Shopper Marketing Moderators of the Brand Equity – Behavioral Loyalty Relationship

41 Pages Posted: 7 Dec 2017

See all articles by Vijay Ganesh Hariharan

Vijay Ganesh Hariharan

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Business Economics

Kalpesh Desai

University of Missouri at Kansas City - Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration

Debabrata Talukdar

State University of New York at Buffalo - School of Management

Jeffrey Inman

University of Pittsburgh - Katz Graduate School of Business

Date Written: December 2, 2017

Abstract

The branding literature assumes that the higher a brand’s equity, the greater is its behavioral loyalty. In this research, we develop a conceptual framework that explains the off-diagonal relationship between brand equity and behavioral loyalty (i.e., high equity but poor loyalty and vice versa) by identifying five shopper marketing related factors that potentially moderate this relationship. We adopt a multi-method approach by mailing surveys to collect shoppers’ attitudinal data on brand equity and the moderators for ten brands in two product categories, and then merging it with each household’s corresponding purchase data from a frequent shopper scanner panel to empirically test our framework. Findings reveal that approximately 40% of consumers exhibit high brand equity but low behavioral loyalty or vice versa. The relationship between brand equity and behavioral loyalty is accentuated by perceived in-store presence and importance of brand choice decision, and attenuated by the brand equity of competitors. Our findings provide several implications for brand manufacturers to address specific moderators and to highlight in advertising distinct dimensions of brand equity in different contexts and for retailers for their assortment, promotion and product placement decisions to strengthen the brand equity-behavioral loyalty relationship.

Suggested Citation

Hariharan, Vijay Ganesh and Desai, Kalpesh and Talukdar, Debabrata and Inman, Jeffrey, Shopper Marketing Moderators of the Brand Equity – Behavioral Loyalty Relationship (December 2, 2017). Journal of Business Research, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3081509

Vijay Ganesh Hariharan (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Business Economics ( email )

Netherlands

Kalpesh Desai

University of Missouri at Kansas City - Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration ( email )

Kansas City, MO 64110
United States

Debabrata Talukdar

State University of New York at Buffalo - School of Management ( email )

Jacobs Management Center
Buffalo, NY 14260
United States

Jeffrey Inman

University of Pittsburgh - Katz Graduate School of Business ( email )

Pittsburgh, PA 15260
United States

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