The Effect of Brand Equity on Consumer Buying Behaviour

by

Archit puri
Enrollment no.-A3906410243 A Dissertation presented in part consideration for the degree of BBA

AMITY UNIVERISTY

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DECLARATION
I Archit puri S/O mr. Virinder puri, hereby declare that this dissertation represents my original piece of work and has not been copied from anywhere. I am aware that in case of non-compliance,Amity school of business is entitled to cancel the report.

Place-noida Date-

signature of student name of student Enrollment no.

Signature of dissertation guide

signature of faculty

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ABSTRACT

Brand equity is a concept born in 1980s. It has aroused intense interest among business strategists from a wide variety of industries as brand equity is closely related with brand loyalty and brand extensions. Besides, successful brands provide competitive advantages that are critical to the success of companies. However, there is no common viewpoint emerged on the content and measurement of brand equity. Brand equity has been examined from financial and customer-based perspectives. This paper will only study the customer-based brand equity which refers to the consumer response to a brand name. The aims of the study are to review the dimensions of customer- based brand equity by drawing together strands from various literature and empirical studies made within the area of customer-based brand equity. A conceptual framework for measuring customer based brand equity is developed to provide a more integrative conceptualization of brand equity.

Keywords: brand equity, brand awareness, brand associations, brand loyalty, perceived quality

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION The background of research The objective of search LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Defination of consumer behavior
Major Influence Factors on Consumer behavior Cultural Factors Social Factors Personal Factors

Psychological Factors BUYING DECISION PROCESS BRANDING

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WHAT IS BRAND EQUITY AAKERS MODEL Brand Awareness and Its Effect on Consumer Behaviour What is Brand Awareness Brand Awareness Effect on Consumer Behaviour Perceived Quality and Its Effect on Consumer Behaviour What is Perceived Quality Perceived Quality Effect on Consumer Behaviour Brand Association and Its Effect on Consumer Behaviour What is Brand Association Brand Association Effect on Consumer Behaviour Brand Loyalty and Its Effect on Consumer Behaviour What is Brand Loyalty Brand Loyalty Effect on Consumer Behaviour

SUMMARY CONCLUSION

Bibliology

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to ms aastha gupta who gave me the wonderful opportunity to complete this thesis and for mentoring me throughout the project for her guidance , stimulating suggestions , valuable criticism and encouragement which helped me to complete the project. Finally, I would convey a word of gratitude to my family , colleagues and whose valuable support enabled me to complete this project.

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Introduction
The background of research The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy target customers needs and profitability .The starting point in marketing planning is always the consumer: Who are the prospective buyers? How does our brand stack up against the competition? What needs and motives enter into the buying decision? Peter Drucker observed that a firms task is to create customers Kotler. Reicheld further specifically indicated that companies could increase profits by 25% to 85% just by achieving a 5% reduction in consumer defections. Meanwhile, one of the most popular and potentially important marketing concepts to arise from the 1980s was the concept of brand equity. It has raised the importance of the brand in marketing strategy. Aaker argues that customer-based brand equity is the differential effect that brand has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand. However, customer behaviour is not a simple concept; it does not only encompass the buying decision process, but also cover the underlying influences and other motives for purchasing products and services. Moreover, as the firms and markets have grown in size, the competitive environment is becoming more and more intense. Therefore, in a dynamic market, there are so many different brands so that it becomes quite difficult for consumers to make the final buying decision as well as for companies to gain customers.

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The objective of research

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of four components of brand equity (i.e. the brand awareness of a brand) . Thus, firms can understand why people purchase a particular brand and how the firms brand equity components influence the consumers buying decision making. Assuming the attributes of products available in the market, meaning the actual functional characteristics like quality, price and place, are similar, it can be expected that the consumers ability to discriminate a product on its functional characteristics will be less significant. Instead the consumer will evaluate the products based on the brand name. In this research, it will utilise the four elements of brand equity to investigate the relationship between brand equity and consumer buying behaviour. By developing a refined understanding of the behaviour of buyers and the effect of the brand equity, the firms, manufacturers can generate a source of competitive advantage by using more sophisticated information as input for enhancing an effective marketing campaign to attract and retain the consumers.

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Literature
Introduction It begins with the demonstrate of the definition of consumer behavior .Then it will illustrate the different factors that influence the consumer behaviour as well as the buying decision process in order to understand the essence of consumer behaviour. After that, the emphasis will be on brand field. The effect of brand equity on consumer behaviour will be discussed based on its four components in order to analyze how brand equity is very important in the consumer decision-making process. The definition of consumer behaviour There is no doubt that the customer is essential for the firm in the marketing field. Wllkie stated that consumer behaviour is the mental, emotional, and physical activities that people engage in when selecting, purchasing, using, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires. He further explained that there are seven keys to consumer behavior , which are 1) consumer behaviour is motivated; 2) consumer behaviour includes many activities; 3) consumer behaviour is a process; 4) consumer behaviour varies in timing and complexity; 5) consumer behaviour involves different roles; 6) consumer behaviour is influenced by external factors; 7) consumer behaviour differs for different people. Moreover, Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel defines consumer behaviour as those acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining and using economic goods and services including the decision processes that precede and determine these acts. That is to say, consumers behaviour involve with the mental procedure and physical acts towards the multiply goods and services.

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TheMajor Influence Factors on Consumer Behaviour. According to Kotlers , consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics. Generally speaking, marketers cannot control such factors, but they must take them into account because these factors affect how individual consumers react to the different reactions that firms send out through their communication. The marketers task is to understand what happens in the buyers consciousness and the buyers decision making process. Thereby, this section will focus on demonstrating the factors affecting buying behaviour .

Cultural Factors Cultural factors exert deep influence on consumer behaviour. Culture is the basis for a persons wants and behaviour ..Culture refers to a set of values, ideas, Arte facts and other meaning symbols that help individuals communicate, interpret and evaluate as members of society . It affects the consumers shaping the attitudes, feelings, biases, and opinions, which enable marketers to interpret or even predict the reaction of consumers to specific marketing strategies. Thus, it is vital for firms to be aware of culture, even its trends and changes. and gives rise to new marketing opportunities and threats.

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Social Factors A consumers behaviour is also influenced by social factors, such as reference group, family, and social roles and status .Because these social factors can strongly affect consumer response, firms must take them into account when designing their marketing strategies. For one thing, reference group has significant influences on the individuals product and brand purchases. Reference group are groups that serve as direct or indirect points of comparison or reference in forming a persons attitudes or behaviour Indirect or direct reference groups include family, friends and neighbours. Bearden and Rose pointed out that reference group not only lead an individual to new behaviours but also have effect on individuals attitude and self concept, which in turn influence actual brand preference and choice. Therefore, references lead the market trends . Personal Factors A buyers decision is also influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyers age, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle and personality and self-concept.The age of the buyer is one of the major factors influencing individuals purchases..People in the different ages have different needs. A brand must be understandable to the age group to which the product or service is targeted and should be delivered through a medium used by members of that group .On the other hand, a persons occupation can affect the goods and services bought. Occupational groups usually have above average interest in the products and services, which are related to their occupation. Therefore, the marketers need to consider the right occupational groups as the production and marketing target. A company can even specialise in making products needed by a given occupational group.

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The Buying Decision Process As introduced above, the consumers choice results from the complex interplay of cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Although the marketer cannot influence many of these factors, they still can be useful in identifying interested buyers and in shaping products and appeals to serve their needs better. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce consumer buying decision process, by which marketers can monitor the process to develop the effective marketing mix by utilizing stimuli and factors to guide consumers to certain products. In a buying decision process, a consumer will pass through five stages as shown below. Figure: Buyer decision process

Source: Adapted from Kotler.

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As shown in the figure above, the buying process starts when consumer recognises a problem or need, which is triggered by internal or external stimuli . In other words, the particular consumer recognizes she or he needs to buy something to solve problems she or he faces. This will drive the potential buyer to search and gather information about the products that will solve the particular problems. According to Kotler This stage can be divided into two levels, which are milder level and active level. At the former level, consumers simply receipt the information about the product; at the second level, consumers are more likely looking for the product information actively, such as online searching, visiting stores, reading materials and phoning friends. Kolter also points out that the information source could be fell into four groups: personal (family, friends, neighbours , acquaintances); commercial ( advertising, web sites, sales persons, dealers, packaging, Displays ) ; public(mass media, consumer-rating organizations) and Experiential (handling, examining, using the product). As a result of that, the potential buyer becomes acquainted with some of the brands in the market and their features. As Jobber (2004) points out that the objective of information search is to build up the awareness set- that is, the array of brands that may provide a solution to the problem. After that, consumers move into third stage-evaluation of alternative. In this stage, Preferences among the brands in the choice set will be formed. The evaluation is based on the product or service whose attributes are perceived to best satisfy the need. Namely, it is a brand evaluation stage. According to Assael (1992), in this stage, consumers will use information to associate brands they are aware of with their desired benefits and they will prefer the brand that they expect will give the most satisfaction based on the benefits they seek. The outcome of brand evaluation is the awareness brands set narrow down to the small range of consideration brands then into smaller range of choice set benefits of a brand has a positive impact on the brand choice.
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The Importance of Branding

As stated before, consumer buying behaviour is influenced by many factors, such as marketing stimuli and environment stimuli. However, this study will more specifically focus on branding that is I am most interested in as marketing function, which is related to how brand equity can influence the consumer behaviour in laptop purchasing. Thus, this section will examine the importance of branding since consumers view a brand as an important part of a product, and branding can add value to a product which will influence their buying behaviour ..A successful brand is one which creates and sustains a strong, positive and lasting impression in the mind of a buyer)\. As Doyle claims a successful brand is a name, symbol, design or some combination, which identifies the product of a particular organization as having a sustainable differential advantage. That is to say a successful brand is a substantial asset to the companies. Emperical report shows that Microsoft estimate value is $57 billion and that of IBM is $44 billion and estimate the brand value of Coca-Cola is $84 billion, .There is no doubt that those companies are benefited from its branding strategies. In fact, branding is defined as the enterprise of creating added value in the minds of consumers, which is to build perceived values beyond the observable physical value of the product, and thus differentiating the product in a highly competitive environment ..The aim of branding is to help customers to identify products that are relevant for them, and so take much of the anxiety out of decision making .As the business environment is teemed with competition and more sophisticated customers, superior products with only physical attributes is not enough to maintain and attract consumers. Thus, firms must build effective branding strategies to help consumers organize their knowledge about certain products and service, and convince the customers what are firms meaningful advantages among the different brands. As Hankinson and Cowking argued to build up a strong brand is one of the ways in which a
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company can develop and sustain advantage over its competitors, and thereby maintain or increase its sales or market share. In other words, the stronger the consumer identification of the brand, the stronger the relationship firms have with consumers and therefore the brand effect on purchase. In fact, branding can be seen as a process of building and developing corresponding\ marketing strategies based on firms resource and capability aiming to communicate certain brand to targets effectively an consistently thereby influencing the consumer behaviour (Jones, 1986). Thus, in a competitive market environment, firms need to strengthen the relationship between the consumer and the brand as that reflects the fit between the consumers own physical and psychological needs and the brands functional attributes and symbolic values as perceived by the consumer. Hence, firms need to create customer-based brand equity (a topic explored in the next section) by branding to obtain the competitive advantages. Consequently, a high degree of brand equity among the consumers is an important goal of marketing strategy. Thus, it is necessary to discuss how brand equity affects consumers buying behaviour.

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brand equity
Brand equity has been the most important topic in the marketing field over last 20 years. It has been viewed as a large number of perspectives .In a general sense, most marketing scholars agree that brand equity is defined in terms of the positive outcomes resulted from past marketing investment uniquely attributable to the brand . From Farquhars points of view the brand equity is the added value to the firm, the trade, or the consumer with which a given brand endows a product. He further stress out adopt a financial perspective that brand equity can result in incremental cash flow associating a brand name for a product. That is to say, brand equity can benefit the firm in profitability. The similar statement also presented by Brodsky defined brand equity is the sales and profit impact enjoyed as a result of prior years marketing efforts versus a comparable new brand. From customer based view, Keller defined brand equity as the effect of the marketing of the brand on the consumers reaction, which in turn differentiate brand themselves. He also defined brand knowledge in terms of two core components, brand awareness and brand image. In other words, brand equity is the unique image for the certain brand in mind of the consumers, and such image can trigger different responses from the consumers. To put in the same way, Aaker defined brand equity as a set of assets and liabilities related to a brands name or symbol that add to the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firms customers. He also proposes a model for the consumer-based brand equity, which categorizes four components for the brand equity including brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association and brand loyalty. Kotler and Keller further argued that brand equity is an important intangible asset that has psychological and financial value to the firm and has effect on consumers response to the certain brands product purchase.

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Effects of promotional activities on brand equity

Brand equity is seen as the outcome of long term marketing efforts operated to build a sustainable , differential advantage relative to competitors . Yoo suggests, any marketing actions will affect on customers brand knowledge e.g., psychological perception, which is result in a positive or negative impact on brand equity. Moreover, According to Keller a brand is said to have a positive (negative) customer-based brand equity if consumers react more or less favorably to the product, price, promotion, or distribution of the brand than they do to same marketing mix element when it is attributed to a fictitiously names or unnamed version of the product or service Thus, this study will select the following 6 promotional activities which can affect on the perceptions of consumers as well as brand equity; they are advertising, world of mouth, celebrity endorsement, sales promotion, store image, and event sponsorship. These selected activities are represented as the most popular marketing activities that marketers apply frequently in China when marketing products and services.

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Aakers model

According to Aaker ,, it includes four categories, which are brand awareness, ,perceived quality, and brand identity, ,brand loyalty .. The higher a brand has brand equity, the higher they have brand awareness, perceived quality, strong brand associations and brand loyalty .In this research study, it will utilize the four components of brand equity to investigate the effect of brand equity on consumer buying behaviour.

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What is brand awareness

According to Aaker , brand awareness is the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product category. That is to say, brand awareness is the capability of knowledge and identification of certain brand retrieved under some situations. Aaker further points out that Awareness is measured according to the different ways in which consumers remember a brand, ranging from recognition to recall to top of mind to dominant ( Aaker, 2002). As Chernatony and McDonald said brand recognition refers to the consumers ability to recall previous exposure or experience with the brand, brand recall refers to the consumers ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category as a cuee. ..In the agreement, Baker states that brand awareness refers to the strength of presence of a brand in the consumers mind and the extent to which they are able to recognize or recall a brand name. In other words, the brand awareness is how much consumers familiar with the brand. Brand awareness effect on consumer behaviour According to Aaker , brand awareness has significant impact on the consumer buying behaviour. Firstly, a high level of awareness of a brand that consumers have, the high level the brand will be considered when they choose to buy .It is because in relation to the consumer buying process, brand awareness plays an important role when have intention to buy something for needs. Pitta and Katsanis point out that in the classic consumer behaviour model, consumers who recognize a problem needed to be served always engage in routine product choice when they have high level of that product categorys brand awareness; in more specific it is related to the brand recall, or at least considering that brand as alternative product choice. That is to say, on the one
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hand, consumers always are passive recipient of product information and are reluctant to spend much time and effort for choosing brand . Therefore, the brand awareness will lead them to choose most familiar brand that they have knowledge of; on the other hand, in fact, in the consumer decision making process, consumers always have many alternatives to be considered. Because recall determines which alternatives are generated, those not recalled cannot be part of the consideration set of products, thus, the recalled brand will have the advantage to be the opportunity last choice. Thus, brand awareness is crucial to getting into this consideration set as the brand lacks of the awareness may not has the opportunity to be considered for buying. For example, if a consumer wants to buy a laptop, the first brands that come up to the consumers mind will have an advantage, which will be considered to buy. The same point is also presented by Kotler and Keller that is a high level of brand awareness might affect consumer choices among brands in the consideration set and the product category, even if there are no other associations linked to those brands. That is to say, brand awareness is sufficient to result in more favourable consumer response, for example, consumers are more likely to base their choices merely on familiar brands. Second, brand awareness provides a brand with a sense of familiarity, which is brand recognition and people like the familiar .In other words, the consumers will be stimulated by the familiarity of such brand when they want to purchase something. Moreover, brand awareness can serve to brand extension . That is to say when firm develop sub-brand for products, the more awareness of host-brand will lead to the acceptance of this sub-brand. This will result in the increase of the sales. Diet Coke is a good example, which sales benefits from the Coke brand. Therefore, the more the consumer is aware of the product, the greater the possibility that the consumer will purchase the product.

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What is perceived quality

Perceived quality can be defined as the customers perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to alternatives .It is a higher-level abstraction rather than a specific attribute of a product. Various attributes and relevant benefits create a perception of quality in consumers mind. In other words, perceived quality is the consumers judgement about a products overall excellence or superiority. It is a significant factor in building brand equity Perceived quality effect on consumer behaviour According to Aaker ,first of all, a brands perceived quality provides the value for consumers to buy such brands products. It is because consumers always make buying decisions rely on the feeling of the basic characteristics of the product to which the brand is attached such as the reliability of the product since they always cannot experience the product before they buy it. Namely, perceived quality is related to the consumer purchasing decision making process. In other words, consumer always prefer to donate less time and effort for gaining the information which can assess the products quality, as a result, the observation of the certain brand might be a determination of the final decision making .Occasionally, consumers may not be able to possess the access or not be able to judge the information about the products quality. Thus, perceived quality becomes the important factor affecting the final brand choice. On the other hand, through the buying decision making process, the perceived quality can contribute to the evaluation stage .The consideration sets of the brands will be narrow down when the above conditions occurs. In the agreement, Sethuraman and Cole assert that perceived quality is central to the theory that a strong

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perceived quality adds value to consumers purchase evaluations and willing to pay for a brand. Secondly, a perceived quality may result in a willingness of consumer for buying a brand for a price premium. That is to say, if a brands perceived quality is good in mind of customers, then the customer may be more willing to buy such brand even the brands price is higher then others. Therefore, it will create a premium profits for the firm compared to other firms, which can indeed provide resources with which to reinvest in the brand, such as R&D activities, brand enhancing activities. As Sethuraman and Cole state that perceived quality explains a considerable portion of the variance in the price premium consumers are willing to pay for well known brands. Moreover, perceived quality can also be meaningful to retailers, distributors, and other channel members .Obviously, the channel members are motivated to carry brands that are well-regarded, which customers want. Therefore, well perceived quality will gain greater trade cooperation and support and in turn adds the customer base. In addition, perceived quality can be exploited by introducing brand extensions, using the brand name to enter new product categories .In other words, well brand with respect to perceived quality will have higher success probability than a weaker brand in terms of brand extension as the consumer would appreciate that brands product, which in turn elicits more purchasing behaviour Briefly, perceived quality is usually at the heart of what consumers are buying, enhanced perceived quality adds a convincible reason for consumers to make final purchase decision

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Brand association and its effect on consumer behaviour What is brand association
Aaker claims that brand association is the category of a brands implications which include anything linked in memory to a brand. Keller defines brand associations as informational nodes linked to the brand in consumers mind, which will transfer the meaning to consumer for that brand. Aaker further argues that a set of brand associations compose the brand image, which is organized in some meaningful way. Moreover, Keller states that brand association can be classified into three major scopes including attributes, benefits, and attitudes. According to Keller , attributes refer to descriptive characteristics that consumers think of in the mind towards certain brands product, which is formed by product-related attributes, non product- related attributes, feeling and experiences, and brand personality; benefits is related how consumers value the offer of a brands products, namely, it is the perception of consumers about what the products can do for them; attitudes are defined as the overall evaluation of a brand, which is most important in consumers brand choice decision making. Lamb Jr and Low further argues that brand association can be measured by the brand image, brand attitude and perceived quality. The brand image is defined by the Dobni and Zinkhan is the reasoned or emotional perceptions consumers attach to specific brands. In line with the Dohni and Zinkhan, Keller suggest that brand image is the perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory.

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Brand association effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker, brand association can help customer process information. In the reality, consumers may not have process and access to perceive or obtain some facts about the brands, and to communicate such things may high cost for the companies. Therefore, the brand with high level of association will contribute to facilitate consumer for gaining the meaning of the brand. For example, the Volvo brand always is associated with safety, however, such meanings is difficult for customers to perceive before they have experience. Therefore, Volvo is benefited from such brand association for retrieving the information in mind of consumers. However, it depends on the past marketing investment towards that brand. On the other hand, brand association can help consumers retrieve the information about certain brand . That is to say, if a brand associates with something, the consumer will easily reflect such things in the mind when they confront the brand in some situations. Brand association also involve product attributes or customer benefits that provide a specific reason to buy and use the brand . They also represent a basis for purchase decisions and brand loyalty. For example, Colgate provides clean, white teeth. Some associations influence purchase decisions by providing credibility and confidence in the brand. That is to say, customers regard the brand association to some extent as references, which making them feel more comfortable for purchasing that brand. As Kolter further argued that the brand associations convey not only the concept but also the meaning of the product in terms of how it fulfils a customers needs.

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What is brand loyalty

Brand loyalty has been defined as the inclination of a customer to keep on purchasing the same brand . Dick and Basu stated that brand loyalty is the strength of the relationship between an individuals attitude towards a brand and repeat purchasing. Schiffman and Kanuk described a consistent preference and purchase of the same brand in a specific service or product category as brand loyalty. Gilbert defined it as consumers purchasing the same brand of product on most occasions or on a regular basis. Therefore, as the definitions above-mentioned, brand loyalty exist when a customer buy one brand of product or service again and again. Aaker argued that brand loyalty of the consumer base is the core of a brands equity, which is critical to maintain brand equity.

Brand loyalty effect on consumer behaviour

On the one hand, brand loyalty will lead consumers to purchase the same brands products which will in turn reduces the marketing costs of doing business. Kolter argued that it costs the average company six times more to attract a new customer than to hold a current one. It is because potential new customers usually lack motivation to change from current brands as change a brand often has risks from them. Reichheld argued that a successful brand introduces stability into the business, once customers have made a decision about a brand and its associations, they are often loyal to that brand, continue to buy it in the future, recommend it to friends, and choose the products over others, even those with better features or lower prices. Consequently, it will increase the profitability for the firm. On the other hand, brand loyalty can contribute to the maintaining of the market share as other companies enter the market. It is because the loyal consumer will insist to the brand they previously choose as they are risk aversion and want to avoid swishing cost. As Raj said the more loyal customers the firms
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have, the more stable the brands market share and the less vulnerable it will be to competitive. Moreover, brand loyalty can help firms attracting new customers. Keller states that a customer base with segments that are satisfied and others that like the brand can provide assurance to a prospective customer, especially when the purchase is somewhat risky. It is because the acceptance of the brand by a group of existing customers can be an effective message through world of mouth effect. It can also create brand awareness from the customer base, which in turn path a way for attracting new customers . Finally, brand loyalty provides a firm with time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker,1991). For example, if a competitor develops a superior product, a loyal following will allow the firm time needed for the product improvements to be matched or neutralized as loyal, satisfied customers will not be looking for new products, and thus may not learn of advancement. Briefly, brand loyalty will result in consumers continue to buy the brand in the future, recommend it to friends, and choose the products over others, even those with better features or lower prices.

Summary
Brand equity is one of the significant concepts in brand management, as well as in business practice and academic research. Developing and properly managing brand equity has been emphasized as an important issue for most firms. Brand equity can be classified into three main perspectives i.e., customers-based perspective, financial perspective and combined perspective Moreover, brand equity is considered as multidimensional concept and a complex phenomenon. According to Aaker that, brand equity consist of five dimensions: brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and other brand propriety assets. Brand awareness is defined as the ability of a buyer to recognize or re call that brand is a member of certain product
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category, and it is considered as the first and fundamental attribute of customer brand equity. Beside, Brand association is described as anything linked in memory to a brand and brand image is as seen as a set of associations, usually related in some meaningful way, it is the outcome of high brand awareness, is positively relate to brand equity. Subsequently, perceived quality is not the real quality of product, but the consumer subjective assessment of that product; it is the core construct in the study to measuring brand equity. However, brand loyalty is different from other brand equity dimensions, because it is associated with usage experience, as well as it results in three given brand equity dimensions-i.e. brand awareness, brand association and perceived quality. Brand loyalty is a concept that firms emphasize, since it may create or sustain a customers' patronage over the long-term, thereby increase brand equity. Brand equity is seen as the outcome of long term marketing efforts operated to build a sustainable, differential advantage relative to competitors, any marketing actions will affect on customers brand knowledge. Advertising is the most popular marketing activities, it can create long-term brand image for a product (service) or trigger quick sales, as well as it may positive effects on all elements of the brand knowledge. Compared with others, Compared with other promotional activities, Word of mouth is a lowcost and reliable way of spreading information or experiences regarding products or services thus it is believed as a key issue in information or experience diffusion in consumer markets as well as shaping consumers expectation. firms invite a celebrity to endorse their brand; they expect the brand will be acquired from customers awareness of a celebrity, which could include perceived quality, educational value and a positive image.

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conclusion
Strong brand equity allows the companies to retain customers better, provide service much effectively, and increase marginal profits. Brand equity can be increased by successfully implementing and managing an on going marketing effort by offering more value to the customer, and listening to their needs. Brand equity factors influencing customer purchase decision criterion has been discussed. The study concluded that brand managers efforts should be focused on customer loyalty, trustworthiness, , brand distinctions and innovative features in managing brand equity. apropriate marketing mix should be focused to exploit brand equity in terms of the purchase decisions and repetitive sales of the products. It can be concluded that its not only the marketer name which create a brand image in the mind of customer but dealer name can also influence also develop the brand image attributes.

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Bibliology
www.wikipedia.com www.google.com www.webdynamic.com www.researchersworld.com www.investopedia.com www.managementstudyguide.com

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