The mediating effect of brand addiction and brand passion on the relationship between brand love and compulsive buying: applied on mobile phone customers in Egypt

The study of the positive emotions developed as a result of customer-brand communication processes that result in loyalty and strong connection to certain brands has attracted increasing interest from marketers and psychologists. However, recently there has also been a focus on the negative behaviours that arise from strengthening the relationship between customers and brands, including compulsive buying and customers' inability to control their desire to purchase a particular brand. This study seeks to explore the topics of brand love, addiction, and passion, and their relationship with compulsive buying. It aimed to determine the nature of the direct relationship between brand love and compulsive buying, as well as the indirect relationships when mediated by both brand addiction and brand passion. The data was collected by using a questionnaire to gather the necessary primary data for testing the study's hypotheses from a sample of 360 mobile phone customers. The data was then analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results indicated a significant positive impact of each of brand love, brand addiction, and brand passion on compulsive buying among mobile phone customers in Egypt. The study also found that both brand passion and brand addiction partially mediated the relationship between brand love and compulsive buying of mobile phone brands and so confirming the significance of the direct and indirect relationships presented in the model.