Brand innovativeness and brand equity: the mediating role of brand attitude and the moderating role of perceived brand ethicality

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between brand innovativeness, brand attitude and brand equity within the service industry. Despite the prior literature’s acknowledgement of the importance of brand innovativeness, the previous studies on its impact on brand equity have yielded inconsistent results. This study also explores the moderating effect of perceived brand ethicality on the relationship between brand innovativeness, brand attitude and brand equity. Design/methodology/approach This study collected the self-administered survey data of 402 respondents in the Chinese retail banking sector and employed a moderated mediation analysis to examine the research hypotheses. Findings Brand innovativeness positively influences brand equity, and brand attitude mediates the effect. Perceived brand ethicality strengthens the positive association between brand innovativeness and brand equity. Originality/value This study contributes to the extant brand literature by demonstrating how the positive impact of brand innovativeness transcends brand evaluation to impact overall brand equity; it also reveals the mechanism through which brand innovativeness affects brand equity. The findings advance the under-researched issue of whether consumer perceptions of a brand’s ethical conduct affect the efficacy of brand innovativeness in brand equity.