Brand equity's antecedent/consequence relationships in cross‐cultural settings

Purpose This paper aims to test whether an antecedent/consequence brand equity model developed with Americans holds up with Chinese, and to examine whether brand equity's functional (utilitarian) and experiential (emotive) facets have (dis)similar significance in a cross‐cultural setting. Design/methodology/approach The survey was administered to US and Chinese samples, with data analyzed using structural equation modeling to test hypotheses developed from literatures. Findings The study found evidence that the model does hold up in a cross‐cultural setting, and that some of brand equity's functional and experiential antecedents and components have dissimilar significance with the two sample groups. Research limitations/implications Only one brand was employed; the survey was completed with volunteer US and Chinese university students vs a broader range of age groups; and the dissimilar nuances of the English and Chinese languages may lead to divergent understandings of the measures. Practicable implications The study provides a foundation for future cross‐cultural brand equity research and sheds empirical insight that, contrary to social sciences literatures' suggestions, the similar significance of brand equity and its antecedents are such that firms may benefit from employing standardized marketing strategies in cross‐cultural settings. Originality/value The study is a benchmark comparative cross‐cultural brand equity study with the vastly disparate US and Chinese consumers.