The Research On Constitution Dimensions Of Consumer-based Instant Message Brand Equity

With brand competition in the past30years, many scholars and entrepreneurs has been always focused their researches on brand equity. Nowadays with rapidly development of the Internet, brand equity researches more and more focus on network products. With rapid development, domestic Instant Message (IM) businesses are facing an urgent issue:How to improve their brand equity. Through the influence factors and mechanism research of IM brand equity, some marketing suggestions are proposed to enhance IM brand equity for IM managers.The influence factors of IM brand equity were explored by reviewing and sorting out the related literature from customers’ perspective. Based on the analysis of the combination with IM products’ characteristic and network products consumers’ behavior, conceptual model of IM brand equity from customers’ perspective was builded. Then tested and amended the conceptual model through empirical analysis. Finally, IM brand equity with certain hierarchy was obtained and the results of Empirical analysis were showed. Derived from the discussion, IM brand equity consists of six components, including consumer feeling (brand awareness), consumer perception (perceived quality, user experience), consumer judgment (brand trust, the transfer barrier) and brand loyalty. The relationships among variables are statistically tested. These components are demonstrated to enhance the brand equity by following certain mechanism.The research of IM brand equity expanded the network brand field. Besides, the combination of forming mechanism of IM brand equity and the flow of IM consumers’ experience made model a more scientific and operational. Based on the empirical test and analysis of relevant conclusions, Some suggestions are proposed that how to manage IM brand equity and improve the brand management system for managers of IM.