Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings March 2016 1 Copyright of the Author(s) and published under a Creative Commons License Agreement http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ Measuring Consumer-Based University Brand Equity and Comparing the Brand Equity Dimensions by Student Demographics Tulay Girard Penn State Altoona Musa Pinar Valparaiso University Paul Trapp Valparaiso University ABSTRACT This paper aims to: (1) develop a measurement scale for the dimensions of university brand equity; (2) examine the influence of the core and supporting brand equity dimensions on overall brand equity; (3) examine which dimensions are important from the perspective of undergraduate students in building a strong university brand, and (4) examine whether differences in student perceptions of importance exist based on gender, living arrangement, and class standing. The study identified eight core and four supporting university brand equity dimensions based on data analyzed from 439 surveys. The results of PLS modeling indicated that eight core and four supporting brand equity dimensions had significant relationships, where they directly/indirectly influence brand loyalty. In addition, student perceptions of importance of some of the core and supporting factors also significantly differed depending on gender, living arrangement, and class standing. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Keywords: University Branding, Brand Equity, Higher Education, Demographics INTRODUCTION Operating in a highly competitive environment, higher education institutions have started to pay great attention to their branding efforts and brand management in order to create competitive advantage and differentiate themselves from other counterparts. As a core concept of strategic management, brand equity has become the focus of branding studies (Rosenbaum-Elliott et al., 2011). Administrators of universities and colleges have begun to realize that simple approaches to external branding efforts are not adequate strategies to build strong university brands. Although a small number of studies have focused on examining university branding (Black, 2008; Gray et al., 2003; Hemsley-Brown and Goonawardana, 2007; Jevons, 2006; Mazzarol, 1998; Ng and Forbes, 2009; Whisman, 2008), very few attempted to develop comprehensive measurements to examine consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) from the point of view of students (Pinar et al., 2011). The researchers of this study aim to fill this void by developing measurements of core and supporting dimensions of university CBBE, examining the effects of core and supporting dimensions on overall university brand equity, and examining the