The Effect of Flow Experience, Brand Love, and Perceived Value on Clients’ Brand Loyalty Within the Cinema Sector

Cinemas are garnering heightened attention due to the rapid growth of the media. Despite technological improvements enabling users to access many options, including online media and internet streaming platforms, from the comfort of their homes, cinemas remain a significant draw. This study explores the impact of brand love, perceived value, and flow experience on brand loyalty in the cinema setting by integrating flow theory, lovemark theory, and equity theory. Data were collected from November to December 2024 via Google Forms from 315 moviegoers who had experienced watching films at cinemas in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and analyzed using the partial least squares method to verify the proposed model. The findings of the study proved that flow experience had a noteworthy and favorable influence on brand loyalty, manifested through willingness to pay more (WPM), word of mouth (WOM), and repurchase intentions (RIN). In a similar vein, it was discovered that brand love had a favorable impact on WPM, WOM, and RIN. Additionally, it was shown that perceived value positively correlated with WPM, WOM, and RIN. Besides, this study makes a theoretical contribution by developing an integrated experiential–emotional–cognitive framework to explain brand loyalty in experiential service contexts. Practically, the findings suggest that cinema managers can enhance brand loyalty by strengthening flow experience, brand love, and perceived value.