The Antecedent and Consequences of Brand Image in a Low-Priced Cosmetic Brand of South Korea: The Moderating Effect of Gender

Abstract

We performed a study to investigate the influence that brand image has on customer loyalty of a low-priced cosmetic brand through perceived value and customer satisfaction, as well as to examine the moderating role of gender. Appropriate measures were developed based on previous studies and tested on 234 consumers of Gyeongnam province in South Korea with a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The results of the empirical analysis showed that perceived value positively affects brand image and customer satisfaction. Brand image positively influences customer loyalty but does not influence customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer loyalty. The moderating effects of gender between perceived value and brand image and customer satisfaction, brand image and customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are not significant at the level of 0.05. However, there are some differences of the perceptions for perceived value, brand image, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty between male and female. It is identified that the subtle differences can be used as a demographic segmentation. Thus, marketers should focus on brand image to enhance customer loyalty through perceived value and customer satisfaction based on gender differentiation.