Markenwert

The project focussed on measuring and explaining consumer based brand equity. Brand equity from the consumer`s point of view was conceptualized as the incremental willingness to pay for a branded product compared to an equivalent product without the brand. The overall project consists of two basic studies dedicated to the investigation of simplified decision rules related to `well-known` brands and to experimentally measuring willingness to pay. The basic research was followed up by an applied study in the carbonated mineral water category aimed at linking consumer based brand equity to its theoretical causes affective value, informational value, social value and biased perceptions of physical product attributes and their antecedents. The informational value of a brand is related to the individual`s certainty about the attributes and the quality to be expected from the brand. Biased perceptions of physical product attributes result from expectations and affect related to the brand that overrule product experience and/or prevent an individual from searching for the `correct` values. The key results of the project provide insight into the nature and effect of simplified decision rules related to `well known` brands such as the situational or category dependent applicability of those and the existence of a consumer segment that consistently sticks to these simplified decision rules. Moreover, it is demonstrated that different means of measuring willingness to pay yield only partly consistent results and that so called `choice-based`-Conjoint seems to be closest to actual buying behavior among the methods investigated. The applied study offers insight into managerially relevant relations between brand equity and its causes in the carbonated mineral water category that may be generalized to other low involvement products. In particular, the informational value of a brand turned out to be an important cause to brand equity, a fact that is not generally recognized in brand management. Finally, brand communication seems to be as important a driver of brand equity as is personal product experience. However, brand communication exerts its influence in a more indirect and subtle way.