Branded Apps: Explaining the Effects of App Use on Brand Equity

The aim was to examine a) whether interacting (vs not interacting) with branded apps influences consumer’s cognitive and affective brand equity, (b) which type of branded app (i.e., informational vs. entertainment) is more effective in doing so, and c) to what extend engagement and elaboration explain these effects. An experiment demonstrated that 1) interacting with a branded app enhances affective brand equity, 2) an entertainment app evoked higher levels of engagement, which in turn enhanced affective brand equity, and 3) an informational app evoked higher levels of elaboration, enhancing cognitive brand equity.