Investigating brand equity of third-party service providers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to apply theory and techniques from the services and marketing literature to a supply-chain context consisting of a shipper or seller, a customer or buyer and a third-party logistics service provider (3PL) to investigate corporate brand equity resulting from service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty towards the 3PL. Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual model was developed from the literature and tested with Finnish industrial firms using an online survey. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling to examine relationships among the four constructs. Findings - Hypothesised relationships among the four constructs in the conceptual model were supported; however, the relationship between loyalty and corporate brand equity was weak. Research limitations/implications - This investigatory research is based on a one-country sample making transferability and generalisability to other countries difficult. Practical implications - The findings of this research should enable 3PL managers to determine those service offerings most important to shippers and customers, develop a service package using such offerings to satisfy their needs and thus build loyalty and corporate brand equity with both. Originality/value - This paper adds to our knowledge of these constructs in a supply-chain context, particularly for 3PLs, and provides an interdisciplinary approach to research in the supply-chain domain.