Employee-Based Brand Equity and Factors of Employee-Brand Association

Background

Equity is elucidated in terms of fairness and impartiality for all in dealing. It is best achieved when individuals are treated differently, supporting what they lack, which leads to equal outcomes. The literature explains equity subjectively. It varies from subject to subject and has different contextual meanings. In the financial context, it is considered an asset’s ownership in the business after paying associated liabilities. In the human resources context, it embodies a working environment having access and opportunity in equal proportion for all, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, cultural, racial, and religious differences. Marketing experts view it as a component of customer satisfaction (O’Shaughnessy & O’Shaughnessy, 2005). A company’s brands are its important assets and have equity that is derived from customer responses. Marketing experts use a term named brand equity, which signifies the value of a brand. It is believed that brands are more successful when they are widely recognized in the market. Few researchers viewed brands as living entities and a point of competitive differentiation (Beig & Nika, 2022).

Brand names make identification in similar products. A brand is a critical success factor and creates differentiation among firms' offerings (Uford & Duh, 2017; Wood & Wood, 2011) along with an identity (Miles & Mangold, 2004). The brand promises a certain level of quality with trust to its customers (Keller & Lehmann, 2006). Baalbaki & Guzmán (2016) defined a brand as “a collection of many meanings”, relating it to a different perception of different people for the same brand. Sometimes, brands are represented by symbols, words, signs, designs (Miles & Mangold, 2004) thoughts, feelings, beliefs attitudes, and perceptions (Keller & Lehmann, 2006). According to Papasolomou & Vrontis (2010), every brand has unique characteristics in its domain that holds a competitive advantage for firm over others. The competitive advantage may be in the form of revenue, profit, and market share (Wood & Wood, 2011). Jacobs (2003) asserted that a brand is “more than a company logo or tagline, but it is the company’s promise”. Van Thuy et al. (2022) viewed a brand as a strategy by which “consumers can recognize and experience a brand and choose their products rather than competitors”.

An organization’s brand is inevitable for its sustainability as successful brands offer strong brand equity (King & Grace, 2010). Firms exert their efforts on building their brands and associated equity. Brand equity has remained a lucrative construct for marketing researches. Since the 1980s, the concept of brand equity has gained much recognition in research. Positive brand equity is established when customers perceived the brand with a high reputation. Conversely, if a brand could not deliver as per the expectation of the customer, it acquires low brand equity.

Aaker David (1991) defined brand equity as “A set of assets or liabilities in the form of brand visibility, brand associations and customer loyalty that add or subtract from the value of a current or potential product or service driven by the brand”. Maleki Minbashrazgah et al. (2021) concluded brand equity as a combination of previous marketing efforts, current brand positioning, and prediction of future performance of the brand. The brand with high equity not only retain its customer in adverse situations but also proves it as a trusted brand (Gelb & Rangarajan, 2014). Such brands often adhere to their promises and deliver to the customer as per their expectation. Brand equity designates a brand’s value in the eye of a customer. It grows when customers place their confidence in the products of a brand as compared to its rivals. That confidence makes the customer loyal to the brand. Brand equity generates enduring benefits for firms and is an important factor in customer buying behavior (Kucherov & Zavyalova, 2012).