The present research examines whether and how new brands can use rituals to establish consumer connections at the initiation stage of the consumer–brand relationship. Although many brands attempt to use rituals to achieve a special standing in consumers’ mind, little is known about the mechanism through which rituals affect consumers’ responses to brands, particularly when consumers encounter a new brand or product. We propose that ritualistic behaviors enhance consumers’ connections with, and purchase intention for, a new brand through mindfulness and that the behavioral dimension of rituals plays a critical role. Moreover, we propose consumers’ purchase motivation as the moderator, such that the effects of rituals on new brands are mitigated when purchase motivation is utilitarian (vs. hedonic). We present convergent evidence for the hypotheses across one field experiment and two actual product consumption experiments. These findings contribute to several streams of marketing research and offer actionable managerial implications for companies.

本研究考察了新品牌是否以及如何在消费者与品牌关系的初始阶段使用仪式来建立消费者联系。尽管许多品牌试图通过仪式在消费者心目中获得特殊地位，但人们对仪式影响消费者对品牌反应的机制知之甚少，尤其是当消费者遇到新品牌或产品时。我们建议仪式行为通过正念增强消费者与新品牌的联系和购买意愿，并且仪式的行为维度起着至关重要的作用。此外，我们建议消费者的购买动机作为调节器，这样当购买动机是功利的（相对于享乐的）时，仪式对新品牌的影响就会减轻。我们为一项现场实验和两项实际产品消费实验的假设提供了收敛证据​​。这些发现有助于多种营销研究流，并为公司提供可操作的管理意义。