The Effect Of Third-party Corporate Evaluations On Consumer’s Purchase Intention And Brand Loyalty

With the development of information technology, especially as the socialnetwork and we media gain great popularity, information from a variety of channelsis more accessible and sensitive to consumers. In an information era, consumers havemuch more right to speak, thus every source can be possibly turned into a greatsensation. Third-party corporate evaluations have over one hundred years of history.Such evaluations as Most Admired Companies and Most Socially ResponsibleCompanies and so on, gain wide public attention around the world. Third partyorganizations provide independent and authoritative evaluation information via mediacommunication, which influences consumers’ brand associations. Therefore, what’sthe effect of this third-party evaluation information on consumers’ purchase intentionand brand loyalty?Based on the literature review, the important role of third-party corporateevaluations in brand equity is analyzed and different types of third-party corporateevaluations are sorted out. Two surveys are conducted and the different effects ofthird-party corporate evaluations on brand attitude and purchase intention areexamined. Survey results show that third-party corporate evaluations, such as theevaluations of corporate reputation, corporate social responsibility and product andservice quality, have positive effect on purchase intention, especially the corporatesocial responsibility evaluation. However, only the evaluations of corporate socialresponsibility as well as product and service quality have positive effect on brandloyalty, especially the product and service quality evaluation. Finally, limitations andsuggestions for future study are discussed.