An Examination of the Effect of Social Comparison on Premium Payment Intention: The Role of Brand Addiction — A Case Study of the Mashhad Leather Brand

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Reza Rostami 1
Ehsan Safaei 2
1 Department of Business Management, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Shahroud, Iran.
2 PhD Student in Business Administration (Marketing Concentration), Islamic Azad University, Shahroud, Iran.
10.22034/jmek.2025.509746.1169
Abstract
The primary objective of this study is to examine the mediating role of brand addiction in the relationship between social comparison and willingness to pay a premium, as well as word-of-mouth advertising, among customers of the Mashhad Leather Brand. This research is applied in terms of purpose, and descriptive-survey in terms of nature and method, falling under the category of structural equation modeling. The statistical population comprises all customers of the Mashhad Leather Brand. The sample size was determined to be 385 individuals based on Cochran's formula, selected via simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a standardized questionnaire developed by Lee (2020), whose validity was confirmed by academic experts and reliability was verified using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. After data collection, the analysis was conducted using SmartPLS version 4 software. The findings indicated that social comparison has a positive and significant effect on brand addiction, willingness to pay a premium, and word-of-mouth advertising among the customers. Furthermore, brand addiction significantly and positively influences customers' willingness to pay a premium and word-of-mouth advertising. Additionally, brand addiction acts as a significant mediating variable in the relationship between social comparison and both willingness to pay a premium and word-of-mouth advertising. Consequently, managers and marketers can formulate more effective strategies to increase willingness to pay a premium by deeply understanding the psychological roles of social comparison and brand addiction.
Keywords
Brand Addiction
Social Comparison
Willingness to Pay a Premium
Word-of-Mouth Advertising
Mashhad Leather Brand
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 01 September 2024
  • Revise Date 11 November 2024
  • Accept Date 25 November 2024