Emotional Branding and Consumer Well-Being in Experiential Culinary Retail

Abstract

Research Originality: This study contributes to the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) literature by proposing and testing an integrated model that examines how overall brand equity and customer delight translate brand love and experiential brand engagement into consumer psychological well-being. Research Objectives: This study investigates the effects of brand love and experiential brand engagement on overall brand equity, customer delight, and consumer psychological well-being. Research Method: A quantitative survey was conducted with 125 consumers of Indonesian local culinary brands. The proposed model was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Empirical Results: Brand love and experiential brand engagement significantly enhance overall brand equity and customer delight. Customer delight emerged as the strongest predictor of psychological well-being, whereas brand love and experiential brand engagement did not directly and significantly affect psychological well-being. These findings indicate that positive and memorable consumption experiences contribute more strongly to consumer well-being than emotional attachment alone. Implications: Managers should prioritize delight-generating experiences through engaging interactions, memorable service encounters, and experiential value creation to strengthen both consumer psychological well-being and brand equity. JEL Classification: M31, I31, L81