How Well Does Consumer-Based Brand Equity Align with Sales-Based Brand Equity and Marketing-Mix Response?

Brand equity is the differential preference and response to marketing effort that a product obtains because of its brand identification. Brand equity can be measured using either consumer perceptions or sales. Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) measures what consumers think and feel about the brand, whereas sales-based brand equity (SBBE) is the brand intercept in a choice or market share model. This article studies the extent to which CBBE manifests itself in SBBE and marketing-mix response using ten years of IRI scanner and Brand Asset Valuator data for 290 brands spanning 25 packaged good categories. The authors uncover a fairly strong positive association of SBBE with three dimensions of CBBE—relevance, esteem, and knowledge—but a slight negative correspondence with the fourth dimension, energized differentiation. They also reveal new insights on the category characteristics that moderate the CBBE–SBBE relationship and document a more nuanced association of the CBBE dimensions with response to the major marketing-mix variables than heretofore assumed. The authors discuss implications for academic researchers who predict and test the impact of brand equity, for market researchers who measure it, and for marketers who want to translate their brand equity into marketplace success.