Recently, brand equity is paid much attention in various industries. However, container liner shipping companies are still unfamiliar with this concept, and also the brand equity model has not been tested yet in shipping context. This study, therefore, aims to measure the relative importance of brand equity factors of container liner shipping companies by employing AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). This study concludes that perceived quality, in particular cost-related service quality, is the most influential factor of brand equity, while weak support is found for brand association. In addition to this, group comparisons were conducted between shipping companies, freight forwarders and academics. The results will be useful as they firstly define brand equity and its role in shipping context, highlighting the significance of brand management to container liner shipping firms. This evaluation is not an end in itself, but will eventually be utilised as a tool to build competitive advantage which cannot be easily imitated by competitors.

To achieve a differential advantage over competitors and protect their long-term interest, shipping lines have striven to find ways to maintain an ongoing relationship with shippers which can be achieved by attaining their loyalty. The benefits of loyal shippers are potentially huge in that they generate long-term revenue streams as well as provide cost savings as compared with attracting new shippers. Logistics service provided by shipping lines is identified as one of the effective tools for building customer loyalty. However, in a review of the literature none of the studies examine how logistics service creates customer loyalty, particularly between shipping lines and shippers. Consequently, the overarching purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge on logistics service performance and its relationship with customer loyalty in the unique context of maritime transport by proposing a new conceptual model based on an extensive literature review. The major contribution is to offer a new insight into the complex relationships between those 'soft' concepts in the context of maritime transport.