Brand Image of MBA Business Schools in South Africa as driver of customer-based brand equity

Abstract

Brand image has long been recognised by marketers and brand researchers alike as an important concept in marketing. Brand image as defined by Keller (1993), is complex and consists of perceptions about a brand as reflected in memory by the brand associations held in consumer memory. These brand associations are the other informational nodes linked to the brand in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for consumers. Brand image in turn will impact on customer-based brand equity which Keller (1993) defmes as the differential effect that overall brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing effort of a brand. This study investigates the importance and relevance of brand image and its impact on customer-based brand equity in a high-involvement purchase, using the MBA market as the field of study. Based on the findings of the research conducted by Markinor (2001) regarding the perceptions of business schools by MBA graduates in South Africa, the writer developed an Integrated Brand Management Model which will serve as a conceptual framework for managing the "brand gap", defined as the gap that exists between brand identity (as proposed by the organisation), and brand image (as perceived by the consumer). Furthermore, the model illustrates the dimensions of brand identity that need to be managed on an ongoing basis by brand managers to ensure the success of a brand, and the resultant impact that this management process will have on the various dimensions of brand equity.