Product attributes and brand equity in the mobile domain: The mediating role of customer experience

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Abstract

There are studies showing that utilitarian (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) and hedonic (entertainment and aesthetics) attributes of products are two fundamental resources that ensure brand equity in the mobile domain. However, few studies examine the attributes of products and how and why such resources influence mobile brand equity. In this study, a survey was carried out on 262 mobile users in Taiwan to examine the mediating effects of customer experience on the relationship between product attributes on mobile brand equity. Our findings suggest that utilitarian and hedonic attributes of products affect mobile brand equity through customer experience. In other words, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, entertainment, and aesthetics may not be intrinsic value; their value on mobile brand equity is realized through customer experience. However, whereas the effect of perceived ease of use on mobile brand equity is partially mediated, perceived usefulness, entertainment, and aesthetics are fully mediated by customer experience. By showing the differential effects of product attributes on mobile brand equity, this study provides a more refined understanding of the interplay among product attributes, customer experience, and mobile brand equity. The results suggest that by overlooking the mediating role of customer experience, previous research may have provided an overly optimistic view of the value of product attributes in mobile brand equity.

Highlights

► The value of utilitarian and hedonic attributes of products in mobile brand equity is realized through customer experience. ► The study suggests that by overlooking the mediating role of customer experience, previous research may have an overly optimistic view of product attributes in mobile brand equity. ► The study validates a model by combining utilitarian, hedonic construct, and customer experience in the mobile domain, thus providing a more refined understanding of the interplay among constructs.

Introduction

Mobile services, such as short messaging service, mobile data service, and contactless m-payment, have significant potential in serving customers in wireless environments. The rapid proliferation of mobile devices including mobile phones, web-enabled personal digital assistants, and other handheld computers is resulting in the growth of such items at an astonishing rate. In terms of mobile domain, consumers consider both hedonic and utilitarian product attributes.

The literature has established brand equity for the mobile domain. Mobile brand equity or m-brand equity is enhanced by two distinct, yet highly complementary, factors: product attributes (Chitturi et al., 2008, Dhar and Klaus, 2000, Kivetz and Itamar, 2002, Okada, 2005, Strahilevitz and John, 1998, Voss et al., 2003) and customer experience (Gentile et al., 2007, LaSalle and Britton, 2003, Shaw and Ivens, 2005). Product attributes refer to utilitarian (practical, functional) and hedonic (playful, joyful) benefits of products. Customer experience refers to the interaction with customers that ensures the derivation of utilitarian and hedonic value.

Although the contributions of previous studies are substantial, extant research is lacking in three aspects. First, the brand equity underscores the importance of several different attributes of products in brand equity, namely, entertainment and aesthetics, particularly in the mobile domain. There is, however, little insight into the relative importance of the different attributes of products as drivers of brand equity. This study makes contributions in highlighting entertainment and aesthetics of product attributes in mobile brand equity.

Second, previous studies have focused almost entirely on the effects of product attributes on brand equity. No detailed explanations are, however, offered as to how and why customer experience matters in these relationships. Yet it is often implicitly assumed that customer experience is a salient factor in transforming product attributes into brand equity. The current state of the literature is lacking and inconsistent because a key assumption is that it is not the product itself, but rather its interaction with customers, that drives brand equity. This study offers the empirical evidences of how and why customer experience mediates the relationship between product attributes and brand equity in the mobile domain.

Third, customer experience has traditionally been positioned as a moderator in the relationship between product attributes and brand equity. However, because product attributes may make communication difficult, interaction becomes a key factor that determines the nature of customer experience designs. This view implies that product attributes affect brand equity through their effects on the design of customer experience.

The extant research has paid little attention to these different perspectives of the role of customer experience. The moderating view suggests that product attributes are inherently valuable, so that customer experience determines the strength of their effect on brand equity. In contrast, the mediating view suggests that product attributes are not inherently valuable and that the product attributes could affect brand equity through their effects on customer experience. If the role of customer experience is that of a mediator rather than a moderator, we may need to reevaluate our stance toward the role of product attributes in brand equity. In examining the mediating view of customer experience, our findings also shed light on the level of importance researchers and managers need to place on the inherent value of product attributes.

Section snippets

Theoretical background, research model, and hypotheses

Fig. 1 presents our conceptual model. The model indicates that utilitarian and hedonic product attributes affect customer experience which in turn affects mobile brand equity.

Research method

In this study, a variance-based partial least squares (PLS) method was chosen over covariance-based methods such as LISREL, as it supports both exploratory and confirmatory research (Chwelos, Benbasat, & Dexter, 2001). PLS does not generate an overall goodness-of-fit index as LISREL, and so model validity is assessed by examining structural paths and R-square values (Fornell & Bookstein, 1982).

Direct effects

We test the direct effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, entertainment, and aesthetics on customer experience and mobile brand equity. As Table 4 (Model 1) shows, perceived usefulness (b = .145, p < .01), perceived ease of use (b = .148, p < .01), entertainment (b = .317, p < .001), and aesthetics (b = .440, p < .001) have positive and significant effects on customer experience. These results support H1(a), H1(b), H1(c) and H1(d). The aesthetics shows the largest coefficient in customer

Theoretical contributions

This study contributes to mobile brand equity in three main ways. First, the study shows that customer experience plays an important role in mobile brand equity by partially mediating the effect of perceived ease of use and by fully mediating the effects of perceived usefulness, entertainment, and aesthetics on mobile brand equity. In other words, four product attributes may not be intrinsically valuable; their value on mobile brand equity is realized through customer experience. This is an

Thompson S.H. Teo holds joint appointments at the National University of Singapore as an Associate Professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at the School of Business and in the Department of Information Systems at the School of Computing. His research interests include the strategic use of IT, e-commerce, adoption and diffusion of IT, strategic IT management and planning, offshoring and sustainability. He has published more than 100 papers in international refereed journals. He has

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    Thompson S.H. Teo holds joint appointments at the National University of Singapore as an Associate Professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at the School of Business and in the Department of Information Systems at the School of Computing. His research interests include the strategic use of IT, e-commerce, adoption and diffusion of IT, strategic IT management and planning, offshoring and sustainability. He has published more than 100 papers in international refereed journals. He has formerly served as Senior Associate Editor for the European Journal of Information Systems and is currently serving as the Regional Editor (Asia and Pacific) for the International Journal of Information Management. Thompson is also on the editorial boards of Communications of the AIS, and Omega. He has co-edited four books on IT and e-commerce, and is also a three-time winner of the SIM Paper Awards Competition.

    Margaret L. Sheng obtained her PhD degree from the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities. She currently holds a position at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business Administration at the School of Management. Before Joining the NTUST, she served as an Assistant Professor at the Hamline University in Minnesota, USA. Her research interests include global marketing, internet marketing, MNC's innovativeness, and knowledge management. Her papers have been published in Technovation, International Journal of Information Management, and Industrial Management & Data Systems.

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