Abstract:
A review of the literature reveals that companies‟ brands and their management have dominated the marketing of goods and services to consumers but the idea of measuring brand equity has been slow to take hold in business to business (B2B) marketing. On-going relationships between businesses and their industrial customers are receiving renewed interest in marketing and the building of strong customer relationships has been suggested as means of gaining a competitive advantage particularly for service businesses. The importance of benefits recieved through relationships indicates that customer value is not linked to the the product or service received, but is also derived from the benefits recieved from relationships with the organisation. The study seeks to determine the importance relationships have on the brand equity of organisations that operate in a B2B services environment. This is achieved by focusing on the drivers of brand equity in a B2B services environment, consisting of price, product quality, service quality and relationship benefits.The findings offer important insightas to the drivers of brand equity in the B2B services industry. The results indicate that the benefits a buying organisation receives from having a relationship with the organisation providing the service is significant to improving itsbrand equity . The other drivers that significantly influence the brand equity of the orgnsiations providing the service is the quality of the product or service it provides followed by the price.The research involved a two phase approach. Phase one involved face-to-face interviews with five Learning and development professionals from various industries in South Africa, namely Financial Services, Manufacturing, Telecommunications and Retail sectors. The data gathered from the interviews, together with the reviewed literature was used to develop an instrument that was used to measure the importance relationship benefits have on brand equity in the B2B services environment . One hundred and twenty one questionairres were processed. The data was subjected to inferential and multivariate statisical analysis.This research provides both an academic contribution to the relationship marketing field as well as a practical implication for marketing managers within B2B service organisations. The main contribution for academic purposes involves confirmation from hypothesised relationships. This research is of specific value to managers who are responsible for increasing brand equity within their organisations. With a more dedicated focus on improving the benefits the buying organisation receives from the organisation providing the service will allow managers to improve their brand equity.
