The Antecedents of Interactive Loyalty
Brand loyalty towards video game consoles may have several antecedents. Gender, genre of video games and network externality may impact brand loyalty, mediated by perceptions of video game console brand personalities. This study investigated these relationships by conducting a principal component factor analysis and testing a structural equation model. The seventh generation of video game consoles was selected as the focal concept. The video game consoles examined included Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's XBOX 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. The findings suggest that consumers perceive all video game consoles as competent in nature, and that genre has a tremendous impact upon brand loyalty, perceptions of brand personality as well as network externality. For brand managers and industry practitioners, this study provides demonstrates which variables may influence how consumers create brand personalities of video game consoles and cultivate loyalty toward them. This also furthers and introduces the concept of brand relationship theory into the video game industry.