Factors affecting brand authenticity in F and B industry in Vietnam – A case study of starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City 2021

Factors affecting brand authenticity, in F and B industry , A case study of starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City 2021

THE STATE BANK OF VIETNAM

HO CHI MINH BANKING UNIVERSITY

**********

LE PHAM DANG KHOA

FACTORS AFFECTING BRAND AUTHENTICITY IN F&B INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM – A CASE STUDY OF STARBUCKS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

THE STATE BANK OF VIETNAM

HO CHI MINH BANKING UNIVERSITY

**********

LE PHAM DANG KHOA

FACTORS AFFECTING BRAND AUTHENTICITY IN F&B INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM – A CASE STUDY OF STARBUCKS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

BACHELOR’S THESIS

MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CODE: 52340101 SUPERVISIOR: MR TRAN VAN DAT

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2021

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study is to find out which factors affecting brand authenticity in F&B industry by concentrating on Starbucks For this purpose, a conceptual model was developed based on other research models

The study had collected data by conducting 200 surveys online in Ho Chi Minh City The author use SPSS 20 software to do analysises have show the results that Uniqueness, Scarcity, Longitudinal Consistency, Longevity, Brand legitimacy and Employee‟s passion are 6 factors that have positive influence on brand authenticy of Starbucks

This results study could be used as a reference for further research and for Entrepreneurs, Marketing managers, or businessman to have a concept about the brand authenticity therefore make plans to build authenticity to have a more competitive position

DECLARATION

I declare that the thesis "Factors affecting brand authenticity in F&B industry in Vietnam – A case study of Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City" is the result of my research Except for the references to previous research papers mentioned in the thesis, the survey data and results of the thesis are genuine and have never been published before

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The first person I would like to thank is Ph.D Tran Van Dat who supported me directly He has given me lots of valuable advice and suggestions for me to

complete the thesis

I would like to thank the teachers of the Facility of Business Administration They gave me the knowledge and useful experience during the time I was learning at the university

I would like to thank my friends from HQ5 – GE11 for sharing, helping me during

3.5.1 Cronbach's alpha analyzing: 35

LIST OF ACRONYMS

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES

FIGURES:

Figure 2.3.1 The research model of a journal titled "Authenticity in branding –

exploring antecedents and consequences of brand authenticity" 10

Figure 2.3.2 The model research of journal titled “Brand Authenticity: Testing the Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Management's Passion for its Products” 11

Figure 2.3 3 The model research of Mike Schallehn Christoph Burmann Nicola Riley, (2014) with journal titled "Brand authenticity: model development and empirical testing" 12

Figure 2.3.4 Proposed research model 16

Figure 3.1 Research design……… ………18

Figure 3.3 Adjusted research model……….26

Figure 4.1a Statistics by gender… ……… ……… 39

Figure 4.1b Statistics by age.….… ……… ……… 40

Figure 4.1c Statistics by job……… ……… ……… ……… 40

Figure 4.1d Statistics by income…… ……… ……… … 41

TABLES: Table 3.4.1 Scale of Uniqueness 29

Table 3.4.2 Scale of Scarcity 30

Table 3.4.3 Scale of Longevity 31

Table 3.4.4 Scale of Longitudinal Consistency 32

Table 3.4.5 Scale Brand Legitimacy 33

Table 3.4.6 Scale of Employee's passion 34

Table 3.4.7 Scale of Brand Authenticity 35

Table 3.2.2a Relationship between the hypothesis and brand authenticity of

Starbucks 24

Table 4.2.1a Reliability Statistics of Uniqueness (UQ) 42

Table 4.2.1b Item-Total Statistic of Uniqueness (UQ) 42

Table 4.2.3a Reliability Statistics of Scarcity (SC) 43

Table 4.2.3b Item-Total Statistic of Scarcity (SC) 43

Table 4.2.3a Reliability Statistics of Longevity (LG) 44

Table 4.2.3b Item-Total Statistic of Longevity (LG) 44

Table 4.2.3a Reliability Statistics of Longitudinal consistency (LC) 45

Table 4.2.3b Item-Total Statistic of Longitudinal consistency (LC) 45

Table 4.2.3a Reliability Statistics of Brand legitimacy (BL) 46

Table 4.2.3b Item-Total Statistic of Brand legitimacy (BL) 46

Table 4.2.3a Reliability Statistics of Employee‟s passion (EP) 47

Table 4.2.3b Item-Total Statistic of Employee‟s passion (EP) 47

Table 4.2.3a Reliability Statistics of Brand authenticy (BA) 48

Table 4.2.3b Item-Total Statistic of Brand authenticity (BA) 48

Table 4.3.1a KMO and Bartlett‟s Test……… ……… …49

Table 4.3.1b Total Variance Explained……… ……….…50

Table 4.3.1c Rotated Component Matrix ……… ………….51

Table 4.3.2a KMO and Bartlett‟s Test……….52

Table 4.3.2b Total Variance Explained……… …….52

Table 4.4 Pearson Correlations……… ……….54

Table 4.5a Model Summary……… ……….….55

Table 4.5b ANOVA Analysis……… ………56

Table 4.5c Linear Regression

Result……… ……….57

Table 4.6.1a Compare differences in gender……….…………58

Table 4.6.1b ANOVA Comparing differences by gender……… ………… 59

Table 4.6.2a Compare differences in age ……… ……….60

Table 4.6.2b ANOVA Comparing differences by age ……… … …….61

Table 4.6.3a Compare differences in job ……… ………… ………… 62

Table 4.6.3b ANOVA Comparing differences by job……… 63

Table 4.6.4a Compare differences in income ……….64

Table 4.6.4b ANOVA Comparing differences by income……… ……….65

to 2019 Vietnamese today require going out, and a coffee shop is a place frequently chosen by them Drinking coffee is not a strange concept in Viet Nam, it is a common thing for Vietnamese to drink coffee throughout the day They are willing

to pay a reasonable price even high for the coffee shop if it provides good quality drinks, good services In a report by Nielsen, by 2022, Vietnam will have had about

44 million people classified in the urban middle class and will increase to 95 million

by 2030 The above shows there are great possibilities for businesses to make investments in this industry in Vietnam

For the past several decades, customer orientation has long been regarded as one of the most important ideas in marketing, that means brands that want to be successful should use customer orientation by knowing what the customers want and how they want it then create a product to fulfill those needs (Moulard et al., 2016) To support this, according to (Fritz et al., 2017) customers nowadays do not just need good products and services, they demand more than that, customer' demand for authenticity in products and services is growing Authenticity is seen as

a reaction due to the increasing number of significant crises in recent years, such as the financial crisis and ongoing problems to society such as climate change to relieve this uncertainty people want authenticity in their daily lives, including the things they consume and the brands they are using (Bruhn et al., 2012) Consumers nowadays expect brands to be consistent and real, and they are no longer ready to

accept insincere brand behavior (Holt, 2002) Therefore, knowledge about the authenticity of brands is necessary

In the marketing discipline, research has asserted the relevance of the concept of brand authenticity, one stated "consumer's search for authenticity is one

of the cornerstones of contemporary marketing" (Brown et al., 2003) The idea of authenticity was demonstrated to be related to branding and consumer behavior, how it has been used to legitimate products and services, and how it contributes to the market value of consumer goods and cultural goods (Mason, 2011) According

to Tran & Keng (2018) consumers who strive to satisfy their demand for authenticity continuously make subjective judgments about the authentic worth of commodities and their consumption To support that, there are ideas about the importance of brand authenticity “authenticity‟s long-standing, persistent, and contemporary marketplace appeal” (Grayson and Martinec, 2004), brands that are

perceived as authentic are evaluated more positively (Moulard et al., 2016) Though, companies still have limited knowledge of factors that influence brand

authenticity or how this concept affects consumer behavior

Therefore, the need for understanding what is brand authenticity to attract customers is crucial more than ever Despite that, in reality, there are quite a few researches, papers, and evaluations focusing on brand authenticity in general and in the F&B industry to be specific as one of the effects to their business success

Thanks to this research, the researcher believes that it will somehow contribute to the Ho Chi Minh City entrepreneur and brands' decisions of investing

in building their authenticity Building authenticity can increase the competitive position between enterprises by attracting more customers

Furthermore, this research can help brands have a concept about authenticity Entrepreneurs, Marketing managers, or businessman can make their recommendations about managing their business and future plans to be an authentic brand in order to express their value and attract more customers

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That is the reason why the researcher intends to research with the topic:

"FACTORS AFFECTING BRAND AUTHENTICITY IN F&B INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM – A CASE STUDY OF STARBUCKS IN HO CHI MINH CITY”

to discover the factors that influence brand authenticity to help businesses have a reference and improve their brand authenticity

Based on general objectives, there would some analysis about:

1 Identifying factors affecting brand authenticity of Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh city

2 Measuring the level of influence of each factor

3 Give out important managerial implications to improve brand authenticity Research questions

The research is conducted with a target to focus on solving these questions to have results that could be used in practice:

1 Which factors affecting the brand authenticity of Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh city?

2 Which factors affecting the brand authenticity of Starbucks the most?

3 Which managerial implications could be made to improve brand authenticity?

1.3 Research object and Research cope

Research object:

Factors affecting brand authenticity in the F&B industry in Viet Nam

Research scope:

Space scope: The research is concentrated on Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh city

Time scope: The thesis has been studied for 14 weeks

1.4 Methodology:

This research would use main methods: quantitive research, qualitative research

- Qualitative research method: The author forms the basis for the factors that affect the brand authenticity of Starbucks in HCMC through reviewing and analyzing a considerable amount of related research references Based on this foundation, the researcher has an in-depth interview with 10 participants who are consumers of Starbucks in HCMC Then interview 10 participants in

an in-depth discussion to adjust the research model

- Quantitive research method: The questionnaire would be conducted in HCMC to collect data The author will use the SPSS 20 software to process the collected data through the following steps:

o Describing research sample by statistics description

o Cronbach‟s Alpha analysis

3.3 Adjusting the research model

3.4 Building the scale

3.5 Data processing methods:

3.5.1 Cronbach's Alpha analysis:

3.5.2 EFA analyzing

3.5.3 Regression and ANOVA analyzing

Chapter 4: Research results

4.1 Samples descriptions

4.2 Reliability coefficients Cronbach‟s Alpha

4.2 EFA Analysing (Exploratory Factor Analysis):

Chapter 2 Literature review 2.1 Authenticity

2.1.1 Definition of Authenticity

The word “authenticity” according to Grayson & Martinec (2004) refered to the qualities of genuineness, truth, and reality Although the lack off an general definitions there are still hints to the meaning of authenticity, Grayson & Martinec (2004) expressed it to be “genuineness”, Lewis & Bridger (2001) refers it to

“uniqueness”, sincereness by Fine (2003) and original (Gilmore & Pine, 2007), these are most common things to say about authenticity Though the study of Wang (1999) is one of the most influential in authenticity research, he proposed authenticity existed in three forms objective, constructive, and existential In his study, the objective authenticity grounded on the “originality” of the objects while the constructive authenticity regard that authenticity achieves when objects are contrived and saw as “real” Wang (1999), on the other hand, criticizes both objective and constructive authenticity, claiming that they are unable to explain each person's motives and experiences As a result, Wang (1999) presents existential authenticity, which is more subjective than constructive authenticity since it is concerned with a person's subjective sensation and further defined by the individual's need for authentic and 'genuine' experiences

Authenticity appeared in a lot of different aspects due to its complicated definitions

2.1.2 Definitions of different perspectives of authenticity

Philosophers have noticed authenticity for a long time, a connection between people ethic and authenticity was explored Satre (1992) says “people are authentic when they take full responsibility for their life, choices and actions” Heidegger (1996) suggests an individual might be authentic or not be authentic depends on different contexts These philosophers all lead to one direction that people is considered authentic when they are sincere, they take responsibility for their own action, and make free choices based on their own feeling and thoughts instead accepting what society put on them

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Sociologist aim to explore authenticity by focus on individuals, how they act

to each others One characterize authentic to be "sincere, innocent, original, genuine, and unaffected" (Fine, 2003) To understand authenticity, the discrepancy between reality and subjectivity is pivotal (Guèvremont, 2015) The target is to understand how people think and create authenticity instead of put out a question about have they experienced it yet Authenticity is mentioned to be commodity not

“real” or can be objectively linked but rather a socially set up miracle, which is connected to expectances (Fritz et al., 2017)

Within the field of psychology, Kernis and Goldman (2006) proposed authenticity to be "awareness, unbiased processing, behavior, and relational orientation" According to Wood et al (2008) people are authentic when their behavior reflects their true self Thus, authenticity could be defined as how a person identified them self To support this reasoning, Deci and Ryan (2000) with self‐determination theory explain individuals are authentic when they act like themselves by their own thinking

2.2 Brand authenticity

2.2.1 Definition of brand authenticity

Although the definition of authenticity is diverse in many research disciplines In the marketing research literature, authenticity is perceived as an attribute of an object (Beverland, 2006) which followed with investigations on different areas and contexts of branding: luxury wines (Beverland, 2006), food (Beer, 2008), tourism (Grayson & Martinec, 2004), and many others (Brown et al., 2003), (Rose & Wood, 2005) (Leigh et al., 2006) (Beverland et al., 2008), all these research point out that authentic brands are perceived based on their „originality‟,

„realness‟, and „genuineness‟

The understanding of brand authenticity in the marketing field is heavily influenced by the conceptualization of Grayson & Martinec (2004) the contrast between indexical and iconic authenticity This research is based on Peirce‟s philosophy of signs (1998) as well as MacCannell‟s (1973) distinction between

„true‟ and „staged‟ authenticity in tourism, the researchers create a framework to look at how people evaluate authenticity, the goal of indexical authenticity is to distinguish a genuine object from its copy or counterfeit (Riefler, 2020) On the other hand, iconic authenticity refers to a more symbolic portrayal that depicts an idealized version of objects, it's an aura of objects with an experiencing quality that serves as a foundation for self-authentication (Riefler, 2020) This study has created

a framework that improves our comprehension of the authenticity formation process and has made a significant contribution to consumer research's understanding of authenticity

2.2.2 The concept of brand authenticity

Authenticity is a long history concept in various disciplines Authenticity is regularly linked to elements of being historically grounded and rooted in history and legacy, despite differences in conceptual definitions across multiple fields Brown et

al (2003) state that brands with a sense of history and a link to traditional cultures, locations, and core beliefs have a distinct identity that may contribute to their authenticity Brands that pursue authenticity as a core component of their identity may achieve a genuine aura of authenticity by sticking to their traditions and aiming for excellence in manufacturing and avoiding commercial attractions Moulard et al (2016) also advocate the idea that is brand managers have passion for their product not chasing commercial motivations that make an authentic brand

More recent research has looked at the operationalization of brand authenticity, creating scales and determining the components that constitute its dimension A scale where authenticity consisted of a set of four dimensions, namely, continuity, originality, reliability, and naturalness was proposed by Bruhn

et al (2012) Morhart et al (2015) developed a scale measuring consumers' perceived brand authenticity, which captured four dimensions: credibility, integrity, symbolism, and continuity Schallehn et al (2014) presented a model with three antecedents to authenticity: consistency, continuity, and individuality of a brand

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Moulard et al (2016) proposed a model with four antecedents of brand authenticity: uniqueness, scarcity (related to rare brand behaviors), longevity, and longitudinal consistency (related to stable brand behaviors) The work presented by Fritz et al., (2017), followed two distinct perceptual processes that contribute to the formation

of an authenticity evaluation: indexical and iconic pointed out that factors of brand authenticity are closely linked to the brand's history, employees/individuals who represent the brand, as well as consumers' self-identification with the idea that brand authenticity can be influenced by variables such as brand heritage, brand nostalgia, brand commercialization, brand clarity, brand's social commitment, brand legitimacy, actual self-congruence, and employee's passion

Despite similarities in these studies, there has been no agreement in defining the dimensions of authenticity This is uplifting the idea that authenticity is a flexible concept that may emerge in a variety of ways depending on the product or brand (Cohen, 1988) Furthermore, the findings on numerous authenticity dimensions support the idea that authenticity is determined by the people who evaluate an object or a brand, how they define it, and what specific cues from the circumstance are used in their evaluation (Beverland and Farrelly, 2010)

In conclusion, according to the researchers, there are different concepts of brand authenticity and it depends on which brand and product that studies focus on Based on Moulard et al (2016) model and Fritz et al., (2017) model the researcher proposes model research that includes variables: Uniqueness, Scarcity (related to rare brand behaviors), longevity and longitudinal consistency (related to stable brand behaviors), Brand legitimacy ( related to cultural fit), and Employee's Passion

to capture the potential effect of individuals representing the brand on authenticity evaluations to test out whether these factors are affecting Starbucks's brand authenticity

Figure 2.3.1 The research model of a journal titled "Authenticity in branding –

exploring antecedents and consequences of brand authenticity"

(Source: Fritz, K.,Schoenmueller, V and Bruhn, M., 2017)

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The research model of this article showed that brand authenticity can be influenced by 9 factors which are brand heritage, brand nostalgia, brand commercialization, brand clarity, brand‟s social commitment, brand legitimacy, actual self-congruence, ideal self-congruence, employee's passion The authors used quantitive and qualitative methods to do this research With the quantitive method, authors collected 509 data sets, 283 of its refers brands from the service and retail industry With the qualitative method, the authors used semi-structured interview questions to identify brands that differ with regard to perceived authenticity

Based on the results, the authors demonstrated that the company could influence brand authenticity through brand heritage, brand nostalgia, brand commercialization, brand clarity, brand‟s social commitment, brand legitimacy, actual self-congruence, employee‟s passion

 Julie Guidry Moulard, Randle D Raggio, Judith Anne Garretson Folse (2016) with journal titled “Brand Authenticity: Testing the Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Management's Passion for its Products”

Brand authenticity

Expected Quality Scarcity

The study was conducted with two samples for two studies (the first study had n

=136, the second study n = 155), the two samples consisted of undergraduate business students from a large university No student participated in both experiments

The study showed that the authors develop a conceptualization and model of brand authenticity grounded in self-determination theory, attribution theory, and extant authentic human brand research The four factors that affecting brand authenticity are two related to rare brand behaviors (uniqueness and scarcity), and two related to stable brand behaviors (longevity and longitudinal consistency)

 Mike Schallehn Christoph Burmann Nicola Riley, (2014) with journal titled "Brand authenticity: model development and empirical testing"

The study was conducted via a Web survey, using an online panel of a commercial market research company The final overall sample included 510

Brand authenticity Brand consistency

Brand individuality

Brand continuity

Brand trust

Figure 2.3 3 The model research with journal titled "Brand authenticity:

model development and empirical testing"

(Source: Schallehn, M., Burmann, C and Riley, N (2014)

2.4 Proposed model

2.4.1 Overview Starbucks case

The first Starbucks store debuted in Seattle's famous Pike Place Market in

1971, and it was intended to be a different sort of company that focused on a sense

of connection rather than just selling coffee The company's mission is "to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time

"(Starbucks, 2021) The company wants its stores to be a location where anybody can come and spend time while receiving outstanding service and drinking great drinks Starbucks employs 300,000 people and has 30,000 shops in over 80 countries as of June 30, 2019 The company has grown to become the world's largest specialty coffee roaster and retailer

Starbucks is a brand that is known for its value A lot of big companies

"survive" by using public relations But Starbucks chose a different way, Starbucks

is well-known for the identity of this brand Whenever someone mentions Starbucks, they are going to think about an overall good product The product here

is just not the drink but the service, the employee, the experience of customers They have authenticity from the top down, which means their leaders believe in their employees, they give their people the competencies and skills to provide such experience to their customers The success of Starbucks is not coming from the millions of dollars for advertisements instead they come from their customers, by providing such exceptional experiences, just walking through Starbucks ' front doors, customers joined in the journey of creating a more enjoyable life

Authenticity is a concept that is really important at Starbucks, it makes what Starbucks today, Howard Shultz the founder of Starbucks stated: "The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic"

2.4.2 Proposed model

Based on research model of Schallehn et al., (2014) includes Brand consistency, continuity, and individuality to be the factor affecting brand authenticity, the concept of these three factors are similar to the research model of Moulard et al., (2016) therefore, the author choose 4 antecedents: Uniqueness, Scarcity, Longevity, Longitudinal Consistency to be the factors in the proposed model The author also uses the research model of Fritz et al., (2017) to add Brand legitimacy, Employee's passion antecedents into the proposed model Thus, there 6 factors affecting brand authenticity in the author model: Uniqueness, Scarcity, Longevity, Longitudinal consistency, Brand legitimacy, Employee‟s passion The proposed model has an assumption that brand authenticity is influenced by the identified variables and that brand authenticity enhances the quality of consumer-brand relationships

Uniqueness is defined as how customers believe a brand is unique or different from the competitors (Moulard et al., 2016) The researcher defines scarcity as the belief

of customers about how a brand's products or services are not generally available or accessible (Moulard et al., 2016), this may be explained that the brand would not expand their sizes but to focus on their product The variable, longevity, focuses on the belief of customers that the brand has been existed for a long time (Moulard et al., 2016) The researcher defines the longitudinal consistency as the extent to which customers believe the brand has not changed with time (Moulard et al., 2016) Brand legitimacy, as a variable describing the consumer brand fit, is the degree to which a brand is integrated into a community's common set of values and conventions (Fritz et al., 2017) And finally, the factor employee‟s passion is used

as a measure of the brand's workers' perceived enthusiasm and willingness (Fritz et al., 2017)

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H4 H5

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Research hypotheses:

The importance of uniqueness has been indicated by research on the authenticity of people and brands Fine (2003) stated "authentic refers to the recognition of difference" and suggests that that the more uncommon the artist, the higher the value placed on their work Uniqueness was also found in the study of Moulard et al.'s (2014) to be a sub-dimension of rarity In their qualitative interview, celebrities who were autonomous innovative were viewed as authentic, while those who followed the crowd were perceived as inauthentic Thus, the research expects:

H1: Uniqueness has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

The brand that is not focused on expanding the sizes gives the consumer the impression that the brand is scarce Moreover, the brand that produces limited products is likely to be committed to their final result and take pride in that In Beverland's (2006) qualitative study on authentic wines, a participant noted

"scarcity has value and authentic wines are those that are difficult to find because they are made in small batches." Scarcity is similarly comparable to the concept of celebrity discretion proposed by Moulard et al (2015), which suggests in sub-dimension of rarity This backs up a popular press claim that over -commercialization and ubiquity may harm a brand's authenticity (Gilmore & Pine, 2007) Thus, the researcher expects:

H2: Scarcity has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

The importance of longevity is confirmed in brand authenticity research Australian winemakers highlight their lengthy history in an attempt to look authentic, according to Beverland and Luxton (2005) According to Morhart et al (2015), continuity is a dimension of brand authenticity Thus the researcher expect:

H3: Longevity has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

Brands that display longitudinal consistency convey continuity and a constant image This is supported by brand authenticity studies, according to Morhart et al.'s (2015), authentic brands are those that do not change In their study

of authenticity in the wine industry Beverland and Luxton (2005) highlight how wine producers stress using traditional methods to create an authentic image but in reality, they may actually use more advanced technology to produce the wine In addition, the findings of Moulard et al (2015) show that consistency is a sub-dimension of stability Thus, the researcher expects:

H4: Longitudinal consistency has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

According to self-determination theory, humans attempt to satisfy their desire for relatedness, which is defined as a sense of belonging and acceptance by significant others (Rose et al., 1994) According to Kates (2004), a more authentic brand impression may be ascribed to a brand's view as a legitimate entity Thus, the researcher expects:

H5: Brand legitimacy has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

Employee perception of customers is verified that have a positive connection between brand perception (Fritz et al., 2017) According to Grandey et al (2005), there is a link between the perceived authentic friendliness of service employees and customer satisfaction Thus the researcher expect:

H6: Employee's passion has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

Conclusions and implications Regression analysis, hypothesis testing

Adjust the scale

Evaluate the reliability of the scale:

Cronbach‟s alpha Correlated with total variable

Perform preliminary research by in-depth interview

In qualitative research, the data is qualitative It provides answers to the following questions: how what, and why

Furthermore, digital data is still used in qualitative research, although not for model running, but rather for supporting analysis

 In-depth interviews:

There are interviews between the researcher and consumers, experts, etc

- Structured or systematic interview

- Semi-structured interview

- Unstructured interview

 Observation method:

- Collect secondary data

- Conduct the survey

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analyzing concepts based on the theoretical background of previous research papers with related content The research was conducted on the consumer of Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City from November 2021 to December 2021

3.2.2 Quantitative method:

Quantitative research is defined as a study that quantifies, measures reflects, and explains connections between variables The goal is to quantify the elements that influence each goal and to evaluate their importance using numbers and statistics To generalize study findings, a random distribution and a representative sample are also used

The quantitative method can provide information for summarizing the distribution of the qualities and attributes in the study, analyzing their connections, and finding the causal relationship

Some limitations of this method:

- Human behavior (behavioral research) is not unclear

- Research is not always objectives since it is influenced by a variety of factors

- Various interpretations and meanings exist for standardized scales

 Quantitative approach process:

- Stand out hypotheses and research questions

- Decide on the data collecting and processing method

- Present the research findings in terms of statistics

Quantitative data:

- Data is used to clarify variables into groups (number, ratio, level, etc)

- The variables are classified into physical (temperature, mass), psychological (attitude, anxiety) and social

 Data collection in quantitative research:

There are some methods to collect the data:

- Measurement

- Questionnaire

 Quantitative analysis:

- Statistics and description

- Relationship analysis (correlation analysis, factor analysis, regression analysis)

- Differential analysis (differential testing, ANOVA analysis)

 Standards in quantitative research:

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In this research, the researcher used a quantitative method to analyze by applying the questionnaire survey to people that are Starbucks ' consumers in Ho Chi Minh City The questions should be easy to understand in order to obtain more reliable data

There will be questions with Likert scales of 1 to 5 that stand for :

In addition, the sample size should be as large as possible, which would be used for those who do not react or respond insufficiently (Leedy & Ormrod, 2013) Therefore, the research selected about 200 samples This study was conducted to collect data to test hypotheses made by the researcher in the model

Table 3.2.2a The hypothesis have positive effect on brand authenticity of

Starbucks

3.3 Adjusting model research

In order to come up with a suitable model and scale, the author conducted a discussion (in-depth interview) with 10 research subjects The discussion took place based on the prepared questionnaire In the discussion, factors that affect brand authenticity in the F&B industry were initially proposed, including the following factors: Uniqueness, Scarcity Longevity, Longitudinal consistency, Brand legitimacy, Employee‟s passion

H1 Uniqueness has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

H2 Scarcity has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

H3 Longevity has a positive effect on brand authenticity of Starbucks

H4 Longitudinal consistency has a positive effect on brand authenticity

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The results of the discussion shows:

Uniqueness factor is an important factor affecting brand authenticity is agreed by 9/10 members The uniqueness of the brand is a crucial factor, this is how the brand differentiates itself from competitors which gain attention from customers Therefore, the factor Uniqueness is fit perfectly and will be kept in the model for further analysis

Scarcity factor, this factor is agreed by 7/10 members in the discussion The result shows that scarcity is a factor affecting brand authenticity Scarcity of the brand could make people want to try it more because it is not a common thing, this keeps customer interest in the brand, it creates an appearance to consumers that business isn't primarily focused on rapid expansion Therefore, the factor Scarcity is fit with this research and will be kept in the model for further analysis

Longevity, this factor is agreed by 7/10 members in the discussion The result shows that Longevity is a factor affecting brand authenticity The persistence

of a brand, or the management's pursuit of activity over an extended length of time, can be a sign of brand management's conviction and enthusiasm Therefore, the factor Longevity is fit with this research and will be kept in the model for further analysis

Longitudinal consistency, this factor is agreed by 7/10 members in the discussion The result shows that longitudinal consistency is a factor affecting brand authenticity The image of the brand remains unchanged from the beginning about the value of the brand despite changes in products, ingredients Therefore, the factor Longitudinal consistency is fit with this research and will be kept in the model for further analysis

Brand legitimacy, this factor is agreed by 7/10 members in the discussion The result shows that Brand legitimacy is a factor affecting brand authenticity When the customers feel that the brand understands them, have a connection with

their beliefs that make customers think that the brand is authentic Therefore, the factor of Brand legitimacy is fitted with this research and will be kept in the model for further analysis

Employee's passion, this factor is agreed by 8/10 members in the discussion The result shows that Employee's passion is a factor affecting brand authenticity When the employees work right to the value of the brand makes customers feel that the brand is authentic Therefore, the factor Employee‟s passion is fit with this research and will be kept in the model for further analysis

H4 H5

3.4 Building the scale

This study uses the in-depth interview method to assess the level of understanding of the question content and response form Due to limited time and resources, the group discussion method could not be used for this step

The questionnaire consists of four parts: introduction, personal information, content, and closing

Based on the results of the in-depth interview incorporating the scales in the research model of Moulard et al., (2016), the scales in research model by Fritz et al., (2017), measurement of factors influencing the brand authenticity were developed

by the author

The scale is developed in the form of a Likert scale 5 (1 is Completely Disagree and 5 is Completely Agree) as follows:

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3.4.1 Scale of Uniqueness:

Based on the research of Moulard et al (2016), the author build the scale of uniqueness to have 4 scales: these 4 scales was adapted from Moulard et al (2016) and modified by the author

Table 3.4.1 Scale of Uniqueness

Source: Author‟s compilation