A Conceptual Study of the Formation of Online Brand Equity : The Role of Online Brand Trust

Objective – Changing environment in the business world is affecting business and the advent of the Internet has also had an enduring effect in the way companies do business. In ensuring the continued survival of a company it becomes imperative that a company develop a loyal customer base. The purpose of this paper thus, is to examine the importance of online brand trust towards the formation of brand equity on top of the factors used by Aaker in Brand Equity’s Model. Methodology/Technique – The research reviews previous literature. Findings – By referring to the differences between online and offline environment, the researchers cannot deny the important of brand trust in the formation of brand equity especially in the cyberspace. Online brand trust had become one of the symbols for the consumer to value and evaluates the website and the product offered in the cyberspace. With a good online brand trust, the marketers can easily influence the consumer to purchase online and even purchase from a specific company website. Novelty – Hence, with the reference from Aaker (1991) brand equity model, online brand trust should be treated as an additional dimension in the formation of online brand equity in the cyberspace. With this, online brand equity should form by using: online brand association, online brand loyalty, and online brand trust. Type of Paper: Review