An application of Keller’s Brand Equity Model in a B2B context

Purpose – The importance of branding in industrial contexts has increased, yet a comprehensive model of business‐to‐business (B2B) branding does not exist, nor has there been a thorough empirical study of the applicability of a full brand equity model in a B2B context. This paper aims to discuss the suitability and limitations of Keller's customer‐based brand equity model and tests its applicability in a B2B market.Design/methodology/approach – The study involved the use of semi‐structured interviews with senior buyers of technology for electronic tracking of waste management.Findings – Findings suggest that amongst organisational buyers there is a much greater emphasis on the selling organisation, including its corporate brand, credibility and staff, than on individual brands and their associated dimensions.Research limitations/implications – The study investigates real brands with real potential buyers, so there is a risk that the results may represent industry‐specific factors that are not representati...

[1]  K. Blois,et al.  The evolution of generic brands in industrial markets: the challenges to owners of brand equity , 2002 .

[2]  Jim Shaw,et al.  Marketing complex technical products: The importance of intangible attributes , 1989 .

[3]  C. Tilley Built-In Branding: How to Engineer a Leadership Brand , 1999 .

[4]  Agneta Marell,et al.  The impact of customer experience on brand equity in a business-to-business services setting , 2010 .

[5]  Russell Abratt,et al.  Industrial buying in high-tech markets , 1986 .

[6]  M. McEnally,et al.  The Evolving Nature of Branding: Consumer and Managerial Considerations , 1999 .

[7]  Y. Wind,et al.  A General Model for Understanding Organizational Buying Behavior , 1972 .

[8]  Building Brand Relationships Through Value for Money- An Indian Perspective , 2004 .

[9]  F. Selnes An Examination of the Effect of Product Performance on Brand Reputation, Satisfaction and Loyalty , 1993 .

[10]  A. O'Cass,et al.  Brand associations: looking through the eye of the beholder , 2002 .

[11]  S. Golicic,et al.  Measuring brand equity for logistics services , 2009 .

[12]  R. Rozin Editorial: Buyers in business-to-business branding , 2004 .

[13]  R. Abratt,et al.  Development and management of corporate image in South Africa , 2001 .

[14]  David A. Aaker,et al.  The Value Relevance of Brand Attitude in High-Technology Markets , 2001 .

[15]  J. Hutton,et al.  A study of brand equity in an organizational‐buying context , 1997 .

[16]  Glenys Ann Henry,et al.  Building customer-based-brand-equity through packaging , 1994 .

[17]  Michael D. Hutt Business Marketing Management , 1998 .

[18]  P. Michell,et al.  Brand Values Related to Industrial Products , 2001 .

[19]  Gary Reed,et al.  Business‐to‐business marketing: What is important to the practitioner? , 2004 .

[20]  Kevin Lane Keller Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity , 1993 .

[21]  D. Aaker Managing brand equity : capitalizing on the value of a brand name , 1992 .

[22]  Carl-Johan Rosenbröijer Industrial brand management: a distributor’s perspective in the UK fine‐paper industry , 2001 .

[23]  and Thomas W. Speh Hutt,et al.  Industrial Marketing Management: A Strategic View of Business Markets , 1985 .

[24]  E. Crowley,et al.  Commentary: brand emergence in the marketing of computers and high technology products , 1995 .

[25]  A Study on the Brand Productivity of B2B Service - Focused on the Structuring Process of Brand Equity - , 2009 .

[26]  Robert E. Spekman,et al.  Environmental Uncertainty and Buying Group Structure: An Empirical Investigation , 1979 .

[27]  Kevin Lane Keller Strategic Brand Management , 2007 .

[28]  Russell Abratt,et al.  Brand equity in the business-to-business market , 2004 .

[29]  Kevin Lane Keller,et al.  A roadmap for branding in industrial markets , 2004 .

[30]  Roger J. Calantone,et al.  Brand Equity in the Business‐to‐Business Sector: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY , 1993 .

[31]  David T. Wilson,et al.  Buying center research and business marketing practice: meeting the challenge of dynamic marketing , 1998 .

[32]  Joanne Lynch,et al.  The power of emotion: Brand communication in business-to-business markets , 2004 .

[33]  Leslie Collins A Name to Compare With A Discussion of the Naming of New Brands , 1977 .

[34]  V. Mitchell Organizational Risk Perception and Reduction: A Literature Review , 1995 .

[35]  D. Aaker Building Strong Brands , 1995 .

[36]  Susan M. Mudambi Branding Importance in Business-to-Business Markets: Three Buyer Clusters , 2002 .

[37]  J. Saunders,et al.  Do brand names differentiate identical industrial products , 1979 .

[38]  S. Knox,et al.  The six conventions of corporate branding , 2003 .

[39]  Susan M. Mudambi,et al.  An exploration of branding in industrial markets , 1997 .

[40]  A. Woodside,et al.  Executive and consumer decision processes: increasing useful sensemaking by identifying similarities and departures , 2001 .

[41]  Sherril H. Kennedy Nurturing Corporate Images , 1977 .

[42]  Y. Wind,et al.  Industrial buying and creative marketing , 1967 .

[43]  Kevin Lane Keller Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity , 1997 .

[44]  S. Carter,et al.  Investing in People: Internal Marketing and Corporate Culture , 1998 .

[45]  Michael H. Morris,et al.  Assessing the Structure of Industrial Buying Centers with Multivariate Tools , 1999 .

[46]  J. Sheth A Model of Industrial Buyer Behavior , 1973 .

[47]  Kirsti Lindberg-Repo,et al.  Investigating the links between a corporate brand and a customer brand , 2006 .