Antecedents of brand authenticity and its role in the formation of word of mouth (Case study: Tavazo nuts)

Today, more than ever, consumers are searching for authenticity. One of the valuable features of brand authenticity is that consumers are willing to pay primum price for products that they think are authentic. Authenticity has emerged as a consumer favorite feature that reflects a brandchr('39')s sense of uniqueness, realism, or originality, helping marketers differentiate their brands from competitors. The present study examines the antecedents of brand authenticity and its impact on word of mouth (WOM). Consumers of Tavazeh nuts brand in Tehran constitute the statistical population of this research. 372 people were selected as the sample by available sampling method. Data were collected through a standard questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by calculating Cronbachchr('39')s alpha coefficient and its validity was assessed by first-order and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). SPSS24 software was used for descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) with LISREL 8.8 software was used to test the hypotheses. The results of testing the hypotheses showed that brand nostalgia, brand heritage, brand legitimacy and brand clarity have a positive and significant effect on brand authenticity. Also, brand authenticity has a positive and significant effect on word of mouth (WOM).