Brand Defense Scale

Abstract

The Brand Defense Scale (BDS), developed by Roy et al. (2023), is a psychometric inventory designed to quantify the intensity of consumers’ protective behaviors toward a specific brand. This construct is defined as the composite act of defending, forgiving, and advocating for the brand, particularly in the face of negative information or criticism. The conceptual foundation of the BDS is rooted in established theories of organizational justice and social exchange, specifically the Fairness Theory (Folger and Cropanzano, 1998) and the Social Capital perspective of Equity Theory (Adler, 2001).

Scale development involved generating initial items from existing literature and refining them through focus group interviews, analyzed using Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). Across three studies, the final version of the scale was confirmed via factor analysis to consist of 10 items loading onto three distinct dimensions: Defending, Advocating, and Forgiving. The scale exhibits strong reliability and validity metrics, affirming its suitability for research in consumer behavior and brand relationship management.

Keywords

Brand Defense, Defending, Advocating, Forgiving, Consumer Behavior, Equity Theory, Fairness Theory, Social Capital, Brand Loyalty, Brand Trust.

Authors

Roy, Sanjit K.; Singh, Gaganpreet; Japutra, Arnold; Javed, Mansoor

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Brand Defense Scale is to provide a standardized, reliable, and valid measure for assessing the strength of consumers’ defensive and supportive reactions to a brand. It specifically measures the behavioral intention to engage in three distinct types of actions: publicly defending the brand against criticism, actively advocating for the brand to others, and forgiving the brand following service failures or negative press.

Construct

The BDS measures the latent construct of Brand Defense, conceptualized as a crucial outcome of strong consumer-brand relationships. This construct operates as a second-order factor composed of three distinct first-order factors:

• Defending: The active resistance to negative external information or criticism directed at the brand.

• Advocating: The proactive recommendation and promotion of the brand to others, sharing positive experiences.

• Forgiving: The willingness to overlook failures or negative information, maintaining a positive attitude toward the brand despite setbacks.

This conceptualization places brand defense within the broader context of social exchange, suggesting that a consumer’s willingness to defend a brand is related to their perception of fairness and the social capital invested in the brand relationship.

Validity

The Brand Defense Scale demonstrated robust validity across two independent samples. Convergent validity was strongly supported, as the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values for all underlying factors consistently surpassed the 0.50 threshold recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981).

Furthermore, Discriminant validity was confirmed, indicated by the square root of the AVE values being greater than the correlations observed between the different constructs. Predictive validity was also established through the structural model analysis, which positioned brand love and brand trust as significant antecedents of brand defense. Key relationships included a positive link between brand love and brand defense (β = 0.35, t = 5.78, p < 0.001) and brand trust and brand defense (β = 0.62, t = 7.62, p < 0.001). Crucially, brand defense demonstrated a strong predictive relationship with brand loyalty (β = 0.74, t = 9.44, p < 0.001).

Reliability

The reliability of the Brand Defense Scale was assessed through internal consistency across two samples. The Cronbach’s alpha values for all measured constructs were consistently high, ranging from 0.78 to 0.86. These values comfortably exceed the generally recommended threshold, as specified by Bagozzi and Yi (1988), confirming the high internal consistency and reliability of the measurement model.

Factor Analysis

The structural integrity of the Brand Defense Scale was rigorously tested using both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The initial EFA strongly supported a clear and robust three-factor structure, which fully captured the operational definition of the brand defense construct: (1) Defending, (2) Advocating, and (3) Forgiving. This three-factor model accounted for a high percentage of the total variance, specifically 73.1%.

Subsequent CFA confirmed the model fit. The model fit indices for the core measurement model were highly acceptable: χ² = 131.72, df = 71, GFI = 0.95; NFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.97; CFI = 0.97; and RMSEA = 0.05 (Hu & Bentler, 1999). When the three brand defense dimensions were integrated into a broader structural model incorporating brand love, brand trust, and brand loyalty, the overall measurement model fit remained strong: χ² = 282.41, df = 71, GFI = 0.91; NFI = 0.91; TLI = 0.93; CFI = 0.95; and RMSEA = 0.07 (Hu & Bentler, 1999).

Instrument

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire.

Format: The scale consists of 10 items rated using 7-point Likert-type scales, typically anchored by ‘1 = strongly disagree’ and ‘7 = strongly agree’.

Language Available: English.

Population Group: Human (Male and Female).

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older), specifically studied across Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), and Middle Age (40-64 years).

Population Details: The scale was validated using respondents who were university students and general consumers located in the United Kingdom.

Test Methodology: The methodology included extensive psychometric assessments, such as Test Validity, Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity, Predictive Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Keywords

Brand Deliberation, Consumer Behavior, Brand Relationships, Psychometrics, Marketing Research, Scale Development.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Roy, Sanjit K.: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4932-2222

• Japutra, Arnold: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0513-8792

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Roy, Sanjit K.: University of Western Australia (M263) UWA Business School

• Singh, Gaganpreet: OP Jindal Global University Department of Marketing

• Japutra, Arnold: University of Western Australia UWA Business School, Department of Marketing

• Javed, Mansoor: Creative Cores Media Group

• Roy, Sanjit K. (Email): [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Roy, Sanjit K.: [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Publisher. The scale is academic and non-commercial.

Fee: No.

Test Year: 2023.

Reference’s

Roy, S. K., Singh, G., Japutra, A., & Javed, M. (2023). Circle the wagons: Measuring the strength of consumers’ brand defense. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 31(4), 817–837. doi:10.1080/0965254X.2021.1999305

Items of the Brand Defense Scale

Note: Items are rated using 7-point Likert-type scales anchored ‘1 = strongly disagree’ and ‘7 = strongly agree’.