The effect of some marketing mix elements on brand awareness and brank image luận văn thạc sĩ

1.1 Introduction1.2 Research Background1.3 Research Motives1.4 Research Ojective1.5 Research Procedure Chapter1:Introduction 1.1 Introduction Thischapterportraysgeneralintroductionforthe

HoChiMinhCity–2011

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thisthesisisdedicatedtomyfamily,friends,professorsandclassmatesfortheirsupportandencouragementthroughoutmyacademiccareer.Recently,thesepeoplehavetouchedmylifeinmanydifferentways

Firstandforemost,IwouldliketogivespecialthankstoDr.TranHaMinhQuanforbeinganexcellentprofessor,advisor,thesiscommitteechair,andmentor.Iappreciatealltheinsightandtimeheputintohelpingmewithmythesis.Iamalsogratefultohimforteachingmethebasics,andadvancingmyknowledgeandexpertise.I’dliketothankDangHuuPhuc,whohelpedmeinthedataanalysis

ManythanksmyprofessorsandclassmatesinMBAclass,Batch17fortheirvaluableandenthusiasticsupportforthisresearchstudy

Myspecialgratitudeisextendedtoallinstructors,staffandstudentsatFacultyofBusinessAdministration,UniversityofTechnologyHoChiMinhCity(HUTECH)fortheirsupportandthevaluableknowledgeduringmystudy

Lastbutnotleast,thedeepestandmostsinceregratitudegotomybelovedparents,myhusband,mydaughterandmyclosestfriendsfortheirboundlesssupport,abundantloveandencouragementthroughoutmyperiodofstudy

I,therefore,dedicatethisworkasagifttothemall

ABSTRACT

Themarketingeffortorientatedtotowardsstrengtheningthebrandmeanstoincreasethedegreeofknowledgeofthebrandname.Inthispaperwewanttoshowtherelationshipbetweenmarketingeffortandbrandawarenessandbrandimage

asthebrand'santecedents-onbrandawarenessand

Startingoutfromatheoreticalreview,wesetoutamodelofeffectsofthemarketingeffort-brandimage.InordertotestthedefinedstructuralmodelandresearchhypothesesempiricalresearchwasconductedonthesampleofundergraduatestudentsoftheFacultyofBusinessAdministrationinUniversityofTechonology

Thestructuralmodeloftheeffectsofmarketingmixelementsonbrandequityisdefinedinlinewiththeexistingtheoreticalfindings.Researchhypothesesaredefinedaccordingtotheidentifiedstructuralmodel.Researchresultsindicatethatthestructuralmodelhasanacceptableleveloffittotheempiricaldata.Theestimatedstructuralcoefficientsandindirecteffectcoefficientsindicatethedirectionandintensityofeffectsofeachanalysedelementofmarketingmixonbrandawarenessandbrandimage.Finally,implicationsofresearchresultsforthetheoryandpracticeofbrandmanagementareanalysedanddiscussed

KEYWORDS:BrandImage,BrandAwareness,marketingeffort,MeasurementModel.

TABLEO F CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I ABSTRACT II TABLEOFCONTENTS III LISTOFFIGURES V LISTOFTABLES VI

1 Chapter1:Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 ResearchBackground 1

1.3 ResearchMotives 3

1.4 Problemstatement 4

1.5 ResearchOjective 4

1.6 Researchmethodologyanddesign 5

1.7 ResearchProcedure 6

2 Chapter2:Literaturereview 7

2.1 Introduction 7

2.2 Brand 7

2.2.1 BrandAwareness 9

2.2.2 Brandimage 11

2.3 Marketingefforts 13

2.3.1 Advertising 13

2.3.2 Distributionintensity 14

2.3.3 Storeimage 15

2.3.4 Pricedeals 16

2.4 Relationshipbetweenmarketingeffortandbrandawareness andbrandimage 17

2.5 Conclusion 21

3 Chapter3:Methodology 22

3.1 Introduction 22

3.2 Researchdesign 23

3.3 Itemgeneration 25

3.3.1 Introduction 25

3.3.2 Operationalizationofmeasures 25

3.4 Preliminarystudy 29

3.5 Mainsurvey 32

3.5.1 Brandselection 32

3.5.2 Sampling 32

3.6 Conclusion 33

4 Chapter4:Researchresults 34

4.1 Introduction 34

4.2 Descriptionsofsample 34

4.3 Scalesassessment 36

4.3.1 Reliabilitytesting 36

4.3.2 Exploratoryfactoranalysis 38

4.4 Testingtheresearchmodelandthehypotheses 42

4.4.1 Testingcorrelationsbetweenallconstructs 42

4.4.2 Testingresearchmodel 42

4.4.2.1 Therelationshipbetweenmarketingeffortsandthebrandawareness.42 4.4.2.2 Therelationshipbetweenmarketingeffortsandthebrandimage 46

4.5 Testingtheeffectofbrandawarenessandbrandimageontheyearincollege:49 4.6 Findingsandconclusion 51

4.6.1 Findings 51

4.6.2 Conclusion 51

5 Chapter5:Conclusionsandimplications 53

5.1 Introduction 53

5.2 Conclusionsofthestudy 53

5.2.1 Summaryofallhypotheses 53

5.2.2 Conclusionsofthestudy 54

5.3 Implicationsof thestudy 57

5.4 Limitationsandrecommendationsforfurtherresearch 58

ListofReferences 60

Appendix1–Questionnaire(Vietnameseversion) 63

Appendix2-DescriptiveStatisticsofvariables 67

LISTOFFIGURES

Figure1-1:Outlineofchapter1 1

Figure1-2:Structureofthestudy 6

Figure2-1:ThestructureofChapter2 7

Figure2-2:DimensionsofBrandKnowledge,Keller(1993) 9

Figure2-3:Modelofeffectsofmarketingeffortsonbrandawarenessandbrandimage 21

Figure3-1:Outlineofchapter3 22

Figure3-2:Researchprocess 24

Figure4-1:Outlineofchapter4 34

Figure4-2:Whetherusedmotocycles 36

Figure4-3:Owningbrand 36

Figure4-4:Relationshipsbetweenperceivedadvertisingspending,distributionintensityandthebrand awareness 42

Figure4-5:ResultsofmodelI 45

Figure4-6:Relationshipsbetweenmarketingeffortsandbrandimage 46

Figure4-7:ResultsofmodelII 48

Figure4-8:Adjustedthestructuralmodelofimpactofmarketingeffortonbrandawarenessandbrandim age 52

Figure5-1:Outlineofchapter5 53

Table3-1:Measuresofperceivedadvertisingspending 26

Table3-2:Measuresofdistributionintensity 27

Table3-3:Measuresofbrandimage 27

Table3-4:Measuresofpricedeals 28

Table3-5:Measuresofbrandimage 28

Table3-6:Measuresofbrandawareness 29

Table3-7:The finalquestionnaire 30

Table4-1:Samplecharacteristics 35

Table4-2:Reliabilityofthemeasurementinstrument 37

Table4-3:Rotatedcomponentmatrix 40

Table4-4:EFAresultforindividualmeasurementscales 41

Table4-5:Thecorrelationsamongthedimensionsofbrandequity 43

Table4-6:Theresultsoflinearregressionanalysis_ModelI 44

Table4-7:Summaryofhypothesestestingresults(ModelI) 45

Table4-8:Theresultsoflinearregressionanalysis_ModelII 46

Table4-9:Summaryofhypothesestestingresults(ModelII) 48

Table 4-10:MultipleComparisons 50

Table5-1:Summaryofhypotheses 54

1.1 Introduction1.2 Research Background1.3 Research Motives1.4 Research Ojective1.5 Research Procedure

Chapter1:Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Thischapterportraysgeneralintroductionforthecurrentstudywithwhichresearchbackground,researchmotives,researchobjectives,andresearchproceduresareprovidedastherationaleforthisstudy.Anintroductiontothemethodologytobeusedandthescopeofthestudyisalsoaddressedinthischapter.Attheendofthechapter,thestructureofthisstudyisprovided

TheOutlineofthischapterisshowninfigure1.1

Figure1-1:Outlineofchapter1

1.2 ResearchBackground

Kathman(2002)describedtheimportanceofbrandbuildingbasedontoday’smarketsituation.Theauthorsaidthatastheuseofnewmedia(e.g.,internet),therateoftransformationinmarketplace,andthespeedofglobalizationincrease,theroleofbrandingbecomesmoreimportantthananyotherseason.Kathmanaddedthatmarketfragmentation,productdiversity,andshort-life-

cyclebrandsalsoshowtheimportanceofbuildingbrandequityinthepresentmarketsituation.Theauthor

Studiesonbrandingissuereceivethegreatattentioninmarketingareainothercountries.Thegrowinginterestisreflectedintheproliferatingconferences,articles,andpressattentiononbranding,aswellasthecompanies’hugeinvestmentsonthisarea.Brandsarepowerfulstrategicweaponswhich,ifhandledcorrectlyandmanagedsensibly,canprovidetheirownerswithconsiderablerewardsintermsofmarketsharegrowthandcorporateprofitability(Aaker,1996)

Brandinghasalwaysbeencrucialforanyonewhowantstosellsomethingtogaincredibility(Keller,2003).Yet,theconceptofabrandwhichrepresentsthespecificso f aproductoracompany,likeanamewhichdescribesthecharacterofthepersonitbelongsto,isanewoneinVietnam.MostVietnamesefirmsaresmallormediumsizedandhavenotdealtwithproblemsrelatedtothebrandingissue.ThemediahadnothighlightedituntilseveralVietnamesebrandswererecentlyappropriatedoverseas(VnExpress,2002;VET,2003)

Thesevereshortageofcommoditiesinthelate1980sandearly1990sconsolidatedmanufacturer’slackofawarenessaboutbranding,particularlybearinginmindthelowpercapitaincomeofVietnamesepeople.Butthemushroomingofnewproducersandservicesuppliersandthearrivalofforeigncompetitorshascausedthingstochangedrastically.Anabundanceofgoodsandservicesofhigherquality,advancedtechnologies,andshorterproductlifespanshaveforcedlocalbusinessestothinkseriouslyaboutbuildingbrandswhichcangivethemlongtermandsustainabledevelopment(VET,2003).Rightnow,buildingbrandsisaveryimportantissueindevelopingcountryasVietnam,anditcanbeconsideredtobeausefultopicforconceptualdevelopmentandmanagerialrelevance

Inseveralstudies,brandawarenessandimageareconsideredthemostimportant

1.3 ResearchMotives

Todate,therehavebeenanumberofstudiesthathaveattemptedtoexaminehowconsumersthinkabout,respondto,andclassifybrandswithintheirminds.Brandingliteraturehasprovidedtheoreticalperspectivestohelpmarketersunderstandtheconstructofbrand

Brande q u i t y hasb e c o m e a h o t t o p i c forc h i e f e x e c u t i v e s , accountantsa n d academicsasitistippedtojoinothercriticalmeasuresoflong-

termbusinessperformance.Atthesametime, the'knowledgeeconomy'isbecominganacceptedframeworkformanagementthinking,planningandorganisation.Itisperhapssurprising,therefore,thatthedesignatedmarketing functioninsomanycompanies hasdonesolittletoa d v a n c e them a n a g e m e n t o f o n e oftheirm o s t value-addingactivities-brandknowledge

Indeed,itisn e a r l y 4 0 y e a r s sinceT h e o d o r e Levittpointedo u t theuniqueperspective

o f marketing:" T h e differenceb e t w e e n marketingandsellingismorethansemantic.Sellingfocusesontheneedsoftheseller,marketingontheneedsofthebuyer.Sellingispreoccupiedwiththeseller'sneedtoconverttheproductintocash,marketingw i t h theideaof satisfyingt h e needso f thecustomerb y meansoftheproductandthewholeclusterofthingsassociatedwithcreating,delivering,andfinallyconsumingit.”Duringthosefourdecades,marketingdepartmentshaveg r o w n assubstantiallyastheirbudgets,hugequantitiesofd

a t a s w a m p thebrandteamsandyettheevidencesuggeststheyhavenotstrengthenedtheirgripon'knowingandunderstanding'theirusersbetter.Over thesameperiodthereputationo f themarketingfunctionhasdeclinedinmanycompanies

1.4 Problemstatement

Basedontheimportanceofbrandawarenessandbrandimagetothecompany’ssurviving,wemanagetoinvestigatetowhatextentthestudentsknowaboutthebrandofmotocyces(brandawareness)andwhatkindsperceptionofthebrandofmotocyclesasreflectedbythebrandassociationheldintargetcustomers’memory(brandimage)

1.5 ResearchOjective

Theaimofthispaperistofindouttheeffectofthemarketingeffort,measuredbymeansoftheperceptionsoftheconsumers,ontwodimensionsofbrandequity:brandawarenessandbrandimage.Thispaperisincludedwithinamajorinvestigationthatseekstodevelopandtocontrastamodelwhichallowsthemeasurementofthebrandequitythrough:theinfluenceofthemarketingeffortofthecompanies(measuredbymeansofactionsofprices,product,distributionandcommunication)ondimensionsofbrandequity-

brandawarenessandbrandimage.Themarketingeffort,translatedpartiallyto(1)perceivedadvertisingspending,(2)distributionintensity,

(3)storeimageand(4)Pricedeals,isconsideredas(a)antecedentintheformationofthelevelofknowledgeofthebrandname(Rossiter

&Percy,1987;Aaker,1991)and(b)determinantoftheassociationslinkedtoitsimage(Alba&Hutchinson,1987;Yoo,Donthu&Lee,2000)

Fromthetheoreticalreviewonbrandvalueweconstructatheoreticalmodelofcausalrelationshipsbetweenthemarketingeffortsandthedimensionsofbrandequity_brandawarenessandbrandimage.Thisisdefinedasasetofassetsandliabilitieslinkedtothebrand,whichaddsorsubtractsvaluetoorfromaproductinitsrelationshipswithcustomers(Aaker,1991).Tocontrastthemodel,thelinearregressionmodelisapplied

(2000),weanalysehoweachofthecomponentsofbrandequityisaffectedpreviouslybytheperceptionofthemarketaboutthemarketingeffortthecompanydevelopsconcerningbrands

Toverifyourmodelwecarryoutanempiricalresearchofaconsumers'sampleofadurablegoods(motocycle)whichwesubmittedtoaquestionnaireofattitudes.Onceitsreliabilityandvaliditywasdetermined,thisquestionnairecouldbeusedfortheapplicationofthestructuralmodel

b e measuredi n thepilotquantitatives t u d y fortheirrelevanceandreliability.Finally,themainsurveywascarriedouttotesttheresearchhypotheses,answerresearchquestionsandfulfillresearchobjectives

Cronbachalphawasused tomeasurethereliabilityofthescale,exploratoryfactoranalysiswasappliedtoidentifiedcorrectfactorsandmultiplelinearregressionwasperformedtotestthesignificantrelationshipbetweeneachmarketingelementsdimensiononbrandawarenssandbrandimage

Identifying Research Objectives

Collecting and Exploring Related Literature

Establishing Research Framework

2.1 Introduction2.2 Brand2.3 Marketing efforts2.4 Relationship between marketing mix and brand awareness and brand image

Customer-basedbrandequityiscenteredontheideaofhowaconsumer’sknowledgeofthebrandaffectstheconsumer’sresponsetothebrand’smarketingactivity(Aaker,1991;Keller,1993).FromtheperspectiveoftheCustomer-

basedBrandEquitymodel,brandknowledgeisthekeytocreatingbrandequity,becauseitcreatesthedifferentialeffectthatdrivesbrandequity.Whatmarketersneed,then,isaninsightfulwaytorepresenthowbrandknowledgeexistsinconsumermemory.A n influentialmodelofmemorydevelopedbypsychologistsishelpfulinthatregard.Theassociativenetworkmemorymodelviewsmemoryasanetworkofnodesandlinks,inwhichnodesrepresentstoredinformationorconceptsandlinksrepresentthestrengthofassociationbetweenthisinformationorconcepts.Anytypeo f informationcanbestoredinthememorynetwork,includinginformationthatisverbal,visual,abstractorcontextualinnature.Consistentwiththeassociativenetworkmemorymodel,brandknowledgeisconceptualizedhereasconsistingofabrandnodeinmemorywithavarietyofassociationslinkedtoit.Inparticular,Keller(1993)suggeststhatbrandknowledgeconsistsoftwocomponents-brandawarenessandbrandimage–

whicharediscussedindetailinthenexttwosections

Brand Knowledge

Brand Recognition

Brand Recall

Functional None

Product Related

Product Related

Experiential

Symbolic

User Imagery UsageImagery

Figure2-2:DimensionsofBrandKnowledge,Keller(1993).

2.2.1 BrandAwareness

Theeaseandlikelihoodtowhichabrandnamecomestominddescribestheconceptofbrandawareness(Keller,1993).Brandawarenessreflectsthestrengthofa brand’spresenceintheconsumer’sminds(Pappu,Quester,&Cooksey,2005),

anditisrelatedtothestrengthofthebrandnodeortraceinmemoryinrelationtotheconsumer’sabilitytoidentifythebrandinvariousconditions(Rossiter&Percy,1987).Brandawarenesscanbedemonstratedintheformsofbrandrecallandbrandrecognition(Keller,1993).Brandrecalloccurswhenthebrandnameisevokedbymemoryinresponsetoacuesuchasaproductcategoryname(Hutchinson&Raman,1994).Distinguishablefrombrandrecall,brandrecognitioncanbeconceptualizedastheconsumer’sabilitytoverifypreviousexposuretothebrandw h e n thebrandisgivenasacue(Keller,1993).Inotherwords,brandrecognitionoccurswhentheconsumerisexposedtothebrandandisabletoidentifyitasbeingseenorheardpreviously(Hutchinson&Raman,1994;Keller,1993)

Researchershaveconsideredrecallasahigherlevelofmemoryperformancethanrecognition(Aaker,1991,Washburn&Plank,2002).Inotherwords,ifaconsumerisabletorecallabrandoutsideastorewhengiventheproductcategoryasacue,thentheconsumersurelycanrecognizethebrandwhenexposedtoitinastore(Keller,1993,Rossiter&Percy,1987)

Aaker(1991)explainsbrandawarenessashavingmanylevelsrangingfromrecognition(beingidentifiedasseenorheardpreviously)atthelowestlevel,tobrandrecall(beingevokedinaresponsetoacuesuchasproductcategory)atmidlevel,tothehighestlevel,thedominantbrandortheonlybrandthatcanberecalledb y aconsumerdirectlyfrommemory(highlevelofawareness),itcanbeassumedthattheconsumershouldbeabletorecognizethebrandwhenexposedtoabrand(thelowlevelofawareness).Brandrecallandbrandrecognitionprovidecuestotheconsumerwhichaiddeterminingthesetofbrandstobeconsideredforconsumption(Baker,Hutchinson,Moore,&Nedungadi,1986).Brandrecallandbrandrecognitionhavebeenexploredtodetermineageneralunderstandingofthebrandawarenessconstruct

2.2.2 Brandimage

Alongwithbrandawareness,brandimageisanimportantcomponentofbrandknowledge(Keller,1993).Brandimagehasbeenconceptualizedasperceptionsaboutabrandasreflectedbythebrandassociationsoranythingthatislinkedtothebrandinaconsumers’memory(Aaker,1991;Keller,1993).Brandimageisshapedb y theassociationsmadebyconsumersandisusedtodifferentiatebrandsinaproductcategory

Brandassociationscontainmeaningsaboutabrandfortheconsumer(Keller,1993).Abrand’simageresultsfromthefavorability,strength,anduniquenessofbrandassociationsthatareheldbytheconsumer(Grace&O’Cass,2002;Keller,1993).Positiveanduniquebrandassociationsthatarestronglyheldbyconsumersenableconsumerstobuildstrong,favorableattitudesandemotionstowardabrand(Aaker,1991)

Brandassociationsmayincludeattitudes,attributes,andbenefitsaboutabrand(Fairclothetal.,2001;Keller,1993).First,brandattitude,ortheoverallevaluationaconsumerhasofabrand(Wilkie,1986),mayresultfromtheconsumer’sperceptionsofbrandassociationsinregardstothebrand(Aaker,1991;Keller,1993).Beliefsrelatedtoproduct/non-

productattributes,brandbenefits,andqualityperceptionshavebeendiscussedasprimaryinfluencesofbrandattitude(Zeithaml,1988).Brandattitudefunctionsasapointofreferencewhentheconsumerisexposedtothebrandbyhavingadirectinfluenceonconsumption(Lutz,1991)

Next,whataconsumerthinkstheproductisordescriptivefeaturesthatcharacterizetheproductarereferredtoasattributes(Keller,1993).Attributescanb e groupedintotwotypes:product-relatedandnon-

productrelated.Productrelatedattributesarethosethat“relatetoaproduct’sphysicalcomposition,”(Keller,1993,

p.4).Product-relatedattributionscouldbedirectlylinkedtotheproductperformance.Nonproductrelatedattributeshavebeendefinedas“externalaspectso f theproductorservicethatrelatetoitspurchaseorconsumption”(Keller,1993,

p.4).Forexample,userimageryisanon-productrelatedattributethatabrandmightposseswhenassociatedwithcharacteristicssuchasuserdemographicsandpsychographics(Keller,1993).Anothernon-

productattributeexampleisusageimagery,whichallowstheconsumertoassociatethebrandwiththetypicalsituationinwhichtheproductwouldbeusedsuchastimeofday,thelocation,orparticularactivities(Keller,1993).Userandusageimageryattributesmayhelptoformulatebrandpersonality,whichisatypeofbrandassociationthatcaptures“humancharacteristicsthatareassociatedwithabrand”(Aaker,1997,p.347).Personalitydescriptorsgiventothebrandareoftenanoutcomeofinferencesthataremadeabouttheusersorusageofthebrandoracombinationofboth(Plummer,1985).F i n a l l y , brandbenefitsarewhatconsumersthinktheproductorservicecandofort h e m andreflectthepersonalvaluethatconsumersattachtothebrand(Keller,1993).Benefitsmaybefunctional,symbolic,orexperiential(Park,Jaworski,&MacInnis,1986).Functionalbenefitsmorecommonlysatisfyneedsassociatedwithp r

o b l e m removalorprevention(Kim,Forsythe,Gu,&Moon,2002).Symbolicbenefitstendtoberelatedtonon-

productrelatedattributesandoftenassociatedw i t h underlyingneedsofsocialapproval,self-esteem,andself-

concept(Keller,1993;Solomon,1983).Experientialbenefitsrelatespecificallytohowaconsumerfeelswhenusingtheproductandoftensatisfycognitivestimulationandsensorypleasureneeds(Orth&DeMarchi,2007).Keller(1998)proposedthatbrandequitycomesfromtheeffectsofbrandmarketingwhichwasregardedasconsumerbrandknowledge.Heshowedthatbrandknowledgeisonekindofmemorymodeofassociativenetworkswhicharecomposedofbrandawarenessandbrandimage.Hesuggestedthatbrandimagesarereflectedbytypesofbrandassociations,favorabilityofbrandassociations,strengthofbrandassociations,anduniquenessofbrandassociations.Brandimageisaresultofconsumersdecodingofallthesignalsdeliveredbythebrandsuchasbrandname,visualsigns,products,sponsoring,andadvertising(Kapferer,1994).Danesi(2006)proposesthattheuseofbrandnameenablesconsumersnotonlytorecognizecertaingoodsanddistinguishthemfrom

2.3 Marketingefforts

Anymarketingeffortwillbepositivelyrelatedtobrandequitywhenitleadstoamorefavorablebehavioralresponsetothefocalproductthantotheequivalentunbrandedproduct.Asproposedintheconceptualframework,managerialeffortsmanifestedincontrollablemarketingactionsarerelatedtobrandequitythroughthemediationofthedimensionsofbrandequity.Therefore,tocreate,tomanage,andtoexploitbrandequity,therelationshipsofmarketingeffortstothedimensionsofbrandequitymustbedetermined

Weinvestigateconsumers'perceptionsoffourselectedstrategicmarketingelements:advertising,pricedeals,storeimageanddistributionintensity.Theselectedfactorsdonotembracealltypesofmarketingeffortsbutarerepresentativeenoughtodemonstratetherelationshipsbetweenmarketingeffortsandbrandawarenessandbrandimage

2.3.1 Advertising

Advertisingoriginatedfromtheword“adverture”inLatinlanguagemeansattractiveness,charmandallurement.AccordingtotheVietnamesedictionary,Advertisingmeans“propagandize,introducegoods,servicesorundertakingstoconsumersinmanywaywiththepurposeofpersuadingthemtobuythesegoodsorservicesandthuspromotethegoodsandservices”.AccordingtotheOxforddictionary,advertisingisdrawingattentiontoordescribingfavourably(goodsorservices)inapublicmediumtopromotesalesormakingthemgenerallyorpubliclyk n o w n , orseekingbypublicnoticetomakethemsoknown.Advertisingisapaidformofanonpersonalmessagecommunicatedbybusinessfirms,non-

profitorganizations,orindividualsandistransmittedtoatargetaudiencethroughmass

transitvehicles.Themainobjectivesofadvertisingisinformingandpersuadingconsumerstopurchasespecificbrandsofferedbytheadvertisers,therebygettingprofits.However,advertisingisalsousedtoinform,educateandmotivatethepublicaboutnon-

commercialissues,suchasAIDS,politicalideology,energyconservation,religiousrecruitment,deforestationandcharity.Thus,asfaraslanguagealoneisconcerned,thenotionofadvertisingnotonlycoversthegivingofinformationaboutgoodsandservicestopromotesalesbutalsoitsusetoinform,propagandizeandmotivatethepublicregardingsocialandculturallife

2.3.2 Distributionintensity

Distributionintensityhasbeencommonlydefinedasthenumberofintermediariesusedbyamanufacturerwithinitstradeareas(cf.BonomaandKosnik1990;Corey,Cespedes,andRangan1989;Stern,El-

Ansary,andCoughlan1996).Sometimescalled“place”(causingthemarketingmixtobereferredtoasthe“fourPs”),distributionisalsoconcernedwiththephycicalmovementofproducts.Withdistribution,marketingmanagersareconcernedwithmarketingstructureandchannelsofdistribution_thosewholesalers,distributors,retailers,agents,andotherresponsibleforgettinggoodsandservicestocustomers

Idealdistributionintensitywouldmakeabrandavailablewidelyenoughtosatisfy,butnotexceed,targetcustomers'needs,becauseoversaturationincreasesmarketingcostswithoutprovidingbenefits(McCarthyandPerreault1984)

Therearethreebroadoptions-intensive,selectiveandexclusivedistribution:

Intensivedistributionaimstoprovidesaturationcoverageofthemarketbyusingallavailableoutlets.Formanyproducts,totalsalesaredirectlylinkedtothenumberofoutletsused(e.g.cigarettes,beer).Intensivedistributionisusuallyrequiredwhere

Selectivedistributioninvolvesaproducerusingalimitednumberofoutletsinageographicalareatosellproducts.Anadvantageofthisapproachisthattheproducercanchoosethemostappropriateorbest-

performingoutletsandfocuseffort(e.g.training)onthem.Selectivedistributionworksbestwhenconsumersarepreparedto"shoparound"-inotherwords-

theyhaveapreferenceforaparticularbrandorpriceandwillsearchouttheoutletsthatsupply

Exclusivedistributionisanextremeformofselectivedistributioninwhichonlyonewholesaler,retailerordistributorisusedinaspecificgeographicalarea

2.3.3 Storeimage

Storeimagehasalonghistoryofchangingconceptualizations.Thischangeindicatesthedifficultiesthatresearchershaveindefiningtheconstruct(e.g.,Sewell,1974).Martineau(1958)isthefirstonethatputtheconceptofstoreimageintoretailbusiness.Hefirstdefinedstorepersonalityorimageasfollows.Thewayconsumersdefinetheirfavoritestoreisbasedonthefunctionsandcharacteristicsofstore,auraofpsychologicalattributes,store’satmosphere,andstore’sadvertising,etc.Functionsandcharacteristicsofstoreincludechoiceofproduct,priceofproduct,customerservice,andqualityofproduct,etc.Auraofpsychologicalattributesandstore’satmosphereincludethefriendlyserviceofemployees,greatsmileofcashiers,oranyinterestingactivitiesfromstore

HirschamnandandKrishnan(1981)statedthatstoreimagemeansconsumer’sgeneralconceptofvalueconsciousnesswhenheorshecompareshisorherfavoritestorewithothers.Incurrentyears,therearelotsofconvenientstores,supermarkets,andhypermarketsinretailbusiness.Tobeabletocompetewithothers,retailershaveestablishedmanydifferentkindsofstoreimagestoattractmoreloyalcustomers,andtherefore,howtocreateagoodstoreimageisoneofthemost

Althoughretailershavebeenusinglow-pricestrategytopromotestorebrandproductforalongtime,moreandmoreretailersstarttoimplementmarketingstrategybyusingstoreimageincurrentyears.Retailershavenoticedthatmostconsumersdonotknowwhatkindofproductbrandtheyreallywantbeforeshopping,theyusuallydecidewhatkindofproductbrandtobuywhentheyareshoppinginretailstore.Ifretailershaveagoodstoreimage,theycouldattractmorecustomers(Chang,1992).Inaddition,consumers’purchasingbehaviorwillincreasew h e n retailershaveabetterstoreimage.(Chen,1996)Moreover,consumersarewillingtospendmoremoneyandgoshoppingagaininretailsoreifretailershaveagoodstoreimage(Lin,1994)

2.3.4 Pricedeals

Pricepromotionsarerelatedtopricedealsforafixednumberortheincreaseofthenumberofproductswiththesameamountofmoney(Blattberg,BrieshandFox,1995;RaghubirandCorfman,1999).Inbrief,customerscangetsameitemsatalowerpriceorgetextraitemsatthesameprice.Sincepricepromotionscreatehighervalues,theycanserveaseconomicmotivationforcustomerstobuyproducts;therefore,manyretailersofteninitiatepricepromotionstostimulatetheneedorencouragenonuserstotrycertainproducts(GerstnerandHess,1992

;RaghubirandCorfman,1999)

Pricepromotionsaredominantformsinsalespromotionsintoday’smarket(Buzzell,QuelchandSalmon,1990).However,manyproblemsrelatedtopricepromotionsareraisedanddiscussed.RaghubirandCorfman(1999)indicatethatpricepromotionsmaymakecustomersassociatedpromotedproductswithlowqualitysothattheyfailtoachievethesalesgrowth.GedenkandNeslin(1999)alsoarguethatpricediscountsmaybringadetrimentalimpactonfuturebrandpreferences.Similarly,Grewal,Krishnan,Baker,andBorin(1998a)implythatfrequentpricediscountingmaydiminishcustomers’perceptiono f value.Besides,somestudiesdemonstratethatpricereductionscanlowerreferencepricesofcustomers,whichleadtothereductionofprofitability(Blattbergetal,1995;HardestyandBearden,2003).

2.4 Relationshipbetweenmarketingeffortandbrandawarenessand

brandimage

Thelevelofadvertisingspendinghasbeenfoundtohaveapositiverelationshipw i t h advertisingrecall,whichisameasureofbrandawareness.Advertisingplaysapivotalroleinincreasingbrandawarenessaswellascreatingstrongbrandassociations.Repetitiveadvertisingschedulesincreasetheprobability

thatabrandwillbeincludedintheconsiderationset,whichsimplifiestheconsumer's

brandchoice,makingitahabittochoosethebrand(HauserandWernerfeldt1990).Th

us,agreateramountofadvertisingisrelatedpositivelytobrandawarenessandassociations,whichleadstogreaterbrandequity

Whentheconsumersperceiveahigheffortinadvertising,thisconstitutesanindicatoroftheconfidencethatthepersonsinchargeofmarketinghaveintheproduct(Kirmani&Wright,1989).Theperceivedadvertisingspendinghaspositiveeffects,notonlyonbrandequityasaconstruct,butalsooneachofitscomponents:brandloyalty,brandawareness,perceivedqualityandbrandimage(Cobb-

Walgren,Ruble&Donthu,1995).So,betweenthedifferentadvertisingactionsbythe

companyandthedimensionsofthebrandequitycausalrelationshipscanbeestablished.Theeffortinadvertisingasabasisforattainingbrandawarenessispositivelyrelatedtotheintensityoftheadvertisinginvestment(Deighton,1984;Hoyer&B r o w n , 1990).Thebrandsachieveknowledgethroughmarketingcommunicationsandtheadvertisinginvestmentisthemainpromotionaltoolforproductsintheconsumermarket(Villarejo&Sánchez,2005).

_Hypothesis1:Themajorperceivedadvertisingspendingthatthecompanyinvestsinthe

brandpositivelyaffectsbrandawareness.

Theassociationslinkedtothebrandarementalpicturesthattheconsumerperceivesafterrecognisingtheminthemessagesthatthecompanysends.Thepositiveassociationsthatformahighbrandimagearetransmittedtoconsumersthroughadvertisingandadvertisingstrength(Keller,Heckler&Houston,1998)

_Hypothesis2:Themajorperceivedadvertisingspendingthatthecompanyundertakesfor

thebrandpositivelyaffectsbrandimage.

Distributionintensity.Distributionisintensivewhenproductsareplacedinalargenumberofstorestocoverthemarket.Toenhanceaproduct'simageandgetsubstantialretailersupport,somecompaniestendtodistributeexclusivelyorselectivelyratherthanintensively.Ithasalsobeenarguedthatcertaintypesofdistributionfitcertaintypesofproducts.Consumerswillbemoresatisfied,however,whenaproductisavailableinagreaternumberofstoresbecause

theywillbeofferedtheproductwhereandwhentheywantit(Ferris,Oliver,anddeKluyver1989;Smith1992).Intensivedistributionreducesthetimeconsumersmustspendsearchingthestoresandtravelingtoandfromthestores,providesconvenienceinpurchasing,andmakesiteasiertogetservicesrelatedtotheproduct.A s distributionintensityincreases,therefore,consumershavemoretime

andplaceutilityandperceivemorevaluefortheproduct.Theincreasedvalueresultsmostlyfromthereductionofthesacrificestheconsumermustmaketoacquiretheproduct.Thisincreaseofsatisfactionprovokesafavourablepredispositiontowardsthebrandbywhichtheassociationslinkedtoitareimprovedand,therefore,thebrandimageisincreased.Theintensivepresenceintheestablishmentssupposesamajordegreeofknowledgeofthebrandtoo,sotheincreasesinthedistributionintensitywillhaveapositiveeffectontherecognitionattainedbythebrandnameanditsbrandawareness.Oncetherelationshipsbetweentheperceivedofintensitylevelinthedistributionandthecomponentsofthebrandequityareestablished,wesetoutthehypothesesrelativetothecausalrelationshipsb e t w e e n thesevariables:

i l l thusfeelattractedtowardstheestablishmentwiththehopeoffindingbrandsofhighquality.Thisattractiontowardsthestoreandtowardstheassociationslinkedtotheretailerwillmakethedistributedbrandsreceivethereflexofthesame

associations.Thisiswhythestoreimagedeterminesbrandimageandthesetofpositiveassociationslinkedtoit

Theimportanceofchanneldesignandmanagementasamarketingtoolofincreasingbrandequityisgrowing(seeSrivastavaandShocker1991).Inadistributionchannel,retailersencounterafirm'sultimateconsumers.Selectingandmanagingretailersisthereforeafirm'smajormarketingtaskinsatisfyingconsumers'needs.Inparticular,distributingthroughgoodimagestoressignalsthata brandisofgoodquality.Doddsetal

(1991)findsignificantpositiveeffectsofstoreimageonperceivedquality.Thestorenameisavitalextrinsiccuetoperceivedquality.Thequalityofagivenbrandisperceiveddifferentlydependingo n whichretaileroffersit.Customertrafficwillbegreaterinastorewithagoodimagethaninonewithabadimage.Good-

imagestoresattractmoreattention,contacts,andvisitsfrompotentialcustomers.Inaddition,suchstoresprovidegreaterconsumersatisfactionandstimulateactiveandpositiveword-of-mouthcommunicationsamongconsumers(RaoandMonroe1989;Zeitham11988).Therefore,distributingabrandthroughanoutletwithagoodimagewillcreatemorepositivebrandassociationsthandistributingthroughanoutletwithabad

qualitybrandimage.Infact,inthelongterm,brandimagecanappeartobeofpoorqualityandwornout.Activitiesbasedonloweringpricescanplacebrandsindangerbyprovoking

Price Deals _H6

consumerconfusion;instabilityandvariabilityleadstoanimageofunstablequality.I n thisregard,usingpricedealsmeansdeteriorationinbrandequityinbothperceptionofthebrand’squalityanditsimage.Also,pricepromotioncampaignsdonotlastlongenoughtoestablishlong-

termbrandimage,whichcanbeachievedbyothereffortssuchasadvertisingandsalesmanagement(Shimp1997).Assuch,theestablishedhypothesesare:

_Hypothesis6:_Theuseofpricedealsforthebrandhasanegativeeffectonitsimage.

2.5 Conclusion

Thischapterprovidestheoreticalframeworkfortheresearch.However,withthereasonregardingtheproductqualityaspectasdiscussedabove,aresearchmodelwithouttheproductqualitycomponentissuggestedbelow(Figure2.3).Theresearcheralsoassumesthatthereshouldbesomeadjustmentsofthemeasurementscaleinordertomaketheresearchmodelmoresuitable.Chapter3willdiscussthismatterinmoredetails

Figure2-3:Modelofeffectsofmarketingeffortsonbrandawarenessandb r a n d image

3.1 Introduction3.2 Research design3.3 Item generation3.4 Preliminary3.5 Main study3.6 Conclusion

Chapter3:Methodology

3.1 Introduction

Thepreviouschapterprovidestheoreticalframeworkfortheresearch.Thischapterprovidesanoverviewofbusinessresearchandintroducesresearchmethodologyusedtobuildandassessthemeasurementscales,thestatisticaltechniquesemployedtoanalyzethedata,andtestingtheresearchhypothesesandresearchmodelaswell.Thechapteroutlineisshowninfigure3.1

Figure3-1:Outlineofchapter3

3.2 Researchdesign

Thefirststepinbusinessresearchistodeterminewhatobjectivestheresearcherwantstoachieve.Researchdesignthenenablestheresearchertoselectappropriatemethodsinordertomeettheresearchobjectivesinthemostefficientway

Tomeasurethecustomer-basedbrandequityconstructs,thecurrentstudyemploysadescriptivemethod.Thismethodwaschosenbecauseitallowsthe

researchertodescribethecustomer’sattitudetowardsthemarketingelementsforabrand,describetherelationshipsamongvariables…(Tho&Trang,2007)

Dataforthisstudywascollectedusingasurveytechnique.Thistechnique“providesa quick,efficientandaccuratemeansofassessinginformationonapopulation,especiallyinthecaseofalackofsecondarydata”(Zikmund,1997-citedinQuan,2006)

Theresearchprocessofthisstudyisshowninfigure3.2

TestresearchmodelTestthehypotheses

EFA:ExploratoryFactorAnalysis

3.3 Itemgeneration

3.3.1 Introduction

Thefirststepintheresearchdesignprocessinvolvesitemgeneration.This

wasachievedthroughaliteraturesearchwhichwasusedtospecifyhowtomeasuretheconstructsandtodesigntheinitialquestionnaire.ThequestionnairewasinitiallydesignedinEnglish.TheoriginalEnglishversionwasthentranslatedintoVietnamesebyonetranslatorandthenwastranslatedbackintoEnglishbyanothertranslator,eachofwhomwasfluentinbothlanguages.Theoriginalandback-

translatedEnglishversionsofthequestionnairewerecomparedtoensuretheequivalenceofmeaningsoftheitems,andwererefinedwherenecessary.Thiswasthefirstdraftofthequestionnaireof32candidatescaleitemsasdescribedinthefollowingsection3.3.2

Then,afocusgroupdiscussion(FGD)wasusedasthemethodologyforthisstudyinordertoadaptthequestionnairefromtheprevioussurveyresearch.WerefinedthequestionnairethroughaFGDof8participants.TheFGDcomprisingstudentsatHUTECHUniversitywasconductedinordertopartlyverifyitemsofthepreviousstudies.Theseprovidedaforumthroughwhichtheitemshighlightedherecouldbefurtherexploredandtherelevanttolearnerstested.Italsoallowedtheresearcherstoassesslearners’understandingtotheproposedquestionnaireitemsanddeterminew h a t theweaknessesofwordingmightbe.Finally,aftermodified,afinalquestionnaireof32candidatescaleitemswasusedinthemainsurvey

forbrandavailable.Therefore,itwasanindexoftheintensityperceivedinthedistributionoftheproduct.AccordingtoYooetal(2000),whichadaptsandmodifiesthescaleraisedpreviouslybySmith(1992),wehaveconsiderednecessarythreeindicatorsthattrytogiveanapproximationoftheperceptionwithregardstotheintensitywithwhichtheproduct-

brandiscommercialised

pointLikertscalewith1for‘‘stronglydisagree’’and5for‘‘stronglyagree’’.Here,we

presumethatahighscalepointofbrandimageindicatesthatthebrandnotonlyhasapositiveimagetothecustomerbutalsoexhibitsagreaterlevelofbrandimagestrengthincomparisonwithothers

Therefore,itwasconsideredthatthepreliminarysurveywouldbeusefulinordertomodifymeasurestosuitthecontextofdevelopingcountries.Thepurposeofthe

preliminarytestwastoeliminatepossibleweaknessesandflawsinthefirstdraftquestionnaireinordertocreatethefinalquestionnaireforthemainsurvey.Thepreliminarystudyisapretestofconstructmeasures.Thepurposeofthispretestistoprovideapreliminaryevaluationandrefinementofthemeasurementscales

Assuch,thefirststeptoadaptthescalesistousefocusgroupdiscussion

Thecontentsoffocusgroupdiscussionwouldbenoted,aggregatedtoeditthescales.Thefocusgrouphasbeenusedasaprocessforgaininginformationforquestionnairedevelopment.Focusgroupinterviewsarealsousedfortestingw o r d i n g (unabletounderstand,difficulttoanswer,etc),orinterpretingquestionnaireitems.Afocusgroupisparticularlyusefulforlearningaboutparticipants’conceptualizationsofparticularphenomenaandthelanguagetheyusetodescribesuchphenomena

ThefocusgroupdiscussionforthisstudywasheldattheMeetingRoomofBusinessAdministrationFaculty,UniversityofTechnology,HoChiMinhCity.Findingandrecruitingindividualstojointhepoolofparticipantsforthefocusgroupinitiallyrequiredcarefulconsideration

Theresultofthefocusgroupdiscussionisthemodifiedscaleof46variablesasdescribedinTable3.7.Inwhich,inbrandimagescale,theitemBI8:“Xisadifferentbrand”isomittedduetoredundance

Table3-7:Thefinalquestionnaire

PAS1 Ithinkadvertisingis,ingeneral,verygood Perceived

PAS2 Ingeneral,IliketheadvertisingcampaignsforXbrand Advertising

Martín,2002) competingbrands

PAS6 TheadvertisingcampaignsforXareseenfrequently

PAS7 IrememberthelastadvertisingcampaignsforX