Alumni Attitudes Toward a Student-Produced Magazine: A Look at Brand Equity

Abstract

Every organization and product represents a brand in the eyes of the consumers. Brands are existent only in the minds of consumers. Consumer perceptions of brands influence an organization and how they perform. Brand equity is an aspect of branding that can be measured to determine a consumer's perception of a brand. You must go directly to the consumer to assess perceptions of brand equity. This study looks at the attitudes of alumni member toward a student-produced publication and aspects of its brand equity; specifically, brand awareness, brand association, perceived value and quality. This study also looks at alumni use of the publication and their self-reported demographics. This study consists of 432 Oklahoma State University College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources alumni. Attitudes toward the brand equity of the student-publication were found to be positive, revealing overall positive brand equity in the minds of respondents. Respondents reported using a printed copy of the publication and reading the many of the articles before throwing the publication away. The average respondent was a 48-year-old, white male who lives in Oklahoma and graduated with a bachelor's degree in animal science/animal husbandry from OSU. The average respondent currently has a career related to agriculture and natural resources.