Explaining customer-brand relationships in the automotive industry

• Autores: Mohamad Kamal Hashem Hashem
• Directores de la Tesis: Carla Ruiz Mafé (codir. tes.), Rafael Martín Currás Pérez (codir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat de València ( España ) en 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Número de páginas: 223
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: José Enrique Bigné Alcañiz (presid.), Carmen Camarero Izquierdo (secret.), Amélia Brandão (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en marketing
• Menciones:
  • Industrial
  • Internacional
• Calificación: Sobresaliente Cum Laude
• Materias:
  • Ciencias económicas
    • Otras especialidades económicas
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en:  TESEO  RODERIC 
• Resumen

  • Customer–brand relationships are increasingly important, particularly in the automotive industry, where social media marketing and digital technologies strengthen connections between brands and consumers. This significance is especially evident today, as digital transformation, evolving consumer behaviours, and cultural dynamics shape how customers engage with brands. The industry is highly dynamic, continually reshaping customer expectations both globally and in Jordan. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated digital transformation, making personalised digital strategies essential for Customer Brand Engagement (CBE), brand perception, and advocacy.This industrial PhD, conducted in collaboration with Abu Khader Automotive, examined the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural drivers of brand love, corporate reputation (CR), service quality, and social media engagement. The interconnected studies explored these factors across both offline interactions and digital touchpoints. A multi-method approach was employed, combining quantitative analysis through online questionnaires to capture customer opinions, qualitative analysis via concept mapping to gather employees’ points of view, and content and sentiment analysis to objectively assess customer reviews about the brand. By combining these quantitative and qualitative methods, the study provides a holistic and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. The objectives of this thesis are to explore the cognitive, emotional, and social drivers of brand love and their consequences on customer behavioural intentions; to assess the role of brand love in the relationship between CR and CBE; to identify the dimensions of service quality in the automotive industry and examine their impact on CBE; and to provide insights on how brand generated content (BGC) drives CBE and how user-generated content (UGC) sentiment shapes engagement across social media platforms. Each study was designed to address specific gaps in the literature. The first study investigated how dealership interactions and emotional experiences drive brand love. The second examined CR as a strategic driver of satisfaction and CBE, highlighting the moderating role of brand love. The third identified key service quality dimensions and their effects on cognitive, emotional, and behavioural engagement. The fourth explored digital engagement through BGC and UGC, showing how content type, richness, platform, and sentiment influence customer responses. Overall, this thesis highlights the interplay between these constructs rather than examining CR, brand love, service quality, satisfaction, and CBE in isolation. It advances understanding of customer–brand relationships and CBE, contributing theoretically by extending insights into high-involvement sectors, while offering practical guidance for automotive dealerships to enhance engagement, foster brand love, and achieve long-term competitive advantage across both traditional and digital channels.