Impact of rise and decline in consumer-based and firm-based brand equity on firm performance

: The moderating role of organizational efficiency 

Abstract

While extant body of marketing-finance research advocates that strong brands significantly enhance firm performance, very little is known about whether this relationship is sustainable over long term. Brand equity is prone to rise or decline over time and without investigating the firm performance impact of such unanticipated directional shifts, brand’s true value relevance can be over or under-estimated. Adopting stock returns as firm performance measure and through a longitudinal approach (2010 to 2019), this study provides novel insights that, in long term, firm value erosion due to declining brand equity is significantly higher than the value accrued during positive changes. A further comparative analysis between consumer and firm based brand equity measures reveals two interesting findings. First, the evolution of these brand equity dimensions over time is mutually exclusive and second, the directional firm performance impact of rising and declining CBBE is much stronger as compared to changes in FBBE. These novel findings are further complemented by identifying potential mechanisms by which superior organizational efficiency can moderate this marketing-finance interface. Anchored to Resource Based Theory (RBT) of sustainable competitive advantage, two key organizational efficiency measures are proposed; core business efficiency (CBEF) and marketing capability (MCAP). Both these multi input-output efficiencies are operationalized using Malmquist DEA benchmarking approach. The findings uncover that CBEF optimizes the financial benefits of rising FBBE and mitigate the negative effects of declining CBBE. In contrary, while MCAP complements the value contributions of growing CBBE, it worsens the firm value erosion due to declining FBBE. Overall, the research not only contribute to existing marketing literature from multiple fronts but also have several managerial and investor related implications.

Date of Award	20 Sept 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Roehampton
Supervisor	Mamata Parhi (Director of Studies) & Lia Zarantonello (Co-Supervisor)