Ensuring brand loyalty for firms practising sustainable marketing: a roadmap

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of sustainable marketing practices of firms on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral brand loyalty. In addition, this study also aims to explore the mediating effect of brand trust and brand affect on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A combination of descriptive and causal research has been used, for which data was collected from 582 respondents and processed using structural equation modeling to establish multivariate relationships. The PROCESS method was used to estimate mediation effects. Findings A rather valuable insight that emerged is the significant role that brand trust and brand affect play in engendering attitudinal and behavioral brand loyalty among consumers, for firms adopting sustainable marketing practices. Findings revealed that sustainable marketing practices result in enhanced brand trust, which further translates into higher levels of brand affect, thereby leading to attitudinal brand loyalty and further resulting in behavioral brand loyalty. This study also highlights the importance of brand affect in developing enduring behavioral brand loyalty. Research limitations/implications Consumers today are changing their consumption habits, preferring to satisfy ideological and symbolic needs rather than just rational needs. So, marketers practising sustainable marketing should aim to leverage brand trust and brand affect to ensure lasting behavioral brand loyalty. Originality/value The examination of the effect of sustainable marketing practices on brand-related variables has contributed to a better understanding of the mechanism that underlines the operation of emotion-based enduring loyalty. The vast majority of studies that provided insights about sustainable marketing practices and consumer behavior thereof were dominated by European and American perspectives and very few studies exist with a focus on developing economies. This study attempts to fill this void by exploring the personal care market in India.