Reshaping the Village Test for investigating service brand attachment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of an investigative technique which has until now only been used in the field of psychology, namely, the Village Test. The new version of the Village Test proposed in this paper aims to explore service brand attachment. Design/methodology/approach – Village Tests were administered over 9 months, including two pre-test phases, followed by a series of 21 final tests. Two main types of analytical procedures were used in the interpretation of our data: procedures used for textual data analyses and procedures used for non-textual data analyses. Findings – The spatially oriented attachment toward service brands is sustained by three service experience axes. The first axis involves the ritualized aspects of consumer experience. The second axis takes into account the congruence between the servicescape associations and the brand associations. The third axis is linked to the memorable nature of a previous consumer experience. Research limitations/implications – Despite the use of two pre-test periods, we believe that the technique could benefit from further improvement. For example, improvements could be made to the type of materials used. The material could also be improved by the addition of a more commercial nature models. Practical implications – The Village Test as a projective technique in qualitative market research has the potential to generate additional and insightful data that increase the understanding of service brand relationship through attachment bonds. Originality/value – The originality of this paper is to demonstrate the use of an investigative technique which has until now only been used in the field of psychology. A second methodological contribution of the paper lies in the transfer of analytical methods used in the field of psychology (within the framework of the original version of the Village Test), to research in marketing dealing with consumer behavior studies.