Building and Measuring Employee-Based Brand Equity
Author
King, Ceridwyn, Grace, Debra
Published
2010
Journal Title
European Journal of Marketing
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561011047472
Copyright Statement
© 2009 Emerald. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance
with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the
definitive, published version.
Downloaded from
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/33650
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https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au
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Building and Measuring Employee Based Brand Equity
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This paper presents the first known empirically-tested model of Employee
Based Brand Equity (EBBE). In doing so, it provides insight into not only how
organisations can effectively manage the internal brand building process but, more
importantly, appreciate the subsequent employee effects and organisational benefits.
Methodology/Approach: Data were collected via an online survey of 371
employees that work in service organisations, sourced from a market research
database list.
Findings: Strong support was found for nine out of the ten hypothesised
relationships thus providing strong validation for the proposed model.
Research limitations: The employment of surveys can present data collection
problems stemming from such things as lack of willingness to participate on behalf of
the respondent, loss of validity when using structured questionnaires and inherent
challenges of wording questions properly. However, in acknowledging these
limitations, actions, such as the utilisation of a national database of ‘opt in’ survey
participants coupled with the good reliability results and the methodical four-stage
survey design process undertaken, it is suggested that every effort was made to negate
this limitation.
Practical implications: Knowledge gained from empirically validating a model of
EBBE 1) further enriches the application of traditional brand management techniques;
2) provides a framework for brand communication training; 3) increases
organisational understanding of how to engender positive employee actions and; 4)
increases the accountability of such an internal investment by identifying measurable
organisational benefits that accrue as a result of such efforts.
Value of the Paper: This paper makes three important contributions including 1)
expanding the existing brand equity literature to incorporate a third, yet equally
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relevant perspective, that being employee; 2) the adoption of a multi-disciplined
approach to addressing a marketing issue and, in doing so, extending beyond the
connectionist cognitive psychology view of brand equity to incorporate a
contextual/organisation cultural element and; 3) reflecting the perceptions of
employees, who are currently underrepresented in the internal brand management
literature.
Keywords: Brand Equity, Employee, Service Brands, Internal Brand Management
Paper Type: Research Paper
INTRODUCTION
There can be no denying that in today’s competitive and fragmented market,
competitive advantage realised through tangible, functional benefits, is no longer
sustainable. In fact, it has been argued in the literature that the real competitive
advantage in today’s intensive market is realised through an increased focus on
operant resources, for example, skills and knowledge (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). With
functional values lacking unique or distinctive attributes, given the ease with which
they can be copied, de Chernatony and Cottam (2006, p. 616) argue, “ultimately, what
is delivered is less important than how it is delivered”. It is for this reason that an
organisation’s brand, which is considered to be a cluster of functional and emotional
benefits, is considered to be a necessity for organisational sustainability. In particular,
it is through the emotional benefits of the brand that the operant resources are
reflected and, in turn, provide the element of uniqueness/differentiation that brand
management covets. (Papasolomou & Vrontis, 2006)
Successful brands, in turn, are considered to have high brand equity. Papasolomou
and Vrontis (2006) advocate high brand equity as being evident to the extent that
organisations exhibit characteristics such as higher brand loyalty, name awareness,
perceived quality, strong brand associations and credibility. Such non-financial
measures or consumer-based perspectives of brand equity are often combined with
financial measures, such as future earnings or market share in order to gauge the
success, or otherwise, of organisations’ brand management activities (de Chernatony
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& Cottam, 2006). With an increasing interest in both academia, and in practice, to
measure the impact of brand management, as manifested in brand equity (e.g. Pappu,
Quester & Cooksey, 2005; Srinivasan, Park & Chang, 2005), de Chernatony and
Cottam (2006) suggest that rather than one comprehensive methodology to evaluate
brand success, there are a range of financial and non financial measures that,
collectively, provide the necessary insight. Such a multiple perspective is believed to
be beneficial given that it reflects a number of different stakeholders’ perspectives
(i.e. customers and shareholders). However, in consideration that central to service
brand management is the employee, the brand equity literature falls short of
accounting for another stakeholder’s perspective, that being the employee. As
organisations are increasingly encouraging employees to embrace their role as brand
ambassadors (de Chernatony et al., 2006), brand equity research from an employee
perspective is warranted.
Brand management necessitates due consideration be given to employees (de
Chernatony & Cottam, 2006) because it is the employees’ skills and knowledge (i.e.
operant resource), which provide the competitive advantage for an organisation. It is
considered essential that all employees have an opportunity to understand the brand as
it relates to their roles so that they, in turn, can deliver the brand promise (Gapp &
Merrilees, 2006). This is because it is becoming increasingly critical for employees to
be able to consistently demonstrate positive organisational behaviours for
organisations to perform effectively (Parker, 2007). It is through effective internal
brand management practice that employees realise the range of emergent skills and
knowledge necessary for the collective goals of the organisation to be met.
While strong, successful brands are realised through positive employee behaviours,
currently, there is a paucity of employee research in the area of internal brand
management. In seeking to address this deficit, this study empirically tests a model of
Employee Based Brand Equity (EBBE). In doing so, it provides insight into not only
how organisations can effectively mange the internal brand building process but, more
importantly, appreciate the subsequent employee effects and organisational benefits.
This paper makes three key contributions:
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• Firstly, the brand equity literature is strengthened through the empirical validation
of a third perspective of brand equity, namely employee based brand equity. In
doing so, this paper presents a framework to assist with understanding and
building brand equity from an employee perspective upon which measurable
outcomes can be realised.
• Secondly, this paper extends the cognitive psychology – connectionist perspective
of brand equity as espoused by Keller (1998) adopting a more context-based
cognitive psychology paradigm. Galotti (2004, p. 33) argues that “cognition does
not occur in isolation from larger cultural contexts; all cognitive activities are
shaped by the culture and by the context in which they occur.” Therefore, this
study introduces two new constructs to the internal brand management literature,
namely openness (defined as the extent to which an employee is receptive to
organisational dialogue) and the ‘H’ factor or the ‘Human’ factor (defined as the
extent to which an employee perceives that the organisation treats them like a
human being e.g. with respect, is cooperative, communicates well, is trustworthy,
encourages working towards a common goal). Their inclusion in the EBBE model
accounts for the contextual influences on cognitive process, thus, expanding
existing theory with respect to the application of cognitive psychology in the
context of the brand equity literature. (Lesley de Chernatony, Cottam, & Segal-
Horn, 2006)
• Thirdly, this study reflects the perspectives of employees, who have had limited
representation in internal brand management research. To date, a large amount of
research has been based upon the opinions and experiences of brand management
consultants, advertising executives and/or managers (e.g. de Chernatony et al.,
2006). However, the real insight with respect to internal brand management
effectiveness lies in determining how brands are interpreted from the employee’s
point of view and how such interpretation translates to brand-related behaviours.
This is because the ultimate goal of internal brand management is to influence
employee attitudes and behaviour. To do this effectively, however, requires an
understanding of how employees react and respond to such internal initiatives.
This distinction is important because it is only through the evaluation of internal