The mediating role of Brand Engagement in the Self-Concept (BESC) in explaining consumer response: a meta-analytic review

Drawing on self-concept theory, the brand engagement in the self-concept (BESC) construct assesses how consumers incorporate brands in their lives to reinforce their self-schema. Earlier literature on brand engagement suggests that BESC not only influences different consumer response variables, generating mixed outcomes and questionable results, but also plays a mediating role in connecting constructs. The authors extend this line of literature by (1) developing a theoretical framework that includes the influence of materialism and consumer age on consumer response variables through BESC, (2) analyzing the antecedents and consequences of BESC, and (3) testing specific moderators that influence the effect sizes involving BESC. In terms of data collection and analyses, the authors present a meta-analysis of 40 studies that generate 449 effects with 142,808 respondents. To test the theoretical mediating framework, the authors convert all effect sizes in a covariance matrix and use structural equation modeling for estimating the mediating effect of BESC on consumer response. Findings suggest that the indirect effect of materialism and age boost loyalty, behavioral intention, and interactivity through BESC. Second, BESC positively increases the levels of attitude, shopping behavior, quality, and status. Third, our moderating analyses reveal that type of good (product vs. service), type of respondent (students vs. non-students), and data collection mode (online vs. face-to-face) interact with BESC in explaining other variables.