IMPACT OF BRAND EQUITY & BRAND AWARENESS ON CUSTOMER...

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN MANAGEMENT & FORESIGHT JOURNAL HOMEPAGE: IJMMF.COM ISSN: 2204-0072. VOL. 1, ISSUE 10, PUBLISHED ONLINE on OCTOBER 2014, pp. 287-303. IMPACT OF BRAND EQUITY & BRAND AWARENESS ON CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION ATIF BILAL 1* , FAIZA MAJID MALIK 2 *Department of Management Sciences, SZABIST, Islamabad 1&2 ABSTRACT The main objective of the present research is to explore the relationship between Brand Equity and Brand Awareness with the Customer Satisfaction. For the study the data is collected through a survey based questionnaire. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to the customers shopping at branded shops of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The data of useable one hundred and eighty questionnaires is analyzed using SPSS. Cronbach Alpha for reliability, correlation and regression tests for the relationship among variables were applied for the data analysis purposes. The results indicated that there is a strong association between Brand Equity and Customers’ satisfaction. The results also indicated that there is a strong and positive relationship between Brand Awareness and Customer Satisfaction. It was found if the Brand Equity and Brand Awareness are increased it can increase the Customer Satisfaction. The findings of the study can be of great value for the marketing department, especially the Brand managers for maintaining and increasing the Customers’ satisfaction through these important factors. KEYWORDS: Brand Equity, Brand Awareness, Customer satisfaction. 1. INTRODUCTION Brand equity plays a significant role in the firms in creation and development of products and company’s brand strategy, customer retention through satisfaction is the aim of every business, for a product to be sold there has to be a demand and for demand it is important that whenever the need arises the particular brand is the first thing that pops into the customer’s head, this is known as brand awareness, in this study we will be exploring in detail the impact of brand equity and brand awareness on customer satisfaction. customer satisfaction has always been one of the most important areas of interest for the researchers and scholars of marketing, the concept has been studied by many researchers in different contexts of the world, though the concept has been studied by many researchers in relation to different variables in a variety of contexts, still it is one of the under studied areas in developing countries, customer satisfaction is considered as the final response after using a product or service (Oliver, 1981), customer satisfaction is considered to be one of the major influencing factors that triggers the repurchase behavior (Kumar, 2002; Mittal and Kamakura, 2001) and helps retain customers , who provide the firms with the financial capital required to operate and make profits, thus is considered to be very important. Satisfaction comprises of both cognitive and emotional modules. Most of the earlier researchers have found that satisfaction is predisposed by the quality and value observed which is figured based on their expectancy (Selnes & Fred, 1993). Brand awareness is a vital dimension of brand equity, is often considered to be an important part of consumers’ buying decision, as it represents the key reason for counting a certain brand in the consideration set. Brand awareness also has an effect on consumers’ perceived risk calculation and their sureness in the purchase judgment, due to awareness of the brand and its features.

Transcript of IMPACT OF BRAND EQUITY & BRAND AWARENESS ON CUSTOMER...

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN MANAGEMENT & FORESIGHT JOURNAL HOMEPAGE: IJMMF.COM ISSN: 2204-0072. VOL. 1, ISSUE 10, PUBLISHED ONLINE on OCTOBER 2014, pp. 287-303.

IMPACT OF BRAND EQUITY & BRAND AWARENESS ON

CUSTOMER’S SATISFACTION

ATIF BILAL1*

, FAIZA MAJID MALIK

2

*Department of Management Sciences, SZABIST, Islamabad1&2

ABSTRACT

The main objective of the present research is to explore the relationship between Brand Equity and Brand

Awareness with the Customer Satisfaction. For the study the data is collected through a survey based

questionnaire. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to the customers shopping at branded shops of

Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The data of useable one hundred and eighty questionnaires is analyzed using SPSS.

Cronbach Alpha for reliability, correlation and regression tests for the relationship among variables were

applied for the data analysis purposes. The results indicated that there is a strong association between Brand

Equity and Customers’ satisfaction. The results also indicated that there is a strong and positive relationship

between Brand Awareness and Customer Satisfaction. It was found if the Brand Equity and Brand Awareness

are increased it can increase the Customer Satisfaction. The findings of the study can be of great value for the

marketing department, especially the Brand managers for maintaining and increasing the Customers’

satisfaction through these important factors.

KEYWORDS: Brand Equity, Brand Awareness, Customer satisfaction.

1. INTRODUCTION

Brand equity plays a significant role in the firms in creation and development of products and company’s brand

strategy, customer retention through satisfaction is the aim of every business, for a product to be sold there has

to be a demand and for demand it is important that whenever the need arises the particular brand is the first

thing that pops into the customer’s head, this is known as brand awareness, in this study we will be exploring in

detail the impact of brand equity and brand awareness on customer satisfaction.

customer satisfaction has always been one of the most important areas of interest for the researchers and

scholars of marketing, the concept has been studied by many researchers in different contexts of the world,

though the concept has been studied by many researchers in relation to different variables in a variety of

contexts, still it is one of the under studied areas in developing countries, customer satisfaction is considered as

the final response after using a product or service (Oliver, 1981), customer satisfaction is considered to be one

of the major influencing factors that triggers the repurchase behavior (Kumar, 2002; Mittal and Kamakura,

2001) and helps retain customers , who provide the firms with the financial capital required to operate and make

profits, thus is considered to be very important. Satisfaction comprises of both cognitive and emotional

modules. Most of the earlier researchers have found that satisfaction is predisposed by the quality and value

observed which is figured based on their expectancy (Selnes & Fred, 1993).

Brand awareness is a vital dimension of brand equity, is often considered to be an important part of consumers’

buying decision, as it represents the key reason for counting a certain brand in the consideration set. Brand

awareness also has an effect on consumers’ perceived risk calculation and their sureness in the purchase

judgment, due to awareness of the brand and its features.

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In the modern business environment competition is getting tougher and tougher with new competitors entering

the market every day, this is due to low barriers of entry, considering the current state of the economy, price

wars is not away to drive the competition out and retain customers, one has to delve deep into the subject of

consumer behavior and under the psyche of the consumer to find out what makes a customer buy a certain

product and keep buying it, this does not end here one has to make sure that the customer also spreads the word

among his peers and increase the reach using the word of mouth, this will increase the customer and will also

help the product reach where advertisement has not been able to. For the customers to be satisfied it is important

that there are no barriers, barriers to access which means that the product should be within the customers reach

whenever needed, for this distribution should be strong so that the product can be purchased without excessive

efforts, a successful brand always promises accessibility, secondly there should be no barriers to information,

this is important for customer awareness, a customer should be able to look up information relevant to a product

as per their requirements, in this internet prevalent environment companies should work on the concepts of

search engine optimization to create more awareness, effective advertisement is another method, ads should be

created in a way that they highlight the features of the product, what makes them better than the products

offered by the other competitors and most importantly they should target the emotional or the logical appeal in a

way that the name of the brand sticks to the potential or present customer’s mind so that when the time and need

arises the particular brand is the first thing they think of, hence creating a strong recall.

When a customer purchases a product on regular basis without switching between brands that means he is loyal

to the brand, this loyalty adds to brand equity. There comes a stage when a customer would prefer a brand over

all the others without extensive market research and is satisfied with his purchase decision, this is because the

customer has tried the brand in the past and the brand delivered everything that it promised and the customer

feels he got his money’s worth and is thus satisfied. Brand equity is the value of a brand and as the value of a

particular brand increases the level of satisfaction for these customers rises along with that, this is because of

the association they have created with the brand over the time of use, and they take pride to be users or owners

of that particular brand, for example you own a Mercedes, the company recently came out with the S-Class

2014 which is being named the most technologically advanced luxury car the world has yet seen by the Forbes

Magazine, this is a pretty big achievement in the car manufacturing industry where there are so many rivals and

all of them striving to be the best, coming up with new and innovative automobiles everyday now don’t you feel

proud to own such a brand and you know that it is doing so well, this will not only make proud to be associated

to the brand but will also increase your level of satisfaction.

Experts and scholars have not clearly detailed the influences that could lead to loyalty. However, there is a

unanimity that satisfaction could lead to loyalty (Gremlen and Brown, 1997; Cronin and Taylor, 1992).

Satisfied clients exhibit loyalty through repeat purchase, Getty and Thompson (1994) found that repeat business

is made through satisfaction towards the goods and service quality.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

From the last two decades one of the major areas of research and in marketing has seen the relation between

Brand Equity and Customer Satisfaction (Black, 2006). It is very important to realize that Brand Equity and

Customer Satisfaction are interrelated and interdependence when it comes to customer satisfaction with a

particular brand. Brand equity is the complete profile about the customer satisfaction of a customer about a

particular product or a particular brand. The relation between Brand Equity and Customer Satisfaction can also

be described in terms that brand equity is the measure of customer satisfaction in most of the cases (Jang, 2010).

This means that if the brand equity of a product is high the customer satisfaction will also be high. This is the

reason it is more emphasized to increase brand equity in order to increase customer satisfaction (Laren, 1974).

Previous researches has shown that there is a strong and positive relationship between Brand Equity and

Customer Satisfaction (Torres & Tribo, 2007). It has also been seen that companies that have higher brand

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equity also have higher customer satisfaction. This satisfaction eventually lead to higher sales and higher

profitability.

One of the studies of Hoseini & Ahmadinezhad (2008) titled "Surveying the effect of variables including

customer satisfaction and customer trust of the brand name and brand equity on customers looking in the sector

of Refah Bank financial services (Iran)" indicated that a strong relation exist between Brand Equity and

Customer Satisfaction. This relationship has been seen both when the purchasing behavior was high and when

the purchasing behavior was low in a purchase situation.

Loyal customers means less vulnerability to the competitive pressure for the firm, so managers can instrument

successful value creating strategies generating brand equity value (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Furthermore,

customer satisfaction signifies a key element of the larger concept of a firm's customer satisfaction that,

according to instrumental stakeholder theory (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Jones, 1995), generates value.

Leone et al (2006) in his studies states that brand equity has a noteworthy effect on customer interest and in

continuing a close relationship with the business due to trust and customer satisfaction. Aaker's research tells us

that, a finer brand means a superior quality of a product for a consumer unconsciously. The Consumer has

confidence that he has received a valuable product in exchange for his payment (Heydarzadeh & et al, 2007).

The trustworthiness of a brand plays an important role in growing reliance on the brand, thus can lessen risk,

shorten decision making process, and increase trust (Sweeney, 2001).

According to Brown and Dacin (1997), the business's reputation is very important from the stance of the

consumer to offer an outline of the quality of products or services produced. Meanwhile, according to Dick,

Chakravanty and Biehal (1990), through the study it is suggested that the repute of the business directly forms

the confidence of consumers for goods or services from firms that will affect the consumer's attention in

shaping the choice. Brand's equity can assist consumers to recognize process and save large amounts of data

regarding a product and brand name. it can also affect consumer's confidence in a purchase decision because the

customer has already had the experience it and he is aware of the brand name and its features (Aaker, 1991).

Brand's equity is an additional perceived equity for a consumer from a name in contrast with a similar and

nameless product (Yoo & Doutho, 1997). From the consumer perspective brand equity states that a brand

should be valued by customers if it wants to be a valuable brand. Brand equity based on consumer, offers

special guidelines regarding strategies and approaches of marketing and areas that can help manager's decision

making (Keler, 2008).

Consumers tend to make quick purchase decisions about a product if they know or recognize the brand. The

more the consumers can recognize, retain and remember a firms brand the more likely the fact that they will

purchase it. This is a benefit in contrast to rivals as consumers overlook the price and other quality when they

trust and know a brand, it becomes a part of the consumers life style to shop where they are used to and have

trust in the brand, thus feel more satisfied (Keller 2004, 50-53.).

Consumers always purchase products and services independently, but decision making always encompasses

several individuals, the decision making process follows a number of steps starting with the initiator, the

individual who initiates the decision making process and collects data after which the influencer, the person

who encourages or stimulates people to acquire or procure goods and services, they at times gather information

on their own as well, now the decider, who has the monetary power to make the ultimate purchase decision

makes the purchase, the user who essentially consumes the product (Jobba 2004, 67.)

The character of the user can be opted by any buyer or person depending upon the item for consumption, its

attributes and can also modify the role. Gender plays a significant part in the decision making as there exists a

difference of opinion and choices and preferences between men and women as men and women have different

preferences (Jobba 2004, 68.). Some cultures consider the women to be responsible for the household and

childcare, the women in those societies are thus in charge of making all the relevant purchase decisions, thought

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the husband still might be the source of family income, businesses in such environments should focus on

women and make their marketing strategies and their marketing mix accordingly so that the targeted group is

made aware of the brand and relevant methods should be used for brand recall.

Brand awareness is the likelihood that users identify the existence, accessibility and availability of a firm’s

product or services, generating this awareness by a firm is one of the key phases to promote its products and

services. Brand awareness comprises of both brand recognition and brand recall performance. Brand

recognition is the competency of a customer identifying a brand as one, which he or she has previously been

exposed to. Product promotion through brand awareness is one of the simplest and most effective means to

promote commodity related products because they have comparatively fewer discrepancies, which makes it

more difficult for the firm to differentiate their brand provided they don’t have a strong recognizable brand.

Customers tend to make decisions swiftly regarding a product if they know about or they recognize the brand.

The better the consumers can identify, recall and remember a firm’s brand the more satisfied will they be, and

this is where the firm will have the advantage they were looking for as at this stage the consumers are most

likely to ignore the price of the product because of the trust that they have on the brand, over time it becomes a

part of their lifestyle and they become confident of the brand, contributing to the level of customer satisfaction

(Keller 2004, 50-53.).

While deciding among contending brands a detailed appraisal, predominantly for brands that are new to the

market takes place and frequently with an established list of features and qualities, this new to the market takes

place often with an agreed list of attributes. This replicates the opinions of all the consumers who are willing to

try out the new brand, though a more concealed valuation also takes place based upon the communal behavior

or class of the particular consumer who judges whether the product suits his/her class or lifestyle, or if they can

associate themselves with that particular brand and consider the social implications of being associated with that

brand focusing on the thought whether they will be appreciated and respected being linked to that brand (Leslie,

Malcolm, Elaine 2011, 182). Existing and prospective customers analyze if a firm’s brand can support and

supply for their needs and requirements, if a firm continues to fulfill their requirements, and manages to keep a

high level of awareness and stays on top of the customer’s mind, the customers establish strong ties to the brand

with the subsequent rise in the level of satisfaction.

In contrast to this if a firm has high prices and does very little or nothing to advertise its products they

customers will simply shy away to a more prominent brand that they find more recognizable, easily accessible

and delivers what it promises and most importantly fits the needs of the customers, (Romaniuk and Sharp,

2004). Firms constantly need to carry out internal and external branding exercises combined with the right

advertisement and marketing mix in order to establish the right, positive and strong brand image, this strong

brand identity will also help the employees to communicate the brand to the customers in a much more

convincing way and they can attract the customers in a better way, plus internal branding is a method through

which the employees of the firm can understand the brand in its true meaning, the way it was intended to be

understood this will then enable them to communicate the message of the firm and the brand to the consumer in

a much clearer way, the employees are important here because they are able to communicate the message much

more effectively than any advertisement and a good informative encounter with a knowledge employee will

have a greater chance of retention for the firm and the brand in the customer’s mind, (Franzen, 1999).

Brand Awareness

Brand Equity

Customer Satisfaction

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FIG1. Theoretical Framework

Key Hypothesis for the Study:

Following are the two hypotheses those were developed after the detailed literature review.

H1: There is a positive association between Brand Equity and Customers’ satisfaction.

H2: there is a positive association between Brand Awareness and Customers’ satisfaction.

3. RESEARCH DESIGN

The customer satisfaction has been examined using primary data with two factors i.e. brand equity and brand

awareness of the customers about a particular brand. The study is done to test the hypothesis developed after the

literature review on the topic applying statistical test like Cronbach Alpha for reliability of the data and multiple

regression for the significance of the results.

Instrument

A twenty three items questionnaire using Likert Scale was designed and distributed to the respondents, who

were the general public of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The reliability and validity of the variables was explored

properly. The data regarding respondents’ demographics has also been collected. The used of this scale (Likert

Scale) is justified on the basis as it has been used by many researchers successfully for the measurement of

variables such as customer satisfaction (Twyman, 1973; Lee & Green, 1991; Kalwani & Silk, 1982).

Convenient sampling technique is used for this research because it was easy to collect the data from different

sources and it’s the best suitable technique for this research. The type of study is causal in nature.

Methodology

For the present research the raw data is collected which is analyzed statistically. There are many types of

software that can be used for the data analysis of the present type of the research. However in the present study

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0) is used to analyze the data. The reason for using this

software is that it is well known for its successful data analysis tools that are available in it. The software is easy

to use and can cater many statistical tests that are required for the present research. The data was analyzed by

applying Cronbach Alpha for the estimation of reliability, Pearson’s correlation tool for the extent and the

strength of the relationship between the independent and independent variables. The regression was also run to

measure the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Population

The population of the study was the general public of Pakistan. The sample was taken from Islamabad and

Rawalpindi having many brand sale outlets in the city. Sum of 220 questionnaires were distributed out of which

180 responses were included for the data analysis that makes 81% of the respondent rate. It was made sure to

collect data from the customers who are at least using, or have used one branded good in their everyday life. For

the purpose customers from the sale stores of different branded shops were asked to fill the questionnaires.

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Measurement

In the study Brand Equity and Brand Awareness with Customers’ Satisfaction has been measured with required

items modified according to the context of the study.

Brand Equity

For this measurement (Mullen, 1995) was referred. Seven items were used for the questionnaire. The

rating option were five Likert Scale was used with 1 for strongly agree to 5 for strongly disagree.

Brand Awareness

For this measurement Brodie et al. (2009) was referred. Seven items were used for the questionnaire.

The rating option were five Likert Scale was used with 1 for strongly agree to 5 for strongly disagree.

Customer Satisfaction

For this measurement Babin, Anderson, and Tatham (2006) was referred. Nine items were used for the

questionnaire. The rating option were five Likert Scale was used with 1 for strongly agree to 5 for strongly

disagree.

Data Collection

Following were the characteristics of the sample regarding the demographics.

Table 1. Age

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid

18-30 92 51.1 51.1 51.1

31-50 73 40.6 40.6 91.7

>50 15 8.3 8.3 100.0

Total 180 100.0 100.0

The above table shows that out of one hundred and eighty respondents 92 are aged between 18-30 years, 73 are

of age between 31-50 years and 15 are above 50 years of age.

Table 2. Gender

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid

male 125 69.4 69.4 69.4

female 55 30.6 30.6 100.0

Total 180 100.0 100.0

The above table shows the gender of the respondents, out of 180 respondents 125 were males while 55 were

females.

Data Analysis

After the data was collected and coded, the suitable statistical data analytical techniques were applied, keeping

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in view the objectives of study by using the software (SPSS). The data was recorded in the SPSS with all items

and their respective labeled scale.

4. RESULTS

Reliability Analysis

Table 3. Reliability Statistics

Customer satisfaction

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

0.877 9

Table 4. Reliability Statistics

Brand Equity

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

0.871 7

Table 5. Reliability Statistics

Brand awareness

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

0.0720 7

Nunnally (1979) stated that if the value of Alpha is equal or higher than 0.7 the reliability is considered

acceptable.

Table 6. Correlations

Brand_Equity Customer_Satis

faction

Brand_Awaren

ess

Brand_Equity Pearson Correlation 1 0.904**

0.949**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 0.000

N 180 180 180

Customer_Satisfaction Pearson Correlation 0.904**

1 0.834**

Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000

N 180 180 180

Brand_Awareness Pearson Correlation 0.949**

0.834**

1

Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000

N 180 180 180

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The above table shows Pearson correlation analysis which indicates the effect of brand equity and brand

awareness on customer satisfaction in Pakistan.

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Correlation analysis of brand equity and customer satisfaction shows that there is significant relation between

the two variables (0.904** p<0.01).

Correlation analysis of brand awareness and customer satisfaction shows that there is significant relation

between the two variables (0.834** p<0.01).

From the above results we can see that for increasing the customer satisfaction, the brand equity and brand

awareness play a vital role.

Table 7. Model Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 0.907a 0.823 0.821 0.42862

a. Predictors: (Constant), Brand Awareness, Brand Equity

The table above shows the R square value that indicates the proportion of variation in customers’ satisfaction is

due to electronic marketing usage. In this case the value of R-Square = 0.902 or 90.7% variation in (Customer

satisfaction) is explained due to Brand Equity and Brand Awareness.

The value of Adjusted R square is the percentage of change after the adjustment of errors in the data. The

results shows the value of (Adjusted R-Square = 0.823) which means that 82.3% of the variation in the

Customer satisfaction is due to Brand Equity and Brand Awareness.

Table 8. ANOVAa

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1

Regression 151.630 2 75.815 412.682 .000b

Residual 32.517 177 0.184

Total 184.147 179

a. Dependent Variable: Customer_Satisfaction

b. Predictors: (Constant), Brand_Awareness, Brand_Equity

The Table above shows significance value of (F = 412, p=.000), so we conclude that there is a statistically

significant relationship between dependent variable (Customer satisfaction) and the independent variable i.e.

Brand Equity and Brand awareness.

Table 9. Coefficients

Model Unstandardized Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients T Sig.

B Std. Error Beta

1

(Constant) -.324 0.089 -3.662 0.000

Brand Equity 0.801 0.040 0.633 19.989 0.000

Brand

Awareness 0.383 0.033 0.361 11.719 0.000

a. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction

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Firstly the results in table shows that there is a positive impact of independent variable (brand equity) on

dependent variable (Customer satisfaction) at (β= .801, p=000). Beta value shows the strength and direction of

independent variable (Brand Equity) on dependent variable (Customer satisfaction). The significance value is

shown by “p” value. So it is proved that the hypothesis H1 is accepted. From the results above it is seen that

there is a strong positive relationship between the Brand Equity and Customer satisfaction.

Secondly the results in table shows that there is a positive impact of independent variable (brand awareness) on

dependent variable (Customer satisfaction) at (β= .383, p=000). Beta value shows the strength and direction of

independent variable (Brand awareness) on dependent variable (Customer satisfaction). The significance value

is shown by “p” value. So it is proved that the hypothesis H2 is accepted. From the results above it is seen that

there is a strong positive relationship between the Brand Equity and Customer satisfaction.

Brand equity (H1)

The results established that the hypothesis 1 is accepted i.e. the brand equity is a strong factor in determining

the customers’ satisfaction.

Brand awareness (H2)

The results established that the hypothesis 2 is accepted i.e. the brand awareness is a strong factor in

determining the customers’ satisfaction.

5. DISCUSSION

The study has seen the association between the two independent and an independent variable. The independent

variables of the study were brand awareness and brand brand equity while the dependent variable was

customers’ satisfaction. Being the dependent variable customers’ satisfaction was the main focus of the study.

The present study showed that there is a strong association between brand equity and customers’ satisfaction.

This means that if the customer holds a good perception about a particular brand and feels good about the

quality and value of the brand, it is going to lead to the higher level of that particular brand in his or her mind.

From the last two decades one of the major areas of research and in marketing has seen the relation between

Brand Equity and Customer Satisfaction (Black, 2006).

It is very important to realize that Brand Equity and Customer Satisfaction are interrelated and interdependence

when it comes to customer satisfaction with a particular brand. Brand equity is the complete profile about the

customer satisfaction of a customer about a particular product or a particular brand. The relation between Brand

Equity and Customer Satisfaction can also be described in terms that brand equity is the measure of customer

satisfaction in most of the cases (Jang, 2010). This means that if the brand equity of a product is high the

customer satisfaction will also be high. This is the reason it is more emphasized to increase brand equity in

order to increase customer satisfaction (Laren, 1974).

A previous research has shown that there is a strong and positive relationship between Brand Equity and

Customer Satisfaction (Torres & Tribo, 2007). It has also been seen that companies that have higher brand

equity also have higher customer satisfaction. This satisfaction eventually leads to higher sales and higher

profitability.

One of the studies of Hoseini & Ahmadinezhad (2008) titled "Surveying the effect of variables including

customer satisfaction and customer trust of the brand name and brand equity on customers looking in the sector

of Refah Bank financial services (Iran)" indicated that a strong relation exist between Brand Equity and

Customer Satisfaction. This relationship has been seen both when the purchasing behavior was high and when

the purchasing behavior was low in a purchase situation.

Loyal customer means less vulnerability to the competitive pressure for the firm, so managers can instrument

successful value creating strategies generating brand equity value (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Furthermore,

customer satisfaction signifies a key element of the larger concept of a firm's customer satisfaction that,

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according to instrumental stakeholder theory (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Jones, 1995), generates value.

Leone et al (2006) in his studies states that brand equity has a noteworthy effect on customer interest and in

continuing a close relationship with the business due to trust and customer satisfaction. Aaker's research tells us

that, a finer brand means a superior quality of a product for a consumer unconsciously. The Consumer has

confidence that he has received a valuable product in exchange for his payment (Heydarzadeh & et al, 2007).

The present study also showed that there is a strong association between brand awareness and customers’

satisfaction. This means that if the customers is well aware about a particular brand and have all the required

knowledge about it, it is going to lead to the higher level of satisfaction about that brand. Many previous studies

in different contexts have also shown the relation between the brand awareness and customers’ satisfaction.

Consumers tend to make quick purchase decisions about a product if they know or recognize the brand. The

more the consumers can recognize, retain and remember a firms brand the more likely the fact that they will

purchase it. This is a benefit in contrast to rivals as consumers overlook the price and other quality when they

trust and know a brand, it becomes a part of the consumers life style to shop where they are used to and have

trust in the brand, thus feel more satisfied (Keller, 2004).

Limitations & Future Studies

There are some limitations of the present study that are necessary to be discussed here. First the study was

conducted by collecting data from two cites of Pakistan i.e. Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Therefore generalization

of the study must be made with great care and caution. Second limitation was of time, as the research was done

within four months, which created the limitation of data collection from different sources. As it was a

quantitative study, empirical in nature, yet if qualitative methods would have been applied for data collection,

the study might have been fruitful into an in-depth insight.

In the present study the relationship of brand Equity and Brand Awareness is seen with Customer Satisfaction.

The quantitative method was applied to analyze the data. In future if the same research is carried out using

qualitative method, it can produce some in-depth and important information about the topic. The mediating

effect of the variables such as price and availability can also be studied in the future researches. Another future

study can be conducted by collecting the data from more cities of Pakistan to make high generalizability of the

research.

6. CONCLUSIONS

To conclude we see that through the study a great amount of useful information about the customer satisfaction

can be drawn. After conducting the data analysis we came to the conclusion that there is a strong relation of the

three independent variables with the dependent variable. Out of the studies two variables brand equity plays a

very strong part in the customers’ satisfaction. The next contributor towards the customers’ satisfaction is the

brand awareness. Customer satisfaction has always been the most important area of marketing. For any manager

the main task is to enhance the customer satisfaction through different factors of brand strategies. Through the

study it has been seen that for the customer satisfaction brand equity plays an important role. This means that it

is necessary for the customer to feel satisfied that the good will of the brand must be high in the customers’

mind. Secondly customer awareness can also be a great factor that will increase the customers’ satisfaction.

The study can be helpful in providing the information to the brand manager as how to manage the brand

awareness among different customers. The study will also provide the information about how customers’

satisfaction is increased through brand awareness and brand equity. Ones the customer satisfaction is achieved it

will automatically lead to the higher profitability for the organization.

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