Effects of customer perception and social interactions on brand equity: automobile sector

Abstract

The consumer perceptions, attitude and behaviours towards a product have witnessed a boom in marketing in recent past. The customer perceptions and behaviour are logical a precursor to, product brand equity. We proposed a model by using relevant mediators to calculate the value of car brand equity. Since the link between predictors, mediators and dependent variables is quantified. The model includes utility and artistic as two antecedents, two mediators' customer perception and customer interactions on social media websites to assess the influence on the car brand equity (consequent). The study used the stepwise regression technique to evaluate the hypotheses results. A sample size of 332 customers using Maruti cars in India was examined to determine the mediating effect on car brand equity. Our findings recommend that the social interactions about car play a significant role in deciding brand equity along with other properties. The paper provides an important contribution in providing the managerial insight in formulating new policies, marketing strategies to promote cars online.