| Over the past few decades,branding has become the top research topic in marketing academics.Branding has not only become the main strategic driving factor of policy-makers thinking in manufacturing industries,but also is a important factor that the policy-makers in service industry has considered.Hence,branding is being transferred from manufacturing to retailing,and retail branding is one of the main trends in retail industry.Although brand equity is widely regarded as the index to measure the effectiveness of branding strategy,the concept of retailer brand equity is finally able to appear in the marketing literature until recent years.Retailer brand is similar to product brand,which also has assets.Retailer brand equity is an important content of the branding theory.Building brand equity is an important strategic issue of retailers,which will help retail enterprises to establish long-term competitive advantage.Although there is an increased emphasis on retail branding theory in academics,the research of retailer brand equity has not yet formed a complete theoretical framework and system architecture, particularly the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity is still in ambiguous state.And the research conclusions of retailer brand equity abroad need to be further tested in China.Hence,the paper considers the influencing factors of retailer brand equity and their relationship as the core research problem.By making clear the key driving factors in the formation process of retailer brand equity and measuring the structural dimensions of these driving factors and using empirical research method to analyze the affecting mechanism between these different driving factors,the purpose of the paper is to provide useful implications for the constructing of retailer brand equity and its management capability.In order to solve this research problem,this paper systematically reviews some relevant studies,and makes clear the key driving factors and their relationship in the formation process of retailer brand equity,and build the research model of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity from the perspective of customer.Furthermore,this paper considers the customers of large department stores in Jinan City as the respondents,and uses SPSS 16.0 and AMOS7.0 software to analysis empirically the research model.Main research contents are as follows:First,this paper reviews the existing literature of brand equity,and analyzes the connotation,structure,measurement and driving model of retailer brand equity.Then,the concept,formation process,dimensions,measurement method,influencing factors and results of store image are reviewed and discussed.Furthermore,the theory of consumer shopping value is systematically reviewed.This paper summarizes the the definition and classification of customer value,the structure and connotation of shopping value,the influencing factors of shopping value,the relationship between shopping value and retail outcome.Thereinto,the relationships among research variables are objectively reviewed.Second,this paper analyzes theoretically the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity in order to reinforce the foundation of the research hypotheses and conceptual model.This paper analyzes the relationship among some variables in the formation process of retailer brand equity from environmental psychology theory,cognitive psychology theory,clue utilization theory,shopping experience theory and service loyalty theory.By analyzing the causes,performance mode and strategic value of the formation of retailer brand equity,this paper provides the source and theoretical reference for the building of the formation framework of retailer brand equity.Finally,the paper builds a analytical framework of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity,and forms a simplified model of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity based on the perspective of customer,and defines the follow-up application of the structural dimension of research variables in simplified model.Third,according to the literature review and theoretical analysis,the whole research model of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity based on the perspective of customer is proposed.The whole research model is divided into two sub-conceptual model,and this paper brings forward series of research hypotheses based on the relationship between external latent variables and internal latent variables in conceptual model.Finally,the paper does two empirical studies on the conceptual model about the effect of store image on customer emotion and shopping value,and the conceptual model about the effect of shopping value on relationship quality and retailer brand equity.The auther does firstly conduct empirical research questionnaire design,and obtains the specific measurement items of all dimension through literature and interviews study,and then forms the initial questionnaire.Secondly,the auther carries out exploratory research through the small sample of the research,and further purifies the measurement items through the reliability analysis and validity analysis,and forms a formal survey questionnaire.Then,the dimensions of store image,shopping value and retailer brand equity are empirically teseted based on data collected from a formal survey,and compares the differences of shopping value dimensions and retailer brand equity dimensions under different demographic characteristics.Meanwhile,the paper uses software AMOS7.0 to test the hypotheses in conceptual model,and analyzes the moderator effect of relationship quality on the relationship between shopping value and retailer brand equity.Through theoretical analysis and empirical testing,findings obtained are as follows:First,To identify the key factors that affect the formation of retailer brand equity from the perspective of customer.This paper points out that the influencing factors of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity include retail enterprises'marketing environmental factors,retailer marketing tactics,competitive retailer marketing tactics, the system elements of customer perception and evaluation,customer characteristics and situational factors,and establishes creatively retailer brand value chain which is the critical path of the formation of retailer brand equity.On this basis,the paper weeds out these driving factors that are difficult to measure and control in consumer survey,and foucuses on the relationship between retailer marketing tactics,the system factors of customer perception and evaluation and customer-mind retailer brand equity,and identifies finally store image,customer emotion,shopping value and relationship quality as the key driving factors of the formation of retailer brand equity.Second,store image is divided into merchandise image,service image,facility image, atmosphere image,convenience image and promotion image,and these dimensions are supported in empirical research.Although the research on the identification and division of store image dimensions is more abundant,this paper puts forward different classification system about six dimensions of store image.The original measurement items of store image is added and development through qualitative consumer interviews,and the new measurement scale of store image is developed.Then,the measurement scale of store image is tested empirically in the context of China's major department store,and the six dimensions of store image are proved to be reliability and validity.Third,consumer shopping value is divided into utilitarian shopping vlaue,hedonic shopping value and social shopping value,and these dimensions are supported in the context of China's major department stores.The paper attempts to put forward social shopping value as a important measurement dimension in the study variables of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity,and further develops the measurement items of social shopping value through qualitative consumer interview.Then,the measurement scale of consumer shopping value is tested and analyzed empirically in the context of China's major department store,and the three dimensional structure of consumer shopping value is proved to be good reliability and validity.Fourth,the classification system of four dimensional retailer brand equity from the western countries is applied into the study of China's retail market,and which is empirically supported.The structural dimensions of customer-based retailer brand equity which include retailer awareness,retailer perceived quality,retailer association and retailer loyalty have been supported by empirical research abroad.The paper applies again these structural dimensions into the context of China's department store,and the empirical study shows that the four dimensional classification system has good reliability and validity,and thus prove that they have a better cross-cultural adaptablity and stability.Fifth,the interaction mechanism between store image,customer emotion and shopping value is studied empirically.The result shows all dimesions of store image affect positively customer's pleasure,but only service image,atmoshpere image and promotion image affect positively arouse.Meanwhile,customer's pleasure affects positively all dimensions of shopping value,but customer's arouse only affects positively hedonic shopping value and social shopping value.Sixth,the interaction mechanism between shopping value,relationship quality and retailer brand equity is studied empirically.The result shows all dimensions of shopping value affect positively customer satisfaction,but only social shopping value affects customer trust.Meanwhile,customer satisfaction and customer trust affects positively all dimensions of retailer brand equity.Seventh,the moderator effect of relationship quality on the relationship between shopping value and retailer brand equity is partially supported.Hierarchical regression analysis shows that the moderator effect of relationship quality on the relationship between shopping value and retailer brand equity is partially supported,and the moderator effect is weaker.Thereinto,cutomer satisfaction has a positive impact on the relationship between hedonic shopping value and retailer awareness,and cutomer satisfaction has a positive impact on the relationship between utilitarian shopping value and retailer perceived quality.Meanwhile,customer satisfaction has a weaker negative impact on the relationship between utilitarian shopping value and retailer loyalty,and customer trust has a weaker negative impact on the relationship between hedonic shopping value and retailer loyalty.Eighth,the effect of demographic characteristics on shopping value and retailer brand equity is partially proved.The result shows that customer's sex,patronage frequency and the amount of consumption have positive impact on consumer shopping value.Thereinto,sex affects positively hedonic shopping value,and patronage frequency affects positively hedonic shopping value and social shopping value,and the amount of consumption affect positively social shopping value.Customer's age,occupation, income, patronage frequency and the amount of consumption have positive impact on retailer brand equity.Thereinto,age affect positively retailer awareness and retailer loyalty,and occupation affects positively retailer awareness and retailer loyalty,and income affects posititively retailer awareness and retailer loyalty,and patronage frequencey affects positively retailer awareness,retailer association and retailer loyalty,and the amount of consumption affects positively retailer awareness and retailer loyalty.In this paper,the conclusions of the study and its innovation are mainly reflected in the following five aspects:(1)The whole research model of the formation mechanism of retailer brand equity based on customer's perspective is systematically built.Based on literature review and theoretical analysis,this paper builds the whole research model which includes store image,customer emotion,shopping value,relationship quality and retailer brand equity.(2)The conceptual model about the effect of store image on customer emotion and shopping value is built and tested.Through using the field survey data from large department store,the auther tests empirically the model's reliability and validity,and the result shows that many research hypotheses are supported.Meanwhile,the positively effect of different demographic characteristics on shopping value is partially supported empirically.(3)The conceptual model about the effect of shopping value on relationship quality and retailer brand equity is built and tested. Through using the field survey data from large department store,the auther tests empirically the model's reliability and validity,and the result shows that many research hypotheses are supported.Meanwhile,the moderator effect of relationship quality on the relationship between shopping value and retailer brand equity,and the direct effect of demographic variables on the structural dimensions of retailer brand equity are partially supported.(4)The classification system and measurement scale of the six dimensional store image is developed and confirmed in China's retail business environment.(5)That social shopping value is a important dimension of consumer shopping value is put forward and tested in China's retail business environment.The previous studies about consumer shopping value focuses mainly on utilitarian shopping value and hedonic shopping value,but the study on social shopping value is ignored.The empirical study shows that social shopping value is a important dimension of consumer shopping value in the shopping environment of China's large department store.
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