The Effects of Audiences' Ideological Views on the Customer-Based Brand Equity of Cable News Networks
Abstract
This study explores the effects of audience members' ideological views on their perceptions of the customer-based brand equity (CBBE) of cable news networks. Aaker's (1991) and Keller's (2002) conceptualizations of CBBE were used to create a brand equity measure while respondents' attitudes toward contentious policy issues and political personalities were used to create an ideology index on the liberal-conservative continuum. Respondents' ideological views didn't affect their perceptions of the CBBE of CNN and MSNBC. In contrast, ideology had significant effects on audience perceptions of the CBBE of Fox News Channel.