The antecedents and consequences of brand equity in service markets

Brand equity is important due to the competitive advantages conferred by strong and successful brands. For service firms, brand equity can contribute largely to visualizing intangible service products. Since there is a lack of research, this study attempts to propose an integrated model of brand equity in service markets. For brand equity in service markets, the antecedents are considered to be brand attitude and brand image, and the consequences are considered to be brand preference and purchase intentions. This study concentrates on service brands and selects eighteen firms from three service categories. Through empirically testing, the relationships between brand attitude, brand image, brand equity as well as brand preference and purchase intentions are confirmed; in addition, the impact of brand attitude on brand equity is found to be larger than the impact of brand image.