Brand Experience to Loyalty: The Mediating Effects of Brand Love and Trust among Car Owners in India

This study investigates the impact of brand experience on brand loyalty, with a particular focus on the mediating rolesof brand trust and brand love, and the moderating effect of age. Drawing on a structured survey of 380 respondents, the study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the proposed relationships among sensory,
affective, intellectual, and behavioral dimensions of brand experience and their influence on consumer–brand relationships. The findings reveal that brand experience significantly and positively affects brand trust and brand love, which in turn enhance brand loyalty. Among the mediators, brand love demonstrates a stronger influence on loyalty compared to brand trust, highlighting the importance of emotional attachment in driving consumer behavior. The
results also confirm partial mediation effects, indicating that brand experience impacts loyalty both directly and
indirectly through cognitive and emotional pathways. Furthermore, multi-group analysis shows that age significantly moderates these relationships, with younger consumers being more influenced by experiential and emotional factors, while older consumers rely more on trust. The study contributes to the existing literature by integrating experiential, cognitive, and emotional constructs into a unified framework and offers practical implications for marketers seeking to build strong and enduring customer relationships.