Exploring The Source Of Consumer-based Brand Equity And Its Effect

With the more drastic competition of market, more lucid of market information, more homogeneous product, and more mature consumer, the enterprises take cognizance of brand's vast value.Since the early 1990's, the concept of brand equity began to react on China's practice and theory. In recent year, inside academia has been doing more and more research on the related concepts, effect and measurement of brand equity. On the one hand, because the rapid development of related theory abroad provides new insight for research on brand inside. On the other hand, because China market is changing from product competition to synthetical brand competition, the value and effect of brand attract enterprises and scholars'attention. But as to how to look on and evaluate brand equity, the scholars inside usually introduce or imitate the foreign evaluation model and method of brand equity directly. Although the introduction is propitious to meet with international and decrease the disparity, the problem of cross-context and cross-culture validity can't be ignored. The concept and evaluation model or method of brand equity that is established under western culture should be researched carefully under Chinese context to see the applicability.This article, from the sight of brand utility to explore the source of brand equity, combined with China's fact, do empirical research on local consumer toward cell phone brands. We hope to give some supplement to the research on brand equity's source at home.This article from the view of brand utility explores the source of customer-based brand equity. The empirical analysis investigates the mobile phone users. The results suggest that the brand utilities consumers perceived in mobile telephone market arise from three dimensions, that is, product functional utility, product symbolic utility, brand name functional utility, brand name symbolic utility. It has been observed that the product functional utility has a positive influence on price premium and recommendation of the brand. The brand functional utility has a positive influence on price premium, recommendation of the brand and the intention of repurchase. However, the significant incidence of the product symbolic utility has not been corroborated. These conclusions should be in favor of enterprises'brand management and design of marketing mix.