The impact of brand confusion on sustainable brand satisfaction and private label proneness: A subtle decay of brand equity

The escalating competition between firms, the surge in brand advertising and the fragmentation of the media epitomize the most recent transformations in the consumer environment. These transformations add to the challenge when brand managers attempt to clearly present their brand's core associations. Customers are often unintentionally given indistinct and inconsistent brand messages, resulting in brand confusion (BC). When brands confuse consumers, they develop a negative perception of the brand equity, and the brands become dysfunctional. This occurrence threatens brand strength and is therefore of major importance for marketing managers. Studies exploring BC describe it as comprising three dimensions (that is, brand similarity, brand clarity and brand credibility). This research is the first to include five important components and thus views BC more in its entirety. The two new key dimensions that we introduce are brand continuity and brand diversity. In addition to extending the explanation of BC, this study initially shows this construct's strong direct impact on sustainable brand satisfaction (SBS). Our findings reveal that BC affects SBS negatively, leading to a greater proneness to buy private label brands, thereby harming brand equity. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.