How good does it taste? Is it the product or the brand? A contribution to brand equity evaluation

Purpose – This experimental research seeks to offer a method for measuring the respective product and brand contributions to the global perceived quality dimension in the case of five brands of orange juices. Design/methodology/approach – The disconfirmation of expectations approach method was used which employs the mismatch between expected and blind evaluation of a product. The assimilation effects (when the perceived quality of the product tends to be congruent with the expected quality attributed to the brand) and the contrast effects (when the perceived quality of the product is influenced negatively by the brand) were measured. Findings – Results indicate an assimilation effect for the national brands, particularly strong with the most preferred brand, and a non‐significant brand effect for the retailer's brand, although both products were rated the same in the blind evaluation. Practical implications – From a theoretical and methodological point of view, the research suggests that global measures of perceived quality may be more appropriate tools than analytical constructs from product attributes when evaluating brand equity. Originality/value – A general experimental design of the disconfirmation of information is offered in order to evaluate the share of the product and the brand in the consumer assessment of the perceived quality of a brand. This design places the respondents in two successive cognitive processes when they evaluate the brand and the product, which explains the assimilations and/or contrast effects which have been observed.