Proceedings of 5th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
17 - 18 February, 2014, Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ISBN: 978-1-922069-44-3
The Moderating Effects of the Importance Perceptions by Two
Different Customers on the Transaction
Kosaku Morioka*, Kento Chiba**, Shota Haga**, Yuka Harigaya***, Iichiro
Kawashima**, Reina Sato**** and Yosuke Tanaka*
With the growth of e-commerce and global competition, research on B2B branding are on the
increase. However, little empirical research has been conducted about following two problems. Firstly,
which type of seller’s (supplier’s) brand equity is more important in industrial markets, product brand
equity (PBE) or corporate brand equity (CBE)? Secondly, focusing on the importance of customer
(assembler/end user), when do brand equities of the supplier influence on transactions in the B2B
markets. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to investigate the two questions above.
In order to accomplish this purpose, based on the industrial brand equity model proposed by Riel,
Mortanges, and Streukens (2005), Morioka, et al. (2012) hypothesize 8 causal relationships between
supplier’s branding activities and assembler’s loyalty to the supplier. In addition, we focus on the
importance perceived by assemblers (Mudambi, 2002) and the importance perceived by end users
(Choi and Kitajima, 2010). Based on their discussion, we hypothesize their mediating effects.
To test all hypotheses at once, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) with multiple group
analysis. For SEM we employed multiple scales from previous research and collected data by
sending the questionnaires to 1,341 assembler firms of consumer products in Oct. 3 to 19, 2012
(response rate was 7.82%).
The results of the SEM revealed three main points. Firstly, supplier’s marketing activities significantly
build its PBE and CBE. Secondly, the CBE has more positive effects on its loyalty to the supplier than
the PBE when the importance perceived by the assembler. Thirdly, in contrast, the PBE has a
stronger impact on the assembler’s loyalty to the supplier when the importance perceived by the end
users is high.
Name of the track: Marketing
________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Kosaku Morioka*, Department of Marketing and Distribution, Tokyo Keizai University, e-mail: morioka@tku.ac.jp
(Dr. Morioka as a corresponding author), Telephone (Fax) Number: +81-42-328-7898, 1-7-34, Minami-cho,
Proceedings of 5th Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference
17 - 18 February, 2014, Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ISBN: 978-1-922069-44-3
Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo 185-8502, Japan.
Mr. Kento Chiba**, Department of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan.
Mr. Shota Haga**, Department of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan.
Miss Yuka Harigaya***, Department of Economics, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan.
Mr. Iichiro Kawashima**, Department of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan.
Miss Reina Sato****, Department of International Economics, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan.
Mr. Yosuke Tanaka*, Department of Marketing and Distribution, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan.