The mediating role of word of mouth on the relationships between marketing variables and quality perception evidence from fast moving consumer goods customers in chi minh city

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS THE MEDIATING ROLE OF WORD OF MOUTH ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKETING VARIABLES AND QUALITY PERCEPTION: EVIDENCE FROM FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS CUSTOMERS IN HO

INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH

Background

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry always has the characteristics of frequent purchases by consumers, fast consumption, competitive prices, and large- scale sales This industry also has a high turnover rate when occupying essential market share With a dynamic market, it is always updated with rapid changes, market research and analysis of impact factors rising the ability of bringingmore opportunities for business Meanwhile, specialists forecast that Vietnamese citizens’ income growth trend indicates the emergence of expansion of the high-income middle class in metropolitan areas such as Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi Capital in 2045 (The World Bank, 2024) It is widely believed that the higher standards of quality production improve the consumers’ quality of utilizing experience, which engenders increasing demands in FMCG market Thence, Vietnamese FMCG market has been facing intense competition cause their customers are becoming increasingly discriminating and selective in their choice focusing on health and wellness, premium products, and eco-friendly offerings which refers to quality products Through this new perception, the competitive edge is gained when FMCG companies further investigate the consumers’ view on product differentiation (Javeed et al., 2022) as well as reinforce the increasing objectives

Over these many years, prior studies have consistently emphasized the significance of shoppers perception of quality (Rahman et al., 2017) However, most of existing research studies concentrate on the development of marketing and there has not been much extensive exploration on the relationship between marketing and quality perception in the context of emerging Vietnam markets However, the rapid exploration of digital communication has increased the challenges of navigating overloaded information from different sources The role of word of mouth in influencing on purchasing intention and decision had been confirmed by many studies However, exploration of the mediating role of it in the relationship between marketing and quality perception still has many gaps and novel idea, especially in the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City, where the lifestyle and shopping culture are rapid changing and based on crowd reviewing.

Statement of problem

According to Kotler & Armstrong (2018), quality affects product or service performance; thus, it is intricately linked to customer value and satisfaction The marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do to engage consumers and deliver customer value, which are collected into four groups of variables: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion, impacting greatly on customers in creating value and changing perceptions of product quality In marketing, perceptions are more important than reality because they affect consumers' actual behavior (Kotler & Keller, 2015) It can be said that marketing always has a lot of influence in the process of forming and changing quality perception, where customers will compare the quality of products with each other based on the above 4 basic components

Besides the marketing mix factors, word of mouth, especially in the digital age, plays an important role in conveying information and forming perceived quality through discussion by not only directing interaction but also through quick and convenient tools of social networks about product quality information with their trusted surrounding relationships According to Westbrook (1987), in the marketing context, word of mouth communications are defined as “informal communications directed at other consumers about the ownership, usage, or characteristics of particular goods and services and/or their sellers” Therefore, it is extremely necessary to study the mediating role of word of mouth in converting marketing effects on quality perceptions

Based on the factors mentioned above as well as the passion for the in-depth studying of innovative marketing in the consumer packaging goods industry, this thesis is research the topic "THE MEDIATING ROLE OF WORD OF MOUTH ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKETING VARIABLES AND QUALITY

PERCEPTION: EVIDENCE FROM FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS CUSTOMERS IN HO CHI MINH CITY" not only to explore the marketing and word of mouth factors but also suggest advices for enhancing customer perceptions of product quality practically in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Research objectives

The main objective of this thesis aims to study, analyze and evaluate the medaiting role of word of mouth on the relationship between marketing variables and quality perception of FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City From that, propose recommendations for enhancing marketing strategies based on word of mouth and other elements efficiency, in order to build stronger customers’ perception of quality on products leading to increase sales in FMCG

In order to achieve the general objective, where the meditating effect of word of mouth has been examined on their relationship, the detailed objectives developed are below:

Exploring and determining the components of marketing variables affects the FMCG quality perception of customers

Identifing the impact level of the marketing variables on quality perception

Investigating and evaluating the word of mouth effect as the meditator in the interplay between marketing strategy variables and quality perception

Proposing the recommendation for enhancing customer quality perception to sharpen purchasing decisions in the FMCG market of Ho Chi Minh City.

Research questions

This thesis aims to achieve objectives by answering the following questions: What do the factors in marketing variables impact the quality perception of

FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City?

How do level of the factors of marketing variables effect on quality perception of FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City?

How does the meditating effect of word of mouth influence the relationship between the marketing strategy impacts and quality perception?

What are recommendations for developing the directed impacts and improving the unsignificant ones to increase buying intention through quality perception of FMCG customers?

Subject and scope of research

The subject of this research is the influencing of word of mouth on the relationship between marketing variables and quality perception of FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City market

Scope of spatial research: The research scope in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Scope of time research: The research data survey was carried out within 1 month starting from February 2025 to March 2025.

Research method

In order to ensure the basis and validity of research questions, this thesis employs a combination of qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods

Qualitative research methods used the existing conceptual framework developed by (Khalil, 2021) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which Marketing variables consists of Product, Price, Place and Promotion are exogenous variables, Quality Perception is the endogenous variable whereas Word of Mouth is the mediating variable Furthermore, the literature basis theories related to topic were discussed its context and relationships in a suitable way to propose scale and construction of research concepts The secondary data research for information is used from books, journals, and existing studies

Quantitative research methods have been applied to collect primary data by a questionnaire survey developed mainly on measurement scales and some relative research studies Questionnaire consists of closed-ended questions based on 5-point Likert scale and is translated into the national language, Vietnamese for convenient respondents From the survey data sample, the process of screening and cleaning dataset are processed to describe sample composition using SPSS 27 software To conduct the analysis processes, including assessing the validity and reliability of measuring model, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS – SEM) for direct and indirect relationships between variables for mediating analysis by the SMART – PLS 3.0 tool.

Contributions

In practical terms, this research can propose a practical understanding of word of mouth as an extra factor in the marketing and perceived quality interface of FMCG customers The empirical results in research identified and determined the level of significance in each marketing variables on quality perception which leads to how much mediator of word of mouth happened on their relationships It also provides the currently insight of customers in Ho Chi Minh City for FMCG business to concentrate on the most important factors in marketing and quality of products Besides, the recommendations and suggestions may contribute to improving quality of product, focus on the most insight marketing components for deeper approaching of customers’ touch point, and take advantage of word of mouth conversation to spread positive information and experience from them widely engaging its credibility

The research results in this thesis may provide a general knowledge of the mediating role of word of mouth on the relationship between marketing variables and quality perception of FMCG customers Additionally, the thesis can enrich research findings on quality perception through the model and survey to expand and investigate further on the following research articles about influencing factor consisted of word of mouth, and marketing in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Structure of thesis

The research thesis about word of mouth factor influeces on the relationship between marketing variables and perceptions of quality from FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City is combined of 5 Chapters bellowing:

This chapter presents overview research including the rationale of the research topic and its contribution, thereby confirming to determine the general research objective and specific research objectives Accordingly, corresponding research questions, scopes and methods for determining the structure of the thesis

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH MODEL

This chapter introduces relevant concepts and basis theories related to the research subjects Besides, showing the findings and results of the previous studies related to marketing, quality perception and word of mouth, from which to draw comments, comparisons then proposing models and hypotheses for the research topic

This chapter presents the process of research and describes the overall research design and measurement scale for developing questionnaire table sampling technique development through determining how they developed and validated Beyond that, the quantitative research through data collecton process and the statistical techniques are outlined

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents descriptive statistics of the sample and reports the results analysis including reliability and validity assessment of the measurement scales, PLS – SEM, which as evidence to comment and discuss them acrossing research hypotheses along with research model

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

This chapter summarizes the key and novelty findings of the research in Ho Chi Minh City of FMCG Market Drawing conclusions based on the findings and discussing the practical implications for marketers and businesses Moreover, this chapter states the limitations of research and proposes recommendations for futher avenue of research

The content of Chapter 1 introduced an overview of research by proposing the rationales of topic, research objectives, subjects and scope of research as well as the methodology for aiming the objectives Furthermore, the author also mentioned the contribution in both terms consisted of academic, practical, and outlined the general structure of whole research.

THEORETICAL BASIS AND RESEARCH MODEL

Theoretical basis

According to Parkinson & Noble (2005), “FMCG is an acronym of Fast Moving Consumer Goods that sell quickly because people use them in large quantities everyday”

The FMCG sector is defined as comparatively affordable, commonly purchased, and quickly consumed items that require only minimal purchasing effort from customers effort (Leahy, 2011) Research by Muranko et al (2021) and Schroedel (2024) defined that FMCG is mass-produced consumable product for daily consumption that aim to meet the short-term satisfied demand of consumers

FMCG has a short utilization life, moving off the shelves at points of sale quickly, which therefore requires constant replenishing (Law, 2009), either due to high consumer interest demand or the product deteriorates rapidly This reflects the wide range of products in FMCG that can be interchangeable easily by substitutes and competitors However, some studies show that the FMCG sector is characterized by businesses having high turnover rates though profit margins made on FMCG products are small for retailers, they are generally sold in high volume; thus, benefits accrue on them can be significant (Varma & Ravi, 2017)

Pursuant to International Organization for Standardization (ISO 8402, 1994) defines quality as “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.” According to Lutz (1986) and Yaman (2018) found that before the perception of customers and their process of satisfaction occurs, the feature quality of each product is determined and produced at a certain quality level This reflects that “cognitive quality” is the type of quality that customers can evaluate before purchasing based on available information or features, which can be verified by rationality and logical analysis

In contrast, these distinctions made by the study of Garvin (1988) statement about “Quality”, user-based perspective definitions are assumed by the individual perception of customers that the goods are considered as high-quality when ones satisfy their preferences and requirements, which led to the notion of “ideal point” Similarly, some research studies by Kapiki (2012) and Lutz (1986) believed that quality is only mentally evaluated after experiencing the product based on the subjective emotional responses of consumers rather than the actual quality of products, which is called “affective perception”

Conversely, Zeithaml (1988) stated that quality perception is “a judgment usually made within consumer's evoke set” given in the context of the set of products that the customer is considering - “the recall set” Customers almost compare the overall quality of a product with other products having the same firm in their minds to make judgments about excellence and superiority from their evaluation and past experience, according to Ghobbe & Nohekhan (2023)

According to the American Marketing Association (2013), the definition of marketing is “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Webster (1992) also pointed out that a marketing perspective accentuates building long-term customer relationships instead of maximizing profits and transactions

In addition, Kotler et al (2015) showed that the twofold key goals of marketing are attracting new customers by highlighting and emphasizing surpassed unique features of products or services that fit them so well and retaining strong relationships with current customers by providing high-quality products or services that exceed their expectations for building long-term profitable repeat purchases Therefore, marketing is not only focusing on the “telling and selling” intent but also extending more for the new sense of satisfied customer and society-centric, which is essential for successful businesses to identify the high-quality products or services in the market That being so, the values are delivered to shape through the marketing tools called marketing mix consisting of 4P components: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion

Word of Mouth is defined as “face-to-face communication about a brand, product or service between people who are perceived as not having connections to a commercial entity”, which means informal communication between consumers about product experiences, influencing purchase decisions and brand beliefs according to Arndt (1967) According to East et al (2008), word of mouth is “is informal advice passed between consumers” to seek advice and honest voices from each other that may be either positive or negative

Research by Yaman (2018) indicated that positive word of mouth from individuals who have prior experience using products or services enhances perceived quality by reinforcing brand credibility and reducing consumer uncertainty to other customers before using it in a similar situation Moreover, this also plays as proof of authentic experience for new groups of customers tending to try and purchase new brand products

In addition, compared to the other marketing promotion, maximizing word of mouth is able to be considered as the cost-effectiveness strategy By incentivizing customers generate topics related products, the “buzz” marketing brings significant amplification without substantial financial investment (Mohr, 2017)

By contrast, word of mouth also presents several drawbacks due to its lack of control The purpose of this discussion between end users is providing their expectation and perception of product opinion in differentiative sociodemographic groups, which could widely transmit and uncertain manage in positive navigation when the intersection of quality from expected and received mind is not cross and change time by time (Sebastian et al., 2024) According to Cengiz & Yayla (2007), the results showed that word of mouth spreads quickly by retransmitting; in other words, the information is received and passed to others without truly experiencing the products More broadly, this phenomenon is difficult and underlying to manage as businesses and manufactories’ point of view

In other words, the challenge of word of mouth is end users have a variety of perception about quality product statisfied their demands, which the interpersonal communications rely heavily on the customers and damage product reputation if businessess depend entirely on the word of mouth strategy (Stokes et al., 2002).

Related theories

2.2.1 The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was developed by Fishbein & Ajzen

(1975) to explain the relationship between attitudes, intentions, and human behavior This theory posited that an individual’s behavioral intention is shaped by their intention to perform the behavior, which is, in turn, influenced by individual’s attitudes and subject norms (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) Particularly, attitudes refer to all negative and positive customers’ evaluation of engaging in a particular behavior may consist of purchasing or discussing their experience with others In terms of subject norms, they are represented by social pressures from people in society to perform and/or refrain from the behavior TRA contributes significantly to the understanding of how cognitive and normative influences affect behavioral intentions and actions in various domains

2.2.2 Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

According to Ajzen (1991), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was extended from TRA by incorporating perceived behavioral control as determinant of predicting intention Regarding this model, the customers’ evaluation of quality is shaped not only by personal trust in attitude toward the behavior and extrinsic influences in subject norms but also the perceived control ability in some specific context to assess information The perceived behavioral control pertains to the individual’s belief in their ability to control or carry out the behavior.

Previous studies

Khalil (2021) investigates the mediating effect of word of mouth on each interfaces of marketing and perceived quality This empirical research determinated the relationships between marketing variables including product, price, place, promotion, and perception of quality in the FMCG sector in Pakistan The data was conducted by an empirical questionnaire survey with a 5-point Likert scale, using quantitative research methodology including Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multivariate analysis of SEM for examinating a total of 466 FMCG customers from Punjab province, Lahore The results showed that the perceived quality of FMCG end users was impacted by marketing components and these relationships were mediated through word of mouth, excepting the product element did not play as both a quality and word of mouth indicator However, the sample selected belongs only to the capital city of Punja, Pakistan and the lack of qualitiative method determination for the insight behaviors It also does not provide evidence of level mediation in evaluating word of mouth effect role on indirect relationships and the type of impact direction of the variables Along the same lines but in different sector, Yuliana et al

(2023) wrote recently in the field of service quality research Marketing mix and quality are widely recognized as key determinants that influence end user behavior and brand advocacy This research explored the relationships between marketing mix factors (product, price, place, promotion) and service quality of taxi brands on positive customers experience through oral communication Rider app service quality based on Parasuraman’s SERVQUAL dimensions model was tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, was confirmed that impacting strongly on the behavior of sharing recommendations the service to others and enhance customer advocacy By a quantitative approach with simple random sampling technique, the questionnaire survey was conducted on 382 samples in Indonesia, the descriptive data was processed by SEM analysis The findings indicated that consumers are more likely to engage in positive word of mouth when they perceive value in both pricing strategies and service quality Particularly, the author emphasized the well-executed indicators were product offerings, pricing, distribution channels, and promotional activities, contributed a role in generating the experience feedback and interpersonal communication Thereby strengthening brand quality and expanding user participation However, this author focused on only three brands of transportation services instead of the ride-hailing service industry and the investigating impact direction on reversed side of word of mouth and marketing mix on qualiy perception were not tested Environmentally sustainable marketing mix components was related and served as cues that consumer interpretation indicates an overall quality of products (Dangelico & Vocalelli, 2017) Su & Li (2024) studied the impacts of green marketing strategies through 4P components on how consumers shape quality perceptions of green and sustainable concern to purchasing intention and the environmental knowledge moderates those relationships By employing the SEM analysis, were the data collected from 334 respondents in China analyzed and clarified to substantiate the research objectives The findings revealed that excluding green product component, three others including promotion, price and place had impact positively on the attitudes of perceived evironmental customers, which was explained by most of consumers were using recently the agricultural product in cities where are developing and less developed than metropolitian cities in China Specifically, although the consumer attitude was found that influencing on purchasing intention but it did not play as a moderator However, one limitation of this study was primary concentration in assessing the marketing mix strategy while it could include another dimension such as co-creation, human resource management, which sparks the interpersonal communication related to this topic

The empirical research of Cengiz & Yayla (2007) was conducted to examine the positive relationship between marketing mix with product (service quality), price (fairness and transparency), place (convenience and accessibility), and promotion (brand communication strategies) collectively shape customer perceptions and word of mouth through integrative model tested with SEM analysis from collective data of

503 Turkish offices’ customers in the accounting industy This research developed the conceptual framework of the contributors and marketing mix impacting to word of mouth The findings revealed that the marketing mix, especially product and promotion, had an essential influence on word of mouth via foregoing the five factors consisting of customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, perceived value, and perceived quality This paper contributes to the office business by offering guidelines for the more professional business However, the research is limited to the accounting sector which may not fully rely on marketing rather than other sectors Besides, the testing and evaluation yielded results about the one-way impact on word of mouth from marketing and not mentioned directly quality perception instead of exploring deeply the opposite correlation and interaction The research of Akdeniz et al (2013) conducted two studies to evaluate the impact of low/high scope of marketing cues including price, warranty, and brand reputation on quality perception of customers The author also drew on how the interaction impact of third-party quality assessment and marketing signals, involving price and warranty, on the end users’ mindset The analysis methods were included multivariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the moderating analysis with data 182 respondents The results showed that the main effect of price, warranty, and store image significantly positive influence to perception of quality Interestingly, most customers relying on the other reviews and information about brand position tend to less depend on the effect of store image and warranty to figure out the quality Same pattern with price indicator, which the customer reviews and refferals acted as substitute cues for marketing signals to perceive the quality However, the limitation of this paper is that the data research used bys student participations from United State, which may constraint the generalizability to boarder approach While 25 years ago, Kirmani & Rao (2000) pointed out how the companies use the marketing mix as signals influencing consumers’ unobservable perceptions of quality They developed conceptual literature reviews from synthesizing the existing research with different types of signal related marketing The analysis results revealed that price was often used as an indicator when customers could not assess the quality because it was unobservable and impossible before purchase without customers' experience in specific context Additionally, branding and advertising served as long-term signals, particularly for the goods, may not fully assess quality before purchasing However, this research had a lack of empirical evidence testing and the limitations of time conducted without the digital age being more common for the innovation of marketing recently

In term of the Vietnam context, the study by Nguyễn (2015) concentrated on identifying the key factors influencing customer perception of service quality at Mobifone Utilizing data collected from 384 customers, the authors employed the SERVPERF scale of Cronin and Taylor to analyze the data through Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Alpha to assess reliability and validity The regression results reveal that four main dimensions affecting customer perception were responsiveness, tangibles, assurance, and service ability.While this author provides insights into service-based quality perception, it has not accounted for external marketing stimuli in acompetitive sectors such as FMCG Moreover, Sang

(2015) investigated the impact of price on consumer satisfaction regarding supermarket service quality with the research focusing on Big C Can Tho The research employed quantitative research methodology and collected data through surveys with 138 responses by quota method and analyzed by Exploring Factor Analysis, CFA and SEM The results indicated that price was a significant determinant of perception suggesting that consumers' evaluation of pricing fairness and value plays a crucial role in the quality of service experience However, this treats price in isolation instead of a broader marketing context, where perception is shaped not just by rational assessment but also by other cues

The marketing strategies are essential to approach the perception of quality in the FMCG market Regarding the noticeable pieces of research discussed above, despite their relevance, there remain certain limitations in exploring and analyzing these effects as influential cues on consumers' quality perception The reviewed previous studies by Su & Li (2024) represented that marketing cues are product, price, place, promotion and perceived quality, and Yuliana et al (2023) tested them effecting to word of mouth However, the author observed and assumed that not all components in marketing mix have been concentrated completely on quality perception through end user interpersonal communication Moreover, the analysis results of Khalil (2021) had not yet determinated deeper in which type mediation of the word of mouth on every marketing factors and perception of quality relationships and the level of connection between those The author identifies the research gap in the Vietnam context of study being limited and underexplored relating topic Consequently, it is important to conduct the research which concentrates on exploring the variables through four impacts in marketing mix on quality perception of FMCG customers and whether relationships are influenced by word of mouth as a meditors in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

METHODOLOGY

Research process

The preliminary survey interview about questionnaires and convenient conduction with a small diversity group of FMCG customers to revise and adjust translation of questions, which conducived to the ease of the participants reaching and demonstrating the research’s objectives Following the data collection, the process was conducted to multivariate analysis through a diagram outline below:

Data collection, compilation, and processing

Descriptive statistical analysis Measurement model reliability and validity

Evaluation and discussion of research findings

Define research problem, objectives, and questions

Literature review and theoretical framework development

Development hypotheses and research framework

Construction of research measurement scales

The topic research had been carried out by 2 main methods as early presented which was qualitative method and quantitative method to provide the empirical evidence data being collected from FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City in February 2025.

Research design

As mentioned above, the research had been conducted in 2 main phases:

The qualitative research aimed to review and test the preliminary scale's approaching ability through pilot test with a small group of 25 participants who used to be FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City Regarding the initial research results, the author modified, translated, added, and removed the observed variables to develop suitable measurement scales for the formal questionnaire survey

The quantitative research was meant to collect primary data by individual survey with FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh city through online forms to spread widely in a short period In this research, the six key variables of (1) Product (PD),

(2) Price (PR), (3) Place (PL), (4) Promotion (PM), (5) Word of Mouth (WO), and

(6) Quality perception (QP) employing as concept clarified through observed variables After data cleaning and advanced filtering by Excel file, the data was processed in SPSS 27.0 and SMART-PLS 3.0 software for the analysis steps.

Preliminary research (Qualitative research)

Based on the model of Khalil (2021) and the previous studies of mentioned above, this research referes to be inherited the measuring scales by rewriting within the key point of foundation

A 5-point Likert scale, Strongly Disagreement, Disagreement, Neutral, Agreement, and Strongly Agreement, was employed to measure observed variables and evaluate the components impacting the quality perception of FMCG customers in Ho Chi Minh City The respondents were asked to reflect on their past experiences and personal opinions on each statement

A pre-test questionnaire from the target subjects who are living in Ho Chi Minh city within diversity of age and income was used in this research in order to take feedbacks and ensure compatibility of the understanding the question contexts in local language

After refining the wording of measuring items as well as the convenience of response format, the questionnaire instrument was divided into 3 sections: filtering questions, personal information, and group of 25 measuring questions

Table 3.1.Measurement scale of factors

Constructs Code Measuring items Sources

PRODUCTS PD1 - There are many and various of fast moving consumer goods on the market today

PD2 - Products with more features are better and usually high quality

PD3 - Good and neat product design and packaging reflect that it is a quality product

PD4 - The safety and friendly environmental features of the product are important to me

PRICE PR1 - I compare prices between different brands to make sure I get the best value for my money

PR2 - Price reflects the product’s worth -

"You get what you pay for"

Kukanja et al (2017); Zhao et al (2021) PR3 - Discounts are often applied to products of poor quality

PR4 - I believe that expensive products are often of better quality

PLACE PL1 - The position of a product on the shelf influences my purchasing decision

PL2 - Products with wide distribution coverage are often better quality

PL3 - I am willing to try a product that is abundantly available in the market

PL4 - Good products are always available at the point of sale to meet demand

PROMOTION PM1 - Poor quality products often have to advertise more

Marketing/Salesperson increases my perception of the quality of the product

PM3 - Promotions (buy 1 get 1 free, gifts, ) make me purchase more

PM4 - Good products can build their own reputation in the market

QP1 - High quality products perform better and consistently in it

Kukanja et al (2017); Zhao et al (2021)

QP2 - A quality product always fullfils its intended purpose

QP3 - Using quality products gives me a better experience

QP4 - Products with quality certification are considered good

WM1 - I often ask for advice from people around me before choosing to buy a product

Armstrong (2018); Kukanja et al (2017); Zhao et al

WM2 - Advice from friends and family was important in my product selection

WM3 - Information shared by others about the product is convincing to me

WM4 - I trust in product information reviewed by celebrities

WM5 - Word of mouth information about the product is important to me

RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Research results

4.1.1 Descriptive analysis of characteristics of respondents

The target survey subject was the customers who used to purchase FMCG products live in Ho Chi Minh City After distributing an online survey through Google Forms, 385 responses were returned Here, the screening and filtering stage eliminated invalid questionnaires, leaving 313 usable responses that met the criteria

Table 4.1.Demographic characteristics of respondents

From 5 - 10 million VND 110 35.1 From 10 - 16 million VND 77 24.6

The Table 4.1 displays the descriptive summary of the sample including gender, age, and income The majority of the respondents were female representing 59.7% of the total with 187 responses, while the remaining 40.3% with 126 responses were male

In terms of age, the majority of them were between 18 and 24 years old (45.4%), the age groups of 25 to 34 and 45 to 54 exhibited approximately equal proportions (16.3% & 15.7%), followed by 35-44 (13.4%), and individual aged of 55 and above, as well as below 18 were a low percentage due to the barrier accessibility of the internet and the interest of the topic

Out of the 313 sample size, 35.1% of the respondents have an average monthly income bracket of 5 to 10 million VND, equivalent to 110 responses While 24.6%, 21.7%, and 18.5% of the respondents have the average monthly income bracket of 10-16 million VND, under 5 million VND, and 17 million VND and above, respectively

4.1.2.1 Initial reliability and validity of assessment

Table 4.2 Results of initial scale reliability and validity analysis

Included in the Table 4.2 above, most values of Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability of dimensions in this study recorded 0.7 and higher but the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of Price factor (PR) and Promotion factor (PM) recorded the values below the benchmark above 0.7 recommended by Hair et al

(2019) and Field (2009) with 0.485 and 0.558 respectively In this model, the Product (PD), Place (PL), Quality Perception (QP), and Word of Mouth (WM) all met the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) threshold value of 0.50 within the range from a minimum of 0.523 to a maximum of 0.620 excepting the PR (0.431) and PM (0.469) which demonstrated a lack of convergent validity

In addition to this, the lower outer loadings of PR1 (0.292) and PM1 (0.052) showed that the items were unacceptable in adequately representing their respective underlying construct, which are recommended to be above at least 0.6 (Chin, 1998) For these reasons, the PR1 observed variable and PM1 observed variable are not able to be explained theoretically related to the latent construct’s measurement and must be dismissed from the PR and PM constructs in the measurement model before developing and assessing the measurement model 2

4.1.2.2 Revised reliability and validity of assessment

Subsequently, due to the observed variables of PR1 and PM1 didn’t indicate significant contributions to consistently maintain reliability and validity, measurement model 2 was proposed

Through the Table 4.3 of assessing measurement model 2, factors including

PD, PR, PL, PM, QP, and WM values of Cronbach’s Alpha all either achieved or surpassed 0.7, which are considered good indicators The PD scale scored the highest Cronbach’s Alpha coeffiecient (0.805) and was followed by the WM scale (0.770), the QP scale (0.737), the PL scale (0.718), and the PR scale, which rose from 0.485 to 0.716 An increase in the minimum Cronbach’s Alpha value of the PM scale to 0.702 across all components, which could be associated with the value of Composite Reliablity value to represent and ensure this construct measurement model 2

Accordingly, the values of Composite Reliablity for all measures exceeded 0.8 higher than the recommended threshold value of 0.70 (Hair et al., 2019), indicating the internal consistency reliability is given

Table 4.3 Results of measurement scale 2 reliability and validity analysis

In this model, two convergent validity criteria of every reflective component were verified, whereby evaluating the AVE values of all scales above 0.5, particularly, the maximum AVE value is PR (0.628) The outerloadings of all its measurement items exceeded the standard requirement of 0.5 and ideally more than 0.7 (Hair et al., 2019), ranged from a minimum of 0.620 to a maximum of 0.846, offering the trustworthy and correlative indicators and its corresponding variables

Table 4.4 Results of Heterotrait-monotrait ratio

Constructs PL PR PD PM QP WM

Note: PD: Product, PR: Price, PL: Place, PM: Promotion, QP: Quality Perception, WM: Word of Mouth

Source: Author The HTMT ratio for discriminant validity analysis showed that all items scored the value below the recommended threshold 0.85 (Henseler et al., 2015), which the maximum HTMT ratio of 0.632 in the results of Table 4.4 representing the differentiation between factors

Overall, the evidence of reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity indicates that measurement model 2 was appropriate for testing in a subsequent exploratory factor analysis

4.1.3 Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling

According to Hair et al (2019), the correlation coefficient between studied variables were suggested not to exceed 0.7, which the results based on Table 4.10 showing the maximum correlation value was 0.475 The absence of multicollinearity is confirmed by the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) value is less than 3.0, as as recommended by Hair et al (2019)

Table 4.5 Results of latent variable correlations

QP WM PD PR PL PM Inner VIF

In the Table 4.10, the VIF values range from 1.241 to 1.347, demonstrating no multicollinearity problems in this model

The results of testing the hypotheses in the Table 4.11 were about the direct relationship through the structural model assessment According to Hair et al (2019), the statistical significance of path coefficients was evaluated using the t-test with the t-value greater than 1.96 and p-value smaller than 0.05 through boostrapping, offering proposed hypotheses that could be confirmed Relating the overall findings in Table., seven of nine directed effects of hypotheses were accepted with all t > 1.96

Table 4.6 Results of standardized direct path coefficient

Path coefficient (ò) t-value (t) p-value (𝛒) f² Result

H1: PD -> QP -0.010 0.166 0.868 0.000 Not supported H2: PR -> QP 0.203 3.097 0.002 0.048 Supported H3: PL -> QP 0.149 2.481 0.013 0.026 Supported H4: PM -> QP 0.325 4.601 0.000 0.118 Supported H5: PD -> WM 0.195 2.810 0.005 0.036 Supported H6: PR -> WM 0.090 1.363 0.173 0.008 Not supported H7: PL -> WM 0.234 3.392 0.001 0.056 Supported H8: PM -> WM 0.240 3.470 0.001 0.057 Supported H9: WM -> QP 0.174 3.157 0.002 0.036 Supported

Regarding Quality Perception, Promotion had the most remarkable and positive impact on it with ò = 0.325 and ρ = 0.000 < 0.05 Subsequently, the ranking of the independent variables’ effect on Quality Perception in decreasing order were Price (ò = 0.203 and ρ = 0.002 < 0.05), Word of Mouth on Quality Perception (ò 0.174 and ρ = 0.002 < 0.05), and Place (ò = 0.149 and ρ = 0.013 < 0.05) Thus, hypotheses 2, 3, 4, and 9 were confirmed

Turning to Word of Mouth, most constructs had the same pattern influence on Word of Mouth including Product, Place, and Promotion with the range of beta value from 0.195 to 0.240 and p-value smaller than 0.05 Hence, hypotheses 5,7, and 8 were accepted

In another part of the model, the negative but insignificant relationship between Product and Quality Perception was seen at a very high ρ = 0.868 > 0.05 with t = 0.166 < 1.96 and ò = -0.010 Similarly, the direct link between Price and Word of Mouth was not significant with ρ = 0.173 > 0.05 with t = 1.363 < 1.96 Finally, it was reasonable to reject hypotheses 1 and 6

CONCLUSION AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

Conclusion

This research was undertaken to explore the impact of marketing indicators including product, price, place and promotion that could help to enhance or reduce the perception of quality in FMCG customers Moreover, in this investigation, the aim was also to evaluate how the mediating role of word of mouth affects toward indirect relationships By following up entire phrases in the research process that the author had proposed in the preceding chapter, the research was used 313 valid respondents using an online survey to analyze statistically and inspection, answering the research questions and also aiming the research objectives

The results of this empirical research has shown that generally three of four components in marketing variables excepting product have closely positive significant determinants of FMCG customers’ perception to evaluate and shape the quality of products Expressively, perceived quality has been strengthened by promotion with advertising activities, followed price, and place factors Broadly speaking, those marketing cues are a necessity for the direct quality signals assessment even without a supportive influence One of the most important findings to emerge from this research is a classification of the word of mouth mediator In particular, product showed a negative nonsignificant direct influence on perceived quality among the marketing variables, nevertheless, its impact was augmented notably by the presence of positive word of mouth interactions However, based on the data of research was drawn that the indirect impact of price on quality perception through word of mouth has no effectiveness in this context.

Managerial implications

Marketing mix is one of the most crucial in the business strategies that not only attracts new audience but also retains current customers becoming the loyal ones in the market commoditization where the substitute and competitive products have been challenging to vie for the market share From the evidence of the present empirical research’s results, the FMCG businesses have the potential to concentrate on the most attention components and consider the weaker ones for improving the position of product in the quality aspect through the following suggestions

Employing the strengths of end user generated conversions, the products catch more attention easily while the features of product may not usually immediately direct to the quality information of end user Therefore, exploring the strategies that incentivize the customers to share and create positive product conversation holds a significant value

In order to take advantage of quickly spreading information on social media and digital platforms, businesses should engage in co-creation associating with their customers to be involved directly in the product development process For example, building online communities for user-generated content consumers review on social media platforms (e.g., Tiktok, Facebook) about their experience and reality features of products (Berthon et al., 2012) Due to that, products not only create awareness but also give consumers the chance for consumers shareability of the quality evaluation, especially with things related to eco-friendly (Abdullah et al., 2021) Additionally, the incredible design packaging relates to the core quality message of products, storytelling, and updated-concerned topics influencing specially on customers from the similar product in FMCG market that sparks the conversation (Sook-Fern Yeo et al., 2020) It is important that those activated strategies are thoughtfully planned and proposed, considering the negative potential in the comment of users, which might significantly damage and impact on the product’s perceived quality (Sweeney et al.,

2014) Emphasizing product quality features and characteristics in FMCG customers’ feeling by word of mouth is likely to stimulate discussion instead of solely itself Therefore, leverage customer-generated content and end user reviews to amplify the quality product interpretation (Muủiz & Schau, 2011)

However, the most and first salient component of marketing mix variables is product This means that a product must have basic quality features and fulfill the meaningful purpose fitting the different target customers; therefore, good products speak for themselves and are able to build their own reputation within the referral of customers for a long path (Zeithaml, 1988) A useful example of word of mouth helping to boost the product impact on perceived of end users about quality is the case electric vehicles of Vinfast, which generated outstanding attention across Vietnamese consumers in negative and positive opinions Updated recently, Vinfast has determined their quality in this industry in Vietnam, such as a strategy of combining with ride-hailing app service industry to give customers experience the benefits and quality of Vinfast products reinforce as premium technology and also the riders with their customers can left feedbacks and reviews about that Hence, by the positive and good reviews about experiences of family and online communities, customers recognize Vinfast vehicles offering a distinct and upgraded innovation of car quality, setting them apart from traditional vehicles

At that time of the research, FMCG customers in Vietnam also indicate mostly the superiority of quality based on the higher price When price serves as a quality positioning tool, customers tend to evaluate the quality on the basis costs for producing and selling products For the purpose of indicating top-tier product quality, brands should maintain and implement an optimal pricing strately (Kapferer, 2012)

In other words, businesses ought to concentrate on aligning price with the perceived quality proposition of product instead of cost-competitive and price-cutting strategy (Garrido-Morgado et al., 2016) Therefore, the products are maintained the quality investment of input, materials, technologies, and the manufacture process, which adopting the premium price to receive the exclusive and prime product stability and credibility of using With rising the environmental awareness, consumers accept slightly higher paying for natural and organic goods, demanding broader considerations from FMCG businesses (Javeed et al., 2022) For example, in beer beverages, the higher price of beer creates for the end users’ perception of the quality manufacturing process within prime input material or not exactly relies on the recommendations from others due to different tastes and flavors Ensuring every touchpoint of consumers matches the price product with the higher quality and better experiences (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016) Reversely, if there is a mismatch in the statisfaction of receiving benefits and end users’ demand, customers have skeptical attitude towards the quality of products and change the perception of that brand for choosing another product as a substitute and equated option

Distribution intensity, store environment, and the accessibility of products also play a notable role in assessing the quality of products (Adeniran & Ayodele, 2018; Ahmed, 2011; Baker et al., 2002) This is the component that businesses should consider more strongly cause physical location functions as a platform where consumers directly interact with products and might reshape the assessment and appraisals regarding the quality of contemplating products

In the first of refering place component, the FMCG sector is dissimilar to a few other industries in that the scarcity of accessibility reflects the quality and uniqueness of products, but it is selected carefully in distribution The availability of products should be placed widely in high trust stores image and partnerships to reinforce the positive perception (K L Keller & Swaminathan, 2019) Second, businesses should optimize the digital age by building an online presence and e- commerce mall platform professionally to enhance the seamless shopping experience related to evaluating quality of product (Di et al., 2014; Verhoef et al., 2007; Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006) However, in the conditions of the FMCG products targeting more premium customer segments, speciality and selective placement to prestigious and renowned gourmet stores increases the perception of quality among customers in the marketplace (Huddleston et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2019)

Finally, the store environment and atmosphere also contributes to the evaluation of quality Product position in planogram being well visual layout and important shelf level is known as the indicate quality items (Faruqui & Hride, 2019; Pratheesh, 2024) The business should invest in the point of purchase having the space and atmosphere that aligns with quality image and maintain the cleanliness The interesting and eye-catching design at placement of products also conveys customers’ evaluation of quality

According to the results, promotion contributes as the most considerable key of equated quality on FMCG products To concentrate on customer interactive activities, articulate key insights, messages delivering the practical value to customers in the product bought effectively, which enhance the reinforcement of quality image in their perception It is assumed that the introduction, presentation, interpretation, and offering product increase the acknowledgement of core quality obviously to customers FMCG businesses organize the training workshops for promotion girls, salesman, and the staffs to educate them about product information, benefits value, and how it brings pleasure experience to customers through the communicating skills (Yi et al., 2021) Moreover, businesses should advance the data analysis and Artificial Intelligence – AI to enable invest and highly personalized promotion campaign in every customer fluctuated preferrence period Moreover, collaboration with credible and prestigous partnerships or influencers also reflects the high quality awareness in customer mind easily attached to the brand/image image aligning with products signature value

In addition, by purchasing promotional products and/or at a discount, consumers achieve the sense of the savy buyers and conduct the evaluating quality based on the benefits of product bringing in response (Chandon et al., 2000) Businesses employ both monetary and nonmonetary promotional combination effectively matching the type of product being promoted to different customer segments (Sinha & Verma, 2017) However, in this context, monetary promotion is able to destroy price in the marketplace in the condition of cutting price misuse, which influences on the price perception about quality cue Therefore, this can be conducted by designing promotion programs clearly and consistent at some specific store related to membership registeration and other store related to the goals of promotion, which is an example of reasonable monetary promotion happening and reinforces the quality not influenced by other factors

5.2.4 Implications of word of mouth

The research emphasized the markable role of word of mouth in the customers’ quality evaluation In terms of word of mouth role, a mediating effect to quality perception, full mediation in product, partial mediation in promotion and place, and no mediation in price were claimed Customers have a tendency to seek more reality- experienced information from their trusted people in the assessment process of quality goods by peer recommendations, consumers reviews, and online sharing experience Investments in customer service and exceed their expectations during pre and post purchasing are an exceptional consideration in the customer-centric culture (Sheth et al., 2023; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016) Leverage the advantage of word of mouth as a tool in the competitive FMCG market, products should be generated the positive and good “buzz” through storytelling ritual value, impressive advertising and promotion campage (Kang et al., 2020) When the customers are involved actively in promoting, designing, developing product, it is called co-creation (Al-alak, 2014) This value associates user-generated content influencing product perception fully through the authentic opinion, experienced reviews, narrative feebacks as a credible proof of quality more than the brands say solely by their own (Chevalier & Mayzlin,

Beside creating the positive perception about quality through dialogs, brands should pay attention to the negative perception of quality through online communities Utilizating rapid recognized and responed AI driven tools to underscore and interpret some misleading information, feedback as an official announcement for enhancing the participation of customers advocacy and credibility.

Limitations and further research

This research still has some limitations and is not comprehensive in some several aspects of approaching the topic In the first limitations, the data at that time was used by the online survey instrument with the cross-sectional research method– observing and collecting data for variables at a single period of time, which was not completely reflected the determination of some hypotheses for a long term and for other certain industry conditions beyond the FMCG sector (Avlonitis & Gounaris,

1997) This research applied the convenience sampling method that could be a problem of lacking representativeness of population Therefore, furthur studies should consider applying other sampling methods or another sources which decreased the selection bias

The second limitation is the context of Ho Chi Minh City, which has not been reflecting generalizability of the results in Vietnam and to other nation situations Thus, the furthur research are able to be conducted in a general scope of space for collecting more data and proposing significant improvement

The last limitation is that the variables in this research utilized to evaluate the perceived quality of FMCG customers have not been comprehensive There are serveral others variables are able to be quality indicators such as sensory marketing factor that appeals to customers’ five senses including sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, which were main research variables proposed by Krishna (2012) Hence, furthur modelling works should be done whether those variables influence on assessment of quality in customers’ perception

Chapter 5 provided the summary of research findings and based on them proposes the insight understanding which offers the practical implications to businesses in the FMCG sector In addition, the author discussed the limitations of this research at that time and the recommendations for futher papers in order to improve the comprehensive of related topics

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