How much of brand equity is explained by trust?

Abstract

Brand equity, key to the evaluation of marketing performance, exists in the hearts and minds of consumers, and other marketplace players, but is largely assessed on the basis of observed behaviours. Such measures are typically relative (to other brands) ‐ e.g. market share and relative price ‐ whereas direct measures of brand equity ‐ e.g. awareness and attitudes ‐ are conventionally expressed in absolute terms. The correlation between the two sets has been poor. Expressing brand equity in relational terms opens a new line of research which may provide better performance prediction and assessment. Trust is the most popular measure for relationship assessment and may similarly prove to be the leading indicator for brand equity. Makes some research proposals.