The Effects of Sustainable Practices on Customer-Based Brand Equity
van de Voorde, Franciscus (2017)
van de Voorde, Franciscus
Kaakkois-Suomen ammattikorkeakoulu
2017
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201704255300
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201704255300
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this research was to investigate the relation between sustainable practices throughout the supply chain and the value of a brand from a consumer’s point of view. Previous research in this area focused mainly on the connection between green trust, green brand image and green brand equity and were limited of scope.
This research was a survey questionnaire conducted in Finland and the unit of analysis was the sports apparel consumer. The survey was spread on Finnish discussion forums to reach a broad audience and obtain a representative sample. Likewise, the research method was similar to other studies focusing on brand equity. Moreover, the brand equity part of the survey was designed based on previous research done in the field, and consumer bias towards sportswear brands was eliminated because an abstract brand was used.
The main contribution of this study was a new insight in various sustainable practices and how they relate to the value of a brand. Moreover, this research showed that, for consumers with high sustainability concern, sustainable procurement, sustainable production and reverse logis-tics led to increased levels of brand equity of a sustainable brand. For males, sustainable pack-aging is also positively related with brand equity. Additionally, this study showed that the green market is growing as the green consumer is no longer just a middle-aged female, who has an above average income and education.
This study also filled a gap in the literature because previously no study exploring the relation between sustainable practices and brand equity had been conducted. Moreover, studies in the past assumed that a positive relation existed between sustainable practices and brand image but this relation was never studied in detail until now.
This research was a survey questionnaire conducted in Finland and the unit of analysis was the sports apparel consumer. The survey was spread on Finnish discussion forums to reach a broad audience and obtain a representative sample. Likewise, the research method was similar to other studies focusing on brand equity. Moreover, the brand equity part of the survey was designed based on previous research done in the field, and consumer bias towards sportswear brands was eliminated because an abstract brand was used.
The main contribution of this study was a new insight in various sustainable practices and how they relate to the value of a brand. Moreover, this research showed that, for consumers with high sustainability concern, sustainable procurement, sustainable production and reverse logis-tics led to increased levels of brand equity of a sustainable brand. For males, sustainable pack-aging is also positively related with brand equity. Additionally, this study showed that the green market is growing as the green consumer is no longer just a middle-aged female, who has an above average income and education.
This study also filled a gap in the literature because previously no study exploring the relation between sustainable practices and brand equity had been conducted. Moreover, studies in the past assumed that a positive relation existed between sustainable practices and brand image but this relation was never studied in detail until now.