THE MEDIATING ROLE OF TRUST ON THE INFLUENCE OF PERCEIVED SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL IDENTITY ON BRAND EQUITY AMONG COSMETICS CUSTOMERS

Abstract

This study is concerned with the mediating effect of trust on the influence of perceived sustainability and social identity on brand equity among customers in southeast Nigeria. The study was based on a cross-sectional survey design; the population of the study comprise the students of tertiary institutions in the zone and a sample of 350 respondents drawn from tertiary institutions in the zone. Primary information was collected with questionnaire and the data collected were analysed with mediation analysis with the aid of JASP version 0.13.0.0 software. Analysis of the data here show that perceived sustainability has positive and significant effect with brand equity. The mediator variable, trust was incorporated into the analysis, the significant and positive effects were eliminated. The indirect effects were negative not significant. This means that the mediator variable completely wiped away the significance of the two IVs which implies full mediation. The findings from this study have implications for theory and practice.