Download 58 THE IMPACT OF BRANDS ON INDIAN CONSUMER`S BUYING

Asia Pacific Journal of Research
ISSN (Print) : 2320-5504
ISSN (Online) : 2347-4793
THE IMPACT OF BRANDS ON INDIAN CONSUMER’S BUYING BEHAVIOUR
Dr. SUDHEENDRA RAO L N , PhD, MBA, MA(JMC), PGDPR,PGDPM, LCCIDIM(UK),
DMP(UK), 3rd level 4 series DBS(England), IM(England) FRPM(Gold Medal), CMC
HOD, Associate Professor, Dayananda Sagar Institutions, Affiliation: Bangalore University
Bangalore
Venkatesh Prasad B.G., B.E., MBA, M.Phil., AMIETE., MIE., (Ph.D.)
Asst. Professor -MBA Department
Dayananda Sagar Academy of Technology & Management(EngineeringCollege)
Bangalore-560082
Varsha P S , MBA.,
Asst. Professor -MBA Department
Dayananda Sagar c o l lege Arts, Science & Commerce
Bangalore-560078
ABSTRACT
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and
seller or group of sellers & to differentiate them from those of competition” (AMA)
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services o f one
It is able to choose a name, logo, symbol, package design, or other characteristics that identifies a product & distinguish it
from others.
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Branding is the process by which a marketer tries to build a long term relationship with the customers
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It can also be viewed as a tool to position a product or service.
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It influences the customer‟s choice and helps ensure repeat purchase.
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Branding is a conscious customer satisfaction orientation process.
The Role of Brands for consumers
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Represents product category
Represents brand‟s responsibility
Risk reducer.
Reduces cost of search
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Asia Pacific Journal of Research
ISSN (Print) : 2320-5504
ISSN (Online) : 2347-4793
• Represents status and image.
• Sign of quality.
Roles of Brands for Manufacturers
• Consumers‟ greater loyalty.
• Ability to reduce damages in times of crisis.
• Higher margins.
• Greater effectiveness of marketing
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Keywords— Brand, Consumer, Buying Behaviour
INTRODUCTION
A product is a physical entity that lives in the real world. A brand is a perpetual entity thatlives in the consumers mind. Brands are
drivers of competitive edge. „A successful brand is a name, design, symbol or some combination which identifies the product of a
particularorganization as having a sustainable different advantage (Heinmann, 1991).
According to Keller, A brand is “a product, but one that adds other dimensions that Differentiate it in some way from other products
designed to satisfy the same need. These Differences must be rational and tangible related to product performance of the brand or
more symbolic, emotional and intangible related to what the brand represents”.
A brand, by definition, is a short hand description of a package of value, on which consumers can rely to be consistently the same or
better over a period of time (Sawant, 2012).
Buying Decision
Buying decision process is the process the customer goes through before they buy the product. It involves 5 stages
1. Problem/need recognition
2. Information search
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase decision
5. Post-purchase behaviour
On the basis of being either satisfied or dissatisfied, it is common for customers to distribute their positive or negative feedback about
the product. Companies should be very careful to create positive post-purchase communication. All the above stages happen through
Braning. Branding plays a vital role in consumer buying behaviour.
OBJECTIVES
o To study the influence of brands on consumer buying behavior.
o To study brand loyalty on consumer and the impact of age and gender as the factors affecting branded purchase.
Review of literature:
According to Hawkings et al (2001) brand images refers to the schematic memory of a brand. It contains the target market‟s
interpretation of the product‟s attributes, benefits, use and characteristics of users and manufactures. It is consumers view and
feeling when they hear or see a brand.
According to Marsden ( 2004) brand images refers to the set of beliefs that customers hold about a particular brand. Brand
image is how a brand is actually perceived by its customers and constituencies. Two people might have differing opinions
about the same brand, for all people are unique and have their own perceptions that are governed by many factors.
Copley (2004) stated that there is a clear distinction between brand image and brand identify. Brand identity is the way in which
the organization presents itself to consumers as opposed to image, which is the perception of the brand by the consumers.
Identity has to be created through the use of brand elements to capture the essence of the brand and experienced through
everything the brand says and does by means of marketing communication programmes. Brand identity should be managed,
planned and measured. Nandan (2005) summaries that the differences between brand identity and brand image. Identity
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Asia Pacific Journal of Research
ISSN (Print) : 2320-5504
ISSN (Online) : 2347-4793
stems from the source or company whereas image is created by the consumer. Identify represents the firm‟s reality, while image
represents the perception of the consumer.
According to Anon (2005) brand images is a set of unique associations with in the minds of the target consumers which
represents what the brand currently stands for and implies a potential promise to consumers. Therefore, brand image is what
currently resides in the minds of consumers, whereas a brand identity is planned.
Kotler and Keller (2006) defined brand image as the way in which consumer perceive the brand. More specifically, brand
image as the perceptions and the beliefs held by consumers, as reflected in the associations held in the consumers, memory.
Singh and Singh (1981) found that consumers had single or multi- brand loyalty based on the nature of product, like
necessities or luxuries. Brand choice and store loyalty were found to affect the brand loyalty of the consumer. The factors that
influence and strengthen loyalty to brand were quality of product, habit of use and ready and regular availability.
Shanmugasundaram (1990) studied about soft drink preference in Vellore town of north Arcot district in Tamil Nadu. The
study revealed that, the most preferred soft drink among respondents as Gold Spot 26 percentage, followed by Limca percentage
24.80. It was found that taste was the main factor for preference of particular brand and among the media; television
played a vital role in influencing consumer to go for particular brand. Because of convenience in carrying, tetra pack was most
preferred one.
Ali (1992) studied the brand loyalty and switching pattern of processed fruit and vegetable products in Bangalore city b y
using Markov Chain analysis. The result of the study revealed that Kissan brand of Jam and Maggi brand of Ketchup had a
maximum brand loyalty among consumers, and less amount of brand switching occurred for these brands.
Consumer behaviour is described by Krugman (1965) as the actions, thought process and perceived outcome, in
collaboration with environmental factors, during the course of making a decision, which could result in a purchase. Some of
the factors that are significant in consumer behaviour are external environment, demographics and personal characteristics,
which are influenced b y the consumer‟s beliefs, values and attitudes.
In the literature perspective, Assael (1994) explained that consumer behaviour as the process of perceiving and evaluating
different components of a purchase. Furthermore, he explains that there are two broad influences that decide consumer choice. At
First, the individual consumer‟s needs, consciousness of brand characteristics and awareness to alternatives are of significance
in the matter of decision-making. Other factors that influence the choice of brand are the consumer‟s demographics, lifestyle and
personal characteristics. Secondly, the environment has importance in consumer behaviour, which consists of culture, social class
and reference groups.
Blackwell et al (2001) defined consumer behaviour as a summation of acquisition, consumption and disposal of products or
services. However, such definition falls short of the continuity of the processes. Based on this loophole, Arnoud et al.
(2004)further proposed the circle of consumption that recognize purchasing processes as a loop, comprising acquisition of
goods and services, consumption, as well as disposal of used goods. As far as the consumer decision process model is concerned,
consumers need to go through seven steps before reaching their final decisions. These seven steps include need
recognition, search for information, pre-purchase, evaluation, purchase, consumption, post-consumption evaluation and
divestment (Blackwell et al., 2006).
Rayport and Jaworski (2003) study revealed that most of the consumer research would primarily base on these seven stages
and how different elements affect each stage of consumers‟ decisions, regardless of the different terms and consolidation of
stages. Further they point out that the significant impact of internet on consumer purchasing decision. This new kind of
non-shop retailing format has begun replacing the fairly established catalogue and TV shopping and its development is rapid
albeit it is more recently found in comparison with the existing non-shop retailing modes.
Porter (2004) pointed out that firms can create value by providing lower price or unique offers to the customers so as to excel
their competitive advantages over the others. Stage four refers to the purchase decisions made by the consumers after
evaluating the offers from different retailers.
Kolter et al (2005) explained that the pre-purchase evaluation that consumers compare between different products and
brands to make a purchasing decision. In this stage, consumers pay particular attention to the attributes which are most
relevant to their needs. Attributes like quantity, size, quality and price are commonly used to judge a brand b y customers.
Any changes in these attributes can affect consumers‟ decisions on brand or product choices
Solomon et al (2006) stated that along the
comes to our attention when we see it under
frequently originated in underlying aspiration
underlying desires or often are not aware that
they want to be.
same lines the complexity of consumer behaviour with regards to choice
the light of consumer behaviour motivations. Consumers‟ motivations a r e
values. Further, consumers are not usually willing to communicate these
their product evaluation behaviour is an extension of whom they are and who
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Asia Pacific Journal of Research
ISSN (Print) : 2320-5504
ISSN (Online) : 2347-4793
As stated by Blackwell et al (2006) there are two phases contributing to the decision making processes, including
retailer and in-store selection. Retailer selection is made by judging which retailers to buy after investigating the attributes
from the previous stage whereas in-store selection is affected by the selling skills of salesperson, visual displays inside the
shops, as well as point-of-purchase advertising.
Kapferer (2008) pointed out that the brand is the ultimate personality, which discards atypical, dissonant elements in
disagreement with its personality. A brand provides consumers a sense of stability and consistency. Along those lines,
a brand is less flexible than its product categories. Once the personality image of the brand is created in the minds of consumers,
it is very difficult to change. Thus, therein lays the importance of understanding consumers‟ rejection of products and brands
FINDINGS
The researcher in this paper studies the influence of brands on consumer purchase behavior. We find that the brand image plays a
vital role on the purchase of a particular products . Consumers are very particular about branded products for various reasons like
good packaging, quality, and reasonable price about a company. Earlier only young customers were preferring branded products but
in today‟s scenario, we find that there is no any difference between the age and gender regarding influence of purchase decision of
branded products. The male and female both go for branded products for various reasons specially in these categories like cosmetics,
apparels, consumable goods, etc.
We further finds that the age factor is not only influence the purchase of branded products. But we can say that the frequency of
young customers related to purchase of branded products is more compare to another aged group.That‟s why the profits of companies
increasing very rapidly who deals in branded products. The brand name is the most important factor towards consumer buying
decision which discussed by various researchers. So the importance of study this factor is the need of hour.
SUGGESTIONS
• The Branded companies should introduce variety of products for attracting the various age group and different gender.
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The companies have to more focus on their brand loyalty, brand name, and brand image.
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Low priced products have released by Branded companies so that can be middle income group also purchase Branded
products
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Good relation with the customers also increases brand loyalty and this relation can be established by using modern
technologies like email, networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and other social sites for forwarding the news related to
new offers and new variety of a particular brand by the company.
CONCLUSION
This study highlighted importance of brand on consumer buying decision. The companies also have the option to tie up with the
foreign brands toIncrease their market size with the collaborations through FDI. It helps the companies to promote their brand name
in the market.In future, these factors will become the strength of the company in Attracting the customers towards purchasing their
products.
REFERENCES
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