Purpose: Drawing from attachment theory and categorization theory, the present study aims to investigate the effects of brand attachment and brand passion on consumer purchase intention, and to explore the moderation effect of product involvement (i.e.a low-involvement convenience product vs. a high-involvement shopping product) in these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach: To bridge this gap, we recruited n = 205 young consumers to test the hypotheses using AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 24.0. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and moderation analysis techniques were used as data analysis methods.

Findings: Results show that when brand attachment and brand passion were assessed, the brand passion has the highest effect on purchase intention. Moreover, our data reveal that brand attachment is more likely to lead to consumer purchase intention for convenience products, while brand passion is more promising for increasing consumer purchase intention for high-involvement shopping products. Finally, we provide a detailed discussion of how these results can be applied to both research and practice.

Implications: This study offers recommendations for how practitioners can strengthen purchase intentions of convenience and shopping brands in emerging markets.

Originality/value: This study is the first to prove that brand attachment is a driver of purchase intention of low-involvement convenience brands, whereas brand passion is a more prominent predictor of the purchase intention of high-involvement shopping brands.