Structural Analysis of Port Brand Equity Using Structural Equation Modeling1

Port competition, especially in the Northeast Asia (NEA) region, can be described as a price war. In this price competition, it is necessary to build up the brand concept to acquire higher market share. This paper aims to provide structural relationships for port brand equity (PBE) and explore the PBE stages statistically. The stages are divided into three steps: port service quality as the precedent of PBE, the PBE dimensions (brand awareness [BA] and brand loyalty [BL]), and the antecedent of PBE (overall value of brand equity [OVBE]). From a survey conducted with port users in Korea, the empirical results revealed several significant relationship: between tangibles (TA) dimension of port service quality and BL, between the empathy (EMP) dimension of port service quality and both BA and BL, and between BA and BL and OVBE. From the empirical analysis, this study suggests both managerial and academic contributions for port managers and scholars for further policy development and research in this important area.