CONSUMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY: DO BRAND RELATIONSHIPS MATTER?

This paper explores the concept of consumer-based brand equity and its relevance in today's environment. In doing so, we extend the previously used dimensions of brand awareness, image, perceived quality, and loyalty to include the dimension of brand relationship. By conducting an empirical study with brand users in Slovenia, we confirm that brand relationships play a role in brand equity studies and should be considered in further research. Consequently, we argue that brand equity should be theoretically treated as a dynamic concept, where the static evaluation of the consumer's role is extended to include dynamic co-creation. A practical implication of our findings is that brand managers need to take a more proactive role in forming brand equity and its evaluation.