DOES FAMILY AND VIRAL MARKETING HAVE ANY EFFECT ON BRAND EQUITY?

The purpose of this study is to analyze the significance of family and viral marketing on the formation of customer-based brand equity. In the proposed model, the roles played by both family and viral marketing were examined as factors contributing to brand equity. This study focuses on four dimensions of customer-based brand equity that have been suggested by Aaker (1991). An empirical study was conducted among young adults (18 to 32 years old) in the Malaysian market. Data were collected from consumers of mobile phone and personal computer using non probability (mall intercept) method. The data was tested for its construct validity and reliability and multiple regression was conducted to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that only viral marketing has a significant and positive influence on all dimensions of brand equity. Family recommendation was found to have a significant influence on two of the dimensions of brand equity i.e. perceived quality and brand loyalty. Meanwhile, all dimensions of brand equity namely perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness/association were found to have a significant influence on brand equity.