EFFECT OF BRAND AWARENESS ON CONSUMER’S PURCHASE INTENTION

SHWETANSHU GUPTA

INTRODUCTION

• The American Marketing Association (1960) proposed the following company- oriented definition of a brand as: A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

• This definition was criticized for being too product oriented with emphasis on features that are easily visible.

“We do not longer buy products. We buy brands.”

• Dibb et al. (1997) redefined brand as : A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

• The basic difference between these two definitions was the use ofwords “any other features” which includes all the intangible featuresbesides the visual features associated with brand. The particularvalue of this definition is that it focuses on a fundamental brandpurpose, which is differentiation (Wood 2000).

CONT’D

• A brand is a promise that the product will perform as per customers expectations.

• A brand helps make a mark and differentiate a good or service from others in marketplace.

• A strong brand makes people aware of what the company representsand about the different offerings of the company.

• Brands help customers to connect to the product or service on an emotional level.

WHY DO BRANDS MATTER?

• Brands represent immaterial assets that often have greater financial value than material assets.

• A brand is a name that influences buyers, by creating mental associations and relationships built up over time among customers and distributors.

• Strong brands are fundamental to succeed in the powerful competition in the marketplace.

• They gain higher preferences from consumers, and individuals tend to prefer products that are familiar and have high awareness.

• Strong brands can escape price competition, since it can command a higher price.

• Brand represents a relationship between a product and a customer.

• Strong brands attract loyal customers who tend to repeatedly purchase the same brand.

• Successful brands add value to all parties involved, which entices customers to buy their products.

BRANDS FOR CONSUMERS

• Source of product: Consumers can easily make a purchasedecision based on brands.

• Lower risk: Brands means lower purchase risk toconsumers as they are dealing with a product ororganization that they trust.

• Symbol of quality: Consumers see brands as a symbol of quality and remain committed and loyal to a brand as long as they believe that the brand will continue meeting their expectations.

• Less cost of search for a choice: If consumers recognize a particular brand and have knowledge about it ,they can make quick purchase decision.

Main aim of each marketer is to create brand awareness for his

product or service, to attract a large customer base to it.

BRAND AWARENESS

• Brand awareness means the ability of a consumer to recognize and recall a brand in different situations .

• Brand awareness consists of : brand recall and brand recognition.

• Brand recall means when consumers see a product category, they can recall a brand name exactly.

• Brand recognition means consumers has ability to identify a brand when there is a brand cue i.e. consumers can tell a brand correctly if they ever saw or heard it.

• Brand awareness also acts as a critical factor in the consumer purchase intention, and certain brands will accumulate in consumers’ mind to influence consumer purchase decision.

• A product with a high level of brand awareness will receive higher consumer preferences because it has higher market share and quality evaluation.

BRAND IMAGE

• Brand image reflects consumers’ perceptions of a brand’s characteristics and can be determined by their associations.

• The image refers to the way in which consumers’ interpret all of the signals coming from the products , services and communication covered by the brand.

• Brand image convey the product’s distinctive benefits & positioning.

“Everyone experiences more than he understands – but it is experiences, not understanding, that influences behaviour.”

• Brand image has four purposes:

– Brand image communicates expectations

– It influences the perception of a company’s activities

– Brand image is a result of consumers’ experiences as well as their expectations

– It affects the company internally

• Image is created on the basis of two variables, personal and indirect experiences.

– Personal experiences arise through direct contact with the company

– while indirect experiences occur through communication with the environment, such as rumors and media.

• Brand image communicates expectations:

Brand image communicates expectations through marketing campaigns such as advertisement, personal sales and word-of-mouth communication

• Brand image influences the perception of a company’s activities:

If the image is good, occasional problems become less fateful and the image functions as a protection. But when the image is negative an increasing dissatisfaction occurs among the customers

• Brand image is a result of consumers’ experiences and expectation:

If the experienced quality is equivalent to the image, or exceeds it, the image will be strengthen or improved. But if the company does not succeed to deliver the experienced image the effect will be the opposite

• Brand image affects the company internally

• When the image is unclear it affects employees’ attitudes towards the employer and the organization. This can lead to a negative impact on employees’ work and their contribution which affects quality and their relationship with customers.

PERCEIVED QUALITY

• Perceived quality is a result of consumers’ subjective judgment on a product.

• Perceived quality is a judgment on the consistency of product specification or an evaluation on added value of a product.

• Perceived quality will be affected by factors such as previous experience, education level, and perceived risk and situational variables such as purchase purpose, purchase situation, time pressure, and social background from consumers.

• It is the consumers opinion of a product’s ability to fulfill his expectations.

• The term "Perceived Quality" refers to the quality that customers acknowledge via the look, the touch, and the feel of a car.

• For example, in a showroom, the customer would first take a glance around the car, then open the door, sit on the seat, and check the quality of the details.

Perceived quality is different to real quality is because

• Previous bad image of a product will influence consumers’ judgment on product quality in the future. Even if the product quality has been changed, consumers will not trust that product because of their unpleasant experience in previous.

• Manufacturers and consumers have different views on the judgment of the quality dimensions

• Consumers seldom hold enough information to evaluate a product objectively.

Ways to increase perceived quality

• Create a brand name for it that is based on market research of your target market and what this audience sees as beneficial.

• Brand names, logos and slogans offer a consistency to the viewing public that leads to an appearance of reliability and thus higher quality.

• Presenting what your business offers in an effective brand form can help drive sales.

• Good service leaves a lasting impression on customers and can make them feel more loyal to your product or brand.

For example, a coffee shop's lattes might be no better in quality than the next shop's selections, but delivering each latte personally to a customer at his table or putting an artful design in the foam of the latte could make the consumer conclude that it's the best latte he's ever had.

BRAND LOYALTY

• Brand loyalty is a measure of the extent to which consumers are loyal to a particular brand over a period of time, which emphasizes a consistent repurchase of the same brand.

• Brand loyalty results in an emotional attachment to the brand, which is driven primarily by commitment and affection.

• Consumers exhibit behavioural brand loyalty when a consumer buys a brand simply out of habit or convenience without thinking much about it.

• If consumers primarily use the products of a particular company in preference to the products of competing companies, they are absolutely brand loyal.

• If they use a product most of the time but occasionally use a competitors’ product, they are moderately brand loyal.

• There are certain behaviors which developed in the consumers as a result of the brand loyalty i.e. positive attitudes toward brand, insensitivity to the price of the preferred brand, unpleasant feeling, if preferred brand departed unexpectedly and recommendation to others about brand.

PURCHASE INTENTION

• Purchase intention can be divided into:

a)Unplanned buying

b)Partially planned buying

c)Fully planned buying

• Unplanned buying : Consumers make all decisions to buy a product category and a brand in a store. It can be regarded as an impulse buying behavior.

• Partially planned buying:

Consumers only decide a product category and the specification before buying a product, and brands and types will decide in the shop later.

• Fully planned buying :

Consumers decide which product and brand to buy before entering the shop.

Brand Awareness, Perceived Quality, Brand Loyalty and Purchase Intention

Brand awareness

Quality Evaluation

Brand Image

Brand LoyaltyBrand Trust

Purchase Intention

CONCLUSION

• A brand with high awareness and good image can promote brand loyalty to consumers, and the higher the brand awareness is, the higher brand trust and purchase intention are to consumers.

• Higher brand awareness , higher market share and a better quality evaluation.

• When businesses develop a new products or a new market, they should promote their brand awareness in order to receive the best result because brand awareness is positively related to brand loyalty.

• Consumers will have a higher purchase intention with a familiar brand & brand loyalty will ensure a repurchase commitment in the future purchase which consumers will not change their brand loyalty under different situations and still buy their favorable brands.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!