Introduction Aim Research in the Swedish retail sector 2017, shows that 37% of the public in Sweden has attitudes and behavior that make them part of the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability group (Lohas). Lohas is a method (see Lohas.se) to measure sustainable living in a global context (Swedish Sustainability Ranking 2017). This make Sweden in the forefront. Furthermore, the Swedish government has issued a new law (entered into force in 2017) that demands Swedish companies with more than 250 employees or a certain turnover to annually report their sustainability efforts and how it connects to their business model. This is the background for our study investigating different industry sectors in Sweden. In this environment, retailers such as IKEA, Apoteket, Max Burger, Clas Ohlson, and H&M, followed by others, have gained recognition regarding their strong brands as well as good practice within sustainability. Sustainability has recently become more relevant to study. In Sweden repeated surveys, (2004-2017), have shown that Swedish retailers are perceived as the most reputable and sustainable of all companies. What is the background that makes retailers so trusted and sustainable among the general public and customers in Sweden? The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the underlying factors which give retailers in Sweden such a high sustainability scores over time i.e. what factors are important to achieve sustainable brand equity in the Swedish retail sector. A detailed comparison will be made of two large surveys carried out in 2016 and 2017. Design/methodology/approach This paper explores the branding framework Customer-Based Brand Equity as well as Points of Difference (POD) and Points of Parity (POP) in a projective retailer sustainability perspective, Keller, Apéria and Georgson (2012). The overall customer brand equity framework is developed by Keller (1993). PODs is defined as unique associations, strong and favorable, linked to a brand. POPs are associations that can be shared with other brands, Keller, Sternthal, and Tybout (2002). Ailawadi and Keller (2004) discuss the importance of measuring retailer brand equity. According to the researchers brand equity has been one of the most challenging and important issues for both academics and managers. The chosen framework and the analysis for the study is the corporate brand level. A sustainability index, developed by Apéria, has been developed and tested during the period 2015-2017. The sustainability index measures four dimensions of sustainability: environment/climate, society/ethics, longterm/future perspective, and openness (see figure 1). The index is inspired by the Triple bottom line approach. The data comes from the Swedish Sustainability Ranking, the largest survey on sustainability in Sweden. More than 18,000 online surveys were carried out in 2016 and 25,000 surveys carried out in 2017. The panelists participating in the survey were recruited in order to be representative of the Swedish general public, age 18-74 years. 190 well-known and visible consumer companies were measured in 2016 and 200 companies and organizations in 2017. These companies were selected because they are well-known, salient and represent important categories from a consumer point of view. Our view of salience is based on Ehrenberg, Barnard and Scriven (1997). A pre-study was carried out in 2015 in order to understand consumer criterias for choice of retailer. In 2016, 32 retailers where measured in a specific retailer frame of reference. 4,225 surveys where carried out among general public who participated in the study. In the 2017 survey, 35 retailers were measured and 3,416 surveys were carried out, also in a retailer frame of reference targeting the general public. All respondents taking part in the study initially ranked companies with product, brand, and sustainability attributes. The respondents ranked these retailers with approximately 35 brand- attitude questions (Likert scale from 1-7). In the second part of the interview each respondent also indirectly, through a projective approach, described the retailer. The perspective of reputation and sustainability metrics has traditionally been used in a strict rational point of view. One example of reputation metrics is the RepTrak model described by Fombrun, Ponzi, and Newburry (2015), and van Riel (2012). Chun and Davies (2004) and J. Aaker (1997) have also discussed corporate character and brand personality from a rational point of view. Ailawadi and Keller (2004) have pointed out that brand personality as an area deserves greater attention from research. The authors of this article argue that a complementary perspective is needed to fully understand how consumers evaluate corporate brands and sustainability and the complexity behind this process. The authors propose to add emotional components in the evaluation, as a complement to the traditional rational view. The proposed way to understand the emotional side of a corporate brand is to use projective techniques (Apéria 2001, Apéria and Back 2004, Keller, Apéria and Georgson 2012). An advantage of projective techniques is that they may elicit responses that respondents may be unwilling or unable to give by traditional interview methods. In this retailer study we used projective techniques in order to explore the more emotional aspects of the retailers. Findings The results from the analyze presents Swedish retailers as representing the most sustainable of all company categories in Sweden. During a period between 2004-2017 the retail category have been in top positions of the Swedish reputation and sustainability ranking, measured in a longitudinal study. Apoteket, The Body Shop and Clas Ohlson have been ranked as number one, one time each. While IKEA has been number one eleven times during the period. During the last two years, 2016 and 2017 IKEA was ranked as number one, based on the sustainability index. The analyze has shown that the highly sustainable retailers operating in the Swedish market primarily are characterized by strong brands as well as strong perceptions of sustainability. An interesting example is the local Swedish fast-food company Max Burgers that strongly outperforms McDonald´s both as a brand as well on sustainability. Successful retailers have different personalities, and archetypes compared with other corporate categories. The analysis reveals that the strongest retailers with a high sustainability index are characterized by having strong brand personalities. Furthermore, the analysis also reveals that the archetypes characterizing these retailers are we-oriented archetypes such as: ordinary/familiar, stable/down to earth, but also the ego-oriented archetype focused/specialist. Examples of retailers with a strong brand personality are IKEA, The Body Shop, Stadium, ICA, Zara and H&M. When we compare the data from the study 2016 with 2017 we see the same results. Our results from both studies indicate that local retailers are more positively evaluated than international. We-orientated brands score higher than ego-orientated. Some retail categories are perceived better than others are. Examples of strong retail categories are pharmacies, furniture, food, and sport stores and weak retailer categories are hamburger restaurants, consumer electronics and telecom stores. However, there is always an opportunity for a retailer to be stronger than the category they represent. One example, earlier mentioned is the local hamburger chain Max Burgers that strongly outperforms international competitors such as Burger King and McDonald´s, when we compare their sustainability indexes. The results indicate that both rational and emotional factors constitute an important part of the Sustainable Brand Equity Model. This new model (see figure 2) has been developed and tested during surveys 2015-2017 by one of the authors as a part of the Swedish Sustainability Ranking. Central components of the model are sustainability indexes, corporate brand personality, brand associations meeting need segments which lead to brand loyalty and trust capital. Finally, our survey shows that retailers needs to be strong in both brand and sustainability. It´s not enough to only excel in sustainability. Research limitations/implications The Sustainability survey was carried out both in 2016 and 2017 in a retailer frame of reference including different retailers from different sectors. The authors recognize that Swedes rank retailers as the most reputable and sustainable category of companies every year. In different countries the general public has different opinions about which companies they found most reputable (Apéria, Simcic Brønn, and Schultz, 2004). Originality/value The authors compares the chosen 32 retailers studied in 2016 with 35 retailers studied in 2017 with the same method. In both surveys we used both rational questions and emotional projective questions in order to understand the retailers in-depth. In both surveys a sustainability index was used in order to rank the retailers.

Recent research has shown that many companies in the fashion industry are increasingly weaving close relationships with the art world, to appropriate art values and meanings to be associated with their own products and brands (Hagdtvedt & Patrick, 2008a; 2008b). Businesses related to the fashion luxury sector have been especially prone to using such strategies to transform their products into true artworks to address the issue of commodification resulting from high production volumes (Dion and Arnoult, 2011; Riot, Chameret & Rigaud, 2013). Over the past two decades, the luxury market has undergone huge structural changes through mergers and acquisitions that have transformed an industry made up of small, family businesses into major financial conglomerates and brand owners (Roux & Floch, 1996; Crane 2012). Secondly, globalization and openness to new fast-growing markets such as Asia, have led these luxury conglomerates to increase sales volumes, failing in one of the basic characteristics of such goods: rarity. But if the real rarity of luxury products is a promise that companies can no longer guarantee their own consumers, the elitism of these products can be ensured through an artificial rarity. Jean-Noël Kapferer used the neologism artification recently introduced by French sociologists Nathalie Heinich and Roberta Shapiro and applied it to the analysis of luxury goods (Kapferer, 2012; 2014; Heinich and Shapiro, 2012; Shapiro and Heinich, 2012). He stressed that a strategy based on art implemented by luxury companies is useful mainly to support the perception of rarity by the final consumer. Artification is based on the notion that art –related objects or persons are associated with positive values. Enhancing a corporate image in the consumer’s mind means building positive ties to the brand that will initiate a form of benevolence towards the brand, providing the legitimization of corporate actions and, in some cases, resulting in the purchase of goods and services produced and distributed by the company (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1996; Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000; Keller, 2003). We decided to analyse the effect of Artification on brand value by focusing on the four dimensions of Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty by using the same CbBE ( Customer-based Brand Equity) structure previous authors tested on country of origin effect on consumers, based on the main hypotheses further explained (Pappu, Quester & Cooksey, 2006). The first hypothesis relates to the dimension of Awareness and aims to test the level of brand recognition in final consumers when the logo is modified by an artist. • H1 – Consumers’ awareness remains strong when the brand is ‘artified’. We analyze then the Image, as the second dimension of CbBE. Due to the complexity of this dimension, we posited two hypotheses connected to it: • H2a – Consumers’ free associations to the brand are connected to the artworld when the brand is ‘artified’ (e.g. consumers indicate words as art, contemporary art or the name of the artist). • H2b – Consumers’ evaluation of the brand image points to stronger positive associations when the brand is ‘artified’ The last two hypotheses we mention are connected to the dimensions of Quality and Loyalty: • H3 – Consumers’ evaluation of Quality increases when the brand is ‘artified’.  H4 – Consumers’ Loyalty to the brand increases when the brand is ‘artified’. • The analysis was conducted through a between-subjects randomized experiment and manipulated art presence (with art versus without art). Starting from the same panel, two groups were created: one including the treatment (visual arts) and one including no treatment at all. Furthermore, we limited ourselves in this experiment to images of products and pattern created by Louis Vuitton that are actually on the market, associating them randomly to the research units in order to obtain two statistically consistent groups subjected to the different treatment (with art or without art)4. The two groups were labelled ‘artified’ group and control group, the first grouping the respondents to the questionnaire containing images of Louis Vuitton Logo, pattern and product modified by art collaboration with Yayoi Kusama; and the second grouping the respondents to the questionnaire containing images of Louis Vuitton Logo, pattern and product in its standard design. The questionnaire was distributed between the months of May and June 2015 via Qualtrics survey software. It was divided into four distinct blocks: the first concerned the presentation of the survey, the declaration of authorization signed by the participants and the demographic information; the second and the third blocks of questions were identical, with the same series of questions but based on different images used. There were 880 respondents, 825 of whom correctly filled the questionnaire we submitted to them. The control group was made of 413 respondents, 73.13 % of whom were female and 26.87 % male. The ‘artified’ group was made of 71.60 % female and 28.40 % male. We analyzed the four dimensions of Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty individually and in a comparative manner between the control and ‘artified’ groups. In the CbBE model, dimensions are analyzed individually since Awareness and brand Image measures are not comparable because they are collected through different measure methods, respectively through multiple choice and open-ended questions. Such dimensions as Image, Quality and Loyalty which were raised through Likert scales were then subjected to mono multivariate statistical analysis. The main results are shown in table 1. By reading the results for CbBE, Hypothesis H1 [Consumers’ awareness remain strong when the brand is ‘artified’] has been confirmed. The aided brand awareness shows no important differences between the two groups, so visual artists may modify logos or the appearance of luxury products without the fear of compromising brand awareness in the final consumers. Hypothesis H2a [Consumers’ free associations to the brand are connected to the arts when the brand is ‘artified’ (e.g. the word art, contemporary art or the name of the artist)] was not confirmed. Hypothesis H2b was partially confirmed as Generic Associations and Brand Personality were impacted by the use of the visual arts, while Organizational Associations were not. Brand loyalty and Perceived Quality were not impacted by the Visual Arts either, so Hypothesis H3 and H4 were not confirmed. As a main result for CbBE analysis, the Visual Arts have an impact on Customer-based Brand Equity, limited to Brand Image dimensions. The fact that Brand Image is one of the most complex dimensions of brand value opens the way to the development of future analysis and research in the visual arts as external source for brand equity, especially for Brand Personality. The main results of our research show that an artification effect is visible especially at the level of brand image and brand personality, two complex and valuable components of Brand Value from a consumer perspective. This opens to further in-depth analysis of these two components for future research. Large luxury groups (such as Cartier and Prada) have long used an art-based strategy to increase the value of their products, avoiding the risk of a loss of prestige perceived by the final consumer who would no longer recognize the exclusivity of a product that seems to be increasingly more industrial than handmade. Art can therefore contribute to alter and rework the image and market position of a specific brand or an entire product line, ensuring the transition from an ordinary image to a prestigious one, or strengthening the existing prestigious perception (Hetsroni & Tukachinsky, 2005; Lee et Al., 2015). We believe that a strategy based on art implemented by luxury companies is beneficial mainly to support the perception of rarity by the final consumer. Luxury goods would have to be unique or at least not produced in too high volumes precisely because of their craftsmanship and the care with which they are made. Rarity is not compatible with the increase in sales volumes required by the financial holdings that own the same luxury brands (Roux and Lipovetsky, 2003; Kapferer, 2012; 2014; 2015). The artification process we researched would have exactly the dual purpose of improving the brand image of companies that apply it, while increasing the perception of luxury in end consumers. What is more, we believe that the luxury brands from the industry sector that belong to large financial conglomerates now have the strength to simultaneously apply all the components in the artification process, by sustaining activities of sponsorship, philanthropy or generic collaboration with artists. The fact that luxury products are an integral part of the world of visual arts combined with the fact luxury brands have now the strong support base of large financial conglomerates can ensure the right economic and cultural support needed for the application of such a strategy. In the case of fashion companies, we believe artification is a process in itinere. In our experiment free associations to the brand show that only 2 consumers out of 880 remembered or knew the name of the artist (Yayoi Kusama) and 10 people indicated the substantive ‘art’ or ‘contemporary arts’ as free associations in the ‘artified group’ (only 2 in the control group). This shows that luxury brands ‘art-based strategy cannot only concentrate on temporary collaborations with artists. Luxury brands as Louis Vuitton must act as art institutions able to display arts collections to the widest public and bestow art status and global recognition to collaborating artists (Masè and Cedrola, 2017). This strategy relies on LV ability to raise consumers’ awareness of the arts. While the art-oriented public recognizes artistic collaborations, the larger public does not yet is still very much aware of new designs. Novelty is equally perceived by both, but is partially decoded by one category of consumers.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine retail brand equity driver and equity components, and discuss the differentiation of retail branding strategy of three types of supermarket (national chain, local chain and specialty chain) especially in Japan. Design/methodology/approach –The empirical study is based on a sample of 3,062 customers usually using supermarket chain stores (total 58 chain stores) via Internet research household panel to develop this model, and using multiple-group structural equation modeling. Findings – First, store equity driver influence the retail brand equity than policy of corporate driver, and the most affect factor of store equity driver is a service and support. Second, Retail brand equity components were distinctiveness, emotional loyalty, experience value, and trustworthiness. Emotional loyalty and experience value influences the behavioral loyalty. Third, three types of supermarket have different equity drivers, and they influence the purchase behavior. Specialty chain has a strong store driver, which increases of price per unit. National chain and local chain has a strong covariance policy of corporate driver and store equity driver, which influences the retail brand equity. Originality/value – Understanding the retail brand equity in Japanese supermarkets. Retail brand equity is made from a holistic aggregation of some components, and equity driver is made from store attributes and corporate attributes, which are attribution level of operational activities. Consumer recognizes the store as a holistic brand but company wants to know how to increase the behavioral loyalty (purchase behavior), this retail brand equity model integrates the retail brand as holistic and attribution level approach follows retail-marketing activities.