• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.245-276
• /
• 2008

Brand equity is one of the most important concepts in business practice as well as in academic research. Successful brands can allow marketers to gain competitive advantage (Lassar et al.,1995), including the opportunity for successful extensions, resilience against competitors' promotional pressures, and the ability to create barriers to competitive entry (Farquhar, 1989). Branding plays a special role in service firms because strong brands increase trust in intangible products (Berry, 2000), enabling customers to better visualize and understand them. They reduce customers' perceived monetary, social, and safety risks in buying services, which are obstacles to evaluating a service correctly before purchase. Also, a high level of brand equity increases consumer satisfaction, repurchasing intent, and degree of loyalty. Brand equity can be considered as a mixture that includes both financial assets and relationships. Actually, brand equity can be viewed as the value added to the product (Keller, 1993), or the perceived value of the product in consumers' minds. Mahajan et al. (1990) claim that customer-based brand equity can be measured by the level of consumers' perceptions. Several researchers discuss brand equity based on two dimensions: consumer perception and consumer behavior. Aaker (1991) suggests measuring brand equity through price premium, loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations. Viewing brand equity as the consumer's behavior toward a brand, Keller (1993) proposes similar dimensions: brand awareness and brand knowledge. Thus, past studies tend to identify brand equity as a multidimensional construct consisted of brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand knowledge, customer satisfaction, perceived equity, brand associations, and other proprietary assets (Aaker, 1991, 1996; Blackston, 1995; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Na, 1995). Other studies tend to regard brand equity and other brand assets, such as brand knowledge, brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and so on, as independent but related constructs (Keller, 1993; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993). Walters(1978) defined information search as, "A psychological or physical action a consumer takes in order to acquire information about a product or store." But, each consumer has different methods for informationsearch. There are two methods of information search, internal and external search. Internal search is, "Search of information already saved in the memory of the individual consumer"(Engel, Blackwell, 1982) which is, "memory of a previous purchase experience or information from a previous search."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). External search is "A completely voluntary decision made in order to obtain new information"(Engel & Blackwell, 1982) which is, "Actions of a consumer to acquire necessary information by such methods as intentionally exposing oneself to advertisements, taking to friends or family or visiting a store."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). There are many sources for consumers' information search including advertisement sources such as the internet, radio, television, newspapers and magazines, information supplied by businesses such as sales people, packaging and in-store information, consumer sources such as family, friends and colleagues, and mass media sources such as consumer protection agencies, government agencies and mass media sources. Understanding consumers' purchasing behavior is a key factor of a firm to attract and retain customers and improving the firm's prospects for survival and growth, and enhancing shareholder's value. Therefore, marketers should understand consumer as individual and market segment. One theory of consumer behavior supports the belief that individuals are rational. Individuals think and move through stages when making a purchase decision. This means that rational thinkers have led to the identification of a consumer buying decision process. This decision process with its different levels of involvement and influencing factors has been widely accepted and is fundamental to the understanding purchase intention represent to what consumers think they will buy. Brand equity is not only companies but also very important asset more than product itself. This paper studies brand equity model and influencing factors including information process such as information searching and information resources in the fashion market in Asia and Europe. Information searching and information resources are influencing brand knowledge that influences consumers purchase decision. Nine research hypotheses are drawn to test the relationships among antecedents of brand equity and purchase intention and relationships among brand knowledge, brand value, brand attitude, and brand loyalty. H1. Information searching influences brand knowledge positively. H2. Information sources influence brand knowledge positively. H3. Brand knowledge influences brand attitude. H4. Brand knowledge influences brand value. H5. Brand attitude influences brand loyalty. H6. Brand attitude influences brand value. H7. Brand loyalty influences purchase intention. H8. Brand value influence purchase intention. H9. There will be the same research model in Asia and Europe. We performed structural equation model analysis in order to test hypotheses suggested in this study. The model fitting index of the research model in Asia was $X^2$=195.19(p=0.0), NFI=0.90, NNFI=0.87, CFI=0.90, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.083, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. In Europe, it was $X^2$=133.25(p=0.0), NFI=0.81, NNFI=0.85, CFI=0.89, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.073, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. From the test results, hypotheses were accepted. All of these hypotheses except one are supported. In Europe, information search is not an antecedent of brand knowledge. This means that sales of global fashion brands like jeans in Europe are not expanding as rapidly as in Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea. Young consumers in European countries are not more brand and fashion conscious than their counter partners in Asia. The results have theoretical, practical meaning and contributions. In the fashion jeans industry, relatively few studies examining the viability of cross-national brand equity has been studied. This study provides insight on building global brand equity and suggests information process elements like information search and information resources are working differently in Asia and Europe for fashion jean market.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.38
• /
• pp.5-42
• /
• 2005

Based on a field investigation of intangible cultural asset # 2, author Sir Shin Seok-bong of Daejeon Metropolitan Cityinvestigated the music of Antaek-gut, which is the base and core of Anjoon-gut, and found the following musical features: A Jang-gu(drum) and Kkoaengkwari(gong) were used to recitethe Sutra(kyungmoon) of Anjoon-gut. The Jang-gu, located on the right side, played an accompaniment role with regular beats when the Sutra was recited. The Kkoaengkwari, located on the left side, played the role of covering the caesura of the Sutra passages, so it is played with various rhythmic variations in accordance with Kojang(鼓杖). This is one way of playing Korean national classical music that has temporary caesuras, depending on the rector's bre! ath or the contents of a Sutra during the Sutra chanting, with the Jang-gu covering the pause with its variation. In other words, when being played in concert, the instruments that play the main melody are at rest while another instrument takes its turn to play the main melody as a form of prolonged sound. The rhythmic cycles of the sutras of Antaek-gut recited with this instrumental accompaniment consist of five types; a) Woemarch-jangdan (a single beat) of 4 meter by 3 bit, b) Dumarch-jangdan (two beats) of 8 meter by 3 bit, c) Saemarch-jangdan (three beats) of 4 meter by 3 bit with a fast tempo, d) Mak-gojang, uniform beats with a standardized rhythm, and e) incomplete beats deviated from the regular beats. Sir Shin Seok-bong chanted Chang (唱), a traditional native song which he called 'Cheong (淸)' with a cycle of 'Dumarch-jangdan' throughout the places of Antaek-gut. Only 'Toesonggyung' a chant for the gate that was the last location of the Antaek, was chanted with a cycle of 'Woemarch-jan! gdan'. In addition, 'Saemarch-jangdan' and 'Mak-gojang' that had comparatively faster tempos than the former two jangdans, were played without a chant when a female shaman was dancing and catching her spirit-invoking wand. The 'Saemarch-jangdan', particularly, was played while dancing began at a relatively slow tempo, then proceeded at a violent tempo and then back again to the slow tempo. This shows one of the representative tempos of our music with a slow-fast-slow tempo. The organizational tones were 'mi-la-do'-re'', and its key tones of 'mi-la-do'' were performed with perfect fourth and minor third, which was the same as those of Menari-tori. However, it did not show a typical Sigimse, an ornamental tone, of Menari-tory, whose first tone, 'mi', is vibrated and its Sigimse is gliding down from the tone 're' to 'do'. That is because the regional tone-tori of Chungcheong-do have a relatively weaker musical expression than that of Gyeongsang-do. In addition, the rhythmic types in accordance with the words of a song for the Antaek-gut music had a comparatively faster tempo than the other sutras. Also, it was only with 'Toesonggyeong' that the tone 'la' continuously appeared throughout the melody and showed 'a syllabic rhythm', while other places consisted of either a 'syncopation' or 'melismatic' rhythm. Finally, according to a brief investigation of the tone organization in accordance with each sutra, the tone 'la' was given more weight. The tone procedure showed a mainly ascending 'la-do'' and the descending 'la-mi' with minor third and perfect fourth. Also, the overall tempo proceeded with M.M.♩.=116-184, while the tempo for the Gut proceeded with M.M.♩.=120-140, which was suitable for reciting a Sutra.