Brand equity and firm performance: the complementary role of corporate social responsibility

Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of corporate brand equity on firm performance but have not yet investigated moderating effects on this relationship from other dimensions of firm strategy. This study puts forward a contingency model of the relationship between corporate brand equity and firm performance and investigates the moderating effect of one important contingency variable which is the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. It is tested on a panel dataset of 62 US firms/corporate brands. The results of this study corroborate previous evidence that corporate brand equity has a significant positive impact on market-based performance, measured by market share, as well as on financial performance, measured by Tobin’s q. In addition, the findings indicate that CSR plays a complementary role, positively moderating the relationship between corporate brand equity and firm performance. That is, there is a synergistic connection between brand equity and CSR which increases long-term value over and above the direct impact of corporate brand equity.