A classificatory scheme for antecedents of the sources of “online brand equity”

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to systematically review and summarize the literature addressing various sources of online brand equity. The evolution of social media, online forums and virtual communities drive the diversity in nomenclature of online marketing variables. Different researchers have used different marketing variables to indicate the same source of online brand equity. The definitions of the marketing variables change with the change in context, due to the complex e-commerce environment. The marketing variables used in different studies have lead to a conceptual overlap and repetitiveness. Design/methodology/approach – This confusion is sought to be classified by the proposed classificatory scheme that used content analysis of 42 previous studies. The definitions of the antecedents of sources of the online brand equity used by the authors are analyzed with the help of content analysis to summarize the marketing variables in a meaningful way. Findings – The paper identifies 15 major marketing variables by authors in their studies related to various sources of online brand equity. The final list contains 13 frequently used variables which also comprises variables which are evolving due to the dynamic e-commerce environment like the feeling of “virtual-real”. Practical implications – The variables identified can be used by the businesses as a check list to their marketing activities. Originality/value – This is the first paper which identifies and clarifies the ambiguity present in the application of the various online marketing variables.

The Rise and Development of FinTech

“…Loyalty is affected by "customization" as it indicates superior quality while contributing toward matching customers with products (Coelho and Henseler, 2012). Moreover, "customization" provides the perception of increased choice by placing focus on what the customer wants (Rana, Bhat, and Rani, 2015). Nevertheless, too extensive a selection is likely to exasperate customers, which may prompt them to only look for the simplest solution at their disposal (Rubio, Villaseñor, and Yagüe, 2017).…”

Antecedents of Consumer-Based Electronic Retail Brand Equity: An Integrated Model

“…For example, a meta-analytic literature review of online service quality did not identify overall brand equity or any of its dimensions as one of the significant outcome variable (Blut, Chowdhry, Mittal, & Brock, 2015). Similarly, a recent review of the sources of online brand equity suggest that there are few studies which explicitly conceptualised and empirically tested the antecedents of consumer-based brand equity in an online context (Rana, Bhat, & Rani, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, the key objective of this research is to propose a model of consumer-based brand equity by synthesising and summarising the existing research on consumer-based e-retail brand equity. Based on the existing limited research, one can infer that e-retail service quality, trust, satisfaction, value, and loyalty are some of the most important predictors of overall consumer-based online brand equity (Rana et al, 2015).…”

Enhancing brand equity through branded content experience on social media: Developing and testing a moderated mediation model.

“…Secondly, this study builds on an emerging body of research that enhances scholarly understanding of how and under what conditions online brand equity is enhanced (Rana et al, 2015). While studies have focused on the conceptual network of factors that enhance brand equity on social media, existing research has not incorporated psychological processes, specifically, brand trust as an intervening factor between BCE and brand equity.…”

“…While studies have focused on the conceptual network of factors that enhance brand equity on social media, existing research has not incorporated psychological processes, specifically, brand trust as an intervening factor between BCE and brand equity. This study focuses on brand trust as a mediator because the extant literature suggests that trust enhances consumers’ peace of mind and thus results in more satisfaction, website usage, engagement, and brand equity (Rana et al, 2015). Hence, this study expects that brand trust mediates the relationship between BCE and brand equity.…”