Abstracts Category : Other

Examining the impact of social-media brand communication and distribution intensity on consumer-based brand equity in Hong Kong

by Man Lai Cheung

Professional Doctorate - Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) This study examines the influence of firm-created and user-generated social-media brand communications and distribution intensity on consumer-based brand equity for high-and low-involvement products in the Hong Kong context. Brand equity refers to the additional value and incremental utility that is built into a branded product by its brand name. Consumer-based brand equity is primarily related to consumers confidence, preference and purchase intention for a particular brand, and to the consumers positive response to the marketing activities of that brand. It is powerful when consumers consider the brand as top of mind when comparing with competitors products. Building consumer-based brand equity is, therefore, regarded as an important topic for marketing research and for marketing managers. Hence it is important to understand the effectiveness of brand building factors in the brand building process. Among those factors, the impact of social-media brand communication and distribution intensity cannot be overlooked. With the widespread use of social media in consumers information searching process, businesses increasingly communicate brand-related information using social media platforms, and consumers share their perception on brands on those platforms and through peer-to peer communications. As a result, social media has become one of the most important channels in building brand knowledge in consumers minds, shaping the development of brand equity dimensions, including brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty. Adopting a positivist quantitative research method with a cross-sectional design, a mall-intercept survey in the form of a questionnaire was conducted to collect 210 valid responses in the public area of a popular shopping centre in Hong Kong. Respondents were asked questions relating to the perceptions of social-media brand communication, distribution intensity and consumer-based brand equity of globalized notebook computers (high involvement) and sportswear (low involvement) brands. The hypotheses were tested using Partial-least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The study results show that firm-created social-media brand communications, user-generated social media brand communications, and distribution intensity have a strong combined effect on consumer-based brand equity for high and low involvement products in Hong Kong. Firm-created social media brand communication and distribution intensity have a strong, positive and significant impact on consumer-based brand equity. In contrast, the impact of user-generated social media brand communication on consumer-based brand equity is weak and non-significant. The results of the study also reveal that product involvement level moderates the impact of social-media brand communications on consumer-based brand equity. The study findings should help researchers and marketing managers to better understand the relative importance of social-media brandAdvisors/Committee Members: University of Newcastle. Faculty of Business & Law, Business School.