Green Brand Equity in industrial B2B markets : A cross-sectional study of Sandvik Coromant’s customers

Sammanfattning: The concept of Green Brand Equity is based on the assumption that customers will be more favorable towards a firm's brand when the firm provides products and services that satisfy the customers' environmental needs. While environmental and brand management have been researched thoroughly in business-to-consumer (B2C) markets, similar research inbusiness-to-business (B2B) contexts is still scarce. This study aims to contribute to environmental management and B2B brand research through an empirical study of customers' perceptions of Green Brand Equity in industrial B2B markets. A qualitative study was conducted analyzing customers who purchase products from a brand of a Swedish high-tech and global industrial engineering company. The findings suggest that although traditional aspects like price, quality and delivery performance are of high importance, customers in B2B markets also take environmental impact into consideration in their purchase decisions. The customers' consideration of environmental impact mainly stemmed from the customer firms' Green Policies, as well as the individual buyer's Green Concerns. The findings further showed that supplier firms can strengthen Green Brand Equity through sustainability initiatives. By supporting the applicability of Green Brand Equity in a B2B context, this study contributes to the theoretical discussion as well as to practitioners in the field.