1 | P a g e

The study of
Consumer Buying Behavior
with respect to
Brand Equity.

THE BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU

Submitted by :
Ankita Kapoor(O6)
Manish Mahajan(20)
Shivani Gupta(46)
Tanvi Bhargav(53)
(GROUP - 4)



2 | P a g e

Contents
S.no Particulars Page no.
1. Abstract- Keywords 3
2. Introduction 4
3. Objective of Research 5
4. Literature 6
5. Definition of Consumer
Behavior
6
6. Factors 7
7. Buying Decision Process 9
8. Importance of Branding 11
9. Brand Equity 13
10. Aaker's Model 15
11. Brand Awareness 16
12. Perceived Quality 18
13. Brand Association 21
14. Brand Loyalty 22
15. Summary 24
16. Conclusion 26
17. Bibliography 27
3 | P a g e

ABSTRACT
Brand equity is a concept born in 1980s. It has aroused intense interest among
business strategists from a wide variety of industries as brand equity is closely
related with brand loyalty and brand extensions. Besides, successful brands
provide competitive advantages that are critical to the success of companies.
However, there is no common viewpoint emerged on the content and
measurement of brand equity. Brand equity has been examined from financial
and customer-based perspectives. This paper will only study the customer-based
brand equity which refers to the consumer response to a brand name. The aims
of the study are to review the dimensions of customer- based brand equity by
drawing together strands from various literature and empirical studies made
within the area of customer-based brand equity. A conceptual framework for
measuring customer based brand equity is developed to provide a more
integrative conceptualization of brand equity.





Keywords:
Consumer Behavior, brand equity, brand awareness, brand associations, brand
loyalty, perceived quality.




4 | P a g e

Introduction

The background of research

The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy target customers needs and
profitability .The starting point in marketing planning is always the consumer:
Who are the prospective buyers? How does our brand stack up against the
competition? What needs and motives enter into the buying decision? Peter
Drucker observed that a firms task is to create customers Kotler. Reicheld
further specifically indicated that companies could increase profits by 25% to 85%
just by achieving a 5% reduction in consumer defections. Meanwhile, one of the
most popular and potentially important marketing concepts to arise from the
1980s was the concept of brand equity. It has raised the importance of the brand
in marketing strategy. Aaker argues that customer-based brand equity is the
differential effect that brand has on consumer response to the marketing of that
brand. However, customer behaviour is not a simple concept; it does not only
encompass the buying decision process, but also cover the underlying influences
and other motives for purchasing products and services. Moreover, as the firms
and markets have grown in size, the competitive environment is becoming more
and more intense. Therefore, in a dynamic market, there are so many different
brands so that it becomes quite difficult for consumers to make the final buying
decision as well as for companies to gain customers.






5 | P a g e

The Objective of Research
The objective of this study is to examine the effect of four components of brand
equity (i.e. the brand awareness of a brand) . Thus, firms can understand why
people purchase a particular brand and how the firms brand equity components
influence the consumers buying decision making. Assuming the attributes of
products available in the market, meaning the actual functional characteristics
like quality, price and place, are similar, it can be expected that the consumers
ability to discriminate a product on its functional characteristics will be less
significant. Instead the consumer will evaluate the products based on the brand
name. In this research, it will utilise the four elements of brand equity to
investigate the relationship between brand equity and consumer buying
behaviour. By developing a refined understanding of the behaviour of buyers and
the effect of the brand equity, the firms, manufacturers can generate a source of
competitive advantage by using more sophisticated information as input for
enhancing an effective marketing campaign to attract and retain the consumers.



















6 | P a g e

Literature
Introduction

It begins with the demonstrate of the definition of consumer behavior .Then it will
illustrate the different factors that influence the consumer behaviour as well as
the buying decision process in order to understand the essence of consumer
behaviour. After that, the emphasis will be on brand field. The effect of brand
equity on consumer behaviour will be discussed based on its four components in
order to analyze how brand equity is very important in the consumer decision-
making process.

The definition of Consumer Behaviour

There is no doubt that the customer is essential for the firm in the marketing
field. Wllkie stated that consumer behaviour is the mental, emotional, and
physical activities that people engage in when selecting, purchasing, using, and
disposing of products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires. He further
explained that there are seven keys to consumer behavior , which are 1)
consumer behaviour is motivated; 2) consumer behaviour includes many
activities; 3) consumer behaviour is a process; 4) consumer behaviour varies in
timing and complexity; 5) consumer behaviour involves different roles; 6)
consumer behaviour is influenced by external factors; 7) consumer behaviour
differs for different people. Moreover, Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel defines
consumer behaviour as those acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining
and using economic goods and services including the decision processes that
precede and determine these acts. That is to say, consumers behaviour involve
with the mental procedure and physical acts towards the multiply goods and
services.





7 | P a g e

The Major Influence Factors on Consumer Behaviour.

According to Kotlers , consumer purchases are influenced strongly by
cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics. Generally speaking,
marketers cannot control such factors, but they must take them into account
because these factors affect how individual consumers react to the different
reactions that firms send out through their communication. The marketers task is
to understand what happens in the buyers consciousness and the buyers
decision making process. Thereby, this section will focus on demonstrating the
factors affecting buying behaviour .

Cultural Factors

Cultural factors exert deep influence on consumer behaviour. Culture is the basis
for a persons wants and behaviour ..Culture refers to a set of values, ideas, Arte
facts and other meaning symbols that help individuals communicate, interpret
and evaluate as members of society . It affects the consumers shaping the
attitudes, feelings, biases, and opinions, which enable marketers to interpret or
even predict the reaction of consumers to specific marketing strategies. Thus, it is
vital for firms to be aware of culture, even its trends and changes. and gives rise
to new marketing opportunities and threats.

Social Factors

A consumers behaviour is also influenced by social factors, such as reference
group, family, and social roles and status .Because these social factors can
strongly affect consumer response, firms must take them into account when
designing their marketing strategies.
For one thing, reference group has significant influences on the individuals
product and brand purchases. Reference group are groups that serve as direct or
indirect points of comparison or reference in forming a persons attitudes or
behaviour Indirect or direct reference groups include family, friends and
neighbours.

8 | P a g e

Bearden and Rose pointed out that reference group not only lead an individual to
new behaviors but also have effect on individuals attitude and self concept,
which in turn influence actual brand preference and choice. Therefore,
references lead the market trends .

Personal Factors

A buyers decision is also influenced by personal characteristics such as the
buyers age, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle and personality and self-
concept.The age of the buyer is one of the major factors influencing individuals
purchases..People in the different ages have different needs. A brand must be
understandable to the age group to which the product or service is targeted and
should be delivered through a medium used by members of that group .On the
other hand, a persons occupation can affect the goods and services bought.
Occupational groups usually have above average interest in the products and
services, which are related to their occupation. Therefore, the marketers need to
consider the right occupational groups as the production and marketing target. A
company can even specialise in making products needed by a given occupational
group.












9 | P a g e


The Buying Decision Process

As introduced above, the consumers choice results from the complex interplay of
cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Although the marketer cannot
influence many of these factors, they still can be useful in identifying interested
buyers and in shaping products and appeals to serve their needs better.
Therefore, it is
necessary to introduce consumer buying decision process, by which marketers
can monitor the process to develop the effective marketing mix by utilizing stimuli
and factors to guide consumers to certain products. In a buying decision process,
a consumer will pass through five stages as shown below.

Figure: Buyer decision process


Source: Adapted from Kotler.

10 | P a g e

As shown in the figure above, the buying process starts when consumer
recognises a problem or need, which is triggered by internal or external stimuli .
In other words, the particular consumer recognizes she or he needs to buy
something to solve problems she or he faces. This will drive the potential buyer to
search and gather information about the products that will solve the particular
problems. According to Kotler This stage can be divided into two levels, which are
milder level and active level. At the former level, consumers simply receipt the
information about the product; at the second level, consumers are more likely
looking for the product information actively, such as online searching, visiting
stores, reading materials and phoning friends.

Kolter also points out that the information source could be fell into four groups:
personal (family, friends, neighbours , acquaintances); commercial ( advertising,
web sites, sales persons, dealers, packaging,
Displays ) ; public(mass media, consumer-rating organizations) and
Experiential (handling, examining, using the product). As a result of that, the
potential buyer becomes acquainted with some of the brands in the market and
their features. As Jobber (2004) points out that the objective of information
search is to build up the awareness set- that is, the array of brands that may
provide a solution to the problem.

After that, consumers move into third stage-evaluation of alternative. In this
stage, Preferences among the brands in the choice set will be formed. The
evaluation is based on the product or service whose attributes are perceived to
best satisfy the need. Namely, it is a brand evaluation stage. According to Assael
(1992), in this stage, consumers will use information to associate brands they are
aware of with their
desired benefits and they will prefer the brand that they expect will give the most
satisfaction based on the benefits they seek. The outcome of brand evaluation is
the awareness brands set narrow down to the small range of consideration
brands then into smaller range of choice set benefits of a brand has a positive
impact on the brand choice.


11 | P a g e

Importance of Branding

As stated before, consumer buying behaviour is influenced by many factors, such
as marketing stimuli and environment stimuli. However, this study will more
specifically focus on branding that is I am most interested in as marketing
function, which is related to how brand equity can influence the consumer
behaviour in laptop purchasing. Thus, this section will examine the importance of
branding since consumers view a brand as an important part of a product, and
branding can add value to a product which will influence their buying behaviour
..A successful brand is one which creates and sustains a strong, positive and
lasting impression in the mind of a buyer)\. As Doyle claims a successful brand is
a name, symbol, design or some combination, which identifies the product of a
particular organization as having a sustainable differential advantage. That is to
say a successful brand is a substantial asset to the companies. Emperical report
shows that Microsoft estimate value is $57 billion and that of IBM is $44 billion
and estimate the brand value of Coca-Cola is $84 billion, .There is no doubt that
those companies are benefited from its branding strategies. In fact, branding is
defined as the enterprise of creating added value in the minds of consumers,
which is to build perceived values beyond the observable physical value of the
product, and thus differentiating the product in a highly competitive environment
..The aim of branding is to help customers to identify products that are relevant
for them, and so take much of the anxiety out of decision making .As the business
environment is teemed with competition and more sophisticated customers,
superior products with only physical attributes is not enough to maintain and
attract consumers. Thus, firms must build effective branding strategies to help
consumers organize their knowledge about certain products and service, and
convince the customers what are firms meaningful advantages among the
different brands. As Hankinson and Cowking argued to build up a strong brand is
one of the ways in which a company can develop and sustain advantage over its
competitors, and thereby maintain or increase its sales or market share. In other
words, the stronger the consumer identification of the brand, the stronger the
relationship firms have with consumers and therefore the brand effect on
purchase. In fact, branding can be seen as a process of building and developing
12 | P a g e

corresponding\ marketing strategies based on firms resource and capability
aiming to communicate certain brand to targets effectively an consistently
thereby influencing the consumer behaviour (Jones, 1986). Thus, in a competitive
market environment, firms need to strengthen the relationship between the
consumer and the brand as that reflects the fit between the consumers own
physical and psychological needs and the brands functional attributes and
symbolic values as perceived by the consumer. Hence, firms need to create
customer-based brand equity (a topic explored in the next section) by branding to
obtain the competitive advantages. Consequently, a high degree of brand equity
among the consumers is an important goal of marketing strategy. Thus, it is
necessary to discuss how brand equity affects consumers buying behaviour.















13 | P a g e

Brand Equity

Brand equity has been the most important topic in the marketing field over last
20 years. It has been viewed as a large number of perspectives .In a general sense,
most marketing scholars agree that brand equity is defined in terms of the
positive outcomes resulted from past marketing investment uniquely attributable
to the brand . From Farquhars points of view the brand equity is the added
value to the firm, the trade, or the consumer with which a given brand endows a
product. He further stress out adopt a financial perspective that brand equity
can result in incremental cash flow associating a brand name for a product. That is
to say, brand equity can benefit the firm in profitability.
The similar statement also presented by Brodsky defined brand equity is the
sales and profit impact enjoyed as a result of prior years marketing efforts versus
a comparable new brand. From customer based view, Keller defined brand
equity as the effect of the marketing of the brand on the consumers reaction,
which in turn differentiate brand themselves. He also defined brand knowledge in
terms of two core components, brand awareness and brand image.
In other words, brand equity is the unique image for the certain brand in mind of
the consumers, and such image can trigger different responses from the
consumers. To put in the same way, Aaker defined brand equity as a set of assets
and liabilities related to a brands name or symbol that add to the value provided
by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firms customers. He also
proposes a model for the consumer-based brand equity, which categorizes four
components for the brand equity including brand awareness, perceived quality,
brand association and brand loyalty.
Kotler and Keller further argued that brand equity is an important intangible asset
that has psychological and financial value to the firm and has effect on
consumers response to the certain brands product purchase.



14 | P a g e


Effects of promotional activities on Brand Equity

Brand equity is seen as the outcome of long term marketing efforts operated to
build a sustainable , differential advantage relative to competitors . Yoo
suggests, any marketing actions will affect on customers brand knowledge e.g.,
psychological perception, which is result in a positive or negative impact on brand
equity.
Moreover, According to Keller a brand is said to have a positive (negative)
customer-based brand equity if consumers react more or less favorably to the
product, price, promotion, or distribution of the brand than they do to same
marketing mix element when it is attributed to a fictitiously names or unnamed
version of the product or service
Thus, this study will select the following 6 promotional activities which can affect
on the perceptions of consumers as well as brand equity; they are advertising,
world of mouth, celebrity endorsement, sales promotion, store image, and event
sponsorship. These selected activities are represented as the most popular
marketing activities that marketers apply frequently in China when marketing
products and services.








15 | P a g e

Aakers model




According to Aaker ,, it includes four categories, which are brand awareness,
,perceived quality, and brand identity, ,brand loyalty ..

The higher a brand has brand equity, the higher they have brand awareness,
perceived quality, strong brand associations and brand loyalty .In this research
study, it will utilize the four components of brand equity to investigate the effect
of brand equity on consumer buying behaviour.




16 | P a g e

Brand Awareness

According to Aaker , brand awareness is the ability of a potential buyer
to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product category.
That is to say, brand awareness is the capability of knowledge and identification
of certain brand retrieved under some situations. Aaker further points out that
Awareness is measured according to the different ways in which consumers
remember a brand,
ranging from recognition to recall to top of mind to dominant ( Aaker, 2002). As
Chernatony and McDonald said brand recognition refers to the consumers
ability to recall previous exposure or experience with the brand, brand recall
refers to the consumers ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given
the product category as a cuee. ..In the agreement, Baker states that brand
awareness refers to the strength of presence of a brand in the consumers mind
and the extent to which they are able to recognize or recall a brand name. In
other words, the brand awareness is how much consumers familiar with the
brand.

Brand awareness effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker , brand awareness has significant impact on the consumer
buying behaviour. Firstly, a high level of awareness of a brand that consumers
have, the high level the brand will be considered when they choose to buy .It is
because in relation to the consumer buying process, brand awareness plays an
important role when have intention to buy something for needs.

Pitta and Katsanis point out that in the classic consumer behaviour model,
consumers who recognize a problem needed to be served always engage in
routine product choice when they have high level of that product categorys
brand awareness; in more specific it is related to the brand recall, or at least
considering that brand as alternative product choice.

17 | P a g e

That is to say, on the one hand, consumers always are passive recipient of
product information and are reluctant to spend much time and effort for choosing
brand . Therefore, the brand awareness will lead them to choose most familiar
brand that they have knowledge of; on the other hand, in fact, in the consumer
decision making process, consumers always have many alternatives to be
considered. Because recall determines which alternatives are generated, those
not recalled cannot be part of the consideration set of products, thus, the recalled
brand will have the advantage to be the opportunity last choice.

Thus, brand awareness is crucial to getting into this consideration set as the brand
lacks of the awareness may not has the opportunity to be considered for buying.
For example, if a consumer wants to buy a laptop, the first brands that come up
to the consumers mind will have an advantage, which will be considered to buy.
The same point is also presented by Kotler and Keller that is a high level of brand
awareness might affect consumer choices among brands in the consideration set
and the product category, even if there are no other associations linked to those
brands. That is to say, brand awareness is sufficient to result in more favorable
consumer response, for example, consumers are more likely to base their choices
merely on familiar brands.

Second, brand awareness provides a brand with a sense of familiarity, which is
brand recognition and people like the familiar .In other words, the consumers will
be stimulated by the familiarity of such brand when they want to purchase
something. Moreover, brand awareness can serve to brand extension . That is to
say when firm develop sub-brand for products, the more awareness of host-brand
will lead to the acceptance of this sub-brand. This will result in the increase of the
sales. Diet Coke is a good example, which sales benefits from the Coke brand.
Therefore, the more the consumer is aware of the product, the greater the
possibility that the consumer will purchase the product.




18 | P a g e

Perceived Quality

Perceived quality can be defined as the customers perception of the overall
quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose,
relative to alternatives.
It is a higher-level abstraction rather than a specific attribute of a product. Various
attributes and relevant benefits create a perception of quality in consumers
mind. In other words, perceived quality is the consumers judgement about a
products overall excellence or superiority. It is a significant factor in building
brand equity

Perceived quality effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker ,first of all, a brands perceived quality provides the value for
consumers to buy such brands products. It is because consumers always make
buying decisions rely on the feeling of the basic characteristics of the product to
which the brand is attached such as the reliability of the product since they
always cannot experience the product before they buy it.

Namely, perceived quality is related to the consumer purchasing decision making
process. In other words, consumer always prefer to donate less time and effort
for gaining the information which can assess the products quality, as a result, the
observation of the certain brand might be a determination of the final decision
making .

Occasionally, consumers may not be able to possess the access or not be able to
judge the information about the products quality. Thus, perceived quality
becomes the important factor affecting the final brand choice. On the other hand,
through the buying decision making process, the perceived quality can contribute
to the evaluation stage .The consideration sets of the brands will be narrow down
when the above conditions occurs. In the agreement, Sethuraman and Cole assert
that perceived quality is central to the theory that a strong perceived quality adds
value to consumers purchase evaluations and willing to pay for a brand.
19 | P a g e


Secondly, a perceived quality may result in a willingness of consumer for buying a
brand for a price premium. That is to say, if a brands perceived quality is good in
mind of customers, then the customer may be more willing to buy such brand
even the brands price is higher then others. Therefore, it will create a premium
profits for the firm compared to other firms, which can indeed provide resources
with which to reinvest in the brand, such as R&D activities, brand enhancing
activities. As Sethuraman and Cole state that perceived quality explains a
considerable portion of the variance in the price premium consumers are willing
to pay for well known brands.

Moreover, perceived quality can also be meaningful to retailers, distributors, and
other channel members .Obviously, the channel members are motivated to carry
brands that are well-regarded, which customers want. Therefore, well perceived
quality will gain greater trade cooperation and support and in turn adds the
customer base.

In addition, perceived quality can be exploited by introducing brand extensions,
using the brand name to enter new product categories .In other words, well
brand with respect to perceived quality will have higher success probability than a
weaker brand in terms of brand extension as the consumer would appreciate that
brands product, which in turn elicits more purchasing behaviour

Briefly, perceived quality is usually at the heart of what consumers are buying,
enhanced perceived quality adds a convincible reason for consumers to make
final purchase decision








20 | P a g e

Brand Association

Aaker claims that brand association is the category of a brands implications
which include anything linked in memory to a brand. Keller defines brand
associations as informational nodes linked to the brand in consumers mind,
which will transfer the meaning to consumer for that brand. Aaker further argues
that a set of brand associations compose the brand image, which is organized in
some meaningful way.

Moreover, Keller states that brand association can be classified into three major
scopes including attributes, benefits, and attitudes. According to Keller ,
attributes refer to descriptive characteristics that consumers think of in the mind
towards certain brands product, which is formed by product-related attributes,
non product- related attributes, feeling and experiences, and brand personality;
benefits is related how consumers value the offer of a brands products, namely,
it is the perception of consumers about what the products can do for them;
attitudes are defined as the overall evaluation of a brand, which is most
important in consumers brand choice decision making.

Lamb Jr and Low further argues that brand association can be measured by the
brand image, brand attitude and perceived quality.

The brand image is defined by the Dobni and Zinkhan is the reasoned or
emotional perceptions consumers attach to specific brands. In line with the Dohni
and Zinkhan, Keller suggest that brand image is the perceptions about a brand
as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory.

Brand association effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker, brand association can help customer process information. In
the reality, consumers may not have process and access to perceive or obtain
some facts about the brands, and to communicate such things may high cost for
the companies.
21 | P a g e

Therefore, the brand with high level of association will contribute to facilitate
consumer for gaining the meaning of the brand. For example, the Volvo brand
always is associated with safety, however, such meanings is difficult for customers
to perceive before they have experience. Therefore, Volvo is benefited from such
brand association for retrieving the information in mind of consumers.

However, it depends on the past marketing investment towards that brand. On
the other hand, brand association can help consumers retrieve the information
about certain brand .

That is to say, if a brand associates with something, the consumer will easily
reflect such things in the mind when they confront the brand in some situations.
Brand association also involve product attributes or customer benefits that
provide a specific reason to buy and use the brand . They also represent a basis
for purchase decisions and brand loyalty. For example, Colgate provides clean,
white teeth. Some associations influence purchase decisions by providing
credibility and confidence in the brand. That is to say, customers regard the brand
association to some extent as references, which making them feel more
comfortable for purchasing that brand. As Kolter further argued that the brand
associations convey not only the concept but also the meaning of the product in
terms of how it fulfils a customers needs.












22 | P a g e

Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty has been defined as the inclination of a customer to keep on
purchasing the same brand . Dick and Basu stated that brand loyalty is the
strength of the relationship between an individuals attitude towards a brand and
repeat purchasing. Schiffman and Kanuk described a consistent preference and
purchase of the same brand in a specific service or product category as brand
loyalty. Gilbert defined it as consumers purchasing the same brand of product on
most occasions or on a regular basis. Therefore, as the definitions above-
mentioned, brand loyalty exist when a customer buy one brand of product or
service again and again. Aaker argued that brand loyalty of the consumer base is
the core of a brands equity, which is critical to maintain brand equity.

Brand loyalty effect on consumer behaviour

On the one hand, brand loyalty will lead consumers to purchase the same brands
products which will in turn reduces the marketing costs of doing business. Kolter
argued that it costs the average company six times more to attract a new
customer than to hold a current one. It is because potential new customers
usually lack motivation to change from current brands as change a brand often
has risks from them.

Reichheld argued that a successful brand introduces stability into the business,
once customers have made a decision about a brand and its associations, they are
often loyal to that brand, continue to buy it in the future, recommend it to
friends, and choose the products over others, even those with better features or
lower prices. Consequently, it will increase the profitability for the firm. On the
other hand, brand loyalty can contribute to the maintaining of the market share
as other companies enter the market. It is because the loyal consumer will insist
to the brand they previously choose as they are risk aversion and want to avoid
swishing cost.

23 | P a g e

As Raj said the more loyal customers the firms have, the more stable the brands
market share and the less vulnerable it will be to competitive. Moreover, brand
loyalty can help firms attracting new customers. Keller states that a customer
base with segments that are satisfied and others that like the brand can provide
assurance to a prospective customer, especially when the purchase is somewhat
risky. It is because the acceptance of the brand by a group of existing customers
can be an effective message through world of mouth effect. It can also create
brand awareness from the customer base, which in turn path a way for attracting
new customers .

Finally, brand loyalty provides a firm with time to respond to competitive moves
(Aaker,1991). For example, if a competitor develops a superior product, a loyal
following will allow the firm time needed for the product improvements to be
matched or neutralized as loyal, satisfied customers will not be looking for new
products, and thus may not learn of advancement.

Briefly, brand loyalty will result in consumers continue to buy the brand in the
future, recommend it to friends, and choose the products over others, even those
with better features or lower price.










24 | P a g e

Summary

Brand equity is one of the significant concepts in brand management, as well as in
business practice and academic research. Developing and properly managing
brand equity has been emphasized as an important issue for most firms. Brand
equity can be classified into three main perspectives i.e., customers-based
perspective, financial perspective and combined perspective.

Moreover, brand equity is considered as multidimensional concept and a complex
phenomenon. According to Aaker that, brand equity consist of five dimensions:
brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and other
brand propriety assets. Brand awareness is defined as the ability of a buyer to
recognize or re call that brand is a member of certain product category, and it is
considered as the first and fundamental attribute of customer brand equity.
Beside, Brand association is described as anything linked in memory to a brand
and brand image is as seen as a set of associations, usually related in some
meaningful way, it is the outcome of high brand awareness, is positively relate
to brand equity.

Subsequently, perceived quality is not the real quality of product, but the
consumer subjective assessment of that product; it is the core construct in the
study to measuring brand equity. However, brand loyalty is different from other
brand equity dimensions, because it is associated with usage experience, as well
as it results in three given brand equity dimensions-i.e. brand awareness, brand
association and perceived quality.

Brand loyalty is a concept that firms emphasize, since it may create or sustain a
customers' patronage over the long-term, thereby increase brand equity. Brand
equity is seen as the outcome of long term marketing efforts operated to build a
sustainable, differential advantage relative to competitors, any marketing actions
will affect on customers brand knowledge. Advertising is the most popular
marketing activities, it can create long-term brand image for a product (service)
or trigger quick sales, as well as it may positive effects on all elements of the
brand knowledge.
25 | P a g e

Compared with others, Compared with other promotional activities, Word of
mouth is a low-cost and reliable way of spreading information or experiences
regarding products or services thus it is believed as a key issue in information or
experience diffusion in consumer markets as well as shaping consumers
expectation. firms invite a celebrity to endorse their brand; they expect the brand
will be acquired from customer's awareness of a celebrity, which could include
perceived quality, educational value and a positive image

























26 | P a g e

Conclusion

Strong brand equity allows the companies to retain customers better, provide
service much effectively, and increase marginal profits. Brand equity can be
increased by successfully implementing and managing an on going marketing
effort by offering more value to the customer, and listening to their needs. Brand
equity factors influencing customer purchase decision criterion has been
discussed. The study concluded that brand managers efforts should be focused
on customer loyalty, trustworthiness, , brand distinctions and innovative features
in managing brand equity, appropriate marketing mix should be focused to
exploit brand equity in terms of the purchase decisions and repetitive sales of the
products. It can be concluded that it's not only the marketer name which create
a brand image in the mind of customer but dealer name can also influence also
develop the brand image attributes.
















27 | P a g e

Bibliology

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_equity

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_loyalty

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaker_model

5. http://www.studymarketing.org/articles/Brand_Management

6. http://www.managementstudyguide.com/brand-
associstion.html

7. http://www.researchersworld.com/vol2/PAPER_04.pdf



BOOKS REFERED:

Marketing Management
13
th
Edition
By Philip Kotler
Kevin Lane Keller
Abraham Koshy
Mithileshwar Jha