The Importance Of Brand Equity

The value of a brand is inextricably linked to consumers’ values, attitudes and lifestyles, underscoring the complexity of developing global brand identity and equity. While technology-enabled globalization has produced synergies in the marketing and logistics of branded goods, it has also challenged brand managers to accommodate the heterogeneity within and across markets and cultures (Chu & Sung, 2011). Market entry and expansion in emerging markets are particularly timely as the demand for branded products – especially luxury goods – increases in two of the largest emerging consumer markets, China and India (Wilson & Purushotaman, 2003). Understanding subtle nuances and differences in new markets has become a resource advantage for multinational

(1991), brand equity is the positive value that a brand name can add to its products, such as Coke, Kodak, Levi’s and Nike. It is critical for firms to develop marketing strategies to create brand equity. Advertising expenditures, the sales force, public relations, slogans or jingles, symbols and packages, warranties, and event marketing are the important factors for companies to establish brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Simon & Sullivan, 1993; Keller, 2003).

To measure customer-based brand equity, most marketing researchers employ Keller’s (1993) and Aaker’s (1996) brand equity dimensions. Keller (1993) defined customer-based brand equity as “the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand”. He introduced a conceptual framework of brand equity with two broad components: brand awareness and brand image. Brand awareness is the familiarity of the brand under different conditions. Brand image is defined as “perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory” (Keller, 1993). It is important for firms to understand the brand equity from a customer perspective. According to Keller (1993), positive customer-based brand equity is created when consumers have the ability to identify the brand and have some favorable, strong and unique associations with the brand in their