Constructing Brand Equity through Public-Private Development Partnerships: Stakeholder Interpretations of Volvo's Participation in the ZAMITA Project

Abstract

This thesis explores how local stakeholders interpret and assign meaning to Volvo Group’s participation in the ZAMITA Public-Private Development Partnership (PPDP) in Zambia, and how these interpretations shape organizational brand equity. Drawing on stakeholder-based brand equity, symbolic-interpretive organization theory, legitimacy theory, and stakeholder theory, the study conceptualizes brand equity as a socially constructed outcome emerging through stakeholder interaction and interpretation. The study applies a qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews, supported by participant observations, and document analysis, conducted during six-week fieldwork in Ndola, Zambia. Empirical data was collected from students, trainers, and organizational stakeholders connected to the ZAMITA project and analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings show that brand equity within PPDP contexts emerges primarily through experiential interaction, legitimacy evaluation, and stakeholder meaning-making rather than traditional marketing communication. Stakeholders actively construct meanings around Volvo through practical workshops, branded equipment, and training initiatives, while trainers function as important intermediaries in reproducing organizational meanings and values. The thesis contributes to stakeholder-based brand equity literature by extending it into the context of PPDPs in emerging markets and highlighting the role of legitimacy, contextual relevance and experiential interaction in shaping organizational perceptions