Exploring the factors affecting laptop consumers brand loyalty in HOCHIMINH CITY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study about “Exploring the factors affecting Laptop consumer’s Brand Loyalty in Ho Chi Minh City” was not going to be completed without the assistance and support fr

MINISTRY OF EDUCATIION AND TRAINING

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HOCHIMINH CITY

ECONOMICS MASTER THESIS

Supervisor: Dr Nguyễn Thị Mai Trang

HOCHIMINH CITY - 2010

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The study about “Exploring the factors affecting Laptop consumer’s Brand Loyalty in Ho Chi Minh City” was not going to be completed without the assistance and support from different relevant sources

First of all, I would like to express my whole-hearted appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Mai Trang, who has provided me with her strict comments and invaluable advices during the process of my study

Besides, my special thank would be sent to my parent Without their warmly constant encouragement, my further pursuit and attendance in Master of Business Administration in order to then conduct this dissertation would not have been brought to life

Profound gratitude was also extended to my cousin, Ms Nguyen Thi Bich Duyen, who has assisted me in the process of data collection and to my close friend,

Ms Do Thuy, who has guided me to the usage of SPSS software

An honorable mention goes to my dear husband, Mr Ly Son This study is the result of his encouragement, help and love

Finally, I would like to send sincere thanks to my friends for their great contributions and motivation to the accomplishment of my dissertation

ABSTRACT

This study investigated and reported the effect elements and their affected level on brand loyalty for the laptop product in Ho Chi Minh market The important variables comprised Self-expressive value, Distinctiveness, Perceived Quality, Perceived Price

The framework of in-depth - interview in form of the qualitative research based on the items of the previous research to discover new observed variables Then, the researcher would modify available observed variables of the previous researches in order to meet with laptop category and Ho Chi Minh market The 300 respondents in the quantitative research who were from the universities in Ho Chi Minh city were used to test reliability (Cronbach Alpha), Correlation (Exploring Factor Analysis) and test Multiple Regression Model

After analyzing, the research’s results indicated that all of observed variables obtained reliability and correlation, except one variable (bl5) Besides, all of four factors have influenced on brand loyalty The different affected levels of the factors

as well as the implications of the study were also represented in this paper

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Problem definition 2

1.3 Research questions and objectives 2

1.4 Limitations and research methodology 3

1.5 Research implications 3

1.6 Thesis structure 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Brand 5

2.2 Brand loyalty 7

2.2.1 Consumer’s loyalty and brand equity 7

2.2.2 Value strategy of brand loyalty 8

2.3 The factors affected on brand loyalty in Ho Chi Minh market 9

2.3.1 Self-expressive value of brand personality 9

2.3.2 Distinctiveness of brand personality 10

2.3.3 Perceived Quality 11

2.3.4 Perceived Price 12

2.4 Research model 12

2.5 Summary 13

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research design 15

3.1.1 Exploratory study 15

3.1.2 Main survey 16

3.1.2.1 Sample size 16

3.1.2.2 Research process 16

3.2 Measurement 17

3.2.1 Measure of Sef-expressive value 18

3.2.2 Measure of Distinctiveness 18

3.2.3 Measure of Perceived Quality 19

3.2.4 Measure of Perceived Price 19

3.2.5 Measure of Brand Loyalty 19

3.3 Summary 20

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 4.1 Descriptive data analysis 21

4.2 Measure Assessment 23

4.2.1 Cronbach Alpha Reliability Analysis 23

4.2.2 Exploring Factor Analysis (EFA) 24

4.2.2.1 EFA results of the independent variables 24

4.2.2.2 EFA results of the dependent variable 25

4.3 Hypotheses Testing 25

4.3.1 Testing Assumptions of Multiple Regression 25

4.3.2 Testing Hypotheses between Independent Variables and Brand Loyalty 26

4.4 The relationship among the quality variables and the quantitative variables 28

4.4.1 Testing the relationship between gender factor and SEV 28

4.4.2 Comparing the different influence levels of buyer factor on Brand Loyalty 29

4.4.3 Testing the different influence levels of used time factor on PQ 30

4.4.4 Testing the different influence levels of using brand name factor on D 32

4.5 Consumer’s evaluation on Brand Loyalty following using brand names 33

4.6 Summary 34

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 5.1 Overview 35

5.2 Main findings 35

5.2.1 Antecedents of Brand Loyalty 35

5.2.2 Outcome of qualitative variables affected on quantitative variables 36

5.3 Theoretical Implications 36

5.4 Managerial Implications 37

5.4.1 Perceived Price 37

5.4.2 Distinctiveness 38

5.4.3 Perceived Quality 39

5.4.4 Self – expressive value 39

5.5 Further research 40

References 41

Appendice 45

Appendix 1: Questionnaire 45

Appendix 2: EFA results of independent variables 47

Appendix 3: EFA results of dependent variable (Step 1) 49

Appendix 4: EFA results of dependent variable (Step 2) 50

Appendix 5: Testing assumptions of multiple regression 51

Appendix 6: Multiple Regression Line results 53

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 : Two models about the relationship between product with brand 7

Figure 2.2 : Research Model 13

Figure 3.1 : Research process 17

Figure 4.4 : Histogram, Normal P – P Plot and Scatter Plot of Brand Loyalty 51

Figure 4.5 : Mean of each using brand name on Brand Loyalty 34

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 : Scale of Self – expressive value 18

Table 3.2 : Scale of Distinctiveness 18

Table 3.3 : Scale of Perceived Quality 19

Table 3.4 : Scale of Perceived Price 19

Table 3.5 : Scale of Brand Loyalty 20

Table 4.1 : Sample characteristics 21

Table 4.2 : Cronbach Alpha of observed variables of independent variables 23

Table 4.3 : Correlations between Self – expressive value, Distinctiveness,

Perceived Quality, Perceived Price and Brand Loyaly 51

Table 4.4 : The results of Regression Coefficients analysis 28

Table 4.5 : Independent samples t – test results of gender factor and Self-expressive value 28

Table 4.6 : The analysis results of the different influence levels of buyer factor on Brand Loyalty 30

Table 4.7 : The analysis results of the different influence levels of used time factor on Perceived Quality 31

Table 4.8 : The analysis results of the different influence levels of using brand name factor on Distinctiveness 32

Table 4.9 : Mean of each using brand name on Brand Loyalty 33

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The introduction chapter identify the research background, present the problem statement, the research questions, and introduce the research methodology, the objectives as well as limitation of the study Furthermore, the significance of the research problem and thesis structure are also outlined

1.1 Research background

Meeting human’s the various complicated demands is an extremely harsh problem for a firm, especially a new firm which has just penetrated in a market Moreover, to survive in the high competitive globalized and integrated environment in the recent years, the firm must be hardworking not only for producing high quality products, but also for understanding its consumer’s all requirements and desires In particular, it is critical for the survival of a firm to retain its current customers and to make them loyal to the brand (Mellens, Dekimpe, Steenkamp, 1996) For these reasons, the success of a firm depends largely on its capability to attract customers towards its brands and maintain them loyal Aaker (1996) argue that if we can maintain consumer loyal with our brand, we have many benefits which are come from reducing the marketing cost, trade leverage, attracting new consumers as well as having time to respond to competitive threats Therefore, it is necessary to study Brand Loyalty and explore the factors affected on it, then we have a suitable branding strategy

In fact, Vietnam is a dynamic and developing economy with higher and higher economic growth rate year by year, and it is industrialized and modernized towards an integration into global economy This means consumption demand about technology and high-technology product is dramatically being increased, especially with the laptop product – a product has various functions can be used for various working goals Therefore, the imported laptop which is estimated will be increased significantly

in the future That also means the competition is quite fierce in this field; and this can

be proved through the appearance of most prestigious laptop brands around the world

in Vietnam

Furthermore, Hochiminh city is the best dynamic area in Vietnam It is known

as the central economic of Vietnam with the highest economic growth rate in both commercial industry and agriculture The rapid growth in economic together with the particular advantage conditions, Hochiminh city is a place that concentrates the largest population in nationwide So, Hochiminh city is considered a place that has the best numerous laptop user in Vietnam

1.2 Problem statement

Customer loyalty plays more and more important role in business field This matter attracts not only businessman but also researcher Previous research suggest that loyal customers spend more than non-loyal customers, act as advocates for a brand

by engaging in positive word of mouth, and are therefore “at the heart of a company’s most valuable customer group” (Zeithaml et al., 1996) Besides, it can cost as much as six times more to win a new customer than it does keep an existing one (Rosenberg et al., 1983: 45) Hence, the increase and retention of loyal customer become a key factor for the long-term success of the companies However, how to maintain and increase loyal consumer to a brand or what factors affect on Brand Loyalty, and what influence level of the factors on Brand Loyalty are an outstanding problem

Another problem is that most of the brand loyalty models are conceptualized by researchers and validate in the developed countries This poses the question of whether

or not those models will work well in a developing country as Vietnam

1.3 Research questions and objectives

To solve the problems defined above, this research aims at answering the following question:

► What are the key determinants affect on Brand Loyalty? By evaluating the influence level of the factors on Brand Loyalty, the importance of increasing loyal customer shall be highlighted to eventually help the managers identify the right direction of their investment and keep their customers under a tough competitive environment

1.4 Limitations and research methodology

This research focuses on one important type of high technology product through two phases: an exploratory study and a main survey A choosen product to examine is the laptop for its quite high price and high-competitive pressure of its market For this reason, the consumers will consider carefully and seriously when making a buying decision

In exploratory study, a qualitative study is undertaken by an in-depth-interview Collected information is used to explore, adjust, and supplement to the measuring scale of the factors affected on brand loyalty for Laptop brands

The main survey is conducted by quantitative research in form of questionnaire The result of questionnaire data is presented in the numerical form such as percentage

of age groups who attend this survey, or percentage of the main using laptop brand name and so on These numbers are, then, demonstrate in tables, graphs or other forms

of statistics Conducted in Hochiminh city, the purpose of quantitative research is to confirm the components as well as value and reliability of the measuring scales of brand loyalty Cronbach alpha coefficient, Exploring Factor Analysis (EFA), and Multiple Linear Regression analysis (MLR) are applied through SPSS software; and Convenience sampling is used

1.5 The research implications

This study brings the practical meanings to human’s life in terms of business (marketing manager, advertising agency and market researchers ) and academic (educators, students of the business administration deparment especially in the marketing division) as follows:

 The research result has been a scientific foundation so that based on it, the managers will make an effective strategy to enhance consumers’ loyalty for laptop brands

 The research result contributes additionally to the marketing literature in particular in Brand Loyalty

 The research will be a reference material for not only researchers, lecturers, students in the marketing, branding and management fields but also other people in the society as well

1.6 Thesis structure

This research is organized in five chapters The beginning is the introduction chapter It includes a brief overview of the research background, problems and objectives The limitations and research methodology, the implications of research, and structure are also presented

Chapter 2 is the literature reviews and conceptual model It explores and reviews

the extant literature on brand and Brand Loyalty The factors of brand personality and brand association which promote the effectiveness of Brand Loyalty are also discussed

in this chapter Based on the literature reviews, a research model is proposed

Chapter 3 is the research methodology An attention is concentrated on the

research design, then interprets and illustrates the way that primary and secondary data

is collected The measurement scales apply for the research factors will be determined clearly and suitably

Chapter 4 analyzes the collected data and presents the findings from the survey

in terms of Self-expressive value of brand personality, Distinctiveness of brand personality, Perceived Quality and Perceived Price Besides, results from the university students’ interviews for the effective levels of these factors on Brand Loyalty are show as well

Chapter 5, the final part of this dissertation, is the chapter of conclusion and

signification The researcher will mention several recommendations for brand managers of Laptop products in Ho Chi Minh City Market in terms of the theoretical and managerial significance In addtion, this chapter also made a brief summary about the main content of the dissertation and further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Before carrying out the survey on the effect factors and its influence level on Brand Loyalty for Laptop brands in Ho Chi Minh city market, the chapter 2 will provide a theoretical background about brand, Brand Loyalty as well as the factors affected on Brand Loyalty Based on these, the conceptual model is contructed

2.1 Brand

“We don’t just want people to buy a brand, we want people to buy into a brand,

to make it part of their lives” Stan Richard, The Richards Group, said (Landa, 2006) Thus, brand has been recalled many times around our lives, in particular in marketing and selling field However, to understand what brand is It is not easy for anyone because of complicated meaning of brand word and non-existence of a formal brand definition For these reasons, we will approach the brand’s concept according to two main views

The first one is the traditional brand concept with American Marketing Association definition They assumed that a brand is “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller

or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitiors” (Bennett, 1995; Keller, 1998) This means a brand is a part of product and its main function distinguish the same catalogue product of various producers

The second brand concept is intergated concept According to this concept, the meaning of brand would change when there is a change in the economic environment The traditional concept can not explain sufficiently the brand meaning in the globalized and strict competition of the economy during the 20th century So the integrated brand concept has appeared to adapt the new situation Davis (2002) supposes that a brand is not only a name or a symbol but also more complicated It is a assembly atribute with various dimensions to supply all requirements from the target customers To sum up, a brand in this concept assert that the product which is a part of brand which provides funtional benefits to consumers only Besides, the components

of mix marketing comprise product, price, distribution, and promotion that are a part

of a brand only (Ambler and Style, 1996) Figure 2.1 is drawn to illustrate the change from the traditional brand concept to the integrated brand concept as below

Figure 2.1 Two models about the relationship between a product

with a brand

Source: Nguyen Dinh Tho & Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2002)

Source: Nguyen Dinh Tho & Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2002)

Futhermore, it is believed that beyond those intrinsic elements, a brand also means all the experience and feelings that consumers associate with it or even the prestige about the brand echoed either by words of mouth or appears on articles (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2007) Discussing about brand’s benefits, we can not deny that brands have had benefits for both of the manufacturers and consumers For consumers,

a brand is a signal of quality; it helps identify products and sevices and assign responsibility to manufactures or services providers; a brand is also the risk and search cost reducer; it is even can be used as a symbolic device (Aaker, 1996; Keller, 1998) For manufactures, brands also help manufactures to identify and simplify handling or tracing products Brand legally protect unique features of a product or service that bears the name “A brand is also a manufacture or service providers’ promise of quality and especially those function benifits that the consumer expects; the unique associations endow to the brand which may provide competitive advantage for the firm; and maybe the benifit of most concern to shareholders, that it is a source of financial returns” (Lam Hong Phong, 2009)

A Brand is a part of product B Product is a part of Brand

Product

Brand

Brand

Product

To sum up, brand plays an important role in our life and it has multiple dimensions and meanings However, the integrated brand concept is accepted by researchers and practioners Product can be imitated by the competitors, but brand is private property of a firm; product can be out of date, yet a brand, if a brand success will be never obsolete (Aaker, 1991:1) Therefore brands are being represented product in the promotion marketing day by day (Chevron 1998; Bhat & Reddy, 1998)

2.2 Brand Loyalty

In marketing literature, loyalty is definies “ a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronise a preferred product or service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behaviour” (Olive, 1999) Additional, Dwayne Ball (2004) argues that loyalty represents for both attitude and behavioral intentions (repurchase or purchase frequency), and attitudinal component And the specific conceptual definition of Brand Loyalty is presented by Jacoby and Chestnut (1978) According to them, Brand Loyalty is “ the (a) biased, (b) behavioral response, (c) expressed over time, (d) by some decision – marketing unit, (e) with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and (f) to

be a funtion of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes (Jacoby and Chestnut, 1978: p.80) There are six requirements for brand loyalty mentioned in this definition

2.2.1 Consumer’s loyalty and brand equity

Brand loyalty is a measurement of consumer’s trust for a brand The more tight the loyalty level is, the more rich the close consumer’s database is This is a guaranteed sign for the prestige and quality of the brand in the future

Actually, consumer’s loyalty is a core value of Brand Loyalty For example, if a consumer buy a goods for its reasonable price, its quite stable quality or its convenient buying only, this goods’ brand has not value In contrast, if the consumer insists on finding an exactly brand that she desires to express her preference in the strictly competitive evironment where all brands are nearly similar in product, price, quality,

convenience, even the same in attractive promotion program or services , this brand has a precise value

2.2.2 Value strategy of brand loyalty

Building the brand loyalty successfully will bring a firm a lots of real benefits According to Aaker (1996), there are four benefits from the consumer’s loyalty including reduced marketing costs, trade leverage, new customers’ attraction, time to respond to competitive threats

Reduced marketing costs: maintaining the target customer is less expensive than attracting the new customer is However, it actually is a wrong decision when we try to catch a new customer without giving care to the old and present customers in the expanding market strategies Firms selling brands with a high rate of loyal of consumers have had a competitive advantage more than other ones Brand loyal of consumers reduces the marketing costs of the firm as the cost of attracting a new consumer has been found to be about six time higher than the costs of maintaining an old one (Rosenberg and Czepiel, 1983) The satisfaction of the old and present consumers is more valuable than the attraction to a new consumer Therefore, a firm shall make its best efforts to satisfy the old and present customers

 Trade leverage: when consumers are loyal to a brand, they trend to buy a right brand that they desire without bargain; they are ready to pay higher price for their prefered brand So, a firm has a large number of loyal consumers, it ensure that the firm’s returned profit will be higher and higher day by day Actually, this is demontrated and mentioned by Reichheld et al (2000), and Krishnamurthi and Raj (1991); they argue that brand loyal consumers are willing to pay higher prices and are more less price sensitive

 Attraction to new customer: the loyal consumers are an alive proof and a trust invitation to potiential consumers; in particular the potential consumers are the loyal consumers’ a relative or a relationship Brand loyalty generates positive word-of-mouth recommendation (Ruben,

2007) Therefore, a loyal consumer is a particular tool that a firm can use

to attract new consumers

 Time to respond to competitive threats: Aaker (1991) assume that brand loyalty provides the firm with valuable time to respond to competitive moves This comment is accepted by many researcher and businessman

In conclusion, building loyal consumer or building brand loyalty is a necessary strategy of a firm Brand Loyalty become a ultimate target of almost firms in the highly competitive economy nowadays

2.3 The factors affected on brand loyalty in Ho Chi Minh market

2.3.1 Self-expressive value of brand personality

A brand is used for expression and to reflect self-concept While expressed properly, brand personality has affected positively to a consumer’s attitude to the brand (Aaker, 1999) Additional, Belk (1988) supposes that if the brand helps a person

to express him/herself, the brand will be become more attractive Moreover, brand personality can help firms communicate with customers and consumers more effectively, and marketing managers as well as marketers also recongnize that brand personality plays an important role in advertisements and sales promotion (Plummer, 1985; Batra, 1993; Aaker, 1991) And, when there is a specific association between the brand’s characteristics and consumers’ personality, consumers are willing to reckon the brand as their friend Then, consumers will be loyal with that brand for a long time without considering for a choice about other brands with the same function products Therefore, consumers tend to become loyal when they can express themselves through

a brand

Actually, by modified Chung & et al (2001) research, several Vietnamese researchers (Dinh Thi Ngoc Linh (2006), Pham Anh Tuan (2008),…) have measured and confirmed that Self-expressive value of brand personality had positively affected

on brand loyalty

In recent years, the youth has been strongly influenced by many newly imported lifestyle trends, especially the individual libertarianism which is more and more popular Besides, nowaday youth’s tendency expresses and likes to express

himself The Self-expression is usually represented by the accustomed things such as cell-phone, motorcycle, clothes, laptop and so on Consequently, we consider the Self-expressive value of brand personality as an antecedent variable or an independent variable which can influence on Laptop consumer’s Brand Loyalty in this study

H1 There is a positive relationship between Self-expressive value of brand

personality and Brand Loyalty

2.3.2 Distinctiveness of brand personality

Distinctiveness of brand personality is unique positive characters or salient features of a brand These features made a remarkable difference of the brand It is a basis to distinguish this brand with others This implies that when a consumer chose a brand with a remarkable feature which is differred from other, they want to illustrate they are different In other words, consumers want to express themselves through a brand which has one or several the same personal character with them For example, among beverage brands, if you are an active and dynamic teenager or a youth, and you desire to express your personality to others, you will tend to drink Pepsi cola than Coca-cola or other brands An obvious reason is Pepsi cola’s brand image represented the personal characters of these subjects for Pepsi company’s brand communication strategies, while Coca-cola’s strategies are towards maturity of a classical style Even when using a BMW car will make consumers become more luxurious than using a Toyota

Distinctiveness factor is proved to have influence to brand loyal directly or indirectly In Chung & et al (2001), demonstrate that distinctiveness factor affected indirectly on Brand Loyalty, whereas Dinh Thi Ngoc Linh (2006) indicates that Distinctiveness has directly affected on Brand Loyalty Actually, in the modern life, everyone become busier and busier, time is shorter and shorter, and everything pass quickly If you are a special or unique person, you will have a chance to make an impression to others only In another way, your own way expresses yourself “this is

me, myself” The differentiated expression and Self-expression nowadays become more and more popular lifestyle trend particular in the youth Therefore, Distinctiveness has a relationship with Brand Loyalty Thus, it is expected that

consumers with a higher satisfaction in Distinctiveness of product will be more loyal

to brand

H2 There is a positive relationship between Distinctiveness of brand

personality and Brand Loyalty

2.3.3 Perceived Quality

Perceived Quality can be divided into product quality and service quality And, product quality consist of seven dimensions (performance, features, conformance with specifications, reliability, durability, serviceability, and fit and finish) while service quality dimensions comprise tangibles, reliability, competence, responsiveness, and empathy (Zeithaml, 1988) On the other hand, Dawar (1999) argue that Perceived Quality is “ ideas or customer’s overview comment about one or several remarkable elements, perfect components or particular dimensions of product” Therefore, Perceived Quality is consumer’s comments about product quality subjectively However, Perceived Quality is different from other consumers eventhough it is considered for only one product of the same brand There are different comments for the same standard level of product In fact, when consumers have the differences in geography, age, level or the differences in their perception about product’s package, brand image, advertising or word-of-mouth as well as the differences between experiential consumers or in-experiential ones, consumers will be impacted on these dimensions with different levels

Perceived Quality is one of among important basic factors influenced on Brand Loyalty in Vietnam market in particular in a long-term used product It is proved that most previous Vietnamese researcher has been chosen Perceived Quality as an effect factor on Brand Loyalty in their research model, and most of them confirm from their research results that Perceived Quality has affected positively on Brand Loyalty Represented for this statement, we have Nguyen Dinh Tho & Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2002), Dinh Thi Ngoc Linh (2006), Trieu Luong Tu Phuong (2005),… Moreover, quality factor of the long-term used product, like the laptop product, is considered carefully because of many reasons Firstly, if Laptop causes a problem or a damage, consumers have no much time to take it to a warranty post or a repaired store The next

reason is for information security Thirdly, consumers ask the laptop a high processing speed to save their time Therefore, we have the following hypothesis:

H3 There is a positive relationship between Perceived Quality and Brand Loyalty

2.3.4 Perceived Price

The foundation of Perceived Price is based on the real price of a product and consumer’s reference price (Winer, 1986) Perceived Price is impacted the same direction (positive) with the real price of product, and it is affected contra-variant (negative) by the reference price (Chang and Wildt, 1994) Besides, Alhabeed (2002) argue that Perceived Price is affected by expenditure and opportunity cost, then it influences to perceived value, and finally it affect on Brand Loyalty

Perceived Price has influenced directly or indirectly on Brand Loyalty The foreign researcher’s results conclude that Perceived Price affect indirectly on Brand Loyalty (Yoo & et al, 2000), whereas the domestic researches’ results illustrate that Perceived Price influence directly on Brand Loyalty (Dinh Thi Ngoc Linh, 2006; Trieu Luong Tu Phuong, 2005) This can be explained that Vietnamese income plays an important role in making a buying decision Therefore, we have the following additional hypothesis in this paper

H4 There is a positive relationship between Perceived Price and Brand Loyalty

2.4 Research model

Based on the mentioned literature, a research model is proposed, in the purpose

of testing and verifying the elements affect on Brand Loyalty for Laptop brands in Ho Chi Minh city market

Figure 2.2 Research Model

The hypotheses:

H1 There is a positive relationship between Self-expressive value of brand

personality and Brand Loyalty

H2 There is a positive relationship between Distinctiveness of brand personality

and Brand Loyalty

H3 There is a positive relationship between Perceived Quality and Brand Loyalty H4 There is a positive relationship between Perceived Price and Brand Loyalty

2.5 Summary

This chapter summarizes the previous theories and research results of research models which are reckoned basic theories and inheritability knowledge to support this study

Based on literature review, we select and adjust the appropriate elements to a kind of product and market research - the laptop consumers in Hochiminh city market Besides, we also consider the dependence of Brand Loyalty variable impacted by the four independent variables concluding Self-expressive value, Distinctiveness, Perceived Quality and Perceived Price

The theories and concepts are the sound foundation for the study about the effective factors on Brand Loyalty for Laptop brands in Ho Chi Minh market However, the research method, the data collection process and method of data analysis have a critical part in the success of dissertation Through the research methodology

of the next chapter, the researcher will present all of these problems

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A research methodology defined what the activity of research was, how to proceed, how to measure progress, and what constitutes success (MIT AI Lab, 1988) Or in other words, the chapter 3 dealed with the methodology used for this dissertation It provided an outline of the research approach, the associated methods and techniques used for the collection of relevant data (Galliers, 1992) This part was organized into two parts: (1) research design, (2) measurement scales Besides, tools which were used for testing the research questions and hypotheses were also mentioned in this chapter

of dissertation

3.1 Research design

As we mentioned in chapter 1, the research was performed through two phases: (1) an exploratory study, (2) a main survey The purpose of the exploratory study was exploring and refining the relevant items and buiding a questionnaire Besides, the main survey was also discussed in data collection, analysis of collected data as well as model measurement

to match with the real situation of laptop consumer in Ho Chi Minh city Furthermore,

a pilot test was conducted with a sample of 25 students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology by means of face-to-face interviews to check the correctly meaning understanding of these words which were used in the questionnaire before the main survey was undertaken

3.1.2 Main survey

The main survey was a quantitative research which was conducted in Hochiminh city with convenient sampling; and the final questionnaires were sent to both part time and full time students of these universities in Ho Chi Minh city

3.1.2.1 Sample size

A good sample size should satisfy both accuracy and precision or it should bring no systematic bias in variance with the sampling error acceptable (Donald & Pamela, 2003) Additional, Hair & et al (1998) argued that we needed to collect at least five sample for a observed variance in Exploring Factor Analysis And, a good sample size in Multipe Linear Regression Analysis, we should ensure a sample size following the below formula (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996)

Figure 3.1 Research process

3.2 Measurement

Measurement scale used in this study was multi-item seven point Likert scales, which developed and validated by previous researches (including Dodds, 1991; Yoo

& et al, 2001; Chung & et al, 1998,2001; Tho and Trang, 2002)

Qualitative research results were a foundation to adjust and to build a measure scale suitable with the kind of product and Hochiminh market

The first draft of questionnaire

The formal questionnaire

Cronbach alpha

Quantitative research

EFA

Completed measurement scale

MLR

3.2.1 Measure of Self-expressive value

Self-expressive value of brand personality was measured on seven observed variables, a seven-point Likert scale developed by Chung & et al, (1998, 2001) and Pham Anh Tuan (2009), among which four observed variables were extracted based

on the results of qualitative in-depth interview

Table 3.1: Scale of Self – expressive value

3.2.2 Measure of Distinctiveness

Three observed variables with a seven-point Likert from Chung & et al, (2001)

were primarily used to measure Distinctiveness After the in-depth interviews, the observed variable of “The brand has few features in common with other brands (vs, many features)” was replaced by the observed variable of “The brand has some outstanding functions to other brands”, as the interviewees suggested that the observed variable of “The brand has few features in common with other brands (vs, many features)” was incorrect with laptop brands because most of laptop product of brands are nearly the same in functions, design even in quality and service after sale

Table 3.2: Scale of Distinctiveness

3.2.3 Measure of Perceived Quality

Measurement scales for perceived quality factor were developed by Yoo & et.al (2000) and Dodds (1991) However, the qualitative research results indicated that, laptop consumer took care about design, color, spare part, and radiation heat Therefore, Perceived Quality was measured by four observed variables, used a seven-point Likert as below

Table 3.3: Scale of Perceived Quality

3.2.4 Measure of Perceived Price

Perceived Price was measured by a seven – point Likert on three – item scale, developed by Yoo & et al, (2000) and the qualitative research, then modified by the author including:

Table 3.4: Scale of Perceived Price

3.2.5 Measure of Brand Loyalty

Brand Loyalty was measured by six observed variables, developed by Chung

& et al (2001), Nguyen Dinh Tho & Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2002) and the qualitative research results, used a seven-point Likert, and modified by the author as follows:

Table 3.5: Scale of Brand Loyalty

I will continue to use X because I am satisfied and

acquainted with X

BL3

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS

The purpose of this chapter was to present findings which were collected from the actual questionnaire survey and the interview for universities’ students in Ho Chi Minh city Besides, the researcher made an official assessment of measures and also made analysis to give the accurate answers for the research questions, hypotheses testing in the chapter two

4.1 Descriptive data analysis

A total number of 400 questionnaires were delivered and there were total 350 respondents (the returned questionnaire ratio reached 87.5 percent)

After checking, there were 50 respondents which were not met the requirements

of the study because of un-answered, missing information, similar answers or dishonest answers with the same mark The rest of 300 respondents were analyzed, and the characteristics of the survey sample were presented as below

Table 4.1 – Sample characteristics

Single – lived alone 148 49.3%

Single - lived with family 125 41.7%

Buyer

Self-bought 150 50.0%

Getting others buying 115 38.3%

Received from others 35 11.7%

Working

Place

Not yet working 181 60.3%

State owned company 32 10.7%

of respondents had not yet worked)

Particularly, the number statistics showed the main using laptop brand name and their percentage in the survey sample HP was the highest using brand name with 21.7% The next were Dell and Sony (it made up 20% and 13.3% respectively) Acer and Asus accounted for 13% and 11% respectively, while Toshiba and IBM made nearly equal contributions of 7.5% Other using laptop brand names as Apple, Samsung, Ipad made up 6% of the research sample collectively