Professor Brand Advocacy: Do Brand Relationships Matter?

Abstract

The trend among students to advocate their professors online continues to generate interest within marketing academia. Brand advocacy in products and services has played a vital role in marketing. However, no known research to date has embraced the idea of brand advocacy in marketing education. This research builds on the recent human brand relationship literature and examines the mediating effects of attachment strength and relationship factors on professor brand advocacy. Survey data gathered from 228 marketing students and the empirical findings suggest that when professors are responsive to their students’ innate needs of relatedness and competence, students form strong attachments to the professors. Furthermore, strong students’ attachments to professors influence students’ trust and satisfaction in their professors. These trusting and satisfying relationships determine the willingness of the students to advocate the professor brands. The authors discuss the implications for marketing educators.