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The main purpose of this study is to decompose the concept of country of origin (COO) and to investigate the influence of country of brand (COB) and country of manufacture (COM) on brand equity formation. Moreover, the secondary aim of this research is to examine the moderating role of product involvement.

To accomplish this, a conceptual framework was designed and relationships between its constructs (COB image, COM image, brand equity dimensions, overall brand equity) were hypothesized. Data were collected from Iranian students who were the owners of selected brands of laptops and mobile phones. All hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL.

As a result of exploratory factor analysis, three factors, namely brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand association/awareness were introduced for the brand equity dimensions. Results indicated that unlike COM, COB has a direct and significant effect on brand loyalty and COB positively influences perceived quality and brand awareness or association. Brand loyalty has a positive and direct effect on the overall brand equity. The results also indicate the moderating effect of product involvement on relationships between COB and brand equity dimensions.

This study only investigates in the country of origin of the product. The effect of laptops and mobile phones from a student's point of view were not taken into consideration, which includes other controlled variables (e.g. income, gender) and moderating factors (e.g. product familiarity).

This paper is important in order to identify the effect of brand equity formation from the point of view of young Iranian consumers. Product involvement effect is another important case in this research.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key determinants of the information value of enterprises’ micro-blogs, drawing on the consumer’s perspective. This paper examines the effects of such information value on consumers’ purchase intention through the building of online brand equity. The paper also investigates how perceived usefulness intervenes in the relationship between micro-blog information value and consumer purchase intention.

The proposed research model is examined empirically using a survey of 315 users of the Sina micro-blog. The statistical analysis applies a method based on variance using partial least squares.

The results show that online retailers’ micro-blog posts, which are characterized by informativeness and persuasiveness as perceived by customers, positively impact online retailers’ brand equity, which in turn influences consumer purchase intention. In addition, perceived information usefulness is found to be an important contextual factor that moderates the relationship between perceived persuasiveness and online retailer brand equity.

This work adds significance to the literature by extending the research on micro-blog marketing and also provides practical recommendations for online retailers on the operation of micro-blogs.

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 brand's 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.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of customer equity on the brand-switching behaviour of millennial Muslim consumers in Pakistan and Malaysia using the theory of planned behaviour framework.

Data were collected from 706 millennial Muslim consumers from two universities in each country through a self-administered questionnaire using a multi-cluster probability sampling and were analysed using structural equation modelling.

The findings demonstrate that the customer equity dimensions (awareness of American brands, perceived quality and image of American brands) are significantly different between the two countries, and moreover, customer equity strongly influences the brand-switching intention behaviour in both countries, and this consequently influences the actual brand-switching behaviour.

This study is important for those firms who have many prospective switchers and Muslim consumers, because it is essential to understand why brand-switching behaviour occurs, and to what extent such firms can discourage such consumers from leaving the brand.

This is the first paper of its kind to examine the brand-switching behaviour of millennial Muslim consumers in two different cultures.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a brand equity measurement model in the consumers’ mind. The measurement model separates the perceptual component of the behaviour component of individuals in their preferences for brands. That is, as a result of a set of perceptions, consumers create a brand equity that will be realised in loyal behaviour and in their willingness to pay a premium price for a brand.

A measurement model of brand equity using the methodology of SEM is proposed. Two samples were used, one for the estimation and another one for the validation of the proposed model, with 272 observations each. The sample is constituted by consumers of five denim clothing brands that have their own chain of stores in Portugal.

Results show that the model is statistically valid and that perceptual aspects should be separated from behavioural aspects in brand equity measurement based on consumers’ mind.

The originality of the model is the division of constructs into perceptual constructs (inputs), and of behaviour constructs (outputs) of brand equity. By doing this, the model tries to answer two important aspects of entrepreneurial management: which are the explanatory variables of brand equity and how could that be translated into an answer, for the consumer.

The aim of this paper is to provide evidence that private label brands (PLB) have the ability to build brand equity as they develop, and to determine whether the capitalization of PLB equity varies across consumer segments and product categories. The paper builds on previous research incorporating consumer‐level factors, showing their relevance as key determinants of PLB choice.

The brand choice model used is a multinomial logit model (MNL) calibrated with a consumer panel database of two product lines of yoghurt from 8,000 Spanish households for a three‐year period.

It is shown that PLB have been able to build brand equity throughout their development, across product categories; however, brand equity is capitalized across only some consumer segments. The use of consumer‐level factors to segment the market prior to measuring brand equity is necessary to allow the identification of consumer groups where equity is created.

Findings provide key directions to PLB managers regarding how to determine, approach and leverage the equity of their PLB across different consumer segments and product categories.

Prior research has attempted to measure PLB equity using product/brand factors and market factors, but without considering consumer‐level factors. In this research, consumer‐level factors, specifically consumer demographics, are incorporated into the analysis, and equity is measured across seven different consumer segments for two product lines.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of retailer personality on consumer‐based retailer equity.

The authors developed a retailer personality scale and find its impact on consumer‐based retailer equity by adopting the scale developed by Pappu and Quester. A mall‐intercept survey was undertaken using a systematic sampling of department store shoppers of age 18 years and above in a metropolitan city, Kolkata, India. The questionnaire was used to collect data from seven department retail brands. The impact of each retailer personality dimension on each consumer‐based retailer equity dimension was explored, using structural equation modeling.

The study proposed a five‐dimensional scale to measure department store personality. Results indicated that the three dimensions of store personality, namely sophistication, dependability and empathy, have significant positive impact on each consumer‐based retailer equity dimension except one (empathy→retailer loyalty). The remaining two dimensions of retailer personality, namely authenticity and vibrancy, have no impact on each consumer‐based retailer dimension.

The paper is the first to propose a scale for measuring department store personality and to explore the link between retailer personality and consumer‐based retailer equity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of celebrity endorser credibility on consumer self-brand connection and endorsed brand equity. A conceptual model is developed, positioning consumer self-brand connections as a partial mediator of the effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity.

A cross-sectional survey of 382 consumers of sports drinks in the USA was conducted to estimate the conceptual model. Stimuli, devised on the basis of a pre-test, involved celebrity–brand pairings in the context of the US non-aseptic sports drinks industry. Structural equation modeling is used as the analytic tool.

The research model is empirically supported. Celebrity endorsements impact endorsed brand equity via two pathways. First, a direct effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity was observed, which is positively moderated by the degree of consumer-perceived endorser–brand congruence. Second, self-brand connection partly mediates the effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity, supporting an indirect mechanism of brand equity enhancement.

Managers can now consider using celebrities as tools to develop meaningful self-concept-related connections with consumers. Additionally, the results of this study support for the use of celebrity endorsers as direct brand equity-enhancing tools.

This study is among pioneering investigations that examine the self-concept repercussions of celebrity endorsements, suggesting that celebrity endorsers possess the ability to engage with consumers at the self-concept level, in turn, impacting endorsed brand equity. Additionally, this paper examines the direct and indirect mechanisms by which celebrities influence consumer-based brand equity of the endorsed brand.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the existence and strength of the relationship between proactive environmental policies and brand equity for the winery. Results of this study suggest that consumer perceptions about product quality, consumer trust, consumer perceptions about pricing, and positive expectations for the consequences of the winery's actions undertaking the pro‐environmental policies, all have strong, positive relationships with the winery's brand equity. Trust in the winery and brand equity for the winery increased significantly when the winery in this study adopted proactive environmental business policies.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand an increasingly widespread practice consisting, of a brand, in signaling the domestic origin of its products aimed at domestic consumers, that is, the “made in the domestic country” (MIDC) strategy. To this end, it is proposed to analyze the MIDC label as a cue interacting with the brand’s characteristics (brand equity and country of origin of the brand).

A between-subjects experiment is conducted among 293 French consumers on four different brands of pasta. The overall design is a 2 (with/without the MIDC label) × 2 (high/low brand equity) × 2 (domestic/foreign brand) mixed design.

The results show that intention to buy the product increases significantly with the presence of the MIDC label, but not so willing to pay. The positive effect on buying intention is greater when: the product has rather low brand equity, consumer ethnocentrism is high and/or consumers are strongly attached to their national identity.

The present research extends the literature on country-of-origin effects by taking into account the role of the brand equity of the product. However, the study focused on only one low-involvement product category (pasta) and one country (France).

This study shows that adding an MIDC label to the product is empirically justified.

While moderate or high scores on “patriotic” variables reinforce the positive impact of the MIDC label, low scores reverse the trend, that is, cause rejection.