Demystifying brand equity

Brand equity has received considerable attention in the marketing literature in recent years. Much of this attention has focused on developing alternative theoretical definitions of brand equity; as a result, some confusion surrounds the implications of brand equity issues in marketing research applications. The role of brand names in consumer purchase decision-making processes is discussed and a framework within which brand equity issues can be examined by marketing researchers is provided. The primary mechanism of linking a brand name with use properties is product usage. First, assuming the usage experience for a consumer is successful, the brand name can be used by the consumer as an indicator or predictor of future satisfactory product performance.