Examining the relationship between bank brand image and brand equity: An application in Kayseri province

Today, a strong brand is one of the most important assets of any business aiming at sustainable growth under international integration and challenging competition. Along with technological developments, changes in the banking sector related to products and services have accelerated the competitive environment. The importance of brand image, brand equity and brand equity in terms of perceived quality, brand connotations, brand awareness and brand loyalty has started to be understood in the evaluation of brands for products and services offered by enterprises. The aim of this study is to determine the relationships between the demographic characteristics of the consumers who benefit from banking services and the brand equity of the banks they prefer, the sub-dimensions of the equity and the brand image and also to determine the differences between the demographic variables. For this purpose, 387 questionnaires were applied to consumers residing in Kayseri and scale reliability was calculated. In the scope of the research, data analysis was done by using SPSS 22 package program with the help of descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation and Kruskal Wallis analysis. According to the results of the analyzes, the relationships between brand loyalty and educational status, age and bank usage period and the relationships between the usage period and perceived quality, brand equivalence and brand connotations were determined. There were also relations between brand image and brand associations, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand equity. When the age groups are examined, it is seen that the brand awareness is higher in the participants aged 50 and over and individuals with postgraduate education have higher brand associations than high school and equivalent students. Furthermore, it is understood that the number of brand call, perceived quality and brand balances were higher than those with 1 year or less in the banks with a usage period of 15 years or more. As a result, enterprises need to increase their customer potential by evaluating the customers according to their demographic characteristics and increasing their image by considering the dimensions of brand equity together. Establishing solutions to improve and develop brand equity dimensions and brand image should be identified as an important brand strategy for banks. Key Words: Brand equity • Brand image • Demographic variables • Banks • Brand equity dimensions