Dr. Aaron Ahuvia knows a thing or two about superfans. He co-authored the publication that popularized the term “brand love” and is the world’s most widely published and cited academic expert on non-interpersonal love. He’s the author of The Things We Love: How Our Passions Connect Us and Make Us Who We Are. 

Aaron is a professor of marketing at the University of Michigan Dearborn. Aaron researches, teaches, and consults for governments, non-profits, and corporations across the world, including Google, L’Oreal, Samsung, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Ford, and many more. 

In this episode, Aaron and I discuss the way our brains process love and how you can apply his scientific research to create superfans for your brand.

Show Notes

2:40 - How does Aaron define ‘brand love’?

3:30 - How is brand love different from interpersonal love?

7:08 - What are the steps to creating brand love?

7:39 - The difference between valuing something and loving it

9:30 - The human brain decides if something is a human or an object at two different times

10:05 - In order to love anything, your unconscious mind has to treat it as if it is a person

10:34 - The three different ways you can get your customers to think of your product or service as a person

12:55 - Brittany connects Aaron’s research on brand love to mascots

16:03 - Why it’s easier for some salespeople to cultivate ‘love’ than others

17:45 - In order to get people to love a brand at an unconscious level, you’ve got to get people to sort your brand into the social world

20:35 - The importance of cultivating brand love with your employees

24:30 - Why mission-driven companies are more likely to have brand love

27:13 - The correlation between religion and brand love

29:47 - How did Aaron coin the term ‘brand love’?

31:38 - What has changed over the last 30+ years since Aaron started studying brand love?

32:50 - What is Aaron a SUPERFAN of?

Get his book: The Things We Love

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About Brittany 

Brittany Hodak is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and customer experience speaker who helps businesses turn customers into superfans. She’s delivered keynotes to hundreds of organizations around the world, including American Express, Benihana, and Keller Williams. Her trademark SUPER Model™ framework has empowered teams in every industry to transform customer apathy into advocacy. 

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