Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. ........................................................................................................................................ and items .................................................................................................................32 * The authors wish to thank Keith Crosier for his valuable comments and contribution 2 Abstract Purpose -To develop and empirically test a conceptual framework explaining the influence of the sales force and two elements of the marketing mix on brand equity, in the context of business-to-business marketing.
Terms of use:
Documents in EconStor mayDesign/methodology/approach -A conceptual framework of four drivers of B-to-B brand equity was built from a review of the relevant literature and various other theoretical sources.Six research hypotheses were generated, and tested by partial least squares analysis of a sample of 201 respondents in B-to-B firms in Germany.
Findings -The results confirm the high relevance of the sales force to the building and maintenance of a strong B-to-B brand. The most important driver of brand equity in this environment is the salesperson"s behaviour, followed by the salesperson"s personality, product quality and non-personal marketing communications, in that order. Practical implications -Effective management of a B-to-B brand is impossible without the support of the sales force. The study furthermore confirms that brand equity can also be influenced by the two elements of the marketing mix investigated: the product and marketing communications. It also offers an alternative approach to the measurement of brand equity in B-to-B marketing.
Research limitations -Originality/value -This is the first study to test empirically the widely claimed influence of the sales force on B-to-B brand equity, developing a simple but powerful framework to integrate sales management and brand management in this context.