Problem Formulation: The clothing industry is characterised by fierce competition and booming growth. Since the start of the century, clothing consumption has increased tremendously. While consumers are demanding more clothes at cheaper prices, interest for sustainable sourced clothes is also on the rise, especially amongst the younger population. Thus, engaging in CSR could offer potential brand advantages for companies competing in the clothing industry. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explain the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of the organisational actions that are perceived as “doing good”, “avoiding bad” and “doing bad”, and Consumer-Based Brand Equity. Methodology: This thesis adopts a quantitative research method with questionnaires distributed physically at universities and shared in student Facebook-groups. The data collected from the questionnaire consists of 205 valid answers from students at Swedish universities. Findings/Conclusions: The findings based on multiple regression analyses on the results of the distributed questionnaire suggest that organisational actions that are perceived as “avoiding bad” can positively affect Consumer-Based Brand Equity. Furthermore, the findings did not support that engagement in activities that are perceived as “doing bad” is detrimental to Consumer-Based Brand Equity, nor that philanthropic activities that are perceived as “doing good” positively affect Consumer-Based Brand Equity.

Embora haja um consenso sobre a importância do valor da marca, um modelo de estimação único e uniformemente aceito ainda não surgiu, nem na perspectiva baseada no cliente ou consumidor nem na perspectiva da firma ou financeira. Assim, os profissionais de marketing ainda são desafiados a estimar o valor da marca. Além disso, é importante para a construção de um modelo de estimativa de valor da marca detectar as percepções dos consumidores e também apresentar uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca, satisfazendo às exigências de financistas, contabilistas e acionistas empresariais. A maioria dos modelos de valor da marca baseado no consumidor existentes não oferece uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca e muitos modelos de valor da marca baseado na firma não observam as percepções dos consumidores. A maioria deles não avalia o desempenho das marcas em futuros períodos de tempo. Esta pesquisa desenvolveu um modelo que permite estimar o valor da marca observando as probabilidades de escolha (manutenção ou troca) de marca pelos consumidores, com a aplicação da Matriz de Troca Markov. A matriz de troca de marca foi estimada por um estudo transversal, utilizando um modelo de escolha logit, analisando todas as marcas competidoras no mercado. Esta pesquisa também investigou o valor monetário da marca, utilizando o mecanismo de fluxo de caixa descontado. O modelo permite o cálculo do valor da marca de um produto, em particular, bem como o cálculo do valor da marca da empresa. Além disso, o modelo possibilita o estabelecimento da relação entre o mindset do cliente e a avaliação do desempenho de marca no mercado, comparando a marca de seus concorrentes. A integração entre valor da marca baseado no consumidor e valor da marca baseado na firma permite estimar o retorno financeiro das ações de marketing, verificando a contribuição de cada um dos condutores (consciência de marca, qualidade percebida, lealdade à marca, valor percebido, personalidade da marca e associações organizacionais) ao valor marca. / Although there is a consensus about brand equity importance, a single, uniformly accepted estimation model has not yet emerged, neither from consumer-based brand equity or firm or financial-based brand equity perspectives. Hence, marketing professionals are still challenged to estimate the value of the brand. Furthermore, it is important to build a brand equity estimation model, which detects the consumers’ perceptions and also presents a monetary estimation of brand equity, satisfying shareholders’ requirements. Most of the existent consumer-based brand equity models do not offer a monetary estimation of brand equity and many firm-based brand equity models do not observe consumers’ perceptions. Most of them do not evaluate the brands’ performance in future periods of time. This research developed a model that permits estimation of brand equity observing the consumers’ brand choices probabilities (purchase maintenance and brand-switching), by applying the Markov Matrix. The brand-switching matrix was estimated by a cross-sectional survey, using a logit choice model, analyzing all competing brand. This research also investigated the monetary value of the brand, using the discounted cash flow mechanism. Our model allows the calculation of the value of the brand of a product, in particular, as well as the calculation of the company's brand. Our model enables the establishment of the link between customer mindset and evaluating the performance of brand in market, comparing the brand to its competitors. The integration between consumer-based brand equity and firm or financial-based brand equity allows the estimation of the financial return of marketing actions, checking the contribution of each of the drivers (brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, perceived value, brand personality and organizational associations) in brand equity.

Embora haja um consenso sobre a importância do valor da marca, um modelo de estimação único e uniformemente aceito ainda não surgiu, nem na perspectiva baseada no cliente ou consumidor nem na perspectiva da firma ou financeira. Assim, os profissionais de marketing ainda são desafiados a estimar o valor da marca. Além disso, é importante para a construção de um modelo de estimativa de valor da marca detectar as percepções dos consumidores e também apresentar uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca, satisfazendo às exigências de financistas, contabilistas e acionistas empresariais. A maioria dos modelos de valor da marca baseado no consumidor existentes não oferece uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca e muitos modelos de valor da marca baseado na firma não observam as percepções dos consumidores. A maioria deles não avalia o desempenho das marcas em futuros períodos de tempo. Esta pesquisa desenvolveu um modelo que permite estimar o valor da marca observando as probabilidades de escolha (manutenção ou troca) de marca pelos consumidores, com a aplicação da Matriz de Troca Markov. A matriz de troca de marca foi estimada por um estudo transversal, utilizando um modelo de escolha logit, analisando todas as marcas competidoras no mercado. Esta pesquisa também investigou o valor monetário da marca, utilizando o mecanismo de fluxo de caixa descontado. O modelo permite o cálculo do valor da marca de um produto, em particular, bem como o cálculo do valor da marca da empresa. Além disso, o modelo possibilita o estabelecimento da relação entre o mindset do cliente e a avaliação do desempenho de marca no mercado, comparando a marca de seus concorrentes. A integração entre valor da marca baseado no consumidor e valor da marca baseado na firma permite estimar o retorno financeiro das ações de marketing, verificando a contribuição de cada um dos condutores (consciência de marca, qualidade percebida, lealdade à marca, valor percebido, personalidade da marca e associações organizacionais) ao valor marca. / Although there is a consensus about brand equity importance, a single, uniformly accepted estimation model has not yet emerged, neither from consumer-based brand equity or firm or financial-based brand equity perspectives. Hence, marketing professionals are still challenged to estimate the value of the brand. Furthermore, it is important to build a brand equity estimation model, which detects the consumers’ perceptions and also presents a monetary estimation of brand equity, satisfying shareholders’ requirements. Most of the existent consumer-based brand equity models do not offer a monetary estimation of brand equity and many firm-based brand equity models do not observe consumers’ perceptions. Most of them do not evaluate the brands’ performance in future periods of time. This research developed a model that permits estimation of brand equity observing the consumers’ brand choices probabilities (purchase maintenance and brand-switching), by applying the Markov Matrix. The brand-switching matrix was estimated by a cross-sectional survey, using a logit choice model, analyzing all competing brand. This research also investigated the monetary value of the brand, using the discounted cash flow mechanism. Our model allows the calculation of the value of the brand of a product, in particular, as well as the calculation of the company's brand. Our model enables the establishment of the link between customer mindset and evaluating the performance of brand in market, comparing the brand to its competitors. The integration between consumer-based brand equity and firm or financial-based brand equity allows the estimation of the financial return of marketing actions, checking the contribution of each of the drivers (brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, perceived value, brand personality and organizational associations) in brand equity.

Embora haja um consenso sobre a importância do valor da marca, um modelo de estimação único e uniformemente aceito ainda não surgiu, nem na perspectiva baseada no cliente ou consumidor nem na perspectiva da firma ou financeira. Assim, os profissionais de marketing ainda são desafiados a estimar o valor da marca. Além disso, é importante para a construção de um modelo de estimativa de valor da marca detectar as percepções dos consumidores e também apresentar uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca, satisfazendo às exigências de financistas, contabilistas e acionistas empresariais. A maioria dos modelos de valor da marca baseado no consumidor existentes não oferece uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca e muitos modelos de valor da marca baseado na firma não observam as percepções dos consumidores. A maioria deles não avalia o desempenho das marcas em futuros períodos de tempo. Esta pesquisa desenvolveu um modelo que permite estimar o valor da marca observando as probabilidades de escolha (manutenção ou troca) de marca pelos consumidores, com a aplicação da Matriz de Troca Markov. A matriz de troca de marca foi estimada por um estudo transversal, utilizando um modelo de escolha logit, analisando todas as marcas competidoras no mercado. Esta pesquisa também investigou o valor monetário da marca, utilizando o mecanismo de fluxo de caixa descontado. O modelo permite o cálculo do valor da marca de um produto, em particular, bem como o cálculo do valor da marca da empresa. Além disso, o modelo possibilita o estabelecimento da relação entre o mindset do cliente e a avaliação do desempenho de marca no mercado, comparando a marca de seus concorrentes. A integração entre valor da marca baseado no consumidor e valor da marca baseado na firma permite estimar o retorno financeiro das ações de marketing, verificando a contribuição de cada um dos condutores (consciência de marca, qualidade percebida, lealdade à marca, valor percebido, personalidade da marca e associações organizacionais) ao valor marca. / Although there is a consensus about brand equity importance, a single, uniformly accepted estimation model has not yet emerged, neither from consumer-based brand equity or firm or financial-based brand equity perspectives. Hence, marketing professionals are still challenged to estimate the value of the brand. Furthermore, it is important to build a brand equity estimation model, which detects the consumers’ perceptions and also presents a monetary estimation of brand equity, satisfying shareholders’ requirements. Most of the existent consumer-based brand equity models do not offer a monetary estimation of brand equity and many firm-based brand equity models do not observe consumers’ perceptions. Most of them do not evaluate the brands’ performance in future periods of time. This research developed a model that permits estimation of brand equity observing the consumers’ brand choices probabilities (purchase maintenance and brand-switching), by applying the Markov Matrix. The brand-switching matrix was estimated by a cross-sectional survey, using a logit choice model, analyzing all competing brand. This research also investigated the monetary value of the brand, using the discounted cash flow mechanism. Our model allows the calculation of the value of the brand of a product, in particular, as well as the calculation of the company's brand. Our model enables the establishment of the link between customer mindset and evaluating the performance of brand in market, comparing the brand to its competitors. The integration between consumer-based brand equity and firm or financial-based brand equity allows the estimation of the financial return of marketing actions, checking the contribution of each of the drivers (brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, perceived value, brand personality and organizational associations) in brand equity.

M. Tech. (Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Supermarket store brands are affordable alternatives towards the customers’ intended brands. For many years, marketers and retailers of store brands have positioned this brand as a cheap or low-cost brand that could be afforded by most customers. This positioning has catapulted the popularity of store brands. However, on the downward side, most consumers associate cheap or low cost with low quality. The low-cost and low-quality association and perception has been a major impediment towards the real success of store brands. Store brands have long since moved from competing on price, to competing on quality. The shift of focus by marketers and retailers of store brands from price to quality puts store brands on an equal footing with national brands and, consequently, a fierce competitor. This study investigated the influence of consumer-based brand equity elements, namely brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality on brand preference and purchase intention of store brands. This study restricted its scope to the food brands. Investigating store brands within a South African context is particularly important since store brands are produced and owned by local retailers as opposed to national brands. The literature suggests that store brands are more profitable to retailers compared to their counterparts and serve as a point of differentiation from one retailer to another. A quantitative research design was employed in this study and a non-probability convenience sampling technique was adopted. The target population comprised students from a tertiary institution within the Vaal triangle, namely Vaal University of Technology. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to the participants, of which 361 participated in the study. To ensure reliability of the scales, pre-testing and piloting of the questionnaire preceded the main survey. Results from correlation and regression analysis revealed that brand equity elements, namely brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality explain 68.4 percent of the variance in brand preference. This result suggests that consumer-based brand equity elements significantly contribute towards building consumer brand preference towards the store brands. In addition, amongst all the variables, brand loyalty made the strongest contribution towards explaining brand preference (β= 0.342). Moreover, brand preference explains 65.3 percent of the variance in purchase intention. These results suggest that brand preference strongly contributes towards building purchase intention of store brands. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for retailers of store brands are provided as follows:  Retailers of store brands should implement greater awareness programmes for store brands and create positive word-of-mouth through superior product quality.  Retailers of store brands should strengthen store brands’ brand associations to improve the image of store brands.  Retailers of store brands should pay special attention to creating brand loyalty of store brands through implementing store brands’ loyalty programmes. Limitations, future research opportunities and contributions of this study are discussed in the study.

Fotbollssupportrar återkommer till en klubbs matcher även om de senaste resultaten har varit dåliga. Referensgrupper har visat sig kunnat påverka supporterlojaliteten som vidare påverkar ett varumärkes supporterbaserade kapital. Tidigare studier har visat att stjärnspelare, arena, coach med mera påverkar en fotbollsklubbs varumärkskapital, detta i kontexten av proffsklubbar. Utifrån bristen av denna kunskap gällande mindre fotbollsklubbar i Sverige uppkom frågan hur varumärkeskapital byggs för dem. För landsbygdsklubbar blir denna varumärkesbyggande kunskap extra betydande med hänvisning till dess problematik med exempelvis knappa resurser. Studien syftar därmed till att undersöka vilka faktorer som spelar in i den supporterbaserade varumärkesvärderingen av mindre fotbollsklubbar. Detta i perspektivet av stads – och landsbygdsklubbar i de lägre divisionerna i den svenska fotbollen. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt användes Aakers ofta citerade modell om varumärkeskapital.  För att besvara detta syfte användes en kvantitativ metod där supportrar till tre klubbar svarade på en enkät. Datan möjliggjorde korrelationsanalyser mellan de teoretiskt identifierade faktorerna och supportrarnas direkta värdering, för att kunna analysera huruvida faktorn var betydande eller ej. Resultatet visar på att varumärkesassociationerna hade starkast samband med värderingen, både för stads – och landsbygdsklubb. Med kunskapen om att faktorerna påverkade varandra skapades modeller för respektive klubbgrupp för att urskilja vilka faktorer som hade störst förklaring av värderingen. Slutsatsen blev att för landsbygdsklubbar inkluderades det i fallande ordning varumärkesassociationer, första klubb, klubbhistoria och identitet. För stadsklubbsmodellen inkluderades det i fallande ordning varumärkesassociationer, identitet och bevittnad klubbhistoria. Sammanfattat betyder det att det skiljer sig något mellan vilka grunder supportern värderar klubben utifrån, beroende på om det är en stads – eller landsbygdsklubb. / Soccer supporters will continue to watch a club’s games even if they have lost their recently played matches. It has been stated that reference groups are able to affect the loyalty of supporters and thereby affect the supporter-based brand equity. Studies has shown that for example star players, the arena and the head coach affect the brand equity of professional soccer brands. There is a lack of equivalent knowledge in the context of smaller city and countryside clubs. For the countryside clubs this knowledge could be stated as more important since their problematics with example lacking resources. Thereby, this study aims to investigate which factors the supporter-based brand equity is based on, depending on if it is a city or countryside club. The perspective of this study constitute of clubs thar are active in the lower divisions in Sweden. As theoretical base, the often-used brand equity model by Aaker is used.  To fulfill the aim, a quantitative research was done where the supporters of three soccer clubs answered a survey. The data made it possible to carry out correlations analyses between the theoretically found factors and the supporters’ direct valuations. This enabled to state if the factors were of importance or not. The results indicates that brand associations are the most important factor for both club categories. The knowledge of correlations between the factors made it necessary to develop a model that explains which factor that affect the equity the most. The conclusion for countryside clubs is, in descending order, that brand associations, first club, club history and identity affect the supporter-based band equity. For city clubs the descending order of affecting factors is brand associations, identity and witnessed club history. By this, it could be concluded that there is a small difference in which factors affecting the supporter-based brand equity between the club categories.

The brand equity concept is one of the most significant concepts for branding and marketing and its model and measurement have interested many academics and practitioners. Most of the research on brand equity has focused on physical goods, with a dearth of studies on the service sector in general and particularly in the banking sector. The dearth of research in this area appears paradox as branding could be argued to play a distinctive role particularly in the service sector. This is because strong brands increase consumers' trust of the imperceptible purchase and reduce their perceived monetary, social, or safety risk in buying services, which are difficult to evaluate prior to purchase and for which it sometimes takes a long time after purchase to confirm the brand promise. Consequently, many scholars have called for an investigation of brand equity in the service sector. In addition, most of the research on brand equity has focused on developed countries which would suggest a regional focus on developing countries. To sum up, despite the importance of brand equity in the service sector, there is lack of empirical evidence in the service sector in general and specifically in the banking sector, particularly for developing economies. Furthermore, there is lack of studies that examined and compared service brand equity across bank type (local public, local private and foreign banks) to provide a benchmark especially for foreign banks. Contributing to scholarly attempts to fill the gaps in the brand equity literature. this thesis examines consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) in the Egyptian banking sector in general and based on each bank type: public, private and foreign. In addition, the study aims to find out the similarities and differences on brand equity based on bank type. The regional context of the study is Egypt As the largest Arab country and the entry point for the Middle East and Africa Egypt appeared to be of high practical relevance and be a suitable regional research context. Unlike previous researches, a mixed method approach was employed to achieve the research aims. Qualitative data was used to triangulate the quantitative data and gaining a richer understanding of the quantitative findings. Four hundred and sixty-eight self-administered questionnaires were collected by offline and online modes, and 14 semi-structured face-to-face interviews provided details about how consumers perceived consumer-based brand equity in Egyptian banking. Data was analysed using SPSS19. Different types of statistical applications were used, such as descriptive analysis, factor analysis and multiple regressions. Content analysis using NVivo10 software was used to analyse the interview data. The main findings reveal that CBBE is applicable in the Egyptian banking sector. The results show that brand awareness, reliable staff, brand association and brand loyalty are the most effective variables on overall value of brand equity in the Egyptian banking sector, while within public banks, reliable staff, brand association and brand loyalty have the most influence on the overall value of brand equity. However, private and foreign banks share the same variables which affect the overall value of brand equity; these variables are brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand personality. The findings reveal that there is a significant difference between public banks and private and foreign banks; however, there is no significant difference between private and foreign banks. The qualitative findings support and add meaning to the quantitative results. The current research contributes to knowledge in the field of service brand equity research and extend our understanding in developing economics and adding to the debate on the area of brand equity. Furthermore, it contributes methodologically by using mixed methods and mixed modes (offline and online). In addition, the study overcomes the limitations of previous studies in three ways. Firstly, different types of brand association were incorporated and real consumers were approached rather than relying on students’ samples. Secondly, perceived quality was measured using the SERVPERF scale, providing a more comprehensive quality measure than many studies. Thirdly, the data were collected from Egypt, which as a developing country establishes an underresearched regional context. Therefore, as is the case in many developing countries, there were many challenges involved in the data collection process. Based on the results, the study provides a number of pratical contributions: It offers a manageable scale ‘‘tool kit'' for managers in the banking sector, regardless of type of bank, to create, maintain and improve their brand equity. It also provides guidelines that public, private and foreign banks could use to compare their performance with competitors. The study emphasizes the importance of building and developing brand awearness for private and foreign banks. As the service encounter is the “moment of truth” and is one of the most important determinants of brand equity, public banks should place more emphasis on their internal branding as well as on external consumers. Top management should invest in cultivating their brand values to their employees, particularly front-line employees, as they will deliver them to consumers through the service encounter. Another interesting finding with practical relevance was that although the majority of banks in Egypt has online banking services, most of the study respondents did not use them, therefore they might be well advised to collaborate with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to organise a campaign to cultivate trust in the country’s online banking infrastructure and promote the advantages of using it. Online banking could be one of the solutions to overcrowding and long queues in public banks and improve the quality of the service provided which will lead to consumers’ satisfaction and increase the level of brand equity. Most consumers of public banks perceived their banks as the only secure banks guaranteed by the Egyptian government. Similarly to promoting the use of online banking, there is a need to develop a better public awareness of the role of the CBE in supervising all banks in Egypt regardless of their type. This will ensure fair and equal opportunities for all banks, which will foster real competition and hence is argued to affect the quality of the service provided. Despite the research achieved its planned objectives, as any social research, it has certain constraints and limitations. These limitations could offer opportunities for future research to address. Firstly, due the lack of detailed information about the study population, this research used a convenience sample of induvadul commercial bank consumers in the Greater Cairo. Future research could employ probability sampling if possible. Moreover, future studies could cover more cities in Egypt, not only the Greater Cairo area (even though the focus on this area has been discussed and justified in the thesis). Secondly, although the importance of CBBE has been analysed mainly from a consumer perspective it might be useful to examine service brand equity from the points of view of employees (managers and front-line) in banks in order to gain a better and comprehensive understanding from both perspectives. Thirdly, while this study examined and compared CBBE in diffrent bank types (public, private and foreign) in Egypt. It is suggested that a comparison could be made based on the top bank in each types, as this could give more specific recommendations for these banks. Fourthly, due to limitations of time and funds, future reseach could examine and compare CBBE in different services sectors and in different countries. Fifthly, this study focused on commercial banks in Egypt in general without distinguish between Islamic and conventional banks. Therefore, future research could carefully distinguish between Islamic and conventional banks and compare CBBE across them to gain a better understanding of the differences and similarities. Sixthly, it could be worth comparing the CBBE of foreign banks when they operate overseas (e.g., Barclays Bank and HSBC).