Assessing the consumer-based brand equity of news media firms: a new validated scale

ABSTRACT

This article provides a validated scale to measure one of the main competitive advantages of news media firms: consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). A survey of 1175 readers was undertaken. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyse the dimensions deployed in the latent CBBE construct, which was examined as a third-order factor composed of functional associations (basic utility and journalistic quality), experiential associations (tone and packaging), and symbolic associations (reliability, ideology, and identity). The construct validity for the CBBE measurement of various types of news media brands and theoretical implications for media branding are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• News media brands
• brand equity
• media management
• media firms
• journalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [CSO2015-64662-C4-1-R].

Notes on contributors

María Victoria-Mas

María Victoria-Mas is a PhD assistant professor in the Communication Department at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya and a visiting scholar at the Center for Media Engagement (The University of Texas at Austin). She teaches Communication Theory and Media Systems. She is member of “Communication, Media & Society”, a research group sponsored by the Catalan Government, and is part of the research project “News Preferences and Use within the New Media Scenario in Spain: Audiences, Companies, Contents and Multiplatform Reputation Management”, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Ivan Lacasa-Mas

Ivan Lacasa-Mas holds a PhD in communication from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and is an associate professor at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya and a visiting scholar at The University of Texas at Austin. He received a degree in philosophy from the University of Barcelona. He focuses on communication theory, journalism, media management and user engagement, as well as on the impact of technology on politics and culture. He is the lead researcher of “Communication, Media & Society”, a research group sponsored by the Catalan Government. He is a member of the Center for Media Engagement (CME) and collaborates with the Digital Media Research Project (DMRP) at the University of Texas at Austin. He is part of the research project “News Preferences and Use within the New Media Scenario in Spain: Audiences, Companies, Contents and Multiplatform Reputation Management”, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Frederic Marimon

Frederic Marimon has a PhD in business administration and is a tenured professor at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. He received a degree in industrial engineering from Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona and earned a master’s degree in business and administration from IESE in Barcelona. He focuses on operations management, mainly in quality, e-quality measurement, and service companies. His work has been published in international academic journals, primarily in the area of quality management. Some of his work analyses the diffusion phenomenon of management standards (e.g. ISO 9000, ISO 14000).