IJSDIS: ISSN 2078-192X Volume 5 Issue 2 March 2014 8 Int. J. Soc. Dev. Inf. Syst. 5(2): 08-16, March 2014 An online Journal of “G-Science Implementation and Publication” website: www.gurpukur.com or www.gscience.net MEASURING THE IMPACT OF THE DIMENSIONS OF BRAND CREDIBILITY ON THE DIMENSIONS OF OVERALL BRAND EQUITY OF GRAMEEN PHONE M. F. ISLAM 1 , M. M. RAHMAN 2* and M. A. HOSSAIN 3 ABSTRACT The study was conducted at the Faculty of Business Studies, Hajee Mohammad Denesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh October-December, 2013. The study is an endeavour to investigate customers’ point of view about the impact of the dimensions of brand credibility on the dimensions of overall brand equity. The purpose of the study is to examine the association between brand credibility dimensions (trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness) and dimensions of overall brand equity (brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand awareness) of existing customers of Grameen Phone in Bangladesh. A self administered questionnaire was employed to collect data from respondents by method of non-probability judgmental sampling. Some statistical tools like Bivariate regression analysis (BRA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to get the ultimate output with the help of SPSS. Results of statistical analysis revealed that brand credibility has statistically significant and positive association with overall brand equity. So company should focus on brand credibility and establish long lasting credibility to sustain and strengthen the current branding position in the fierce competitive market. Keywords: Brand credibility, Brand loyalty, Brand awareness, Perceived quality, Trustworthiness, Expertise and Attractiveness. INTRODUCTION Brand is what resides in the minds of customers. Products are made in factory, but brands are created in mind. Brand is nothing but it is the process of identifying or distinguishing the goods or services of one producer from those of another. A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. The key to a brand is that a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbols for a new product. Sometime a brand as more than as something that has actually created a certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence and so on in the marketplace. Brand equity refers to the set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand. It is easy to say that competitive advantages from brand can be gained by two parties. Brand equity is nothing but it is the process of sacrifice extra amount of money for any choice able brand which includes perceive quality, market perceive quality, brand awareness, channel relationship, and trademark. Brand equity can be classified into two ways: consumer based brand equity and firm based brand equity. Plummer (1985) asserts that one component of brand image is the personality or character of the brand itself. Today mobile phone markets are one of the most turbulent market environments due to increased competition and change (Karjaluoto et al., 2005). Wilska (2003) further argues that the younger the consumer, the more hedonistic features he or she tends to value in mobile phones. A diverse study investigated the effect of brand credibility on overall brand equity. Brand credibility increases consumer utility (Erdem et al., 2006), brand credibility is positively associated with emotions and reasons in consumer decision making. Prior research had investigated that source credibility impact attitude of consumers towards the source. It is seemed that brand credibility has positive impact on consumer purchase intentions. The extent to what entity is considered reliable or honest source of information is trustworthiness. It is highly associated to with attitude. Trust in brand can be defined as security which is felt by consumer in transactions which is based on understanding and perception and reliability of brand so that it can satisfy the interests and welfare of consumers. It is a factor which differentiates between relations and transactions. Each type of individual relation is based on trust, whether it is formed among individuals or it is formed between 1 Md. Farijul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Marketing, Hajee Mohammad Denesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Email: farijulmkthstu@gmail.com, 2 Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Lecturer, Department of Management, Hajee Mohammad Denesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur and 3 Md. Alamgir Hossain, Lecturer, Department of Management, Hajee Mohammad Denesh Science and Technology University Dinajpur, Bangladesh, Email: shamimru@gmail.com. *Corresponding authors Email: mostafiz7241@yahoo.com