Purpose: – The study aims to explore the buildup of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) from positive derived experiences. Rewarding experiences with products make a user feel good about their decision to buy and use them. Those feelings get accrued as strong consumer–brand relationship, measured comprehensively by CBBE in marketing literature.Design/methodology/approach: – The study is conducted in two phases – exploratory and validation. The exploratory phase involved conceiving a theoretical framework from in-depth literature review. The framework is then validated through a survey-based empirical phase. Smartphones form the context of the work.Findings: – The three consumption values used in the study are usability, social value and pleasure in use. Brand equity has been conceptualized and measured as brand association, perceived value, brand trust and brand loyalty. The moderating role of user expertise, as well as lifestyle, was also tested on pleasure derived. Most of the hypothesized relationships between different constructs of experience and brand equity were found significant. Significant evidence for hierarchical formation of brand equity was also established.Research limitations/implications: – Lack of evidence of moderation of lifestyle may be ascribed to the validity of the scale used to measure it in the current context and needs to be updated. The study contributes by conceiving experience as a multidimensional framework based on Holbrook’s typology, besides validating its relationship to CBBE. Hierarchical formation of brand equity is also a novel contribution.Practical implications: – This study provides an indicative guide to marketers with design cues that can provide relevant consumption values in the quest for a positive brand impression. It also provides directions for segmenting the smartphone market based on user expertise for better branding.Originality/value: – The study is innovative by relating experience, conceptualized with Holbrook’s framework and CBBE – something yet to be seen in the literature.

Purpose: This study aims to conceptualize the relationship of perceived artificial intelligence (AI) credibility with consumer-AI experiences. With the widespread deployment of AI in marketing and services, consumer-AI experiences are common and an emerging research area in marketing. Various factors affecting consumer-AI experiences have been studied, but one crucial factor – perceived AI credibility is relatively underexplored which the authors aim to envision and conceptualize.Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a conceptual development approach to propose relationships among constructs, supported by 34 semi-structured consumer interviews.Findings: This study defines AI credibility using source credibility theory (SCT). The conceptual framework of this study shows how perceived AI credibility positively affects four consumer-AI experiences: (1) data capture, (2) classification, (3) delegation, and (4) social interaction. Perceived justice is proposed to mediate this effect. Improved consumer-AI experiences can elicit favorable consumer outcomes toward AI-enabled offerings, such as the intention to share data, follow recommendations, delegate tasks, and interact more. Individual and contextual moderators limit the positive effect of perceived AI credibility on consumer-AI experiences.Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the emerging research on AI credibility and consumer-AI experiences that may improve consumer-AI experiences. This study offers a comprehensive model with consequences, mechanism, and moderators to guide future research.Practical implications: The authors guide marketers with ways to improve the four consumer-AI experiences by enhancing consumers' perceived AI credibility.Originality/value: This study uses SCT to define AI credibility and takes a justice theory perspective to develop the conceptual framework.

Oversupply of higher education services in emerging countries, like India, implies an ever-increasing cost of student acquisition despite large student populations. Hence, creating trust through effective service delivery supported with full institutional commitment remains the only way to create student loyalty and bring the subsequent acquisition costs down. This study investigates the impact of four dimensions of brand trust, namely reliability, credibility, benevolence and integrity, on students’ loyalty, and the mediating role played by institutional commitment for this relationship. Results show that reliability is the strongest direct determinant of loyalty followed by integrity, while benevolence can lead to loyalty only if the commitment is evident. These, as well as other interesting findings, have direct implications for top management/administrator of a higher education institute (HEI) in the form of specific emphasis to elements of trust for creating higher student loyalty.