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Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

12-1-2024

Abstract

Background/Purpose: Domestic Chinese sportswear brands have shown a growth trend with the development of Chinese economy. Chinese consumers' brand preferences are shifting from foreign sportswear brands to domestic brands. This indicates an increasingly strong relationship between Chinese consumers and domestic sportswear brands. We used a brand relationship quality scale based on Chinese Confucian yuanfen culture, considering it as a second-order reflective-formative construct. The purpose of this study was to explore the spillover effect of Chinese consumers' relationships with domestic sportswear brands on their preference for domestic sportswear brands. It aimed to provide possible explanations for the psychological mechanisms behind Chinese consumers' shifting preferences towards sportswear brands.

Methods/Design: Based on associative network theory, a structural equation model was constructed for path analysis. Confucian yuanfen relationship (CYR) served as the independent variable, the product origin image as the mediating variable, and domestic sportswear brand preference (DSBP) as the dependent variable. Consumer xenocentrism moderated the direct effect from CYR to DSBP. The survey generated 326 valid responses online. Due to the presence of second-order reflective-formative constructs in the variables, SmartPLS 4.0 was used for hypothesis testing.

Results: According to the results, interaction belief (β=0.36, p < 0.001), intimate interaction (β=0.39, p < 0.001), and happiness (β=0.42, p < 0.001) as dimensions of Confucian yuanfen consumer-brand relationships are validated, while emotional expression (β=-0.02, p=0.834) and tolerance (β=0.08, p=0.397) were not. The Confucian yuanfen consumer-brand relationship's spillover effect on product origin image (β=0.60, f²=0.55, p < 0.001) and domestic sportswear brand preference (β=0.31, f²=0.12, p < 0.001) was validated. The influence and mediating effect of product country image on domestic sportswear brand preference (β=0.40, f²=0.18, p < 0.001) with an indirect effect of 0.24 (95% CI=[0.159,0.312]) were supported by the results. However, the moderating effect of consumer xenocentrism (β=0.04, p=0.29) was not validated.

Conclusion/Discussion: This study is the first to test consumer-brand relationships from a Confucian yuanfen perspective as a second-order reflective-formative construct. Our research indicates that the relationship between Chinese consumers and domestic sportswear brands has a spillover effect on their preference for domestic sportswear brands. Simultaneously, this spillover effect influenced the product origin image, resulting in a reverse country-of-origin effect. Future research should further explore the relationships between the dimensions within the Confucian yuanfen brand relationship. Domestic sportswear brands should actively maintain their Confucian yuanfen relationships with consumers. They should also actively adopt a co-opetition strategy to achieve mutual benefits.

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