The Influence of Brand Equity on Brand Loyalty toward Apple: The Mediating Role of Brand Tribe and the Moderating Role of Media Exposure
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Abstract
This study aims to examine the consistency of a causal model explaining the factors influencing brand loyalty in the technology product sector, where consumers today have a growing number of choices. The research investigates both the direct and indirect effects of brand equity on brand loyalty, with brand tribe serving as a mediating variable and media exposure as a moderating variable. Purposive sampling was employed to collect data from consumers aged 18 years and above who use Apple products in Thailand. A total of 600 respondents were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The measurement model analysis results revealed that all four latent variables-brand equity, brand tribe, media exposure, and brand loyalty-demonstrated acceptable reliability and convergent validity according to standard criteria.
The structural model analysis results showed that brand equity has a significant positive direct effect on brand loyalty (β = 0.655). Furthermore, brand tribe significantly functions as a mediating variable that transmits the influence of brand equity to brand loyalty. The study findings also revealed that media exposure serves as a moderating variable that enhances the positive relationship between brand equity and brand loyalty, with this relationship becoming stronger when consumers have higher levels of media exposure. The developed model yielded a coefficient of determination (R²) for brand loyalty of 0.843, indicating that all variables can explain 84.30 percent of the variance in brand loyalty. The findings confirm the significance of brand equity and the roles of brand tribe and media exposure in enhancing brand loyalty. The results provide valuable insights for marketers in developing strategies to foster brand loyalty in the technology product sector within the Thai consumer context, particularly through the effective use of media as a tool for reinforcing brand value.
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