Brand equity

Today, using counterfeits is remarkably common in clothing industry. On this basis, present paper is conducted in clothing industry at Tehran due to the impact of counterfeit on brand equity of original products’. It is a descriptive research. To achieve research aims, a sample consisting of 384 consumers in Tehran who bought counterfeits deliberately were selected. To analyze data and to test hypotheses, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) as well as LISREL and SPSS software packages were used. By studying existing literature, six variable including personal gratification, value averseness, price-quality perception, ethical issues, subjective norm and perceived risk were considered as affecting factors on customers’ attitude on counterfeits. To measure brand equity, four aspects of Aaker’s aspects (perceived quality, brand consciousness, brand association and brand loyalty) were used. Research findings indicate that personal gratification, value averseness, price–quality perception and perceived risk have a significant impact on attitudes towards counterfeits. Likewise, the impact of counterfeits on Brand Equity of Original products is also significant.

Purpose: Nowadays personal branding is considered a very important issue for specialists like the university professors, as one of the important classes of experts in the society, and the success criteria of personal branding activities is their perceived brand equity by the students. The purpose of present study is to investigate the effective factors involved in personal brand equity of university professors. Methodology: This is an applied study in terms of purpose and it is a survey-analytical study in terms of method. The statistical population consists of the students at Azad University Central Tehran Branch in Iran, Faculty of Management and the data were collected from 275 students using probability convenience sampling method. Structural equation modeling and SMART PLC has been used to test the hypotheses. Findings: The results show that competence of professors, the students' awareness of them and the instruction perceived quality by the students affect the professor brand equity through affecting the extent of attachment between the students and professors and the effect on the communicative variables such as commitment, trust and loyalty. Discussion: Today being good in what we are doing as an expert doesn’t pay off enough and we can’t expect others to know our competencies and respect that while we are not communicating those thing properly through personal branding. Findings show that university professors must take a good care of their awareness, competencies and perceived instructional qualities which all let them have higher brand equity through communicative variables and benefit a lot from that.

As viral marketing as a factor influencing customer behavior is a new tool that encourages people to comment on companies' products or services online and brand promotion is also one of the most important strategic growth strategies for companies, always at the center of attention so The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of viral marketing on behavioral intentions considering brand equity as a mediating variable; this study was conducted in two parts durable and nondurable goods. Confirmatory factor analysis test (LISREL) and Cronbach alpha were used to assess the validity of the questionnaire. Results showed the validity and reliability of the questionnaires. The results of the LISREL structural equation show that brand equity is viewed as a mediator in the relationship between viral marketing and behavioral intentions. On the other hand, viral marketing has a positive influence on word of mouth marketing and intention to buy and a negative influence on brand change. It turns out that the most influential marketers in the lives of consumers are those who are known and trusted by their consumers. Nowadays consumers usually suffer from a massive influx of information and go through expensive advertising so people decide through word of mouth marketing for shopping. There should also be a major investment in brand building, investing in brand’s special value contributes to brand reputation among customers as well as non-customers.

The core capital of many businesses is their brand. Today companies not only use the brand to differentiate themselves from competitors in the market, but also use the brand to reach the minds and hearts of customers and create a special emotional relationship with them. In this study, due to the great differences between consumer markets and industrial markets, the factors affecting in industrial brand equity have been investigated. The statistical population includes all companies producing composite products and unsaturated polyester resins and vinyl esters in Iran. Due to the limitations of competitive industrial markets, the Convenience sampling method has been used and to test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling based on the partial least squares method has been used. Research findings have shown that Consumers’ understanding of brand characteristics, Consumers’ brand evaluation, Consumers’ affective towards the brand and customer behavior towards the brand have a positive and significant effect on the brand equity. Also, brand awareness and brand association have a positive and significant effect on Consumers’ understanding of brand characteristics. Reputation, leadership, quality and distinction or uniqueness of the brand has a positive and significant effect on customers' evaluation of the brand. Brand satisfaction, brand commitment, brand trust and brand identity have a positive and significant effect on consumers’ affective towards the brand. Finally, willing to pay a price premium, Word – of – mouth (WOM) recommendation, brand usage and Acceptance of brand extensions has a positive and significant effect on customer behavior towards the brand.

The aim of the current research is to investigate the effect of brand coolness and brand friendliness on the special value of Esteghlal Sports Club brand with the mediating role of brand love. The research method is descriptive-correlational in nature, and in terms of purpose, it is classified as applied research. The statistical population of this research is the fans of Esteghlal Sports Club, so the population is considered unlimited, and based on Cochran's formula, 384 people were selected as the sample size. A 42-question questionnaire was used to collect information. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the relevant professors and the construct validity was confirmed by using factor analysis of structural equations and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha of 0.84 for the entire questionnaire. Also, the method of data collection is available. The collected data were analyzed based on structural equation modeling with AMOS26 software. The results showed that, in general, the coolness of the brand and the popularity of the brand had an effect on the special value of the brand with the mediating role of brand love from the point of view of Esteghlal club fans. Therefore, by creating a sense of comfort and coolness in the fans and favoring the brand, it creates the basis of love and good feeling towards the club's brand, products and services, and these factors increase the special value of the club's brand.

The main challenging issues for e-commerce operators are building trust in customers to make purchases and gaining a suitable position in the minds of consumers to repeat purchases. Therefore, this research aims to identify the effective factors of word of oral electronic marketing on brand equity. For this purpose, the researcher tried to use the grounded qualitative research method (Glaserian grounded theory) and, with the help of MAXQDA software, to identify and present the dimensions, components, and indicators of oral electronic marketing effective on "brand equity" from the analysis of theoretical bases, upstream documents, and interviews with experts. This research is in the category of applied-developmental research, and in terms of method, strategy, and nature, it is part of exploratory qualitative research, whose philosophy is based on the interpretative-constructive paradigm. It has a single time horizon, collects data from both documentary and field methods, and its tool is recording in the documentary (library) section and interviews in the field section. The statistical population of this research is experts in the fields of human resources management, marketing, and branding; managers and vice-presidents; and employees of e-commerce companies. Based on research findings, oral electronic marketing has two dimensions: technical and technological factors and individual factors, and the dimension of technical and technological factors includes the components of electronic marketing tools and situational features, message features, and the dimension of human factors includes the components of individual factors and interpersonal factors. The special value of the brand also has two dimensions of consumer perception and consumer behavior. The dimension of consumer perception includes the components of brand association, perceived quality, and brand awareness, and the dimension of consumer behavior includes the components of brand loyalty, customer relationships, and brand consistency.