Investigating the effect of consumer's risk aversion and product involvement on their brand loyalty and word of mouth behavior: the mediating role of brand attachment and brand trust

In today’s highly competitive markets، brand loyalty is a central element of marketing strategies and tactics. Therefore، the sources of loyalty and the processes through which it is established is becoming central concern of marketers. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the consumer’s risk aversion and product involvement with their brand loyalty and positive word of mouth behaviors and also to test empirically whether this relationship is mediated by brand trust and brand attachment. Required data were collected through a questionnaire survey among female consumers that used cosmetic products. Questionnaires were distributed among consumers in Yazd، Shiraz، and Bushehr cities. Structural Equation Modeling and path analysis were used to test the hypothesized model. The results of this study indicate that consumer’s product involvement has significant effect directly on brand loyalty and positive word of mouth and also indirectly through brand trust and brand attachment. The results also indicate that the effect of consumers risk aversion on brand loyalty and positive word of mouth is mediated through brand trust and brand loyalty.