Abstract

The existing models of brand equity have some limitations in regarding that a brand's equity results from an one-way act of the marketing activities of a brand on consumer. However, consumers are not a mechanical being who accept marketing stimuli passively and respond without any interacting processes. Consumers have a strong tendency to identify, extend, and enhance their selves. And such a psychological mechanism interacts with brand's meaning system through consumption practice. This means that consumers actively interact with brands and we can't understand brand equity without understanding the interactivity of consumer and brand. We discuss psychological mechanisms involved in the interactive process and propose a complementary framework for brand equity management.