Building industrial brand equity on resource advantage

Abstract

Based on resource advantage theory of competition, we attempt to identify industrial brand equity dimensions in today's competitive, high-technology, and global business-to-business environment. Through a quantitative study with 443 buying center members who are purchase decision makers, we find that industrial brand equity can be established in a number of dimensions: (1) functional advantage in products, (2) solution advantage in services, (3) analytical advantage in CRM, (4) omni-channel advantage in communication, (5) symbolic advantage in publicity, and (6) network advantage in resource sharing. The six dimensions have significant impacts on customer perceived value and brand loyalty. Furthermore, purchasers, managers, and users, who undertake major decision making roles in the buying center, weigh these dimensions differently during brand evaluations. The findings suggest that industrial brand managers focus on building brand equity through establishing key resource advantages in the different brand usage situations encountered by buying center members.