Abstract
Understanding service branding from the customer perspective is helpful for various organizations to attain a competitive edge and build a strong customer base. This research work aims to evaluate the various dimensions and constructs that affect brand equity and user's willingness to undertake courses from various e-Learning providers. Data for the quantitative study was obtained using a questionnaire based survey. Analysis of the 378 responses reveals that consumer experience is a strong predictor of both brand meaning and customer satisfaction. Although brand meaning positively impacts brand equity, brand awareness demonstrates a negative effect on brand equity. However, brand equity and customer satisfaction have a significant and positive impact on intention to undertake courses from online learning platforms. The study concludes with discussion on different implications, shortcomings, and directions for future research.
1. Introduction
In this modern era, technological innovations play an important role in shaping individuals’ careers (Fernandes et al., 2020; Vivian et al., 2014). The increasing popularity of online learning services (or e-learning services) has seen a rise in the number of online courses and even online degrees. The available massive open online courses (MOOC) have helped students or professionals in their career growth (von Schmieden et al., 2019). However, to choose the better course rather than a mediocre course (Ray et al., 2019a) from over 9400 available courses (Shah, 2018) is a confusing task and the students or professionals generally opt for courses from organizations which have a better brand image. Branding helps service providers compete on features other than pricing (Bailey and Ball, 2006). In this era of dynamic marketing and constant competition, for developing an emotional bonding with the users’, it is essential to develop a strong brand image (Buil et al., 2013; Gonzalez-Mansilla ´ et al., 2019). However, there is a paucity of research for assessing the factors that affect brand equity and user’s willingness to undertake courses from eLearning platforms.
7. Conclusion
To stay ahead of the competitors and build a strong customer base, it is crucial for service providers to look into various marketing and strategic activities that can improve their brand equity and keep their customers satisfied. For exploring the important predictors or brand equity and user’s willingness to use e-Learning platforms, this empirical based study has utilized a questionnaire-based survey. The quantitative analysis of the 378 responses using confirmatory factor analysis reveals that consumer experience is a significant predictor of both brand meaning and customer satisfaction. Results of the analysis show that user’s experience with the provider is an important predictor of both brand meaning and customer satisfaction. We also find brand meaning to be the more vital predictor of brand equity which in turn affects customer’s intention to take up online courses.
