Title: Online reviews and its impact on brand equity

Authors: Uttam Chakraborty; Savita Bhat

Addresses: School of Management, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore 575025, India ' School of Management, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore 575025, India

Abstract: The significant rise of online social media increases consumer's power over brands. Therefore, this study attempts to assess the impact of online reviews on brand equity dimensions, namely, brand awareness, brand associations (in terms of perceived value, brand personality and organisational associations) and perceived quality. The present study integrates source credibility theory and attribution theory to understand the impact of online reviews on brands. The study follows mixed method approach by using quantitative analysis (structural equation modeling) and qualitative text analysis (netnography). For quantitative study, data has been collected from select Facebook brand pages with the help of Google form application. For qualitative study, "Apple Users India" brand community is considered to conduct netnography. Quantitative analysis reveals that online reviews have more significant impact on brand awareness and perceived value. Qualitative analysis also finds evidences of brand equity dimensions in the online brand community.

Keywords: online reviews; brand equity; structural equation modelling; netnography.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2018.090953

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2018 Vol.12 No.2, pp.159 - 180

Received: 27 May 2017
Accepted: 20 Jun 2017
Published online: 04 Apr 2018 *

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