An Exploratory Study into the Impact of Components of Brand Equity and Country of Origin Effects on Purchase Intention

Abstract

ABSTRACT Due to rapid globalization of markets and products, it is necessary for managers and academics alike to understand the importance of the drivers of global brands. In this paper we extend Keller's (1998) conceptualization of brand equity to incorporate Country and Brand Origin (CBO) and Country of Origin (COO) effects on purchase intention. A structural equation modelling approach is used to test a conceptual model that hypothesizes relationships between these variables for the product category of watches. The results show that the components of brand equity through the effect of brand loyalty are three times more important than COO effects. A direct recommendation of this study is that for this product category, marketing managers can choose a country of manufacture for cost efficiencies regardless of the associations that consumers have with that country.