A neutrosophic WENSLO-ARLON model for measuring sustainable brand equity performance

Abstract

Sustainable brand equity denotes the perceived brand equity by consumers, influenced by companies' non-financial and environmental practices. To cultivate sustainable brand equity, corporations undertake green initiatives and engage in social responsibility endeavors, thereby communicating environmentally oriented messages to consumers. Companies feel the necessity to establish a competitive position in sustainability relative to their counterparts. Hence, the primary objective of this research is to conduct an inquiry aimed at identifying sustainable brand equity to meet this exigency of companies. In this context, the motivation of this study lies in treating the calculation of sustainable brand equity as a decision-making process and developing a decision support system for this purpose. The proposed decision support system for determining sustainable brand equity levels in this research has three fundamental inputsss: experts, criteria, and brands. The impact levels of experts on the decision-making process are quantified utilizing type-2 neutrosophic number (T2NN) sets. The weights of criteria are ascertained employing the weight by envelope and slope (WENSLO) method extended with T2NN sets. The ranking of sustainable brand equities is established through the innovative T2NN-based alternative ranking using two-step logarithmic normalization (ARLON) method. These methodologies are amalgamated, and the T2NN-WENSLO-ARLON hybrid model is posited as a decision support system for evaluating sustainable brand equity performance. An algorithm for T2NN-WENSLO-ARLON is formulated and elucidated alongside a case study focusing on companies operating in the cosmetics sector in Turkey. The case study identifies the “green product leadership” criterion as the most influential factor in determining sustainable brand equity. Furthermore, the cosmetic company “Misbahçe Inc.” is identified as the brand with the highest sustainable brand equity. Sensitivity and comparative analyses are conducted to ascertain the robustness of the results and the decision model. All scenario outcomes bolster the decision model. The research provides comprehensive insights into both the developed tool for calculating sustainable brand equity and develops implications for the cosmetics industry.