The influence of social media and brand equity on business-to-business marketing

Abstract

Purpose: Brand equity (BE) can be strengthened by the strategic association of brand heritage (BH) with social media (SM) in business-to-business (B2B) markets. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research using cognitive maps. Findings: BH empowers BE and should be explored within B2B communications. Research limitations/implications: Brand image and other BH dimensions should be measured in next studies. Practical implications: BH strongly influences SM, especially the fan loyalty, and impacts BE in all dimensions. Social implications: Research shows marketing mix impacted, BE reinforcement and willingness to pay a premium price. Originality/value: Interaction between BH, SM and BE in B2B has not been evaluated yet.