Raji 2018

Journal of Marketing Communications
ISSN: 1352-7266 (Print) 1466-4445 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjmc20
Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and the

role of social media communications: Qualitative
findings from the Malaysian automotive industry
Ridwan Adetunji Raji, Sabrina Mohd Rashid & Sobhi Mohd Ishak
To cite this article: Ridwan Adetunji Raji, Sabrina Mohd Rashid & Sobhi Mohd Ishak (2018):
Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and the role of social media communications: Qualitative
findings from the Malaysian automotive industry, Journal of Marketing Communications, DOI:
10.1080/13527266.2018.1455066
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2018.1455066
Published online: 26 Mar 2018.
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http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rjmc20
Journal of Marketing Communications, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2018.1455066
Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and the role of social

media communications: Qualitative findings from the
Malaysian automotive industry
Ridwan Adetunji Raji, Sabrina Mohd Rashid and Sobhi Mohd Ishak
Department of Media Management, School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, Universiti Utara
Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Previous studies on consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) have Received 19 July 2017
maintained that CBBE is a multidimensional construct which reflects Accepted 13 March 2018
both consumers’ perceptions and attitudes. However, only few of
KEYWORDS
the extant CBBE models emanate from the context of automotive Consumer-based brand
brands. As such, this present study employs a qualitative approach equity; social media
using a semi-structured face-to-face interview among 11 informants, communications; automotive
to explore the concept of CBBE in the context of automotive brands. brands
Also, this study explores the role of social media communications in
developing CBBE for automotive brands. The findings of this research
demonstrate that CBBE is a valid concept which reflects consumers’
perception and mindset towards their knowledge, which are reflected
through brand awareness, hedonic brand image, functional brand
image, and brand sustainability of automotive brands. Additionally,
the marketing activities and communication contents on social media
play an important role in improving the perception of automotive
brands in consumers’ minds, hence the development of automotive
CBBE. The theoretical implications of these research findings are
that this study provides an insight into the feasibility of developing
a specific CBBE model for automotive brands. Practically, this study
presents insights for brand manager on the importance of developing
CBBE through social media communications.
Introduction
Developing and managing brand equity are top priorities for many organizations because
brands are one of the most invaluable assets to organizations (Christodoulides et al. 2006;
Keller and Lehmann 2006; Baalbaki and Guzmán 2016). In view of the importance of brand
equity, academia continue to exert significant efforts on understanding the factors that
influence the development of brand equity and the consequences of developing brand
equity (Netemeyer et al. 2004), especially from the consumers’ perspective (Williams and
Soutar 2009). According to Keller (1993), there are three different approaches to studying
brand equity. Brand equity is either studied through the customer perspective, the
CONTACT Ridwan Adetunji Raji [email protected]

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 R. A. RAJI ET AL.
organizational perspective, or the financial perspective (Farjam and Hongyi 2015). Consumer-
based brand equity (CBBE) is one of the derivatives of brand equity. It integrates the customer
perspective into the understanding and measurement of brand equity (Baalbaki and Guzmán
2016).
Meanwhile, the extant literature is filled with different types of models for conceptualizing
CBBE. Many of these models were developed conceptually while only a few others were
empirically developed (Baalbaki and Guzmán 2016). Although most of the empirically devel-
oped models validate the Aaker’s and Keller’s conceptual models of CBBE (Netemeyer et al.
2004; Pappu, Quester, and Cooksey 2005), the literature on CBBE has not been able to pro-
duce a universally acceptable model for CBBE across industries and different contexts (Boo,
Busser, and Baloglu 2009). As such, to ensure the accuracy of any CBBE model, the research
context, market sector, product category, and specific industry must be taken into cogni-
zance (Christodoulides and Chernatony 2010). Subsequently, in view of the economic, tech-
nological, and sociological importance of the automotive industry globally and especially
in Malaysia, this study attempts to explore the experience and understanding of consumers
and practitioners on CBBE of automotive brands.
Specifically, the Malaysian automotive industry is considered in this study because the
industry serves as a strong backbone to the country’s economic development and techno-
logical advancement, with a wide range of industrial activities such as supply of production
materials, sales, services and other automotive-related operations. The automotive industry
of Malaysia is also considered the biggest among its South-East Asian country-counterparts.
This is because of the significance of the automotive industry for the economy of Malaysia.
According to Hadadi and Almsafir (2014), both PROTON and PERODUA – which are the two
national automotive brands of Malaysia – are currently vying for market dominance with
globally successful automotive brands such as Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. In fact, some
market reports have evinced that the domestic automotive brands are dropping in sales
figures while foreign and imported brands are gaining more sales in Malaysia (Sultana and
Amilin 2014). In essence, the influx of automotive brands from countries that are highly
ranked in automotive production such as Germany, China, Japan, and others is increasing
competition in the automotive industry (Ghani 2012).
Therefore, exploring the understanding of consumers on CBBE in the context of automo-
tive brands is particularly important as consumers of automotive products go through a
complex process of making purchase decisions (Fetscherin and Toncar 2009; Thiripurasundari
and Natarajan 2011; Brunello 2015). Also, automotive consumers are extraordinarily active
and highly involved in deciding their preferred brands (Mahfooz 2015). These consumers
rely on the attributes and other assets of automotive brands to simplify their decision-making
process (Hsieh 2004). Thus, strong and successful brand equity becomes an important factor
for automotive brands to differentiate themselves from competitors, ensure uniqueness and
remain as a tool for evoking purchase decisions (Santoso and Cahyadi 2014). The factors that
are considered most important by consumers are regarded as dimensions of CBBE of auto-
motive products. Therefore, it becomes imperative to understand the important factors for
the conceptualization and operationalization of CBBE in the context of automotive brands
from the perspectives of consumers themselves (Baalbaki and Guzmán 2016).
It has been established theoretically that, the conceptualization of CBBE reflects the gen-
eral effectiveness of marketing activities and communications (such as advertising, sales
promotion, direct marketing, and others) in developing brand knowledge (Keller and
JOURNAL OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 3
Lehmann 2006), thus influencing consumers’ perception of a brand and consumers’ behavior
through the development of CBBE (Tuominen 1999). Meanwhile, marketing communications
are increasingly disseminated on social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and
microblogs as an important effort for building and maintaining successful brand equity
(Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and Schäfer 2012). Through fan pages or brand profiles that are
created on social media, brand managers are offered limitless opportunities for sharing and
posting information in the form of photos, videos, messages, and comments about their
brands and companies (De Vries, Gensler, and Leeflang 2012). Also, studies have demon-
strated that social media communications significantly enhance CBBE and consumer
responses (Keller 2009; Christodoulides and Chernatony 2010; Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and
Schäfer 2012; Kim and Ko 2012; Hamid, Romiza, and Cheng 2013). However, the majority of
these previous studies are quantitative, while there has only been limited application of the
qualitative approach to explore the feasibility of developing CBBE through social media
communications (Holliman and Rowley 2014).
Additionally, researchers have indicated that context and industry are very much impor-
tant in the course of building and conceptualizing CBBE (Christodoulides and Chernatony
2010). This is why the literature is replete with studies measuring CBBE in the context of
social media communication from different industries, such as luxury brands (Kim and Ko
2012; Godey et al. 2016), beverages (Zailskaite-jakste and Kuvykaite 2013; Makasi, Govender,
and Rukweza 2014), education (Severi, Ling, and Nasermoadeli 2014), clothing (Schivinski
and Dabrowski 2015), and shopping malls (Karamian, Nadoushan, and Nadoushan 2015).
However, there is a paucity of studies focusing on the effect of social media communications
on CBBE and its implications on consumer behavior and responses (Homer 2008), especially
in the context of automotive brands. Therefore, this paper employs a qualitative approach
to explore the concept of CBBE in the context of automotive brands and investigate the role
of social media communications on the development of CBBE in the automotive industry.
The specific objectives of this study are as follows:
• To explore the concept of CBBE in the context of automotive brands

• To investigate the implications of CBBE on automotive brands
• To explore the role of social media communications on automotive brands
Literature review
Definitions and measurement of CBBE
The literature is replete with numerous definitions and measurements of brand equity
(Hanaysha and Hilman 2015). Tuominen (1999) argued that different approaches and prisms
have been employed to study brand equity. Such differences resulted into numerous defi-
nitions of brand equity that cannot be captured or represented with one concept or idea
(Tuominen 1999). This is evident in the differences of approaches commonly used by brand
equity researchers. The most common among these perspectives are organization/employee
perspective, financial perspective, and consumer perspective (Keller and Lehmann 2006;
Farjam and Hongyi 2015). Keller and Lehmann (2006) explained that brand equity is an
accumulation of values generated from three market levels: the company, the customer,
and the financial markets. Each of these perspectives (market levels) has different influences
4 R. A. RAJI ET AL.
on the definitions, interpretations, and dimensions used in measuring brand equity. For
instance, CBBE is an offshoot of brand equity conceptualized for measuring brand equity in
the consumers’ perspective (Tuominen 1999; Farjam and Hongyi 2015). This perspective
focuses on understanding the consumers’ mind, attitude, and process of decision-making
as the basis for evaluating and judging the attributes and performance quality of a brand,
and also for the purpose of improving marketing activities and communication efforts (Hsieh
2004).
In a nutshell, measuring CBBE refers to examining and understanding everything that
exists in the consumers’ minds with regard to a brand. Consumer mindset can be in the form
of feelings, experiences, images, perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and thoughts about the
performance and utility of a brand (Keller 2009). The measurements of consumers’ mindsets
with respect to brand performance have been done with a variety of conceptual models
using different dimensions. The most popular dimensions are brand awareness, perceived
quality, brand image, brand preference, brand loyalty, brand attitude, and brand associations.
The stream of literature in this realm rely extensively on the conceptual model of Aaker
(1991) which proposed four dimensions: brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality,
and brand association. The brand knowledge model also dimensioned CBBE into brand
awareness and brand image, as propounded by Keller (1993). The following section presents
detailed explanations on the measurement of CBBE.
CBBE mirrors consumers’ knowledge of a brand and their experiences acquired while
associating with a brand, and it represents consumers’ mindset and perception of the brand
(Aaker 1991; Keller 1993, 2009). Keller (1993) further explained that brand knowledge is of
two types: brand awareness and brand image. Brand awareness and brand image are often
referred to as the structures of consumers’ mindsets, memories, perceptions, and associations
with a brand (Keller and Lehmann 2006; Christodoulides and Chernatony 2010). According
to Keller (1993), the implication of CBBE (brand knowledge) can either be positive or negative
on consumer response to marketing activities. Christodoulides et al. (2006) further explained
that positive CBBE occurs when consumers perceive the brand to be strong and unique,
with a favorable image of the brands’ image and attributes. Ailawadi, Lehmann, and Neslin
(2003) added that the underlying purposes of conceptualizing CBBE, especially from the
organizational perspective, are to determine the strength of brands, to measure the success
of marketing decisions, to determine the financial consequence of brands, and to develop
successful brands. Invariably, measuring CBBE is one of the top priorities in both academia
and industry (Tuominen 1999; Ailawadi, Lehmann, and Neslin 2003; Boo, Busser, and Baloglu
2009; Christodoulides and Chernatony 2010; Baalbaki and Guzmán 2016).
The literature is replete with studies on the measurement of CBBE (Keller 1993; Yoo and
Donthu 2001; Netemeyer et al. 2004; Christodoulides et al. 2006; Christodoulides and
Chernatony 2010; Farjam and Hongyi 2015). These studies unanimously opined that there
are two contemporary approaches to measuring CBBE: the direct and the indirect approaches
(Tuominen 1999; Christodoulides et al. 2006; Christodoulides and Chernatony 2010; Baalbaki
and Guzmán 2016). Christodoulides and Chernatony (2010) explained that the direct
approach of measuring CBBE examines the overall and direct impact of CBBE drivers on
different marketing activities. Hsieh (2004) maintained that the implication of both the indi-
rect and direct approaches is not contradictory. Evidently, the direct approach explains the
performance of marketing communication efforts while the indirect approach elucidates
the essence of building and managing brands through the responses and behaviors of
consumers. For instance, various dimensions of CBBE such as brand awareness, brand image,
associations, perceived quality, brand sustainability, and others can be employed to examine
the impact of CBBE on consumer responses (Schivinski and Dabrowski 2014). Christodoulides
and Chernatony (2010) concluded that there is no universally acceptable model for meas-
uring CBBE. For instance, Christodoulides et al. (2006) developed five dimensions of Online
Retail/Service brand equity. According to the findings of Christodoulides et al. (2006), the
dimensions of CBBE are emotional connection, online experience, responsive service nature,
trust, and fulfillment. More recently, Baalbaki and Guzmán (2016) developed four dimensions
of measuring CBBE based on consumer perceptions. The study concluded that perceived
quality, perceived value, brand preference, and sustainability are sets of customer-perceived
dimensions of CBBE.
Additionally, the literature is replete with different types of models and methodologies
for measuring CBBE. Many of the models that are available were developed conceptually
while few others were empirically developed (Baalbaki and Guzmán 2016). Although most
of the models that are empirically developed validate Aaker’s and Keller’s conceptual models
(Netemeyer et al. 2004; Pappu, Quester, and Cooksey 2005), the body of knowledge on CBBE
is yet to reach a unanimous conclusion over the measurement of CBBE (Boo, Busser, and
Baloglu 2009), especially across industries and contexts. The review of past studies on the
measurement of CBBE revealed that, to ensure the accuracy of any model measuring CBBE,
the research context, market-sector, product category, and industry pertinence must be
taken into cognizance (Christodoulides and Chernatony 2010). Evidently, Çifci et al. (2016)
validated two different CBBE models, one developed by Yoo and Donthu (2001) which is
more product-oriented and the second developed by Nam, Ekinci, and Whyatt (2011), which
is a service-oriented model. Conclusively, Çifci et al. (2016) proposed a validated CBBE model
for measuring brand equity in the retail industry. In addition, the importance of measuring
CBBE is to determine the effectiveness of the elements of the marketing mix or marketing
activities (Farjam and Hongyi 2015) and assess their traditional consequences such as con-
sumer responses and behaviors (Ailawadi, Lehmann, and Neslin 2003; Godey et al. 2016).
CBBE in the automotive industry

A review of CBBE literature revealed that only few studies considered empirically developing
or validating the measurement or dimensions of CBBE that are relevant to attributes of
automotive brands, which also play important roles in consumers’ evaluation and judging
of car brands (Brunello 2015). However, majority of CBBE studies found in the context of
automotive brands adopted/adapted the general measurements drawn from the conceptual
models of Aaker and Keller of CBBE (Hsieh 2004). For instance, Chattopadhyay, Shivani, and
Krishnan (2009), Chattopadhyay, Dutta, and Sivani (2010), Santoso and Cahyadi (2014), Chiu,
Yin, and Jessica (2015), Hanaysha and Hilman (2015), Mahfooz (2015) are examples of pre-
vious studies which adapted the Aaker’s and Keller’s CBBE model and focused on various
dimensions of CBBE such as brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand image,
brand awareness, and brand leadership of automobile brands. These studies unanimously
focused the influence of brand equity on consumer responses and behaviors in terms of
purchase, repurchase, and brand preference and brand retention. Similarly, Thiripurasundari
and Natarajan (2011) and Mkhitaryan (2014) adapted the Keller’s CBBE model to examine
the determinants of brand equity of automotive brands. Brand knowledge, brand application,
6 R. A. RAJI ET AL.
and brand relationship were reported as important and significant factors that affect brand
equity. Kiyani et al. (2012) also demonstrated that both brand trust and customer satisfaction
significantly influence customers’ loyalty to car brands and repurchase of car brands. The
items for measuring the dimensions of CBBE by these studies were adapted from the general
brand equity studies and were reworded to suit the performance or attributes of automotive
products.
Brunello (2015) empirically developed dimensions for measuring automotive brand
equity. According to Brunello (2015), behavioral loyalty, which includes both brand person-
ality and consumer personal traits, is the main factor that influences consumers’ purchase
decision of automotive brands. Measures of brand personality were adopted from conven-
tional brand equity studies and the Big Five model was adopted for consumer personality
traits. After going through the multi-item development stages, it found that refinement,
competence, and enthusiasm represent brand personality while agreeableness, openness,
and extraversion are acceptable measures of consumer personality. The findings of Brunello
(2015) can be accommodated in the contemporary brand equity theory because behavioral
loyalty (brand personality and consumer personality) aligned with psychological benefits,
in other words known as hedonic brand image, which is one of the two bases for measuring
and developing brand equity. However, their measurement does not incorporate functional
utility factors or functional brand image, which are integral for consumers’ evaluation of
brands (Davcik et al. 2015).
The dimensions of CBBE are commonly justified with their level of importance in the
context or the industry in which brand equity is measured. For instance, Bruhn, Schoenmueller,
and Schäfer (2012) adapted Brand Awareness, Functional Brand Image, Hedonic Brand Image
as the dimensions of CBBE while focusing on three industries; tourism, telecommunication,
and pharmaceutical industries. The measurement of CBBE by Hsieh (2004) mainly focused
on the brand knowledge which reflects the consumers’ perception of product attributes and
consumer attitudes, leaving out the factor of brand associations (Hsieh 2004). Subsequently,
this present study adopts the measurement of CBBE proposed by Bruhn, Schoenmueller,
and Schäfer (2012) and Baalbaki and Guzmán (2016) from the consumers’ perspectives.
According to Keller (1993), consumers’ mindset and perceptions emanate from either func-
tional (product-related) or hedonic (non-product related) attributes. As shown in Table 1, it
is evident that there is a number of inconsistencies in the variety of dimensions that have
been used to measure CBBE in the context of automotive brands. Subsequently, this study
sets out to explore the dimensions that are reflective of automotive-based attributes, func-
tions and consumers’ association for measuring CBBE of automotive brands.
Social media communication

Past studies have shown that consumers evaluate social media communications through
the characteristics of the contents (Kapoor and Kulshrestha 2013). More so, a number of
studies on social media communications have focused mainly on two types of brand-related
contents: Firm-Created Contents (FCC) and User-Generated Contents (UGC). Therefore, this
paper categorizes the review of literature on social media communications based on FCC
and UGC as discussed in the following sections.
Table 1. Summary of literature review CBBE of automotive brands.
Authors Description CBBE construct Sample/unit of analysis
Fetscherin and Toncar (2009) Determines the effect of price and Product attributes
price premium on brand equity
through car related attributes
Chattopadhyay, Shivani, and Krishnan (2009) Determines the effect of marketing Perceived quality Surveyed first- and second-time buyers of
mix on brand equity automobile products
Chattopadhyay, Dutta, and Sivani (2010) Examined the influence of advertising Perceived quality Surveyed users of cars in India
in developing brand equity Brand awareness
Thiripurasundari and Natarajan (2011) Adapted general measurement of Brand knowledge (awareness, recognition, and Study conducted among 200 car owners in
CBBE familiarity) India
Brand application (quality, prestige, and value)
Brand relationship (customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty)
Jalilvand and Samiei (2012) Determines the impact of E-Word of Brand image Respondents drawn from automotive
Mouth on brand image industry of Iran
Kiyani et al. (2012) Adapted measurement for brand trust Brand trust Users of Japanese car brand in Pakistan
and customer satisfaction Customer satisfaction
Santoso and Cahyadi (2014) Adapted Aaker’s CBBE model Brand awareness Surveyed users of two different types of
Brand association automobile brands in Indonesia
Perceived quality
Brand loyalty
Chiu, Yin, and Jessica (2015) Determines the influence of Brand awareness Surveyed 181 users of Asian and European
country-of-origin on brand equity Brand association users of Automobile brands in Malaysia
Perceived quality
Brand loyalty
Hanaysha and Hilman (2015) Adapted Aaker’s CBBE model Brand loyalty, brand image, brand awareness, and Surveyed car owners in Malaysia
brand leadership
Brunello (2015) Developed scale for measuring CBBE Brand personality 100 participants drawn from the data bases of
Consumer personality three premium car brands (BMW,
Mercedes-Benz, and Audi) in Romania
Mahfooz (2015) Adapted Aaker’s CBBE model Brand awareness Automobile Users in Saudi Arabia
Perceived quality
Brand associations
Brand loyalty
Alam and Anis (2016) Conducted factor analysis on CBBE Brand awareness Focused on users of MUV cars
dimensions of automotive brands Perceived quality
JOURNAL OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Brand associations
Brand loyalty
7
8 R. A. RAJI ET AL.
Firm-created contents
FCC can be explained as types of social media communications that are posted on social
media by brand owners to consumers who are followers or fans of their brand pages,
accounts or channels on social media. These types of contents such as Facebook posts,
Tweets, or YouTube videos that are posted by brand owners on brand fan pages are perfect
examples of FCC (Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and Schäfer 2012; Gensler et al. 2013; Zailskaite-
jakste and Kuvykaite 2013). FCC represents a marketing strategy for creating brand awareness
in the form of recognition, recall, and brand image on social media platforms by brand
owners themselves. In addition, Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and Schäfer (2012) and Zailskaite-
jakste and Kuvykaite (2013) asserted that FCCs are types of social media communications
that avail companies and brand managers the opportunity of enhancing the acceptance of
their brands through the messages disseminated on social media. Furthermore, brand own-
ers have embraced social media as one of the important platforms for engaging their con-
sumers, and sharing information and promotional activities with their consumers.
Consequently, social media such as Facebook have proven to be a key driver for consumer
engagement and an effective platform for disseminating marketing communications (Hanna,
Rohm, and Crittenden 2011). However, the contents that are posted on social media by brand
owners can be categorized into different types of marketing communications, as these con-
tents are deployed to serve different purposes, including advertising, promotion, interactive
marketing, and so on (Keller 2009). Research findings have also shown that marketing com-
munications have significant implications on CBBE development (Yoo, Donthu, and Lee
2000; Buil, de Chernatony, and Martínez 2013).
User-generated contents
Schivinski (2011) described UGC as all kinds of communication that are generated from and
between consumers on social media. Fundamentally, UGCs are the types of contents that
are created about a brand by some consumers for other consumers’ consumption. Hence,
consumers have become co-authors of brand-related contents because social media offers
them the opportunity to publish and share self-generated contents between multitudes of
friends and followers (Zailskaite-jakste and Kuvykaite 2012). The pervasiveness of social
media as a marketing communications channel has practically created room for consumers’
voices to be heard about brands. Consumers can now integrate their anecdotal comments,
thoughts, and perception of a brand into the brand stories beyond what the brand owners
can ignore or prevent (Gensler et al. 2013). Consumers’ comments about a brand can be in
either negative (consumers’ complaints) or in positive form (consumers’ homages). However,
both the negative and positive comments have implications on brand image (Gensler et al.
2013).
Furthermore, consumers’ engagement on social media, which are often in the form of
likes, comments, posts, tweets, shares, allow consumers to form some sort of an endless
dialog about a brand, where everyone has the freedom to express their thoughts and per-
ception of a brand. These forms of interactivity and engagement serve as a source of infor-
mation to other consumers, allow brand owners to gain feedback, and ultimately get exposed
to the consumers’ mindsets and their perception of the brand (Kabadayi and Price 2014).
Additionally, UGCs are delicate and inevitable scenarios on social media platforms that are
both challenging and at the same time an important part of marketing strategy, depending
on how they are managed by brand owners (Champoux, Durgee, and McGlynn 2012). The
review of past studies revealed that word-of-mouth (WOM) is one of the most important
surrogates for discussing UGC among other typologies, which include online review and
blogging (Chen, Fay, and Wang 2011; Smith, Fischer, and Yongjian 2012).
Methodology
Research approach
This paper adopts an inductive interpretative approach through a qualitative methodology.
The approach employed is apt for reporting informants’ perception, attitude, and under-
standing of the subject matter (Bryman and Bell 2011). Additionally, the use of qualitative
research methods has been argued to be the most appropriate way to gather information
from professionals such as brand managers and to document the experiences of consumers
and users. In this study, a semi-structured face-to-face interview was employed to exhaus-
tively explore informants’ understanding and capture all illustrations with regard to CBBE
and social media communications (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill 2007).
Key informants
This study relies on the CBBE models proposed by Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and Schäfer (2012)
and Baalbaki and Guzmán (2016) to measure brand equity for automotive brands with four
dimensions: Brand Awareness, Functional Brand Image, Hedonic Brand Image, and Brand
Sustainability. In order to explore the concept of CBBE in the automotive industry and to
investigate the role of social media communication from the experiences and opinions of
consumers and practitioners, brand managers who are in charge of developing CBBE through
the dissemination of brand-related contents on social media and social media users who
are also consumers of automotive brands were recruited. The method for selecting inform-
ants in this study is a purposive technique (Silverman 2013). The informants were selected
based on their specific knowledge of the subject matter (Braun and Clarke 2006). Additionally,
following the approach adopted by Bartholme and Melewar (2014) and the recommendation
presented by Churchill (1979), the informants in this study were specifically selected as a
sample of persons who can offer insights and experience-based understanding of the con-
cept of CBBE in the automotive industry and their perception of the role of social media
communication in developing CBBE. As such, brand, sales, or branch managers were selected
based on their role and experiences in generating marketing communications on social
media. Social media users were selected on the basis of their ability to comment on social
media marketing communications based on their previous experiences and encounters of
marketing communication contents on social media platforms as well as their associations
with automotive brands. In line with the common qualitative research principles, the abso-
lute number of informants is subject to saturation. Saturation is attained when further inter-
views do not reveal any new information. However, Creswell (2007) suggested that a
minimum number of eight informants are required in a qualitative study. Furthermore, the
research observed that the responses of the informants had reached saturation after the
eleventh interview. As such, in consonance with previous qualitative studies, a total number
of 11 informants are sufficient for this kind of research (Holliman and Rowley 2014). Table 2
presents the informants’ profile.
10 R. A. RAJI ET AL.
Table 2. Informants’ profile.

Informants Occupation Duration Date of interview
1. Lecturer (Consumer) 28 min and 54 s 3 November 2016
2. Reporter (Consumer) 47 min and 47 s 20 November 2016
3. Trader (Consumer) 40 min and 46 s 23 November 2016
4. Hotel Manager (Consumer) 40minutes and 9 s 23 November 2016
5. Branch Manager 24 min and 23 s 1 December 2016
6. Brand Manager 52 min and 55 s 7 December 2016
7. Graphic Designer (Consumer) 23 min and 15 s 3 December 2016
8. Brand and Sales Manager 53 min and 22 s 3 December 2016
9. Petroleum Engineer (Consumer) 27 min 4 s 4 December 2016
10. Brand Manager 29 min 7 s 3 December 2016
11. Brand Manager 33 min 1 s 6 December 2016
Interview design and data collection

This study conducted one semi-structured face-to-face interview with each of the 11 inform-
ants. The interviews were guided by a list of questions for the interviewee to answer. However,
the interviewer allowed the informants to flow freely and flexibly in providing answers to
the questions. The interview guide contained the definition of CBBE from both Aaker (1991)
and Keller (1993) to stimulate the perceptions of the interviewees and to delineate their
understanding on what is CBBE and what is not (Churchill 1979). Additionally, the interview
guide presented eight open-ended interview questions (see Table 3), which align with the
three highlighted research objectives. However, additional questions were promptly inserted
during the interview, based on the responses of the interviewees. Hence, the interviewer
did not limit the debriefing to the questions that were listed in the interview guide. Instead,
the interviewer probed deeply to gather all the thoughts and opinions of the informants
with regard to the subject matter (Bryman and Bell 2011). Before conducting the main inter-
views, three pilot interviews were conducted. The pilot interviews allowed the researcher
to pre-test the interview among researcher-colleagues to establish content validity (Saunders,
Lewis, and Thornhill 2007). The pilot interviews yielded a fine-tuned and refined interview
guide. Also, the pilot interviews helped to determine the appropriate time for conducting
the main interviews. Subsequently, the interview with the briefest duration lasted for about
23 min while the longest lasted for about 53 min. Before the commencement of the interview,
the interviewees were shown the interview guide and were informed of the purpose of the
interview. The informants were given sufficient time to prepare their responses.
Ethics
The researchers ensured that the conventional ethics of research were adhered to in this
study. Firstly, the informants were given a formal letter requesting their consent and inform-
ing them about the research. All the informants responded to the consent letter with their
signatures appended (Bryman and Bell 2011). Secondly, the interviewer informed the inform-
ants of the confidentiality of their responses and that no comment will be attributed to a
named individual. Therefore, numeric figures such as Informant 1 are used to identify inform-
ants in this study. Finally, the interviewer ensured that participation in this study is at the
free will of informants and as such, they can withdraw their participation even after the
Table 3. Interviews’ guide.
S/N Research objective Interview questions
1. To explore the concept of CBBE in the context of automotive brands Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) can be defined as consumers’ knowledge (awareness
and image), mindsets, judgments, and perception of the attributes, quality, and performance
of a brand (Aaker 1991; Keller 1993, 2009). In the case of automotive brands, we propose that
CBBE of automotive brands can be measured with (1) Brand Awareness, (2) Functional Brand
Image, (3) Hedonic Brand Image, and (4) Brand Sustainability
(1) Do you agree with this concept? And why?
(2) Will you please explain how much of these attributes are true about automotive brands?
And how?
(3) How would you describe automotive brands?
2. To investigate the implications of CBBE on automotive brands (4) How would you describe branding for automotive brands?
(5) What do you think are important aspect of branding for automotive brands? And why?
3. To explore the impact of social media communications on CBBE of automotive brands Lately, brand-related communications are being disseminated on social media including
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram by both brand-managers and consumers of
brands
(6) Do you agree with this fact? And why?
(7) How can you describe the implications of marketing communications on social media on
the branding of automotive brands?
(8) What are the types of brand-related communications posted by brand managers or brand
owners that you ever seen or read on social media and you think can affect the branding of
automotive brands?
JOURNAL OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
11
interview (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill 2007). Till date, no informant has indicated interest
in withdrawing from the study.
Analysis
This study employs a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. The thematic analysis
allows the researcher to identify relevant themes and perspectives (Creswell 2007).
Additionally, following the dimensions suggested in the definition of CBBE for automotive
brands provided in the literature review sections and the types of contents based on FCC
and UGC, the responses were grouped and categorized using the deductive content analysis,
and the sorting and coding of themes was done using NviVo 11 software.
Findings
The concept of automotive CBBE
This starts with attempting to understand CBBE from the understanding, experience and
opinions of consumers and practitioners. All the informants agreed with the definitions of
CBBE in the context of automotive brands. The informants showed that they understand
what CBBE means when their responses were compared with the theoretical definitions. For
instance, CBBE was defined to the informants as; consumers’ knowledge (awareness and
image), mindsets, judgments and perception of the attributes, quality, and performance of
a brand (Aaker 1991; Keller 1993, 2009). When asked if they agree with this definition,
Informant 9 stated that ‘[CBBE means] something (a product) that is well known globally’.
Meanwhile, Informant 7 opined that ‘brand is actually a logo. Sometimes you don’t even
have to put a name, but when you have a logo, people will know [the brand]’. Similarly,
Informant 4 stated that ‘brand is the name of a product’ when asked about the definition of
automotive CBBE. In all, the interviews demonstrated the importance of brand equity from
the consumers’ perspective. For example, Informant 5 suggested that it is difficult to promote
or market an automotive brand without successful brand equity. He stated that ‘[consumers]
are very skeptical about unbranded cars’.
In addition, majority of the informants agree that brand is what a product means to
consumers (Informant 10, 2, 4, and 5). The opinions of the interviewees are in line with the
theoretical understandings of CBBE, especially from the stance of Tuominen (1999), who
argued that brand equity is defined as the attributes of a product such as name, logo and
symbol, which differentiate the product or its manufacturer from competitors. With regards
to contextualizing CBBE within the ambience of the automotive industry, the findings show
that there are certain dimensions that reflect informants’ understanding of Automotive CBBE.
For example, Informant 1 stressed that ‘… there [are] always reasons for liking a brand, for
example I like PERODUA because it is made in Malaysia and Mercedes-Benz because of the
quality and because it gives class’. Furthermore, when asked about the definition of CBBE of
automotive brands, Informant 10 stated that, ‘quality and performance of cars’ are the key-
words for explaining automotive CBBE. Informant 2’s response is akin to other informants,
stating that automotive CBBE means ‘the body or the physical quality of the car [brand]’.
These responses inform us about the functional attribute of the automotive brand. Hence,
the functional brand image of automotive brands is considered a crucial dimension of auto-
motive CBBE.
Therefore, the reasons cited by informants for liking a brand are categorized as sub-
themes/dimensions namely; Brand Awareness, Hedonic Brand Image, Functional Brand
Image and Brand Sustainability for conceptualizing Automotive CBBE, with reference to the
information presented in the sections below.
Brand awareness
Majority of the informants agreed to the importance of brand awareness as one of the
dimensions of CBBE in the context of automotive brands. Brand awareness in the context
of automotive products, according to the majority of the informants, is knowing about the
brand name, symbol, logo, brand characteristics, and personality of the automotive brand
(Informants 1, 5, 8, 9, and 10). Informant 7 added that brand awareness is knowing ‘the
characteristics of the automotive brand’. In the same vein, Informant 11 added that consum-
ers select certain automotive brands against others because ‘they consider the quality of
the car [brand]’. The opinion of Informant 3 is in fact more insightful and in line with the
theoretical understanding of brand awareness. To be specific, Informant 3 explained that ‘If
I like a car, I can recognize the brand and I can recognize its characteristics clearly’. These
opinions do not contrast with the fundamental understanding of brand awareness. In fact,
the opinions of the informants aligned with the explanation of Keller (1993), who opined
that brand awareness is the consumer’s ability to identify and remember a particular brand
and the capability to connect the features of the brand with its values. Additionally, there
are two peculiar terms in which the informants used in explaining their understanding of
awareness of automotive brands. These terms are ‘globally known’ and ‘country-of-origin’.
Hence, in the context of automotive branding, global brand and country-of-origin are impor-
tant factors for enhancing the acceptance of automotive brands among consumers. Even
though not in the context of automotive brands, previous researchers such as Basfirinci
(2013) have demonstrated that the reputation and the characteristics of the origin of a brand
in the market can be transferred to the image and consumers’ perception of the brand.
Hedonic brand image

The interviewees also demonstrated that the perception of brand equity can also be tied to
certain features that are not directly related to the utilitarian attributes of the product, in
other words, hedonic brand image. In theory, hedonic brand image can be explained as the
perceptions, feelings, or meanings that consumers create from abstract or imagination-re-
lated considerations that are not necessarily related to the functional or physical attributes,
performance, and utility of the brand (Homer 2008; Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and Schäfer 2012).
In fact, Homer (2008) argued that hedonic brand image is also referred to as non-attribute
brand beliefs that explain how consumers personify the symbolical representation of a brand.
In the case of automotive brands, personality, social approval, and country-of-origin are
examples of attributes that users used for rating, liking, or selecting an automotive brand.
An evidence of this summary is spelt out in the opinion of Informant 3, who stated that, ‘…
Over here in Malaysia, most of the people buy branded cars like BMW because they want to
show others that they are wealthy’. Additionally, according to Informant 2, Honda is a branded
automotive brand because ‘… Honda seems like you have more money … it shows you are
rich and it shows [users’] personality’. In consonance with previous comments, Informant 5
said; ‘Yes, personality of a car is very important … when people look at the car they say wow!
It catches their mind’. These opinions reflect that consumers’ perspectives of CBBE can be
explained with their attraction and likeness for a brand, which are evoked by certain attrib-
utes that are sometimes beyond the functioning attributes of the brand. As such, Baalbaki
and Guzmán (2016) explained that CBBE can be defined as consumers’ mindset or perception
of a product’s or a company’s quality, preference, sustainability, and social influence. Similarly,
Netemeyer et al. (2004) concluded that CBBE signifies consumers’ familiarity and favorable,
positive and strong perception of a product. Therefore, non-functioning attributes such as
personality, social approval, and country-of-origin are reflections of hedonic brand image
of automotive brands.
In addition, some informants also added that the uniqueness of a car brand adds to its
CBBE (Informant 2, 4, 8, and 11). Also, the informants argued that one of the essential ele-
ments of hedonic image of automotive brands is knowing how well a car brand fits the user’s
demographic profile. For example, Informant 3 explained that;
(… For example, MyVi was built to be beautiful. This is what I know from the consumers and
users such as ladies and some teenagers because they like the design. … Both [PERODUA and
PROTON] have 1.3 engine. Mostly the old people around the age of 30 and above will go for
PROTON SAGA or SEDAN whereas all the youngsters and ladies will go for MyVi).
The illustration by Informant 3 affirms that certain automotive brands appeal to users
based on their demographic attributes. However, the informants are evenly divided on the
importance of social acceptance. Some informants agreed that social acceptance and
approval are relevant measures of hedonic brand image for automotive products. Meanwhile
some other informants disagree, stating that cars are bought for necessity and not to improve
the social status of the buyer. To put this succinctly, in the words of Informant 5; ‘Nowadays
cars are more of a necessity. If you buy a luxury car [you can be kidnapped suddenly]’.
Informant 10 added that; ‘My intention [for buying an expensive car brand] is not for showing
off to people. I buy cars for necessity’. With regard to social approval, Informant 4 stated that;
‘I want to disagree but it is true … but no, I won’t buy a car because of people’s impression.
I don’t care about that’, when asked about the relevance of social approval and people
impression in measuring the hedonic brand image of automotive CBBE.
Functional brand image

Informants in this study demonstrated that functional brand image is an important sub-
theme or dimension for describing CBBE in the context of automotive brands. One of the
most vocal opinions about this is the response of Informant 1, who said that:
(… the most important thing when we are buying or when we like a brand is its functions. That
is why functionality is the most important for me rather than awareness and hedonic [brand]
image. So for me, functional brand image comes first, then brand awareness and then hedonic
brand image).
The opinion of Informant 1 on which is more important between functionality image and
brand awareness also reflects the variations in CBBE measures based on context and industry.
For instance, even though brand awareness is central to the two CBBE models of Keller and
Aaker, the product-oriented CBBE model proposed by Yoo and Donthu (2001) also placed
perceived quality ahead of brand awareness and associations. When explaining the func-
tional attributes of automotive brands, many informants referred to the performance of the
car engine, body, interior, and trunk as the most crucial elements of the functional image of
automotive brands (Informant 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 11). These informants believed that, even
though they do not have the technical knowledge to discover good or reliable cars, they are
concerned about the functionality of the mechanical components of the car they are buying.
Informant 2 said the following when she was asked about the importance of the engine
quality of a car as one of the items of functional brand image: ‘I don’t know the quality of
car engines, but I agree that engine power, good transmission and mechanical quality are
also important’.
Drawing from previous CBBE studies, the opinions of the informants in this study are in
line with the theoretical discussions found in literature. For example, Fetscherin and Toncar
(2009) operationalized brand equity for automotive brands in their study as a set of attributes
which are relevant with the performance of car brands, which include the chassis or trunk,
interior, comfort, engine, driving characteristics, safety, environment, and economics.
Similarly, while examining the determinants of brand retention and dealer retention between
different types of car brands, Verhoef, Langerak, and Donkers (2007) developed items that
are specifically related to the functional attributes of cars to measure brand quality. The items
entail questions on the functionality of the engine, comfort, safety, design, and other attrib-
utes of cars.
Brand sustainability
Another sub theme that was identified from the explanations of CBBE in the context of
automotive brands is brand sustainability. Many of the informants, including Informant 1,
2, 4, 6, and 8 explained that sustainability and economic maintenance of automotive brands
are part of the main reasons why consumers like or dislike automotive brands. For instance,
Informant 3 argued that ‘Malaysians consider the maintenance of cars before they buy them’.
Informant 1 also argued that ‘sustainability is something new, which is what we are still
educating people about … [the] safety and [the] environmental responsibility … [are part
of ] the most important thing manufacturers of cars should take seriously’. These responses
corroborate the notion that the production of cars with clean and health-friendly technol-
ogies has been the top priority of most automotive companies of recent (Speed and
Thompson 2000). Informant 2 added that ‘I don’t like a car that brings out too much smoke.
So it is important the car is environmentally safe and responsible’. The opinion of Informant
2 is consistent with the argument proffered by Oliveira and Sullivan (2012), that brands are
suitable platforms for organizations to showcase their sustainability consciousness. This is
because consumers are favorable to sustainable brands and believe sustainable brands can
support their aspirations to live more sustainable lives (Speed and Thompson 2000).
Ostensibly, the findings in this study evinced that the sustainability image of an automotive
brand is an important reason consumers accept it. Furthermore, the informants in this study
were generally in support of economic sustainability in terms of fuel consumption and
mechanical maintenance of automotive brands, as well as the environmental responsibility
and safety responsibility of automotive brands as the basis for selecting or rejecting an
automotive brand. For example, Informant 5 explained that ‘efficient fuel usage is very impor-
tant … it must be economic. Even if you are buying a big car, it must be economic’. Impliedly,
economic sustainability refers to consumers’ perception and beliefs on the financial impacts
of maintenance, affordability, and upkeep of an automotive brand.
The implications of CBBE on automotive brands

In order to explain the implications of developing CBBE in the automotive context, the
researcher debriefed the interviewees on their behaviors and responses which are influenced
by their own perception of automotive brands. The informants explained that when a brand
appeals to them, they tend to purchase the brand, recommend the brand, and prefer the
brand to other brands in the market. They explained that people buy car brands because of
their perception of the brand. For example, Informant 2 believes that Honda is a successful
automotive brand and she demonstrated her belief by stating that ‘brand is important
because …. Honda is for successful [people]’. Furthermore, Informant 8 explained the impor-
tance of branding in the automotive industry by stating that ‘Toyota is sold by its brand [even
though] it does not have good quality and [sometimes] it is not up to standard but people
still buy Toyota because of the brand’. Informant 6 who is a brand manager also explained
that, ‘… Basically [Malaysians] buy cars because of [the] brand, otherwise [they buy] because
of price’. These findings revealed the implications of branding in the automotive industry
especially how it influences consumers’ behaviors. CBBE are unanimous on the fact that,
CBBE explains consumers’ reactions, responses, and behaviors (Keller 2009; Mirabi, Akbariyeh,
and Tahmasebifard 2015; Godey et al. 2016).
The role of social media marketing communications

According to the responses of the informants in this study, it was revealed that social media
marketing communications are an important type of communication activity corporate
organizations engage in recent times. The two types of social media communications, which
are FCCs and UGCs as identified by previous studies, were also discussed by informants in
this study (Bruhn, Schoenmueller, and Schäfer 2012; Kim and Ko 2012; Schivinski and
Dabrowski 2014). Majority of the informants agreed that they are aware of social media
communications in its two forms, which are FCCs and UGCs. The informants also agreed with
the dimensionality of social media marketing communications and their understanding of
the different functions of the types of social media marketing communications (such as
advertising, sales promotion, interactive marketing and WOM). Social media communications
are also believed to cut across all the various types of social media; Facebook, YouTube,
WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. The informants emphasized that the two types of social
media marketing communications are influential to the development of brand equity. To
support this, Informant 8 stated that;
(… let’s say for Facebook, when we post, 200 people or 100 people will share, then it becomes
like 2000 views. Then at 2000 they share, they talk to each other and they make their own com-
parison. Such as, [they realize] Toyota [has certain attributes different from] that [of ] Isuzu [and]
Mitsubishi. That is how we have to convince people we have the highest technology compared
to other [car brands]).
Furthermore, Informant 2 claimed that, ‘… I also see people advertise things such as cars,
clothes, food and some services on Facebook and Instagram’. Many of the informants who
are brand managers explained that one of the significant features of social media commu-
nications which makes social media more important than traditional media is the function
of sharing among users. This function makes marketing messages travel wider and with a
much higher rate of reception with the help of consumers sharing among themselves.
Informant 1 supported the significance of sharing social media communications and com-
ments by stating that, ‘… because in social media, for sure we can post, comment, and share
with each other and also tag someone we like. So it becomes a more interactive marketing’.
It is important to note that the possibility of sharing, commenting, and posting on social
media has in other words opened doors of co-authoring brand-related contents for con-
sumers. This content type is what the literature has convincingly defined as UGC (Duan, Gu,
and Whinston 2008). Furthermore, extant studies on social media have unanimously revealed
that social media has facilitated an increase in the level of interactions between consumers
(Godes and Mayzlin 2004; Chevalier and Mayzlin 2006). Communications between consumers
have also been proven to be somewhat influential to the outcomes of marketing activities
on social media (Godes and Mayzlin 2004; Chevalier and Mayzlin 2006). De Bruyn and Lilien
(2008) and Gensler et al. (2013) also affirmed that communications that are shared among
consumers through viral marketing campaigns significantly influence consumers’ process
of decision-making and brand equity.
With regard to the attitudes and experiences of informants towards social media com-
munications, majority of the informants expressed positive attitudes. Many informants
agreed that social media advertising increases awareness, generates sales, gives useful infor-
mation, and influences their purchase decision. Above all, creativity is said to be the most
important attribute of social media advertising. Informant 2 argued that ‘creativity is what
attracts me to advertisements [of automotive brands] on social media’. However, when asked
about their experiences with the advertisements on social media, the interviewees said they
do not feel sad, irritated, or disturbed by advertisements on social media platforms. For
example, Informant 2 stated that ‘the advertisement is for getting information, so I never
feel irritated’. Informant 4 also added that, ‘well, you know I am used to it. I am not irritated
by it so I don’t think advertisements can irritate or disturb me’. This highlights the possible
reason why advertisements on social media might be successful than the traditional media.
One of the key factors to measuring advertisement effectiveness is audience’ attitude and
experience (Boateng and Okoe 2015). Overall, it is revealed in this study that consumers’
attitude towards the advertisements on social media are positive and favorable. This imply
that consumers’ attitude and experiences towards advertisement on social media will lead
to favorable perception of the advertised brand and positive consumer responses (Boateng
and Okoe 2015).
Similarly, social media sales promotion is regarded as an important type of social media
marketing communication. Many informants affirmed the presence of sales promotions in
the form of vouchers, discounts, incentives, promotion information, test driving, and price
deals on their social media pages. However, few informants discussed the issue of trust on
the significance of sales promotions. Informant 2 for instance stated that, ‘I don’t like when
they give offers and sales discounts. I don’t believe them’. Hence, audience belief and trust
is considered an important type of attitude or experience users of social media have towards
social media sales promotions.
In addition, all the informants in this study agree with the presence of interactive mar-
keting on social media. They believed that, through social media interactive marketing, they
have the opportunity to get to know more about brands. Interactive marketing on social
media according to the understanding of the informants is often the types of contents that
link the social media users to either the social media page of the brand or the original website
of the brand. To buttress this point, Informant 2 echoed that ‘interactive marketing on social
media is important. I also once went to the KIA page before to see their new products because
I want to get more details’.
Finally, informants also testified to the pervasiveness of social media WOM. Many of the
informants agreed that the information shared by social media users is important in making
their purchase decisions and they also influence the development of CBBE of automotive
products. The informants agreed that, before making a purchase of high involvement prod-
ucts like cars, they consult people on social media and request for their personal experiences
of the brand. For instance, Informant 2 shared the following:
(I believe so. I have seen something like that. In fact I do it sometimes. I talk about the product I
am using on social media. I say KIA is safe, the body is strong and so on. I even say to my friend
on social media to buy KIA … Also, I see my friend post pictures about his KIA and I feel like I
want to buy it).
Informant 7 also added that, ‘Actually, I [bought] my car after I did some research about
it on social media’.
Theoretical and practical implications and recommendations

The implications of the findings reported in this study can be discussed on both theoretical
and practical grounds. Theoretically, the findings presented advance the discussion on the
need for context or industry-based CBBE models. This study is therefore an attempt to explore
the validity of the CBBE concept in the automotive industry in order to provide theoretical
foundations for future researchers. As such, this study affirms the definition of CBBE in the
context of automotive brands and explores dimensions that are specifically reflective of
consumers’ perceptions, experiences, and associations with automotive brands. The findings
of this study indicate that brand awareness, hedonic brand image, functional brand image,
and brand sustainability are specific dimensions of CBBE in the context of automotive brands.
The responses from informants in this regard are expected to guide future studies in oper-
ationalizing and generating measures for the aforementioned dimensions of automotive
CBBE.
Additionally, based on the keywords used by the informants to describe their perceptions
of CBBE of automotive brands inter alia, ‘globally known’ and ‘knowledge of country-of-origin’
are suggested to be included in the measures and the operationalization of brand awareness
for automotive brands. Similarly, ‘affordable’, ‘social approval’, ‘uniqueness’ and ‘demographic
attributes’ are the highlights of hedonic brand image for automotive brands. Meanwhile,
‘engine quality’, ‘mechanical reliability and performance’, ‘interior design’ and ‘body integrity
and color’ are important components of operationalizing functional brand image for auto-
motive brands. Finally, the findings of this study also evinced that the operationalization of
brand sustainability in the context of automotive brand involves ‘eco-friendliness’, ‘mechan-
ical maintenance’, ‘efficient fuel usage’ and ‘environmental responsibility’.
Furthermore, the theoretical significance of this present study also revolves around under-
standing the implications of CBBE in the context of automotive brands by exploring how
consumers’ behaviors are inclined with their perceptions of automotive brands. Consistently,
extant studies have argued that the essence of measuring CBBE is to understand how con-
sumers’ perceptions and mindsets influence their responses, attitude, and behaviors towards
a brand (Boo, Busser, and Baloglu 2009). Meanwhile, consumers’ perceptions of brands are
not necessarily the same across industries because different products serve different
purposes and perform different functions. Similarly, consumers’ judgments of brands’ attrib-
utes are expected to differ. For example, the things consumers consider very important in
evaluating high-involvement products like automotive brands may not be the same with
low-involvement brands. Therefore in advancing the discussion on the consequences of
developing CBBE in the context of automotive brands, the qualitative data presented in this
study demonstrate that CBBE does not necessarily evoke purchase or re-purchase intentions
among consumers. Rather, ‘preference’, ‘recommendation’ and ‘referral’ are specific implica-
tions of CBBE on automotive consumers.
With regard to the findings on the role of social media communications on the develop-
ment of CBBE, the results presented in this research corroborate the teeming number of
previous studies on social media communications by revealing that the advent of social
media has brought about significant changes in the dissemination and reception of mar-
keting communications, most especially by allowing the involvement of consumers in the
co-creation of brand-related contents. The literature review indicates that previous studies
mainly focused on consumers’ evaluation of both FCC and UGC. However, the results of this
study situate the brand-related contents on social media in the realm of marketing commu-
nications. As such, it provides an insight for future researchers to explore the roles of social
media communications on CBBE by focusing on the differential characteristics of the con-
tents in a way that suits the categorization of marketing communications, such as advertising,
promotion, interactive marketing, and WOM.
Practically, the findings of this study are expected to provide insights for brand managers
and brand owners, especially those managing automotive brands on how to improve and
enhance their brand equity and increase the acceptance of their brands. The findings of this
study have specified the important components of CBBE for automotive brands, and brand
managers can adjust their branding and communication activities to focus more on these
important attributes, thereby improving the manner in which consumers perceive their
brands. Furthermore, CBBE models are measures of consumers’ mindsets and perceptions.
The practical implication of any CBBE model is to guide managers on how to capture the
pockets of consumers by capturing their minds. Therefore, automotive brand managers are
advised to pay more attention to the important components of consumers’ perception of
automotive brands in order to improve the acceptance of their brands.
Additionally, the findings presented in this study also revealed that brand-related contents
on social media have important implications in enhancing brand equity (Keller 2001). Most
specifically, brand followership, increasing brand image and awareness, recall, and recogni-
tion are underscored as the major implications of social media communications on brand
equity. These implications are examples of specific opportunities that are open to brand
managers through social media for the improvement of their brand equity. Thus, this study
provides a basis to advise brand managers to further increase their engagement and involve-
ment with consumers through social media.
Another important practical implication of this research is that the results presented in
this study provide an insight for brand and marketing managers to note that CBBE might
not be able to evoke purchase or re-purchase intentions in the context of automotive brands.
However, the development of CBBE might improve the preference, recommendation, and
referral of automotive brands among consumers. This might be because taking purchase
decision of automotive brands which are considered high-involvement brands is not central
to consumers’ perceptions and mindsets alone, rather it involves other factors such as
necessity and affordability as evinced in the reported findings. On this basis, marketers and
managers of automotive brands are advised to situate their focus on brand preference rather
than purchase intentions. Finally, the findings presented in this study corroborate the under-
standing of CBBE and affirms that CBBE functions as an important decision-making tool for
customers and as a major success determinant for businesses (Keller 2009).
Conclusions
This study conducted a semi-structured interview to explore the concept of CBBE in the
context of automotive brands. Also, the researcher explored the role of social media com-
munication in developing CBBE and the implications of CBBE. This research concludes that
CBBE is a valid concept in the context of automotive brands. The important factors or dimen-
sions that reflect CBBE in the context of automotive brands are brand awareness, functional
brand image, hedonic brand image, and brand sustainability. Furthermore, this study demon-
strates that brand-related contents that are devolved by both firms/brand owners and con-
sumers on social media cut across different marketing communications, which include
advertising, sales promotion, interactive marketing, WOM, and consumer reviews. These
communications are found to have important implications – such as brand recall and rec-
ognition, engagement with brands, and improvement of brands’ image – on the develop-
ment of CBBE. The implication of this study is justified by extending the concept of CBBE in
the automotive context. Furthermore, CBBE demonstrates notable connection with con-
sumer behaviors. These behaviors range from brand preference, recommendation, and
referral to other consumers. This research provides an insight for future researchers to con-
sider developing valid measurements for automotive CBBE models using the measures that
specifically reflect the brand awareness, functional and hedonic images, and brand sustain-
ability of automotive brands in consumers’ minds. Furthermore, this study demonstrates
that CBBE can be developed through marketing activities. The findings of this study demon-
strate that social media is an important channel for developing CBBE. The findings of this
study are in line with those of previous researchers, who have revealed that social media is
embedded with potentials for influencing users’ perceptions, behaviors, and responses. In
other words, social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are strategic channels
for disseminating effective and interactive dialogic brand-related communications between
brand managers and consumers (Berthon et al. 2007; Schivinski 2011; Hamid, Romiza, and
Cheng 2013; Tsai and Men 2013).
This present study is not without certain limitations. One of the most noticeable limita-
tions in this study is that this study explores the validity of the CBBE concept in the context
of automotive brands from the perspectives of consumers and brand managers. However,
the authors could not compare and contrast the opinions of the informants. On this basis,
future researchers might consider other research methods that will allow them to compare
the opinions of consumers and brand managers. Another limitation is that the researchers
focused on one particular industry. Future researchers might consider comparing between
industries as an attempt to advance the universality of the CBBE concept across industries.
Additionally, the objective of this study is to explore the roles of social media communications
in developing CBBE. The method employed in this study availed the authors the opportunity
to delve deeper on the specific roles of social media in enhancing CBBE of automotive brands
and to specify the types of marketing communications that are disseminated or generated
on social media. The fact that the researchers could not determine the differential roles of
the contents is another limitation. Subsequently, future studies may consider employing a
quantitative method in order to discern the differential effects of the social media marketing
communications on the development of CBBE.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Ridwan Adetunji Raji is a PhD candidate at the Department of Media Management, School of Multimedia
Technology and Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia. His research interests cut across media
management, consumer behaviors, branding, and marketing communications.
Sabrina Mohd Rashid is a senior lecturer at the School of Multimedia Technology and Communication,
Universiti Utara Malaysia. Her research interests range between branding, brand identity, and internal
culture.
Sobhi Mohd Ishak is a senior lecturer at the School of Multimedia Technology and Communication,
Universiti Utara Malaysia. His areas of interest include media, religious, political, and developmental
communications.
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Consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and the role of social

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

CONTACT Ridwan Adetunji Raji [email protected]

• To explore the concept of CBBE in the context of automotive brands

CBBE in the automotive industry

Social media communication

Table 2. Informants’ profile.

Interview design and data collection

Hedonic brand image

Functional brand image

The implications of CBBE on automotive brands

The role of social media marketing communications

Theoretical and practical implications and recommendations

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• To explore the concept of CBBE in the context of automotive brands