreased;(2) perception of the brand acquired six dimensions on customer loyalty in both a directimpact, but also have an indirect effect (brand trust and emotional commitment to theintermediary), which the sense of separation of customer loyalty exists a significant negativeeffect on the impact of brand trust and affective commitment fully mediated. While the other five latitude significant positive impact on customer loyalty, and the impact of brand trust andemotional commitment to the part of the intermediary;(3) the acquisition of the strength difference between the two sides will adjust the senseof separation and the quality of the coupling of the impact on customer loyalty;(4) brand acquisition will lead consumers to harbor higher expectations of the targetbrand.Finally, discusses the limitations of the study and give recommendations on managementpractices.