The Differences Between the Attitudes of Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Forming Consumer Based Brand Equity

In Turkey, men establish more businesses than women do and women play a different role in establishing a business and entrepreneurship. According to studies carried out, the businesses women establish focus on a limited number of sectors (Aslesen, 1998; Spilling and Jordfald, 1996, Soysal, 2010), are relatively small-scale and have a slight tendency to grow. On the other hand, male entrepreneurs operate in a wide range of sectors (Spilling and Jordfald, 1996; Özen Kutanis, 2009, Soysal, 2010b). Along with the developments in technology and cultural expectations after 1980s, the status of entrepreneurs improved in society. In relation to these developments, it has also been observed that the number of female entrepreneurs have increased rapidly (Ljunggren and Kolvereid, 1996, Morçin, 2013). Along with this, the number of female entrepreneurs creating successful brands in various sectors also increased. There are four different components in forming consumer based brand equity. These are brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty (Aaker, 1991). While entrepreneurs are creating the brand equity of their own business, which of these components they focus on more can vary. In this study, whether the male and female entrepreneurs who achieved to be a brand in various sectors differ from each other in terms of the importance they attach to consumer based brand equity dimensions in creating the brand equity of their own businesses is aimed to be determined.