Does the importance of value, brand and relationship equity for customer loyalty differ between Eastern and Western cultures?

• We test whether the importance of customer equity drivers (value, brand and relationship equity) varies between Eastern and Western cultures.
• The positive effect of value equity on loyalty intentions is stronger in Western cultures than in Eastern cultures.
• Relationship equity and brand equity also play a greater role in Western cultures than in Eastern cultures.
• Eastern consumers in general have higher loyalty intentions than Western consumers.

The use of the customer equity framework as a focal marketing strategy to increase customer loyalty has emerged as an important topic. Despite a growing number of investigations, previous studies are limited by their strong U.S. and European orientations. Research into Western consumers cannot necessarily predict the behaviour of Eastern consumers though. Therefore, this study investigates whether the link between customer equity drivers (value equity, brand equity and relationship equity) and loyalty intentions is sensitive to the cultural environment. A sample of 1553 Chinese and 1085 Dutch consumers in the banking and supermarket industries reveals that all three customer equity drivers exert a greater impact in Western than in Eastern cultures. This study also shows that Eastern consumers in general have higher loyalty intentions than Western consumers.