Abstract
Self-expansion theory argues that consumers tend to extend themselves through imagining a brand experience beyond their abilities. Yet, no study within the experiential marketing literature has been found that have examined consumer imagination of brand experience with no previous experience with the brand. Hence, this study aims at exploring and measuring consumer imagined brand experience. To do this, we designed two research stages resulting in four separate studies. The first stage involves two qualitative studies using focus-group on two groups of participants. One group has in the past experienced the chosen brand for this study ‘Starbucks’. The second group have never been to ‘Starbucks’. Based on the findings from these two studies and the existing literature, we developed a conceptual model on the antecedents and consequences of consumer imagined experience. The second stage involved collecting data through Qualtrics Research Agency on two groups of respondents in Slovenia - actual experience (respondents have experienced Starbucks) versus imagined experience (no previous experience of Starbucks). The findings show similarities and differences with significant implications for global brand engagement in target and non-target audiences.