Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
Key Words: 
convention industry, customer equity, value equity, brand equity, relationship equity
INTRODUCTION 
This study explores the constructs of customer equity (value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity) 
in the convention industry. These equity types (value, brand and relationship) have been established in other service 
industries as the drivers of customer equity (Rust, Lemon, Zeithaml, 2004). The term ‘driver’ refers to the influence 
value equity, brand equity and relationship equity has on the value of customer equity. Since customer equity can be 
quantified, value equity, brand equity or relationship equity influence customer equity to increase or decrease. The 
change in customer equity can be attributed to what influenced the customer to purchase or continue to purchase 
from a firm based on the factors that are important to that specific consumer, referred to as ‘sub-drivers.’
Rust, et al. (2004) and Blattberg & Deighton (1996) posit that sub-drivers change from industry to industry; 
therefore, it is important to establish sub-drivers that are specific to given industries. To date, there has not been 
empirical support that determines the drivers and sub-drivers of customer equity from the show manager’s 
perspective in the convention industry. A Show Manager 
is the specific person responsible for all aspects of 
planning, promoting, and producing an exhibition and is also called an Exhibition Manager, or Meeting Planner. For 
the purpose of this paper, the term Show Manager will be used. 
The aims of this study are to: 1) investigate the 
drivers of customer equity, (value equity, brand equity and relationship equity) in the convention industry and, 2) 
investigate and identify the sub-drivers of customer equity in the convention industry by considering the show 
managers as the convention center’s primary customers.
Figure 1, Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon’s (2002), Customer Equity Model is the theoretical framework for the 
current study and represents the relationships between the drivers and customer equity. The three drivers of 
customer equity: 1) value equity, 2) brand equity, and relationship equity.

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