Abstract
This article examines ‘brand love’ in a cross-cultural sample from New Zealand and China. Rather than interpersonal love, Howden’s model of spiritual love was applied in this research. Two groups of tertiary students, in New Zealand and China, were interviewed on their brand relationships using a semi-structured format and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The results showed that all four components of Howden’s model could be used to describe spiritual relationships, and that three were applicable to brand relationships. The Chinese and New Zealand samples were strongly differentiated on two of these components, which were consistent with individual love in the West and collective love in China. A new unified model of ‘transmissive’ brand love, where the brand acts as a conduit rather than a destination for human love, is developed from these results. This model addresses many of the theoretical issues that arise from brands not being properly responsive partners in ‘love’ relationships. The model is also jointly compatible with interpersonal love as expressed in Western societies, and collective love as expressed within Chinese culture. It therefore offers a significant contribution to our understanding of how brands can actively increase their equity as significant facilitators of human love relationships.