RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The main purpose of our study is to investigate the rela- tionships between marketing mix elements and brand equity. On the basis of the literature, we hypothesize direc- tional relationships among marketing efforts, the dimen- sions of brand equity, and brand equity. The relational paths among the constructs are summarized in Figure 2. Values to the firm and to the customer are included in the conceptual framework only to suggest a worthwhile road for further study of the structure of brand equity.