PURPOSES OF THE STUDY
In name, brand equity has been studied frequently, but these studies are often
actually researching other concepts like brand value, brand loyalty, and other marketlevel
outcomes. The purpose of this study was to test Raggio and Leone’s (2005)
proposed theory on brand equity by measuring consumers’ brand equity for a collegiate
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athletic team. The authors define brand equity as “the attitude, perception, belief or
desire that a brand will meet its promise of value” (Raggio & Leone, 2005, p. 26-27).
Given this definition, stronger brand equity should result in more positive, biased
processing of information, persistent attitudes that are resistant to change, and behaviors
that are influenced by those beliefs. Raggio and Leone (2005) support Keller’s (1993,
1998) model that brand equity comes from consumers’ brand knowledge. They propose
that brand equity cannot be measured using potential outcomes, so it is vital that the
actual dimensions of brand equity (i.e., brand awareness and associations) are measured
at the individual level in order to gauge true brand equity. The consumer processes
his/her brand knowledge (made up of his/her brand awareness and brand associations)
which elicits individual behaviors.
However, Raggio and Leone (2005) note that brand equity can be difficult to
measure, even at the individual level because other factors could be included, such as
habit or inertia. The authors propose that these elements affect brand decisions less when
the consumer is faced with situations of brand uncertainty. For example, when a
consumer has recently heard negative (or positive) reports on a particular brand, that
consumer may have to re-think their use (or lack of use) of that brand, so the brand equity
he or she holds for the particular brand becomes activated. This activation will allow for
a more accurate measure of brand equity. By measuring consumers’ brand equity for a
collegiate athletic team in Division I, this study aimed to test Raggio and Leone’s (2005)
proposed theory on consumer-based brand equity and provide support for using brand
equity principles in collegiate athletics.