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Brand equity has been highlighted as a crucial element in differentiating products and achieving competitive advantage. Recent studies reflect the gradual rise in interest in the importance of building brand equity linked to the store. However, empirical evidence about the antecedents of store brand equity is still scarce, particularly on the retailer’s corporate social responsibility behavior. This chapter aims to analyze the influence of the retailer’s commitment to sustainable development (RCSD) and the credibility of the retailer’s communications on the overall store brand equity. Focusing on two samples of hypermarket customers in France and Spain, the findings provide evidence on the importance of the RCSD regarding employees, society, and environment, as well as the effectiveness of credible communications to generate store brand equity. Results are consistent for France and Spain.

This study aims to assess how department store websites can add online retail brand equity. A quick, relatively easy and low-cost diagnostic tool for stakeholders (e.g. retailers, investors) is presented.

A content analysis of department store websites in the USA and Latin America was conducted.

The findings show that Latin American and US department store websites exhibit acceptable use of online retail brand equity dimensions related to emotional connection and trust. In contrast, compared to their US counterparts, Latin American department store websites show weak usage on some of the dimensions of responsive service nature, online experience and fulfillment. The results also show that higher online retail brand equity is positively associated with average daily time on site. This indicates the usefulness of this index for developing effective websites to creating online retail brand equity.

This study suggests that Latin American department stores should improve three dimensions of online retail brand equity: responsive service nature, online experience and fulfillment. The online retail brand equity index presented can serve as a diagnostic tool for department store managers to monitor the online retail brand equity they are building on their websites. It is also possible to analyze the websites of competing department stores and monitor the long-term impact of modifications made to their websites and those of competitors.

This paper proposes an easy-to-apply index to assess online retail brand equity through website design partially. In addition, this research is the first to evaluate how Latin American department store websites, compared to those in the USA, are building online retail brand equity.

The purpose of this paper is to tackle the issue of store brand equity by considering two store brand’s positioning strategies: those with high perceived added value (the organic store brands), as opposed to economic brands. It takes place in the current environmental considerations showing the important role played by the packaging in determining the store brand equity.

A PLS Path model divided into four sub-models enables the authors to make specific predictions about customers’ purchase intentions. It also provides a concise operational calculation of the brand equity of each studied store brand.

Results show that economic brands build their equity with reinforced packaging, and organic brands maximise their brand equity by using simple packaging. In general, reinforced packaging improves the perceived quality of economic store brands but destroys that of organic brands. The calculations of overall equity scores for each studied store brand reveal that economic brands could benefit from further development whilst organic brands already maximise their equity.

Results will enable large retailers to develop effective campaigns focussing on perceived quality and more specifically by designing packaging that are suitable for the positioning of their brands – a simple packaging for organic brands and a reinforced packaging for economic brands to maximise customers’ value.

This is one of the first studies to deepen the store brand equity, comparing two contrasting types of brands, by studying specifically variations of the levels of customers’ perceived quality depending of two types of packaging.

The evolution of private labels (PL) is a recent trend in the retail industry: many retailers now manage a PL portfolio that includes multiple value propositions, as well as various brand name strategies. Little research has been done, however, on how this combination of PL strategies conditions the results of the retailer that manages them. This study aims to examine the formation of PL brand equity and its effect on store loyalty for retailers with differently tiered PL programs (a “better” program with standard PL vs a full PL quality spectrum with economy, standard and premium PLs) and different PL naming strategies (store-banner name or stand-alone brand name).

A survey (N = 644) was used to test the model in the context of the consumer goods retail industry. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group structural equation modelling techniques were used to assess the proposed model.

The results show differences in the formation of PL loyalty based on whether the retailer has a tiered PL program. In portfolios with economy, standard and premium PLs, PL associations have a stronger effect than PL awareness in the formation of PL loyalty. Portfolios with a standard PL show balanced effects of PL associations and PL awareness on PL loyalty formation. As to the positive effect of PL brand equity on store loyalty, this study also shows a stronger effect of PL brand equity on store loyalty in chains that choose to use their store banner name in their PLs.

Retailers that manage multi-tier PL portfolios (as opposed to those that commercialise a standard PL) can increase loyalty to the PL portfolio significantly by constructing highly differentiated images of their economy, standard and premium PLs to ensure that consumers truly perceive the different value propositions of their PL tiers. As to PL naming strategy, the authors recommend that retailers that use the same retail chain name for one or several of their PLs invest in their corporate reputation to strengthen the brand equity achieved by their PLs and thus increase loyalty to the retail chain. Retailers must perform specific communication and advertising campaigns for PLs with the stand-alone brand name.

Today, any reference to PLs as a whole is overly simplistic, but no research has assessed empirically differences in the influences of a multi-tiered vs a standard PL program on the PL loyalty formation for PL portfolios. Nor has any empirical research incorporated the influence of PL naming strategy on store loyalty. This study fills these gaps, integrating into the same model two significant moderating variables of retailers’ strategy: their PL tier strategy and their PL naming strategy.

In the current dynamic and competitive environment in which retail companies operate, store equity is a differentiating factor. In view of the scarce research found regarding the links between the variables traditionally related to brand equity (store awareness, store image, store perceived quality and store loyalty) and innovation, sustainability and the global retail equity, this study aims to examine these links in depth.

For a sample of 510 customers of grocery retail establishments and with the help of a structured questionnaire, the relationships between the variables defined in this research were examined using a structural equations model.

The authors find evidence in favor of the positive influence of innovation and sustainability on the variables related to brand equity. Likewise, store loyalty to the establishment, influenced by store image and perceived quality, emerges as a key variable in the construction of global brand equity.

This study shows that innovation and sustainability have a significant impact on the variables traditionally linked with brand equity.

This research shows that new business models should be created through more innovative and sustainable businesses. In this sense, the managers of retail stores should direct their efforts toward actions aimed at implementing innovation, as well as provide evidence of the sustainability of the store’s activities, with the purpose of improving the perception that consumers have of the store.

The results of this research support the role of store loyalty as key element of brand equity. Also, to the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that addresses the relationship that innovation and sustainability have with the variables linked to store equity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether retailer brand equity levels vary between department store and specialty clothing store categories.

Retailer brand equity is conceptualized in this paper as a four‐dimensional construct comprising retailer awareness, retailer associations, retailer perceived quality and retailer loyalty. Categorization theory is used to explain the differences in retailer equity across the two different store categories. A doubly multivariate design is incorporated in a structured questionnaire used to collect data via mall‐intercepts in an Australian state capital city.

Results suggest that retailer brand equity varies significantly between department store and specialty store categories. Department store brands yielded significantly higher ratings for all the retailer brand equity dimensions than specialty store brands.

Researchers have argued that retailers possess brand equity. However, extant research does not provide any specific guidance in relation to the question of whether retailer brand equity levels vary from one store category to another. The present research fills an important gap by demonstrating that retailer brand equity levels vary significantly between department store and specialty clothing store categories.

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 objective of this study is threefold. First, the authors want to use taste tests to assess how four store brands that are differently positioned compare to one national brand in terms of perceived brand equity. Second, the authors want to investigate whether brand equity of store versus national brands is determined by current brand loyalty towards these brands. Third, they want to find out whether store patronage has an influence on perceived brand equity of store versus national brands.

A total of 225 consumers were involved in a repeated measures design involving two within‐subject factors: a blind and non‐blind taste test of five orange juice brands. Across our three objectives, we describe the impact of the retailers' positioning strategies on the results generated.

The results confirm the common belief that private label products can offer the same or even better quality than national brands, but at a lower price.

Until now, hardly any study incorporates the differences in positioning objectives of retailers and national brand manufacturers. Nevertheless, as is true for any brand, positioning of a store brand can exert an important influence on its performance.

The purpose of this paper is to focus in customer-based store brand value by comparing three different retailing formats – supermarkets, hypermarkets and discounters – in order to assess how store brand value stems from and to understand the store format influence.

Respondents were randomly selected and data were collected using an on-line structured questionnaire, focussing on Spanish large retailers. Then, hypotheses were tested performing structural equation modeling.

The results suggest that perceived quality, price image along with store commercial image have significant positive influence on store brand value and purchase intent. Moreover, store brands’ performance in the marketplace depends on different variables across the analyzed retailing formats.

These variables may be managed by retailers in order to enhance their own brands’ value proposition. These research implications should be considered within the context of a geographical limitation, despite providing the basis for further research on the topic.

The study adds to the growing literature in retailing a cross-store format comparative analysis, remaining a deeper understanding on how store brands create value from the consumers’ standpoint, based on an empirical research in a European developed market.

As consumers spend more time shopping online, traditional retailers are facing a decline in on-site shoppers. To help the industry in the omnichannel era, we propose that a virtual tour of a store could affect brand equity and promote store visit intentions, based on a well-established brand experience account.

The virtual tour stimuli were created using 360-degree photos of real stores. Participants explored the store virtually and then completed an online survey. With 240 responses drawn from the general population in the US, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used.

Results showed that store brand experiences significantly affected consumers and the four brand experience dimensions exerted differentiated effects. Sensory and behavioural experiences directly increased intentions to visit the store, whereas intellectual and emotional experiences promoted visit intentions via enhanced brand equity.

This is the first retail study investigating a virtual tour through the lens of brand experience. It is also one of a handful that examined the distinctive effects of the four brand experience dimensions, which deserve scholars’ attention and further inquiry. The virtual tour can be a powerful branding tool in the online-dominant retailing era. Retailers can employ a virtual tour not only to increase brand equity but also to cultivate consumers’ intentions to visit their stores. Furthermore, the use of 360-degree interactive media to evoke the virtual experience of a store renders higher generalizability and extendibility in future research and practice.