A model to investigate the influence of marketing-mix efforts and corporate image on brand equity in the IT software sector

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Brand equity Industrial branding Dimensions of brand equity Marketing-mix efforts Corporate image A model is developed to examine the relationships among marketing-mix efforts (channel performance, value-oriented price, promotion, and after-sales service), corporate image, three dimensions of brand equity (brand awareness with associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty), and market performance. The model considers three distinctive aspects of business markets. After-sales service is taken as a key marketing-mix effort. Corporate image is placed as a mediator from the marketing-mix efforts to the dimensions of brand equity. Personal selling is defined as a main component of promotion. The model is tested in the context of a Korean IT software sector. The test results show that all the marketing-mix efforts positively affect the overall value of brand equity, which is a proxy of market performance, via the three dimensions of brand equity. Corporate image mediates the effect of the marketing-mix efforts on the three dimensions of brand equity. A product is branded when target buyers learn about the product and, as a result, store in their memory knowledge structures of the These knowledge structures increase the value buyers obtain from the product by influencing their thinking, feeling and doing with respect to the product. Thus, the product is of more value when it is branded than unbranded, and this greater value is referred to as brand equity When the brand equity of a product is high enough, target buyers behave positively towards the product. For example, they pay more for the product, purchase it repeatedly, engage in favorable word-of-mouth behaviors, and so on (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 2008). In this respect, a firm can enhance its competitive position and increase financial performance by making its brand stronger. Brand equity as sourced from the knowledge structures may be characterized by a set of dimensions. According to Aaker (1996), these dimensions include brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Keller (2008) proposes six dimensions of brand equity, arranged in four hierarchical levels: salience in the bottom level, performance and image in the next level, judgment and feeling in the second-to-top level, and resonance in the top level. Consumer choice is much affected by brand equity characterized as such, and thus those in consumer markets are fully aware of the need On the other hand, brand equity is relatively downplayed in business markets …