Sustainable apparel brand building in emerging economies: the role of green brand personality in building equity and loyalty

The apparel industry is determined to preserve the decreasing brand value and to maintain the customer interest through green practices because the consumers are increasingly committed to environment-friendly brands in the developed world economies. However this trend is relatively new for the consumers in the developing world. To address this void, this study enlights the determinants of Green Consumer-Based Brand Equity (GCBBE) in Pakistan. Drawing upon the theory of brand equity, this research investigates the relative effects of various dimensions of Green Brand Personality (GBP) such as GBP-Eco-friendly (GBPE), GBP Innovative (GBPI) and GBP Socially Responsible (GBPSR) on two dimensions of GCBBE i.e. GCBBE-Emotions (GCBBEE) and GCBBE-loyalty (GCBBEL), using PLS-SEM methodology for the self-administered questionnaire data from 210 green apparel brands’ consumers. Results demonstrate that GBPI and GBPSR significantly influence both GCBBEE and GCBBEL as compared to GBPE and age strengthens the impact of GBPE and GBPI on GCBBEE but weakens the relationship between GBPE and GCBBEL unfolding interesting implications. Unlike the single dimensional construct of GBP, this research confirms the nuanced variations among the different dimensions of GBP; emphasizing the marketers to keenly focus GBPI, GBPSR and GBPE for their corresponding branding strategies.