Investigating Key Antecedents and Outcomes of Employee‐based Brand Equity

Abstract

A wealth of research examines firm or consumer‐based brand equity but largely ignores internal stakeholders' perceptions of the brand asset. The present study focuses on service employees who affect both internal (i.e. other employees) and external (i.e., customers) stakeholders through their interactions. The study draws on cognitive psychology and social identity theory to develop and empirically test an integrated model of antecedents and consequences of employee‐based brand equity (EBBE) that distinguishes between a cognitive and an affective route for its development via brand knowledge and brand identification respectively. The research extends the limited work on EBBE by examining how perceptions of employees about their supervisors' brand leadership behaviors and their supervisors' focus on their subordinates significantly drive employees' responses to the internal brand. The proposed model also highlights the significant role of EBBE vis‐à‐vis two citizenship behaviors, namely brand value dissemination and customer orientation.