This research focuses on the polymorphous concept of closeness, applied to the relationship between a brand and its end-clients. Through a literature review and seventeen interviews with professionals in various sectors, our goal is to gain better insights into the closeness strategies deployed by brands and the way clients perceive them. We identify seven types of strategies; based on the Interdependence and SelfExpansion theories, we propose a model which allows to better understand how these strategies influence clients in their perception of closeness; we make hypotheses, especially about the impact of novelty and dissimilarity; managerial and theoretical implications are then made.
Tiphaine Gorlier, Géraldine Michel
http://chaire-mgcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017-07_MGCF_WP_A4P2.pdf