A consumer-orientated framework of brand equity and loyalty

This paper criticises the ill-defined use of terms such as 'equity' and 'loyalty' in marketing, and suggests that there has been little success in reconciling different interpretations, despite the need for objective definitions in research. In identifying a distinction between those who define loyalty in terms of emotional affinity to brands and those who regard it in terms of purchasing behaviour, the author observes that each approach has generated its own research methodologies, but that these are unconnected. An outline description is given of a proprietary model for integrating various branding topics with the aim of successfully predicting purchasing behaviour.