A Study Of The Relationship Between B2C Shopping Website Brand Equity And Its Brand Loyalty

With the fast development of shopping website, the brand advantages become more and more obviously among the competitions. However, because of the virtual characteristic of the shopping website, there are some differences aspects between shopping website and traditional shop stores in the component and measurement of the brand equity, as well as the loyalty relationship between shopping website and its customers. Hence, according to these challenges, this paper started following researches from three aspects:First, based on the previously literature reviewing about brand equity, this paper defined B2C shopping website brand equity based on customer aspects as:the diversified comprehensive responds of the brand recognition, affections and symbolic means from consumer to B2C tails. According to this definition and combined the qualitative consumer interviewing, it further analyses the dimensions of the B2C shopping website brand equity based on customers and divided the brand equity as 6 dimensions, including:website interaction, website aesthetics, product quality, website awareness, website experience and image congruence and then developed its measurement scale. This paper developed the measurement scale from above six dimensions based on the internet customers sample data, and the test result indicated that the scale has both good reliability and validity.Besides, this paper reviewed the related literatures about brand relationship theory and summarized the measuring construction variables. Combined with consumers'qualitative interviewing, this paper defined three dimensions from the relationship between customers and shopping website brand:website trust, website intimacy and website loyalty, and then tested the reliability and validity of the measurement scale.Finally, this paper proposes a theoretical model of the effects mechanism of B2C shopping website brand equity on website loyalty based on brand equity pyramided theory and dynamic processes brand relationship theory from customer's aspect. Then this paper makes the empirical test and finds that website trust and website intimacy are the mediator variables between website brand equity and website loyalty. The directly antecedent variables of website loyalty are website trust and website intimacy, and the website trust has more significant effects on website loyalty. Meanwhile, website trust can also influence website loyalty through website intimacy. Website awareness, product quality, website aesthetics, website experience and image congruence can indirectly have effects on website loyalty through website trust. Among these, product quality and image congruence have directly impacts on website loyalty (has small coefficient compared with none intermediate variables); There is no relationship between website interaction and website trust. Website interaction, website experience and image congruence can indirectly influence website loyalty through website intimacy; Website awareness has negative impacts on website intimacy. There is no relationship between product quality and website intimacy, it has indirectly impacts on website intimacy through website trust.The innovation points of this paper are:(1) This research defines the definition of B2C shopping website brand equity and develops out the measurement scale. B2C shopping website brand equity measurement scale includes six dimensions:website interaction, website aesthetics, product quality, website awareness, website experience and image congruence, and then develops its measurement scale according to the Chinese internet customer sample data. Compared to previous studies, this paper has more specific and rounded characters on B2C shopping website brand equity measurement, and also provides useful tools for diagnosing B2C shopping website brand equity. (2) This research tests the relationship dimensions of B2C shopping website brand, including website trust, website intimacy and website loyalty. This conclusion truly reflects these three kinds of relationships between consumers and shopping website under the Chinese internet environments; it enriches the brand relationship theory system under the internet environment and also provide guidance for other scholars. (3) This paper establishes the theoretical model of B2C shopping website brand equity on website loyalty through website trust and website intimacy. This paper is the first one which chooses website trust and website intimacy as intermediate variables to do the empirical study about the effects mechanism of B2C shopping website on website loyalty under the internet environment. This paper expands the relationship between brand equity and brand loyalty and also enriches brand equity theory system; expands the prefactor of brand loyalty; and also provides strategic guidance for shopping website to acquire its customer through brand establishment and to retain its customers through brand relationship management development.