Managing brand equity: a look at the impact of attributes
| Pages | 39-51 |
| Published date | 01 February 2003 |
| Date | 01 February 2003 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420310463126 |
| Author | Chris A. Myers |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Managing brand equity: a look
at the impact of attributes
Chris A. Myers
Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M University-Commerce,
Commerce, Texas, USA
Keywords Brand equity, Brand loyalty, Consumer behaviour, Brand image,
Conjoint analysis
Abstract Brand equity continues to be one of the critical areas for marketing
management. This study explores some of the consequences attributes may have on brand
equity such as the bias on consumer preference. For comparative purposes, a
longitudinal study is conducted on the high involvement soft drink category using the top
nine national soft drinks brands. In addition to brand equity and the top attributes being
measured, overall preferences and the impact of other variables were included. Attributes
are examined from a tangible and intangible perspective and both are found to be
important contributors to brand equity and brand choice.
Introduction
Brand equity has been described as the added value endowed by the brand to
the product (Farquhar, 1989). The idea of using a name or symbol to enhance
a product's value has been brought to the forefront in recent years. Brand
managers realize that parity exists in most categories as a result of ``copy
cat'' or look-alike advertising and the proliferation of me-too brands (Aaker,
1991; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995). Price competition through the overuse of
short-term price promotions has led to a reduction in the profitability of
brands (Aaker, 1991; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995). This has led retailers and
manufacturers to examine ways to enhance loyalty or brand equity toward
their brands. Other issues such as the escalation of new product development
costs and the high rate of new product failures has led firms to acquire,
license, and extend brand names to a degree that was once unimaginable
(Aaker, 1991). The focus of corporate mergers over the last decade has been
more about the intangible assets of brands or brand equity versus the prior
period's focus on synergies to be gained by economies of scale (Cobb-
Walgren et al., 1995).
Wall Street and Madison Avenue know the difference between the terms
``product'' and ``brand'', although most consumers use them
interchangeably. But a product is something that tends to offer a functional
benefit, whereas a brand is a name, symbol, design, or mark that enhances
the value of a particular product or service (Farquhar, 1989; Cobb-Walgren
et al., 1995). A review of the literature on brand equity shows that at the
conceptual level there is extensive agreement as to what is meant by brand
and brand equity. Most authors provide definitions of brand equity that are
generally similar to Farquhar's (1989) definition of equity as the value added
by the brand to the product (e.g. Srinivasan, 1979; Aaker, 1991; Kamakura
and Russell, 1993; Keller, 1993; Simon and Sullivan, 1993).
Unlike developments at the conceptual level, the literature does not address
satisfactory coverage of a number of additional pressing issues such as the
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Intangible assets of brands
Extensive agreement as to
what is meant by brand and
brand equity
JOURNAL OF PRODUCT & BRAND MANAGEMENT, VOL. 12 NO. 1 2003, pp. 39-51, #MCB UP LIMITED, 1061-0421, DOI 10.1108/10610420310463126 39
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