Corporate branding, brand psychological ownership and brand citizenship behaviour: multilevel analysis and managerial implications

Brand psychological ownership can be defined as a psychological experience producing positive brand attitudes and brand cognitions, such as a feeling of ownership towards a brand, and altruistic spirit towards brand-related activities. Building on, and extending the work of Chang. Chiang and Han (2012), this paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of brand psychological ownership. A multilevel approach is taken to investigate the relationship between three major constructs related to branding efforts: brand psychological ownership, corporate branding and brand citizenship behaviour. In the individual analysis, brand psychological ownership was found to have a positive effect on brand citizenship behaviour. In the multilevel analyses the results show that corporate branding has a positive effect on brand psychological ownership and brand citizenship behaviour. As a result, leaders and general managers can use corporate brand building as a tool for employee motivation and even cultural change. Organisational-level brand citizenship behaviour is found to positively affect brand equity. Furthermore, brand psychological ownership mediated the relationship between corporate branding and brand citizenship behaviour in the multilevel relationship. The paper discusses these findings, their contribution to current literature and their implications for future research and management development.