ABSTRACT
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a ‘name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.’ Brands differentiate products and represent a promise of value. Brands incite beliefs, evoke emotions and prompt behaviours. Marketers often extend successful brand names to new product launches, lending existing associations to them. As a result, they speed up consumers’ information processing and consumers’ learning. Brands have social and emotional value to users. They have personality and speak for the user. They enhance the perceived utility and desirability of a product. Brands have the ability to add or subtract the perceived value of a product. Consumers expect to pay lower prices for unbranded products or for those with low brand equities, whereas they pay premiums for their treasured or socially valued brands. Brands have equity for both customers and investors. Brand equity translates into customer preference, loyalty and financial gains. Brands are appraised and traded in the marketplace. Brand equity has been pointed out to include many dimensions, such as performance, social image, value, trustworthiness and identification (Lassar et al., 1995).
