Structural analysis of port brand equity using structural equation modeling

Port competition, especially in the Northeast Asia (NEA) region, can be described as a price war. In this price competition, it is necessary to build up the brand concept to acquire higher market share. This paper aims to provide structural relationships for port brand equity (PBE) and explore the PBE stages statistically. The stages are divided into three steps: port service quality as the precedent of PBE, the PBE dimensions (brand awareness [BA] and brand loyalty [BL]), and the antecedent of PBE (overall value of brand equity [OVBE]). From a survey conducted with port users in Korea, the empirical results revealed several significant relationship: between tangibles (TA) dimension of port service quality and BL, between the empathy (EMP) dimension of port service quality and both BA and BL, and between BA and BL and OVBE. From the empirical analysis, this study suggests both managerial and academic contributions for port managers and scholars for further policy development and research in this important area.

[1]  B. Ha,et al.  Suppliers' affective trust and trust in competency in buyers , 2011 .

[2]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

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

[4]  Julián Pando *,et al.  Marketing management at the world's major ports , 2005 .

[5]  Stephen S. Tax,et al.  Customer Evaluations of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing , 1998 .

[6]  Nigel Kenneth Pope,et al.  An application of Keller’s Brand Equity Model in a B2B context , 2008 .

[7]  Karen S. Cravens,et al.  Performance consequences of brand equity management: evidence from organizations in the value chain , 2003 .

[8]  H. Arasli,et al.  Customer based brand equity: evidence from the hotel industry , 2007 .

[9]  Qingyu Zhang,et al.  Manufacturing flexibility: Defining and analyzing relationships among competence, capability, and customer satisfaction , 2003 .

[10]  D. Aaker.  MEASURING BRAND EQUITY ACROSS PRODUCTS AND MARKETS , 1996 .

[11]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  Return on Marketing: Using Customer Equity to Focus Marketing Strategy , 2004 .

[12]  I. C. Ogwude,et al.  Service quality and satisfaction measurements in Nigerian ports: an exploration , 2007 .

[13]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[14]  Young-Tae Chang,et al.  A game theoretical analysis of port competition , 2013 .

[15]  Gi-Tae Yeo,et al.  Evaluating the competitiveness of container ports in Korea and China , 2008 .

[16]  Chien-Chang Chou.  AHP MODEL FOR THE CONTAINER PORT CHOICE IN THE MULTIPLE-PORTS REGION , 2010 .

[17]  Patrick Y. K. Chau,et al.  Reexamining a Model for Evaluating Information Center Success Using a Structural Equation Modeling Approach , 1997 .

[18]  Anthony Kenneth Charles Beresford,et al.  An Application of AHP on Transhipment Port Selection: A Global Perspective , 2004 .

[19]  Tasadduq A. Shervani,et al.  Market-Based Assets and Shareholder Value: A Framework for Analysis , 1998 .

[20]  Gary L. Hunter,et al.  Understanding (customer‐based) brand equity in financial services , 2007 .

[21]  Stephen Cahoon,et al.  Marketing communications for seaports: a matter of survival and growth , 2007 .

[22]  Lidia Angulo Meza,et al.  Container logistics in Mercosur: Choice of a transhipment port using the ordinal Copeland method, data envelopment analysis and probabilistic composition , 2011 .

[23]  Anthony Kenneth Charles Beresford,et al.  Port evolution and performance in changing logistics environments , 2011 .

[24]  G. Liang,et al.  Port choice behaviour--from the perspective of the shipper , 2003 .

[25]  J. Tongzon.  Port Choice and Freight Forwarders , 2009 .

[26]  Sandra Streukens,et al.  Marketing antecedents of industrial brand equity: An empirical investigation in specialty chemicals , 2005 .

[27]  J. Tongzon,et al.  Port selection factors by shipping lines: Different perspectives between trunk liners and feeder service providers , 2008 .

[28]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  Testing cross‐cultural invariance of the brand equity creation process , 2002 .

[29]  S. Golicic,et al.  Branding a B2B service: Does a brand differentiate a logistics service provider? , 2008 .

[30]  Lorena Garcia-Alonso,et al.  Determinants of container port choice in Spain , 2011 .

[31]  R. Robinson.  Ports as elements in value-driven chain systems: the new paradigm , 2002 .

[32]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity , 2000 .

[33]  J. Wincent,et al.  Brand equity in the professional service context: Analyzing the impact of employee role behavior and customer-employee rapport , 2011 .

[34]  Angelos Pantouvakis,et al.  Port-Service Quality Dimensions and Passenger Profiles: An Exploratory Examination and Analysis , 2006 .

[35]  P. Panayides,et al.  Evaluating the integration of seaport container terminals in supply chains , 2008 .

[36]  P. Tuominen.  Managing Brand Equity , 1999 .

[37]  Young-Tae Chang,et al.  How supply chain oriented is the port sector , 2009 .

[38]  Albert H. Segars,et al.  Strategic Information Systems Planning Success: An Investigation of the Construct and Its Measurement , 1998, MIS Q..

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

[40]  The effects of fishery harbor-based brands on the brand equity of shore fish: An empirical study of branded mackerel in Japan , 2010 .

[41]  Excellent airport customer service meets successful branding strategy , 2008 .

[42]  Myung-shin Ha,et al.  A comparison of service quality at major container ports: implications for Korean ports , 2003 .

[43]  Dong-Wook Song,et al.  A Competitive Analysis of Chinese Container Ports Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process , 2004 .

[44]  P. Panayides,et al.  Global supply chain and port/terminal: integration and competitiveness , 2008 .

[45]  L. Berry.  Cultivating service brand equity , 2000 .

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

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

[48]  Dong-Wook Song,et al.  Regional container port competition and co-operation: the case of Hong Kong and South China , 2002 .

[49]  M. Holbrook,et al.  The Chain of Effects from Brand Trust and Brand Affect to Brand Performance: The Role of Brand Loyalty , 2001 .

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

[51]  T. Levitt,et al.  Marketing success through differentiation of anything , 1980 .

[52]  Yong J. Hyun,et al.  A model to investigate the influence of marketing-mix efforts and corporate image on brand equity in the IT software sector , 2011 .

[53]  Dong-Wook Song,et al.  GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN AND PORT/TERMINAL , 2007 .

[54]  Waiman Cheung,et al.  Port competitiveness from the users' perspective: An analysis of major container ports in China and its neighboring countries , 2012 .

[55]  Anthony Kenneth Charles Beresford,et al.  Seaport research: a structured literature review on methodological issues since the 1980s , 2011 .