The Role of Brand Equity Mediates The Influence of Endorser Credibility and Brand Experience on Wardah Product Purchase Intention

This study is to find out the role of Brand Equity in mediating the influence of Credibility Endorser and Brand Experience on Purchase Intention of wardah products. A study found that endorsers who are considered knowledgeable, reliable, and physically attractive are considered credible. They generate a positive attitude towards the endorsed brand and increase Purchase Intention. The data source used in this study is primary data. Primary data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires to users of Wardah skincare products in Cirebon City to find out their behavior in making purchases through Google Form. A sample of 150 respondents was used for analysis. data analysis using SmartPLS SEM. Based on the data analysis that has been carried out, Brand Experience and Brand Equity have a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention, Credibility Endorser has a positive but not significant effect on Brand Equity, and Brand Equity has a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention, Brand Equity acts as a mediator of the influence of Credibility Endoser and Brand Experience on Purchase Intention. Purchase Intention will be better if Credibility Endorser and Brand Experience are mediated by Brand Equity, meaning that in an effort to increase Purchase Intention, Brand Experience needs to be improved without forgetting Brand Equity which is a mediating variable.


INTRODUCTION
Established in 1996, Wardah is a pioneer of halal cosmetics in Indonesia and is also one of the brands that has managed to become Indonesia's Top Brand compared to other brands.Wardah products are products that already have a good brand image and product quality and have a halal certificate from LP POM MUI.There are several PT Paragon Technology and Innovation with other brands such as lipstick, beauty powder and daily defense cream, moisturizer, eye liner, sunblock, facial cleanser and foundation.In addition to being attached to the "halal" label, Wardah, which is a subsidiary of PT Paragon, is known as an experienced brand that continues to triumph today.This is because Wardah always appears innovative in launching new products and always maintains the image of the Wardah brand as halal cosmetics.
A survey conducted by the Compas internal team through the online crawling method managed to find Wardah sales data for the past year, starting from July 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022 on Shopee and Tokopedia for Official and Non-Official Stores.Based on data shown by Compas Dashboard over the past year, Wardah has managed to achieve sales revenue at Shopee, Tokopedia, and BliBli of IDR 380 billion, IDR 50 billion, and IDR 25 billion (Compas.co.id, respectively.

Source : Compas.co.id
The brand under the auspices of PT.Paragon is proven to rank first among local cosmetic brands with a market share of 7.65%.Unlike the previous brand, Wardah offers makeup products with a more natural feel.
Consumer Purchase Intention through the Credibility Endorser promotion strategy.According to Celebrity endorsers, they use artists or advertising stars in the media, ranging from print media, social media, and television media.In addition, celebrities are used because the attributes of celebrities include good looks, courage, talent, elegance, strength, and physical attractiveness which often represent the attractiveness that the brand wants what he wants.With this, Wardah uses well-known celebrity endorsers such as Dewi Sandra to promote her products.Wardah chose Dewi Sandra as a celebrity endorser by paying attention to her credibility as a celebrity which means that the celebrity endorser has an image that is in accordance with the image of the Wardah brand.A strong brand image can provide great benefits to a business, including growing a competitive advantage.Wardah has and built a brand image of a tough, independent, and beautiful woman by communicating it through celebrity endorser Dewi Sandra, for example with the Wardah Beauty Moves You program."Beauty Moves You" is a program initiated to introduce new aspects of beauty for women, which prioritizes the values of progressive, modern, simplicity, courage, and usefulness that women are agents of change and beauty is interpreted as every step taken can have an impact and benefit on the environment, others, and the world (wardahbeauty.com).(Yusnidar, 2022) The role of an Endorser is very effective in introducing a wide range of products to the market.The role of Credibility Endorsers provides a positive image, strengthened by their attractivity, namely the appearance, achievements, and charisma that an endorser has can be an extraordinary attraction to its consumers.Previous research has shown that Credibility Endorsers play an important role in shaping consumer perception of purchase intentions.A study by found that Influencers who are considered knowledgeable, reliable, and physically attractive are considered credible.With this, an endorser generates a positive attitude towards the endorsed brand and increases purchase intent.(Raras et al., 2022).(Lee, 2021) Sensory marketing practices drive sales and enhance brand reputation and image creating lasting memories.Brand relationships are enhanced when they come from Brand Experience and brand communication exposure.This relationship is driven by sensory pleasure, variety and cognitive stimulation of all components of the experience.Brand Experience increases consumer trust and willingness to use a brand, which has important consequences for quality perception because brand leaders behave differently than sluggish brand leaders.Brand-related experiences tend to be part of an individual's long-term memory in the form of brand associations Previous research has shown that a positive consumer experience with a brand can increase brand loyalty and a propensity to make a purchase.(Moreira et al., 2017).(Li, 2018) However, there is still a lack of understanding of how these two factors interact with each other and how they affect consumer Purchase Intention in cosmetic products, specifically the Wardah brand.Therefore, this study will fill this knowledge gap by exploring the role of Brand Equity as a mediator in the relationship between Credibility Endorser, Brand Experience, and Purchase Intention of Wardah products.Thus, this study aims to test the role of Brand Equity as a mediator in the relationship between Credibility Endorser, Brand Experience, and Purchase Intention of Wardah products.

Theoretical Overview
Credibility Endorser is a modern marketing strategy played by a person such as a celebrity, actor, sports figure and entertainer who is widely known by the public for his achievements, and has public recognition by utilizing the recognition by appearing with consumer goods in an advertisement as a company spokesperson and product supporter (Ferreira et al., 2022) Brand Experience is a specific response triggered by brand-related experience attributes that rely on external stimuli to activate situational cues embedded in the brand's memory.Brand Experience does not assume motivation even if the consumer does not have a personal relationship with the brand or is not interested in the brand, the experience may still be with this Brand Experience can build a consumer environment and create perceived value by using diverse and flexible marketing methods and tools (Wang et al., 2019).
A brand is a name, term, sign, design, or unifying combination of all that is meant to identify and differentiate a product or service from its competitors.More importantly, a brand name communicates attributes and meanings designed to increase the value of a product beyond its functional value.Brand Equity is basically a measure of this added value.Brand Equity is a value associated with a brand that can add or decrease the value of the products or services provided by the company, both in the eyes of the company and in the eyes of consumers.Brand Equity refers to assets and liabilities related to brands, names, and logos that have the potential to increase or decrease the value of goods or services for a company or consumer (McDowell & Sutherland, 2000) (Sari & Dermawan, 2023) Purchase Intention refers to the likelihood that a customer buys a particular brand when buying an item from a product class because the single best predictor of a person's behavior is a measure of the behavior of the intention to perform that behavior.Purchase Intention is the possibility of purchasing a particular product by consumers in the future.It refers to the extent to which customers buy a particular product item, while at the same time refusing to switch to another product (Naeini et al., 2015).
Credibility Endorser is one of the most effective advertising strategies because it helps to increase brand awareness and recall, create positive feelings towards the brand, entertain consumers, and increase purchase intent However, influencer marketing differs from Credibility Endorser in that not all influencers are as popular or as famous as celebrities in society.Mega influencers may enjoy greater popularity among the public and have the power to get their followers to share and amplify their brand posts.According to the celebrity endorser credibility model, it consists of three elements, namely trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness.Expertise is defined as the extent to which a communicator is considered a valid source of statement regarding an object or issue, while trust is the extent to which consumers are confident in the communicator's intent to communicate the statement they consider most valid.Influencers who are considered knowledgeable, reliable, and physically attractive are considered credible.Furthermore, they generate a positive attitude towards the endorsed brand and increase purchase intent.This is supported by research conducted by Credibility Endorsers has a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention.It also states that Credibility has a significant effect on purchase intention.Based on the results of several previous studies, this research was carried out in developing hypotheses: (Choi & Rifon, 2012) (Childers et al., 2019) (Ohanian, 1990) (Lee, 2021) (AlFarraj et al., 2021) (Gusti et al., 2020) Celebrities have some intertwining of personal characteristics and perhaps some affiliation regarding product traits that may exist clearly connected to the brand.This attachment results in better and stronger brand recall and recognition when the endorser is strongly seen as a credible source.It relates to Brand Equity which is built when the customer is well aware of the brand and holds a positive attitude and exclusive bond with the brand in the memory.Supported by research and that Celebrity Endorsers have a positive and significant effect on Brand Equity.(Singh & Banerjee, 2021) (Dika Anggraini, 2020) (Wildani et al., 2021) Brand Experience is a new construction that describes how consumers relate to brands holistically.has shown that Brand Experience affects one of the components of Brand Equity such as Brand Experience affects brand loyalty.According to the Brand Equity dimension, namely brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty.Thus Brand Experience provides sensory, affective, and intellectual stimuli that generate experiential value and thus increase the perceived value of a brand to consumers, relative to other brands.With this Brand Experience relates to the brand directly and interactively.There is also evidence that Brand Experience has a significant effect on Brand Equity.In the research carried out, Brand Experience can have a significant effect on brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand quality and brand association.With the support of previous researchers and who said that brand experience has a significant and positive effect on brand equity.Based on the results of several previous studies, this research was carried out in developing hypotheses: (Jo ̆ Sko Brakus et al., 2009) (Aaker D David, 1991) (Zarantonello & Schmitt, 2013) (Eslami, 2020) (Pina & Dias, 2021) (Ferreira et al., 2022) Brand Experience is conceptualized as an internal consumer subjective response (sensation, feeling, and cognition) and a behavioral response elicit from brand-related stimuli that are part of brand design and identity, packaging, communication, and the environment.Four dimensions of Brand Experience are identified: sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral.Sensory Brand Experience refers to the stimuli provided by the five human senses.Affective Brand Experience is concerned with the extent to which a brand can evoke feelings and sentiments that strengthen emotional bonds with consumers.In contrast, the brand's behavioral dimension is associated with a brand's ability to be more rationally action-oriented to engage consumers in physical activity.Finally, the intellectual brand dimension refers to the extent to which a brand can arouse curiosity.Customers who are satisfied with a product will wait for a new and innovative product with the latest improvements compared to the previous product which can be called Purchase Intention.Several research results that examine Brand Experience show a significant contribution of Brand Experience to Purchase Intention.Therefore, based on some previous research results, this research was carried out in developing hypotheses: (Jo ̆ Sko Brakus et al., 2009) (Rodrigues et al., 2023) (Ungarala, 2021) (Lie et al., 2022) Brand Equity can be considered as a reason or motivation to buy a particular brand, just as the higher the Brand Equity, the stronger the consumer's preferences and Purchase Intention.
Brand Equity can be conceptualized with brand loyalty, brand name awareness, perceived brand quality, brand association.affirming that customers who have a strong relationship with a brand, who perceive the quality of the related service as something unique and experience a holistic experience that cannot be obtained, usually generate an emotional attachment to the brand and want to repeat their experience.Therefore, the higher the Brand Equity, the stronger the brand.This is supported by previous researchers; and stated that Brand Equity has a significant and positive effect on Purchase intention.Therefore, based on some previous research results, this research was carried out in developing hypotheses: (Spry et al., 2011) (Moreira et al., 2017) (Verma, 2021) (Kyguolienė & Zikienė, 2021) (Rizwan et al., 2021) A highly credible endorser will be stronger in relation to the brand it supports in the minds of consumers.Managing Brand Equity involves most of the control over the meaning associated with the brand in memory.Brand Equity is a set of brand assets and liabilities associated with a brand, its name and symbols that add or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a company or to a company's customers.The use of secondary associations to strengthen Brand Equity, where a brand can be associated with other entities such as celebrities (Buil et al., 2013) (Spry et al., 2011) .This is supported by research (Indah Raya Permata et al., 2019) that consumer-based Brand Equity mediates the relationship between Credibility Endorser and Purchase Intention.
The importance of the five senses in the creation of a brand's multisensory experience is thus related to how consumers value and perceive their brand and image.This has consequences for building their brand and identity, basic loyalty, and image.Perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness are the main dimensions of Brand Equity.Brand experience affects brand loyalty.However, the experience considered superior by consumers determines their true loyalty if it is an affective commitment to the brand among their customers also developed Sensory marketing practices drive sales and enhance the brand's reputation and image, which creates the lasting memories of a brand.Brand engagement is enhanced when it comes from Brand Experience and brand communication exposure.This attachment is driven by sensory pleasure, variation or cognitive stimulation of all components of Brand Experience.Lastly, Brand Experience increases consumer trust and willingness to use a brand, which has important consequences for perceived quality because brand leaders behave differently than slow brand leaders.Brand-related experiences tend to be part of an individual's long-term memory in the form of brand associations.Therefore, supported by previous research, it is stated that Brand Equity mediates the direct relationship between Brand Experience (Moreira et al., 2017) (Khaliq Alvi et al., 2019) .

RESEARCH METHOD
This study examines the relationship between the variables of endorser credibility, brand experience, brand equity, and purchase intention, as well as investigating the influence of mediation on Indonesia brand equity.Type of Data In this study, the quantitative data used by the researcher was obtained from the answer score of consumers as respondents obtained from the research questionnaire.The data source used in this study is primary data.Primary data collection is carried out by distributing questionnaires to online shopping consumers in Indonesia to find out their behavior in making purchases.The author distributed the questionnaire to the respondents through Google Form.A sample of 150 respondents was used for analysis.It is stated that there is a general rule, the minimum number of samples is at least 5x-10x above the number of indicators, thus the number of samples has exceeded the minimum limit because the indicators in this study are 15, so the minimum limit of the sample is 15x10=150.The data collection technique uses questionnaires and data analysis using Smart PLS Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).(Hair et al., 2014)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Below the researcher provides an overview of 150 respondents based on gender, age, occupation and status: Based on the results of Table 1, the percentage of male respondents was 32.7% and female was 67.3%.The highest age presentation was 90% with an age range of 18-30 years, followed by 41-50 years old by 4.7% and age, 31-40 years old by 4% and 50 years and over by 2%.The percentage of employment as a student is 64.7%, private employees 16%, selfemployed 9.3% and the rest of other jobs are 7.3%.Survey participants who are single 88.6% and married 11.4% This means that the majority of users of Wardah skincare products in Cirebon City work as students, singles and people aged 18-30 years.

Measurement Model Test Results (Outer Model)
To ensure that the measurements carried out are in accordance with the situation (valid and reliable), the Outer Model is applied.Convergent validity, discriminatory validity, and combined reality are all assessed when assessing the validity of constructs in PLS.Table 2 displays the results of processing carried out with the SmartPLS program.This can be seen from several indicators, including X1.2, X1.3, X1.4,X1.5, X1.6, X1.8, X1.10, X1.12, X1.14, X2.1, X2.2, X2.3, X2.4,X2.5, X2.6, X2.9, X2.10, X2.11, X2.12, M1, M2, M3, M5, M14, M15, Y1, Y3.Y4.Y5.Y6, Y7, and Y12, are not the right measures for variables and cannot be used, For other indicators that have a loading factor ӱ 0.7 have met the validity of convergence so that in conclusion the construct of all variables can be used for hypothesis testing.Next, a second factor loading test is carried out to test the validity of a valid construct.It can be seen from Table 3 above that the factor loading value of each indicator meets the criteria > 0.70 after data processing with SmartPLS.This shows that variable indicators are reliable and worthy of inclusion in the model.The AVE value of each variable is greater than 0.50, this shows that the AVE value meets the requirements of the convergence validity test, based on the results of data processing using SmartPLS software in table 4 above.Each variable in this study has a composite reality value in Table 5, which is equal to or greater than 0.70 based on the results of the study.With a Brand Equity value of 0.921, the Brand Equity variable has the highest value, while the Brand Experience variable has the lowest value of 0.781.The Brand Experience variable has the lowest value of 0.750 according to the results of the Cronbach's Alpha test, while the Brand Equity variable has the highest value of 0.921.

Hypothesis Test (Inner Model)
The initial test is a coefficient of determination that aims to assess the extent to which the model can explain the variability of dependent variables.Based on the information in table 6, it can be seen that the R Square (R2) value of the Brand Equity construct is 0.376.The results of the study show that the Brand Equity (M) variable can be explained by the Credibility Endoser (X1) and Brand Experience (X2) variables which together explain the variance of 37.6%.The remaining 62.4% is due to other variables.Meanwhile, the Purchase Intention (Y) construct can be explained by external factors, namely Credibility Endoser (X1) and Brand Experience (X2) by 47.9%.In addition, the remaining 52.1% was caused by other external factors.Sharing the results of hypothesis testing from Table 7 which shows the findings of the direct influence of T-statistics (Bootstrapping).These results include: 1.Effect of Credibility Endoser (X1) on Purchase Intention (Y) It can be seen in Table 7 that the route coefficient value is 0.033.A t-statistic value of 0.466 is smaller than 1.98.Furthermore, the P-value is more than ɑ = 0.05 at 0.641.This shows that the Purchase Intention variable is not significantly influenced by the Credibility Ender variable.Thus, there is no evidence for the research hypothesis (H1) which states that "Credibility Endoser (X1) has a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention (Y)".

Effect of Credibility Endoser (X1) on Brand Equity (M)
Table 7 shows that a P-value of 0.000 is less than ɑ = 0.05, a t-statistical value of 4.481 is more than 1.98, and a route coefficient value of 0.321.This shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between the Credibility Endoser variable and Brand Equity.Thus, there is support for the research hypothesis (H2) which states that "Credibility Endoser (X1) has a positive and significant effect on Brand Equity (M)".

The Effect of Brand Experience (X2) on Brand Equity (M)
Table 7 shows that a P-Value of 0.000 is less than ɑ = 0.05, a t-statistical value of 6.164 is more than 1.98, and a route coefficient value of 0.447.This shows that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between the Brand Experience Variable (X2) and the Brand Equity Variable (M).Therefore, the hypothesis (H3) of this study which states that "Brand Experience (X2) has a positive and significant effect on Brand Equity (M)" is validated.4. The Effect of Brand Experience (X2) on Purchase Intention (Y) Table 7 shows that the P-value of 0.005 is less than ɑ = 0.05, the t-statistical value of 2.778 is more than 1.98, and the route coefficient value is 0.213.This shows that there is a positive and significant influence of the Brand Experience variable on the Purchase Intention variable."Brand Experience (X1) has a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention (Y)" is a research hypothesis (H4), and is supported.

Relationship between Purchase Intention (Y) and Brand Equity (M)
Table 7 shows that the P-value of 0.000 is less than ɑ = 0.05, the t-statistic value of 6.030 is greater than 1.98, and the path coefficient value is 0.540.This shows that the Purchase Intention variable is positively and significantly influenced by the Brand Equity variable.The research hypothesis (H5) which states that "Brand Equity (M) has a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention (Y)" is validated.8, it can be seen that the value of the path coefficient is 0.173.The t-statistic value of 3.838 is more than 1.98.In addition, the P value is 0.000, which is also smaller than ɑ = 0.05 and In the VAF test to determine the mediating effect of the Brand Equity (M) variable, a VAF value of 83% is produced.This shows that Brand Equity (M) mediates the influence of Credibility Endorser (X1) on Purchase Intention (Y) through Full Mediation.7. Brand Equity (M) mediates the influence of Brand Experience (X2) on Purchase Intention (Y) Referring to Table 8, it can be seen that the value of the path coefficient is 0.083.A tstatistic value of 3.995 is more than 1.98.In addition, the P value is 0.000, which is also smaller than ɑ = 0.05 and In the VAF test to determine the mediating effect of the Brand Equity (M) variable, a VAF value of 33% is produced.This shows that the Brand Equity (M) variable mediates the influence of Brand Experience (X2) on Purchase Intention (Y) in Partial Mediation.
shows that Brand Equity has a role in the relationship between Credibility Endoser and Purchase Intention in Wardah skincare products.When consumers see the value of a brand well and get satisfaction with the credibility of the endsoer who promotes Wardah's skincare products, consumers will further increase their purchase intention to buy the product.For example, research conducted by (Indah Raya Permata et al., 2019).The results of the study show that consumer-based brand equity mediates the relationship between endorser credibility and buying interest.

The Influence of Brand Equity in Mediating Brand Experience on Purchase Intention
The findings of hypothesis testing show that H7 is accepted, resulting in the conclusion that Brand Equity mediates Brand Experience to Purchase Intention through Partial Mediation.This shows that Brand Equity acts as a mediator between Brand Experience and Purchase Intention.It can be understood that research shows that the Brand Experience applied by Wardah skincare products has the potential to increase Brand Equity which ultimately affects Purchase Intention.It can be said that when consumers get a good brand experience, this can have a big impact on the increase in the value of a brand and affect consumer purchase intentions.According to research conducted by by (Khaliq Alvi et al., 2019) .Findings of this study Show that Brand Equity mediates the direct relationship between brand experience and purchase intent.

CONCLUSION
Based on the data analysis that has been carried out, several things can be drawn that are concluded, namely Brand Experience and Brand Equity have a positive and significant effect on purchase intention, Credibility enduser does not have a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention, and brand equity has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention, brand equity plays a role as a mediator of the influence of credibility enduser and brand experience on purchase intention.Purchase Intention will be better if the credibility of the enduser and brand experience are mediated by brand equity, which means that in an effort to increase purchase intention, the credibility of the enduser needs to be increased without forgetting the brand equity which is the mediating variable.Wardah products need to increase endorser credibility, brand experience and brand equity by using endors that have credibility, good brand experience and build good brand value consistently.Further research is expected to expand the scope and population of the research, replace data analysis techniques if excluded and enrich references.

Figure 1 T
Figure 1 T-Statistic Test Results (Bootstrapping)