Pascale Quester

Consumer‐based brand equity: improving the measurement – empirical evidence

Purpose – The present research aims to improve the measurement of consumer‐based brand equity. Current measurement of consumer‐based brand equity suffers from limitations, including: a lack of distinction between the dimensions brand awareness and brand associations, the use of non‐discriminant indicators in the measurement scales and of student samples.Design/methodology/approach – Based on the recommendations of extant research, the scale constructed to measure consumer‐based brand equity in this study included brand personality measures. Brand associations were measured using a different set of items. Unlike many of the previous studies that had used student samples, the present study used a sample of actual consumers from an Australian state capital city. Confirmatory factor analysis employing structural equations modelling was used to measure consumer‐based brand equity in two product categories and across six brands.Findings – Results support the hypothesised four‐dimension model of consumer‐based b...

The influence of consumption situation and product involvement over consumers’ use of product attribute

A conjoint analysis study of consumers’ choice of a popular product examined whether consumption situation and involvement influenced significantly the importance allocated by consumers to a number of key attributes determined by a sample of experts and product users. A large sample drawn from diverse wine retail outlets was asked to rank ten hypothetical wine products, the purchase of which related to three different consumption situations. While price remained the most important factor overall, all three other attributes were ranked differently depending upon the intended usage situation and the level of product involvement exhibited by respondents.

Product involvement/brand loyalty: is there a link?

In an empirical examination of the link between product involvement and brand loyalty, a convenience sample of 253 students were asked to complete a questionnaire relating to two products which had been found in preliminary qualitative research to be associated with contrasted levels of involvement. The factor structure of involvement was found to vary between the two product categories (sneakers and pens). Furthermore, the link between product involvement and brand loyalty was found to involve different aspects of product involvement for each of the products concerned. Hence, future researchers in the area should be mindful that product involvement and brand loyalty are not universal constructs: they should be examined within specific consumer and product parameters.

Consumer‐based brand equity and country‐of‐origin relationships

– The objective of the present research is to examine the impact of the country of origin of a brand on its consumer‐based equity., – Brand equity was conceptualized in this paper as a combination of brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and attitudinal brand loyalty. A doubly multivariate design was incorporated in a structured questionnaire to collect data via mall intercepts in an Australian capital city., – Multivariate analysis of variance of the data indicated that consumer‐based brand equity varied according to the country of origin of the brand and product category. This impact of country of origin on brand equity occurred where consumers perceived substantive differences between the countries in terms of their product category‐country associations., – An important direction for future research would be to examine how the consumer‐based equity of a brand would be affected, if the country of origin were changed from a country with weaker association with the product category to a country with strong association with the product category. The results would be useful to MNCs contemplating international manufacturing., – Marketing managers operating in the international context must identify the sources of brand equity, and understand the importance of incorporating country of origin into their brand equity measurement. Further, the results suggest that, when a brand offers a variety of product categories, brand managers should monitor and track the brands consumer‐based equity for each product category., – The present study is one of the first to empirically examine and confirm the impact of country of origin on the consumer‐based equity of a brand.

Advertising and Promotion Leverage on Arts Sponsorship Effectiveness

ABSTRACT Using an experimental approach, the returns achieved by three sponsors of the 1998 Adelaide Festival of the Arts are examined. Using a before-and-after design with a control group, a mail survey measured the change in attitudes to, and awareness of, three particular sponsors and their sponsorship efforts, by members of the audience who attended one of these sponsored events, and corresponding results for a non-attending control group. Results showed conclusively that sponsorship effectiveness is directly related to the degree to which the sponsors are willing to leverage their investment with additional advertising and promotional activities and expenditure.

Competitive advantage through sponsorship: A conceptual model and research propositions

The increasingly important role played by sponsorship in the marketing mix has given rise to the view that it should be considered a strategic activity with the potential to generate a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. This paper extends that line of argument through the development of a conceptual model of the sponsorship – competitive advantage relationship. In particular, it argues that two levels of competitive advantage need to be considered, namely the competitive advantage of the sponsorship and competitive advantage in the market. Critical to attaining an advantage in the competitive world of sponsorship is the deployment of a range of organisational resources to support the sponsorship investment. A series of research propositions are advanced showing the relative importance of different organisational resources. Effectively resourced sponsorships generate a competitive advantage in the “market” for sponsorships, which in turns leads to competitive advantage and superior performance in product markets. The implications for research and practice are discussed and conclusions are drawn.

Segmentation by Involvement or Nationality for Global Retailing: A Cross-national Comparative Study of Wine Shopping Behaviours

In a study examining wine retail choices of two samples from two different countries (France and Australia), the authors examined the respective contribution of involvement and nationality as segmentation variables. The results suggest that while French wine shoppers differ somewhat from their Australian counterparts, strategies aimed at identifying high-involvement wine consumers may be more successful on a global scale. Whilst there are none to date, this study suggests that there is scope for the development of global wine retailers.

The effects of market orientation on trust and commitment

There is little empirical research that examines the effects of marketing orientation on the two most important relationship marketing concepts, namely trust and commitment. In this paper, the sponsorship relationship is the focus of an empirical investigation aimed at uncovering the potential effect of market orientation, exhibited by both parties of the sponsorship dyad, upon trust and commitment. By selecting the leading sponsorship property in Australia, the Australian Football League, the majority of key Australian sponsors were included in this study, allowing the authors to draw managerial implications of direct relevance to other sponsors and properties aiming to secure long lasting sponsorship relationships.

Brand association and memory decay effects of sponsorship: : the case of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix

Corporate managers often invest in sponsorship as a means of associating a firm, its name or its brands, with a particular sport or event. The strength of that association should therefore be a measure of sponsorship success. In this study, four consecutive years of data collected at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix were used to examine the issue, based on brand recall/association and memory decay as a surrogate indicator of the strength of association. From the literature, several factors were hypothesised to influence positively the strength of brand association and three out of four were confirmed as determinants of this performance indicator. The implications of these findings are considered in the light of sponsorship management practices.

Integrating sports sponsorship into the corporate marketing function: an international comparative study

While sports sponsorship has attracted strong interest and increasing investment from marketing professionals, the literature seldom investigates empirically the process by which sports sponsorship decisions are made. Using a survey of sponsorship decision makers in North America and Australia, presents a number of interesting differences with respect to the sponsorship practices of the two samples. Examines the manner in which corporations integrate sponsorship into the broader marketing function at different levels of the organizational structure, and their inclination to do so. Considers managerial implications and the directions which future research in this area should take.