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To cite this document: Tho D. Nguyen, Nigel J. Barrett, Kenneth E. Miller, (2011),"Brand loyalty in emerging markets", Marketing
Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 29 Iss: 3 pp. 222 - 232
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MIP
29,3 Brand loyalty in emerging
markets
Tho D. Nguyen
222 Faculty of Business Administration, University of Economics,
HCM City, Vietnam and
Received February 2009 College of Business, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia, and
Revised September 2009
Accepted February 2010
Nigel J. Barrett and Kenneth E. Miller
Faculty of Business, University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Abstract
Purpose This paper seeks to compare some key antecedents of brand loyalty between two
emerging markets: Thailand and Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 603 female consumers of international shampoo
brands, including 304 consumers in Bangkok, Thailand and 299 users in Hanoi, Vietnam, a model was
tested that incorporates key determinants of brand loyalty perceived quality, brand awareness,
advertising attitudes, and distribution intensity by means of structural equation modeling.
Findings The paper found that there are positive relationships between perceived quality and
brand loyalty, between brand awareness and perceived quality, between advertising attitudes and
brand awareness, and between distribution intensity and brand awareness in both markets. However,
the relationship between brand awareness and brand loyalty was found only in the Vietnamese
market, and the relationship between advertising attitudes and perceived quality was only found in
the Thai market. Finally, no relationship between distribution intensity and perceived quality was
found in either market.
Research limitations/implications A major limitation of this study is the examination of only
one concept that stands for strong brands, i.e. brand loyalty. Several other concepts, such as brand
relationship quality and brand impressions, should be investigated in future research in order to
compare and contrast with those found in advanced economies.
Practical implications The results of this study suggest that managers of international brands in
emerging markets should recognize the differences between markets in order to design effective
loyalty programs for each market.
Originality/value A major contribution of this study is to empirically compare the impacts of
perceived quality, brand awareness, advertising attitudes, and store image on brand loyalty in two
emerging markets: Thailand and Vietnam.
Keywords Brand loyalty, Emerging markets, Vietnam, Thailand
Paper type Research paper
Brands play a central role in marketing and have attracted the attention of academics
and practitioners over many years (Aaker, 1991; Brodie et al., 2009; Erdem et al., 2006).
Accordingly, several perspectives on brands have been found in the literature (Ambler
and Styles, 1996). Traditionally, a brand is defined as a name, term, design, symbol,
Marketing Intelligence & Planning or any feature that identifies one sellers good or service as distinct from those of other
Vol. 29 No. 3, 2011
pp. 222-232 sellers (Bennett, 1995, p. 17). According to this approach, the brand is viewed as part of a
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-4503
product, and the main function of the brand is to distinguish a firms product from
DOI 10.1108/02634501111129211 competing products, i.e. it is an identifier. A more holistic approach defines a brand as:
[. . .] the promise of the bundles of attributes that someone buys and that provides satisfaction Brand loyalty
[. . .] The attributes that make up the brand may be real or illusory, rational or emotional,
tangible or invisible (Ambler and Styles, 1996, p. 10).
In this approach, the product is regarded as a component of the brand. The product
simply provides consumers with functional benefits, whereas the brand provides
consumers with not only functional benefits but also with emotional benefits, and thus,
satisfaction (Hankinson and Cowking, 1996). Consequently, marketing activities of firms 223
have gradually focused more on the brand instead of the product, thereby, leading
academics to discover factors that constitute strong brands (Aaker, 1996). However, such
attention has occurred mainly in the developed world. Little research has been devoted to
the issue in emerging markets. In addition, replication research plays an important role in
science. It is a necessary part of knowledge development, nevertheless, it is rarely
undertaken in the social sciences, especially in business research (Easly et al., 2000;
Hubbard and Vetter, 1996). Replication studies have found that a number of original
models were not supported (Darley, 2000). This results in the isolation and fragmentation
of the literature (Hubbard and Vetter, 1996). This study attempts to bridge this gap by
examining key antecedents of brand loyalty in two emerging markets: Thailand and
Vietnam. Specifically, it compares and contrasts the role of advertising attitudes,
distribution intensity, brand awareness, and perceived quality on consumer loyalty to
international brands in these two markets. The paper is structured as follows:
introduction to the Thai and Vietnamese markets, conceptual model, methods, results,
discussion and implications, and limitations and directions for future research.
Advertising attitudes
The attitude of customers toward advertising, which can be defined as a learned
predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable manner toward advertising in
general (MacKenzie and Lutz, 1989, pp. 53-4), has received considerable attention from
researchers and practitioners (Li and Miniard, 2006; Mehta, 2000; Petrovici and Paliwoda,
2007). Advertising is believed to be an effective tool to promote brands. Through
advertising, consumers have an opportunity to discover the presence of a brand and its
associations. Positive attitudes of consumers toward advertising programs of a brand
will stimulate consumers to recognize the distinctiveness of the brand compared to
competing brands. In addition, when consumers prefer the brands advertising programs,
they intend to search for more information about the brand. Such activities will improve
customers attitudes and perceptions about the brand and assist consumers in perceiving
the quality of the brand (Mehta, 2000; Villarejo-Ramos and Sanchez-Franco, 2005;
Yoo et al., 2000). Therefore:
H5
Advertising Perceived H1
attitudes quality
H7 Brand
H3 loyalty
H4
Distribution Brand Figure 1.
intensity awareness H2 Conceptual model
H6
MIP H4. There is a positive relationship between advertising attitudes and brand
29,3 awareness.
H5. There is a positive relationship between advertising attitudes and perceived
quality.
Distribution intensity
226 Distribution intensity refers to the number of intermediaries used by a manufacturer
within its trade areas (Frazier and Lassar, 1996, p. 39). It can be argued that the more
intensive the distribution of a brand the greater are the opportunities for consumers to
become aware of the brand, and subsequently purchase it. Also, the convenience of
being able to find the brand when and where consumers want it saves them time, thus
increasing satisfaction and enhancing the brands value (Yoo et al., 2000). Accordingly:
H6. There is a positive relationship between distribution intensity and brand
awareness.
H7. There is a positive relationship between distribution intensity and perceived
quality.
Method
Sample
The hypotheses were tested using female consumers of shampoo in Bangkok, the capital
city of Thailand, and in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. The unit of analysis of this
study was consumers. In Thailand, the decision makers for shampoo are both male and
female members of the family. However, in Vietnam, the decision maker for shampoo in
the family is female (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2002). Therefore, for comparison purposes
between the two markets, female consumers were selected for study. Shampoo was
chosen because it is a product that consumers often pay considerable attention to when
making purchase decisions due to its perceived value in enhancing their appearance.
Six popular brands of shampoo (Pantene, Sunsilk, Rejoice, Head & Shoulders, Kao,
and Wella) were chosen for Bangkok, and eight popular brands (Pantene, Sunsilk,
Rejoice, Clear, Head & Shoulders, Organics, Double Rich, and Feather) for Hanoi.
Convenience sampling was used. The questionnaires, with instructions of how to
complete them, were distributed to respondents by an interviewer. In order to minimize
possible response bias, instructions emphasized that the study focused only on their
personal opinions. There were no right or wrong answers. After completion, the
questionnaires were checked and collected by the interviewer. Respondents were chosen
using equal quotas for both country and demographic categories: countries (Thailand
and Vietnam), age (young and old), education (with and without a bachelors degree), and
income (low and high). However, due to some invalid questionnaires which were
removed from the sample, the numbers of consumers in the two groups of each category
varied slightly. The total sample size was 603, comprising 304 female consumers in
Bangkok and 299 female consumers in Hanoi. Table I shows the characteristics of the
sample in both countries: Thailand and Vietnam.
Measurement
There were five constructs used in this study: brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived
quality, advertising attitudes and distribution intensity. Brand loyalty was measured
by three items assessing the overall commitment of being loyal to a specific brand Brand loyalty
(Yoo et al., 2000). These items were: I consider myself to be loyal to X; I would not buy
other brands if X is available at the store; and, I try to find X rather than buying other
brands. Brand awareness was measured by four items, addressing the degree of brand
recognition (Yoo et al., 2000). These items were: I can recognize X among other brands;
I know what X looks like; some characteristics of X come to my mind quickly; and,
overall, I have no difficulty in imaging X in my mind. Perceived quality was measured by 227
four items, asking consumers about their perception of the brand quality (Aaker, 1996).
These items were: X would cure my dandruff; X would make my hair silky; X would not
make my hair dry; and, overall, X is of high quality. Advertising attitudes was measured
by two items, addressing preference of consumers on advertisements. These two items
were: the ad of X is very attractive; and, I like the ad of X. Finally, distribution intensity
was measured by two items (Yoo et al., 2000): there are many stores that sell X; and, I can
buy X everywhere in Bangkok (Hanoi). The questionnaire was developed in English and
was then translated into Thai and Vietnamese languages. Back translation was also
undertaken to ensure the equivalence of meaning (Brislin, 1970). All items were measured
using a five-point Likert scale, anchored by 1 strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree.
Tests of hypotheses
The multi-group analysis in structural equation modeling (Bollen, 1989) was used to test
the hypotheses as well as to compare the structural relationships in the model between the
228 two markets (Thailand and Vietnam). Analysis involved two steps. First, the two
samples were used to estimate the paths in the model with no structural paths constrained
(model A). Next, constraints were imposed for the structural paths for both markets, i.e. all
the structural paths in the model were set to be equal for both markets (model B).
The results of the multi-group analysis show that both models (models A and B)
received good fit to the data (model A: x 2[164] 367.29 ( p , 0.001); TLI 0.946;
CFI 0.958; and, RMSEA 0.045. model B: x 2[171] 391.69 ( p , 0.001); TLI 0.943;
CFI 0.954; and, RMSEA 0.046). However, Model A (unconstrained model) was
selected over model B (constrained model) because it received better fit: Dx2[7] 24.40
( p , 0.001). It is also noted that the correlation between distribution intensity and
advertising attitudes was found to be significant (r 0.28, p , 0.001). Further, no
improper solutions were found in any results of the tests (Heywood cases were absent and
all standardized residuals were less thanj2.58j). The unstandardized structural coefficients,
which are suitable for cross-national research (Singh, 1995), are reported in Table III.
Consistent with H1, a positive relationship between perceived quality and brand loyalty
was found in both Thailand (b 0.65, p , 0.001) and Vietnam (b 0.94, p , 0.001). H2
proposes a positive relationship between brand awareness and brand loyalty. This
hypothesis was supported in Vietnam (b 0.27, p , 0.001) but failed to reach statistical
significance in Thailand (b 0.04, p . 0.52). H3 proposes a positive relationship between
brand awareness and perceived quality. This hypothesis was supported both in Thailand
(b 0.22, p , 0.01) and in Vietnam (b 0.42, p , 0.001). H4, proposing a positive
relationship between advertising attitudes and brand awareness, was also supported both
in Thailand (b 0.20, p , 0.005) and in Vietnam (b 0.26, p , 0.001).
H1. Perceived quality ! Brand loyalty 0.65 0.091 0.000 0.94 0.105 0.000
H2. Brand awareness ! Brand loyalty 0.04 0.063 0.520 0.27 0.074 0.000
H3. Brand awareness ! Perceived quality 0.22 0.068 0.002 0.42 0.068 0.000
H4. Advertising attitudes ! Brand awareness 0.20 0.063 0.001 0.26 0.073 0.000 Table III.
H5. Advertising attitudes ! Perceived quality 0.11 0.055 0.040 0.01 0.062 0.888 Unstandardized
H6. Distribution intensity ! Brand awareness 0.34 0.086 0.000 0.25 0.105 0.019 structural coefficients (b)
H7. Distribution intensity ! Perceived quality 0.11 0.078 0.165 0.10 0.089 0.275 with standard errors
MIP brand awareness. Such programs will assist them in building high consumer perception of
29,3 the brands value, leading to an increase in brand loyalty.
Finally, distribution intensity plays no role in building consumers perception of a
brands quality in both countries. The literature on brand positioning indicates that high
quality has an inverse relationship with distribution intensity (Frazier and Lassar, 1996).
Yoo et al. (2000) found that distribution intensity has a positive effect on brand equity.
230 Therefore, managers of international brands should recognize that distribution intensity
may play different roles in different product categories and countries. For that reason,
a thorough understanding of the segments that the brand is serving is required.
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