Aaker (1991) defined brand equity as the set of assets of awareness, positive associations, and loyalty that are linked to the brand and can add (or subtract) from the value of the product to the customer. The brand equity equation mirrors the circular nature of the feedback loop specified by the Conceptual Framework for Assessing Brand Equity in Division I College Athletics developed by Gladden, Milne, and Sutton (1998). That is, in a given year the brand equity of an athletic program would be the cumulative product of the antecedents of equity in that year, as well as the brand equity and consequences from the previous year. Thus, the brand equity characteristics of brand awareness, loyalty, associations, and perceived quality are impacted by any of the antecedents: team- (head coach or star player), organization- (school reputation or conference affiliation) and market-related (geographic or competitive forces). This brand equity affects consequences of media exposure, merchandise, and ticket sales, which then are reflected by the marketplace perception, equating to generated revenue. This circular feedback loop then continues on a yearly basis. The purpose of this investigation was to determine which, if any, brand equity antecedent(s) significantly impacted an intercollegiate athletic organization from one season to the completion. No other investigations have implemented brand equity in such a manner.
Paired t-tests were implemented to determine if differences existed between any of the team-, university-, or market-related antecedents and consequences (media exposure, merchandise sales, donations, and ticket sales) from the 2000-2001 to the 2001-2002 men's basketball seasons on brand equity. The researchers found significant differences existed only between the team-related antecedent of head coach and the consequences of regional and national media exposure as well as ticket, merchandise, and personal seating licensing sales (p<. 01) from one season to the next.
According to the results of the study, hiring a celebrated coach is the most significant of all of the antecedents to increase of the brand equity of an organization in a short amount of time. As several reports have indicated, some athletic programs have operated at a deficit on an annual basis (Bergnato, 1997; Lords, 1999; and Suggs, 1999), an athletic director may determine that their team is not receiving enough exposure in the mind of the national consumer. This decision may significantly change their hiring practices in an attempt to quickly increase the brand equity of the athletic organization and associated university.