" The key word here is inertia meaning without commitment towards the brand. Their definition the latter, and the most important one in this paper, is exactly the same on the first five points but differs for the sixth adding "is a function of psychological (decision making, evaluative) processes resulting in brand commitment." In this definition brand commitment is the key word. .
In laymen's words true brand loyalty refers to consumers sticking with a brand out of feelings of commitment towards that brand. For instance, when you bought a tube of Prodent toothpaste and you found it ok, you will not have to spend any valuable time on looking for other toothpaste brands, because you are already familiar with it. However, for a more brand-loyalty-sensitive product class like beer, the probability that a consumer will stick to one brand (like Grolsch Beer) is much higher. .
In the next paragraph we will now look at the relation between brand commitment and brand loyalty. .
Brand commitment .
Brand loyalty is based on the amount of brand commitment. The amount of commitment is not fixed, but can be considered as a continuum. The amount of commitment is based on the type of brand satisfaction. In this article, two types of satisfaction are taken into account. For the sake of this paper, a distinction has to be made between manifest and latent brand satisfaction. .
First, what is brand satisfaction? Bloemer defines it as "the outcome of the subjective evaluation that the chosen alternative (the brand) meets or exceeds the expectations" (pp 314). Bloemer then makes a distinction between manifest and latent satisfaction. The distinction basically rests on the degree of elaboration. This in turn depends on the level of motivation and capacity that a certain consumer needs in order to evaluate the product. Manifest satisfaction is the result of a high degree of elaboration. Latent satisfaction is based on the fact that "the consumer is not fully aware of his/her satisfaction, because of a lack of motivation and/or ability of the consumer to evaluate his/her brand choice" (pp.
