Digital brand equity: The concept, antecedents, measurement, and future development

• Tools and metrics for brand equity are proving inadequate in the rapidly evolving digital era. • The study proposes a novel approach to Digital Brand Equity metrics. • These metrics should not be based solely on social media and current digital indicators. • New metrics should incorporate the share of search, digital brand awareness, and digital brand sentiment constructs. • The study develops a Digital Brand Equity research agenda and underscores the critical research and policy questions. Measuring brand equity is of vital importance to marketing practitioners and scholars. Academics and practitioners have developed a range of tools and metrics for measuring brand equity, but in the fast-paced and transformational digital era, it may be that current metrics are not sufficient. The authors develop a conceptual understanding of the brand equity paradigm using practitioner and scholarly views. A practitioner-focused analysis is given on how companies can best understand and measure brand performance in a digital environment and take actionable insights, using the share of search, digital brand awareness, and digital brand sentiment constructs. The authors argue that digital brand equity metrics cannot be based only on social media and current digital metrics indicators but also must include a human side of the brand and the technology-consumer nuances. The study proposes a research agenda and highlights important research and policy questions in developing digital brand equity.