Exploring consumer brand name equity : Gaining insight through the investigation of response to name change

Purpose – Academic literature generally regards the brand name element as central to consumer brand equity. Unfortunately scant research has been carried out to justify such a position for established products and services. The purpose of this study is to address this research gap. Design/methodology/approach – A series of 25 semi‐structured qualitative interviews was carried out with consumers, exploring functions performed by brand name for established products and services. In order to isolate the brand name element this focused on global marketing induced brand name changes. Findings – Many of the corporate‐led functions performed by brand name within the literature received validation. This suggests that a concept of consumer brand name equity for established products and services can be justified. The study also indicated that a material proportion of the equity from a brand name was determined by the consumer. It revealed that many consumers had created their own associations for the brand name, positive and negative, independent of and different from those driven by the corporation. Originality/value – It provides needed empirical support for the concept of consumer brand name equity for established products and services. It also suggests that this may be usefully considered as a co‐creation between corporation and consumer.