The Mediating Effects of Customer Equity Drivers on the Relationship between Perceived Brand Innovativeness and Customer Engagement

Abstract

Many researches have emphasized on the strategic outcomes of firms’ innovativeness and the importance of the association between innovativeness of firms, external environmental factors, and organizational performance. However, in the literature less stress was put on the branding theory level and the ways brand innovativeness may reinforce the company’s marketing capabilities and performance specifically the customer relationship management capabilities. In an attempt to address this research gap, this paper investigates how brand innovativeness (especially product innovativeness) affects the customer equity drivers brand equity and relationship equity and how these relationships may contribute to generating drivers of Customer Engagement. Using regression analysis and mediation analysis with AMOS, we found that there is a positive relationship between perceived brand innovativeness and customer engagement willingness and relationship equity acts as a significant mediator in that relationship. The present paper fills a knowledge gap in the customer engagement literature and deepens our understanding of the relationship between perceived brand innovativeness and customer engagement willingness by empirically examining and determining the role of two customer equity drivers as intervening variables: customer-based brand equity and relationship equity.

Keywords: brand innovativeness, brand equity, relationship equity, customer engagement