Despite the key role brand equity (BE) plays in product differentiation and brand decision-making, it has not been explored in depth, especially in terms of its influence it on key performance variables such as purchase intention (PI). With these ideas in mind, this research analyzes the influence of BE on PI in the smartphone market, seeking to determine whether this relationship is stronger for one gender or the other.
A sample of 185 university users in Spain was surveyed and analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling.
The results of this research show that BE has a positive and significant influence on PI. What is more, gender has a moderating effect on the BE–PI relationship, with the multigroup analysis evidencing that BE has a significantly greater effect on PI in women than in men. Furthermore, both men and women agree on the high shared variance between brand associations and the BE construct, as well as on the low contribution of brand awareness within the BE construct.
This study has served to increase the existing knowledge on whether the gender gap is a problem solved in the smartphone market.
These results suggest interesting management recommendations that smartphone companies should consider in the different international markets in which they operate. Among other things, it has been observed that, given the geographical context in which the work was conducted, it is important for smartphone companies to consider the role of BE as a key variable, especially given its undisputed influence on crucial performance variables such as PI. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to determine the influence of BE on IP in smartphone markets from a gender perspective, representing a significant contribution from both an academic and a practitioner perspective.
