if

CHAPTER - 1(A)

BRAND LOYALTY
 CHAPTER-I (A)

BRAND LOYALTY
1.1. Introduction

Today's market is characterized by cut-throat competition. Every manufacturer

wants to capture the major share of the market. This is possible through brand image

in the market. Brand name helps in creating favorable disposition towards the

products of a particular manufacturer in terms of quality and performance. The

impact of the massive changes now underway affects brands and those who manage

them in a variety of different ways. Brands can make or mar the businesses'.

Brands are emerging as a vital competitive weapon in almost all industries and

businesses. If companies are to thrive in the future, they need to make use of every

competitive weapon at their disposal.

A brand name is a means of identification of the product as well as means of

differentiation of the branded product from its competitors. Branding is the best way

to capture and retain the consumer demand in a competitive market. The marketer can

create brand equity, brand loyalty and brand image for his products only through

branding. A well-promoted brand name which has a lot of goodwill and reputation in

the market is very difficult to compete with2.

Consumers pay a premium for a brand not because of its quality but because it

stands for a certain way of life. Brands are often the most valuable assets for

companies. Yet they can lose their value overnight if not managed carefully.

Manufacturers have every incentive to maintain quality. Trust continues to be the core

attribute of any brand. The owners of brands have to work hard to retain that trust3.
1.2. Evolution of a Brand

Since time immemorial, branding was there in some form or other. It was

initially in the form of pictures and symbols. As illiteracy was high, traders relied

mostly on symbols to tell about their products quality. Branding was used as a

guarantee of the source of the products. Subsequently, it was used for legal protection

against copying and imitation. In the past even the livestock used to be branded with a

red-hot iron as a proof of ownership4.

A brand provided a guarantee of reliability and quality. Manufacturers had

every incentive to maintain quality. A cake supplier, for example, ensured that each

cake was as good as the previous one, because only then would people come back for

more.

Trust continues to be the core attribute of any brand. The owners of brands

have to work hard to retain that trust. If they make any moves that undermine this

trust or seem to do so, they will face severe resistance from customers.

A brand is not a product. It is the product's source, its meaning and its

direction and it defines its identity in time and space. Brands identify guarantee,

structure and stabilizes supply. Brands draw their value from their capacity to reduce

risk and uncertainty5.

1.3. Types of brands

Brands can.be divided into different basic types:
Type of Brand Example
1. Consumer goods brands Liril, Close-Up, Gillette
2. Industrial brands Saint-Gobin glass, SKF bearings, Exide battery
3. Service brands LIC, Andhra Bank, Apollo Hospital
4. Corporate brands BPL, Godrej, Tata.

2
1.4. Brand Equity

David Aaker has defined brand equity as “a set of assets and liabilities linked

to a brand, its name and symbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a

Product, or service to a firm and or to that firm s competitors.”

A brand can build up assets such as customer loyalty, high perceived quality,

strong brand, association with objects, persons and situations etc. However, when a

brand does not have the above or other assets, it is said to have more liabilities.

Brand equity can be categorized into the five groups as shown in figure 1.1.

The factors can influence brand equity, enhance the brand value, which is turn affects

the share prices of the parent firm. Valuation of the firm can also be referred to as an

investment of the firm’s scarce resources to create and augment brand equity6.

Fig. 1.1: Brand Equity

1.5. Brand loyalty

Brand loyalty consists of a consumer’s commitment to repurchase or

otherwise continue using the brand and can be demonstrated by repeated buying of a

product or service, or other positive behaviors such as word of mouth advocacy.

3
 Brand loyalty is more than simple repurchasing; however, customers may

repurchase a brand due to situational constraints, a lack of viable alternatives, or out

of convenience. Such loyalty is referred to as "spurious loyalty". True brand loyalty

exists when customers have a high relative attitude toward the brand which is then

exhibited through repurchase behavior. This type of loyalty can be a great asset to the

firm: customers are willing to pay higher prices, they may cost less to serve, and can

bring new customers to the firm7.

Brand loyalty can be termed as the customers decision to repurchase a

particular brand of a product continually. Consumer preference to repurchase is the

result of his desired perception and satisfactory purchase decision about the specific

brand which it offers right product feature, image, quality and price.

Band loyalty is the tendency of the consumers to stick to a particular brand of

a product to fulfil his needs. It encourages repeat purchase of the brand and hence is

an important factor contributing towards the growth of organization by maximizing its

revenue8.

The stating point for understanding brand equity is the extent to which a brand

enjoys customer loyalty. It is important to discriminate between habitual buying and

brand loyalty. For example, a house wife who repeatedly buys brand X of detergent

powder may not necessarily be loyal to it. She might be buying either because

competitor brands are not available, or she does not find parity between brand X and

competition, or she may be buying just out of habit. Many a time such repeat

purchases are mistaken for brand loyalty9. The real issue in brand loyalty is whether

the customer is a committed one and the real test is if he or she will walk that extra

mile to get it. In other words, will the customer go to another shop and ask for it or

4
will he or she leave with the substitute being offered by the shopkeeper or vendor? If

the customer is indifferent to the brand and buys for features, price, or convenience,

there is little equity in the brand. In today’s market where no brand can distinctively

claim differentiation on features (as well use, by and large, the same technology and

inputs) and invariably all brands are available in all markets - even in the remotest

areas - price becomes the deciding factor. And that’s where price wars begin. It is

important for the firm to assess its committed customer base. Customers can be

grouped under five categories, depending on their attitude towards the brand. These

categories are illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 1.2: Brand loyalty

About 20 percent were in the third segment of the loyalty pyramid. It was no

wonder that the company’s brand had lost market share to a large number of smaller

firms. In fact, this product group hardly had any distinctive brand other than that of

this firm. This was the reason for the firm’s brand being caught in a price war, where

smaller firms scored over it10.

5
1.6. Factors influencing brand loyalty

Loyalty includes some degree of pre-dispositional commitment toward a

brand. Brand loyalty is viewed as multidimensional construct. It is determined by

several distinct psychological processes and it entails multivariate measurements.

Customers' perceived value, brand trust, customers' satisfaction, repeat purchase

behaviour, and commitment are found to be the key influencing factors of brand

loyalty. Commitment and repeated purchase behaviour are considered as necessary

conditions for brand loyalty followed by perceived value, satisfaction, and brand trust.

Fred Reichheld, one of the most influential writers on brand loyalty, claimed that

enhancing customer loyalty could have dramatic effects on profitability. Among the

benefits from brand loyalty — specifically, longer tenure or staying as a customer for

longer — was said to be lower sensitivity to price. This claim had not been

empirically tested until recently".

• Motivation • Prices
• Perception • Income
• Learning • Assets
• Attitudes & Reliefs

Fig 1.3: Factors influencing brand loyalty

6
1.7. Internal factors

1. Motivation: It is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals.

Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans

but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article

refers to human motivation. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted

in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include

specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being,

ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness,

morality, or avoiding morality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with

either volition or optimism. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

2. Perception: Perception (from the Latin pcrceptio, percipio) is the process of

attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and

interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous

system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs. For

example, vision involves light striking the retinas of the eyes, smell is mediated by

odor molecules and hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not the passive

receipt of these signals, but can be shaped by learning, memory and expectation.

Perception involves these "top-down" effects as well as the "bottom-up" process of

processing sensory input. Perception depends on complex functions of the nervous

system, but subjectively seems mostly effortless because this processing happens

outside conscious awareness12.

3. Learning: Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge,

behaviours, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types

of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some

machines.

7
 Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, school

or training. It may be goal-oriented and may be aided by motivation. The study of

how learning occurs is part of neuropsychology, educational psychology, learning

theory, and pedagogy. Learning may occur as a result of habituation or classical

conditioning, seen in many animal species, or as a result of more complex activities

such as play, seen only in relatively intelligent animals. Learning may occur

consciously or without conscious awareness. There is evidence for human behavioral

learning parentally, in which habituation has been observed as early as 32 weeks into

gestation, indicating that the central nervous system is sufficiently developed and

primed for learning and memory to occur very early on in development.

Play has been approached by several theorists as the first form of learning.

Children play, experiment with the world, learn the rules, and learn to interact.

Vygotsky agrees that play is pivotal for children’s development, since they make

meaning of their environment through play.

4. Attitudes and beliefs: An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents

an individual's degree of like or dislike for something. Attitudes are generally positive

or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event— this is often referred to as the

attitude object. People can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning

that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item

in question. Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a

proposition or premise to be true13.

8
1.8. External factors

All those factors outside the consumer constitute external factors influencing

brand loyalty i.e. external factors refer to all those factors outside consumer’s skin.

They are price of the product/service, income earned by the individual, assets

possessed by the individual etc. For instance, the income of consumers will, directly,

have an influence on consumer behaviour in general and brand possession in

particular as it decides the purchasing power of the consumers.

A consumer’s economic position greatly affects his product choice. Economic

circumstances of the consumer consist of their disposable income, assets borrowing

power, and attitude towards spending versus saving and price. Income available for

spending is the amount available for personal consumption expenditures and assets.

Disposable personal income represents the amount of income that a consumer

possesses to be used for spending or saving after having paid the taxes, debt

installments etc.. The changes in disposable personal income are relevant to consumer

buying decisions14.

The consumer is not only influenced by his current income, but also by the

future income. The expectations of future income will determine the level of future

expenditure. If expectations of future income are strong, there will be a tendency to

spend more and save less, whereas if expectations are weak, then there will be a

tendency to spend less and save more in the present. Since, most of the consumers are

not having sufficient disposable income; they are not in a position to fulfil all their

wants. Consequently, they give priority to certain wants and satisfy them by

purchasing the suitable products. Thus the consumer’s loyalty towards the brand will

be influenced by the economic circumstances i.e. external factors of the consumers.

9
1.9. Loyalty phases

Consumers are theorized to become loyal in a cognitive sense first, then later in

an affective sense, later in co-native manner and finally in a behavioural manner, which is

described as ‘action inertia’.

• Cognitive loyalty: Cognitive loyalty refers to the existence of beliefs that (typically)

a brand is preferable to others. Cognition can be based on prior or vicarious

knowledge or on recent experience-based information. This consumer state, however,

is of a shallow nature.

• Affective loyalty reflects a favorable attitude or liking based on satisfied usage.

Commitment at this phase is referred to as affective loyalty and is encoded in the

consumer's mind as cognition and affect. Whereas cognition is directly subject to

counter-argumentation, affect is not as easily dislodged.

• Conative loyalty constitutes the development of behavioral intentions characterized

by a deeper level of commitment (Thorsten, Kevin and G. Dwayne, 2002; Janda,

Trocchia, Gwinner, 2002; Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1996). Conation, by

definition, implies a brand-specific commitment to repurchase. Conative loyalty, then,

is a loyalty state that contains what, at first, appears to be the deeply held commitment

to buy noted in the loyalty definition. However, this is a commitment to the intention

to rebuy the brand and is more akin to motivation. In effect, the consumer desires to

repurchase, but similar to any “good intention”, this desire may be an anticipated but

unrealized action15.

• Action loyalty phase, the motivated intention in the previous loyalty state is

transformed into readiness to act accompanied by a willingness to overcome

impediments to such action. The action control paradigm proposes that this is

accompanied by an additional desire to overcome obstacles that might prevent the act.

10
 If this engagement is repeated, action inertia develops, thereby facilitating repurchase.

Ultimate loyalty is attended in the last step.

1.10. Challenges to loyalty

• Consumer idiosyncrasies: some aspects of consumer consumption are

antithetical to loyalty. For example, variety seeking frequently has been cited as a

trait that will not permit loyalty to develop until there is no variety. This will be

particularly true at the cognitive and even at co-native level. Until the variety

seeking consumer reaches action inertia, the lure of new experience will be too

tempting to ignore. Many product and service provider fall into this pattern and

find that even their regular clientele will try new and different alternatives.

Other reasons for apparent consumer disloyalty include multibrand loyalty,

withdrawal from the product category and changes in need.

• Switching incentives: Competitors can (and do) take advantage of irrational

behaviour of consumers, engaging them through persuasive messages and

incentives with the purpose of attempting to lure them away from their preferred

offering16.

1.11. Measurement of brand loyalty

Brand loyalty measurement is not an easy task, particularly because it is a

measurement of something intangible. To measure it properly involves gauging brand

awareness, recognition, knowledge, and recall. Consumers are exposed to hundreds of

brands each day, yet not all of them register in the consumer's mind. To test how well

your brand is penetrating, ask yourself the following questions.

 How different is your brand? To build brand loyalty, you must offer a set of

differentiating promises to your customers and deliver them in order to build value to

a brand. Without building value, the brand will perish.

Is your brand relevant? Does it matter to your customers, and do they have a

personal relationship with your brand? A high opinion is also important. If your brand

is popular and people think of it as a high-quality brand, they have a high opinion of

your brand and are more likely to value it. These opinions can be tracked via brand

loyalty measurement surveys.

• Brand awareness: It is a marketing concept that measures consumers' knowledge

of a brand's existence. Brand awareness means the extent to which a brand

associated with a particular product is documented by potential and existing

customers either positively or negatively. Creation of brand awareness is the

primary goal of advertising at the beginning of any product's life cycle in target

markets. In fact, brand awareness has influence on buying behaviour of a buyer.

• Brand attributes and associations: Brand Attributes portray a company’s brand

characteristics. They signify the basic nature of brand. Brand attributes are a

bundle of features that highlight the physical and personality aspects of the brand.

Attributes are developed through images, actions, or presumptions. Brand

attributes help in creating brand identity.

Brand associations are spontaneous signals which help the marketer to

associate their brands with the psyche of consumers. Brand association is anything

which is deep seated in customer’s mind about the brand. Brand should be

associated with something positive so that the customers relate your brand to

being positive. Brand associations are the attributes of brand which come into

12
 consumers mind when the brand is talked about. It is related with the implicit and

explicit meanings which a consumer relates/associates with a specific brand name.

Brand association can also be defined as the degree to which a specific

product/service is recognized within it’s product/service class/category. While

choosing a brand name, it is essential that the name chosen should reinforce an

important attribute or benefit association that forms it’s product positioning.

• Perceived quality: Consumer's opinion of a product's (or a brand's) ability to

fulfill his or her expectations. It may have little or nothing to do with the actual

excellence of the product, and is based on the firm's (or brand's) current public

image (see corporate image), consumer's experience with the firm's other

products, and the influence of the opinion leaders, consumer's peer group, and

others. It can be defined as the customer's perception of the overall quality or

superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to

alternatives. Perceived quality is, first, a perception by customers. It thus differs

from several related concepts, such as:

• Actual or objective quality: the extent to which the product or service delivers

superior service.

• Product-based quality: the nature and quantity of ingredients, features, or services

included;

• Manufacturing quality: conformance to specification, the "zero-defect" goal

Perceived quality cannot necessarily be objectively determined, in part

because it is a perception and also because judgments about what is important to

customers are involved. An evaluation of washing machines by a Consumer Report

expert may be competent and unbiased, but it must make judgments about the relative

13
importance of features, cleaning action, types of clothes to be washed, and so on that

may not match those of all customers. After all, customers differ sharply in their

personalities, needs, and preferences17.

Perceived quality is an intangible, overall feeling about a brand. How-ever, it

usually will be based on underlying dimensions which include characteristics of the

products to which the brand is attached such as reliability and performance. To

understand perceived quality, the identification and measurement of the underlying

dimensions will be useful, but the perceived quality itself is a summary, global

construct.

1.12. Customer brand loyalty measures

Brand loyalty has been examined at great length by academicians and

practitioners alike as one of the most important factor influencing a brand’s success or

failure in the market place.

From the revaluation of a fledging product (s) to the extension of a mature

brand, effective marketing strategies depend on a thorough understanding of the core

brand loyalty.

The brand loyalty programs can have a dynamic impact on the success of a

brand. Trust, quality, pride of association and identification with the brand’s concept

and image influence loyalty and what customers buy.

The loyalty tracking program provides an ongoing measures of loyalty of

products/services to guide any business.

1.13. Measures for brand loyalty

• Customer loyalty: Customer loyalty is all about attracting the right customer,

getting them to buy, buy often, buy in higher quantities and bring you even more

14
 customers. The customer loyalty is one of the most important issues facing

businesses today. Unless companies can retain the loyalty of their customers, they

will not be able to ensure repeat business and their long term future will be

uncertain. The customer loyalty activities and implications that every business

people should review which include:

• Improving long term business performance

• Influencing product development
• Focusing the organisation on the customer
• Ensuring repeat purchase
• Increasing customer retention
• Shortening purchase circles
• Enhancing the ownership experience
• Managing customer relationships
• Opening sales channels
• Controlling sales costs
• Contributing to long term planning
• Dealing with competitive activity

Customer loyalty can be defined as the totality of feelings or attitudes that

would incline a customer to consider the re-purchase of a particular product, service

or brand or re-visit a particular company, shop or website. Customer loyalty has

always been critical to business success and profitability18.

Customer loyalty is determined by three factors: relationship strength,

perceived alternatives and critical episodes.

• Trust in the brand: In traditional branding, trust means that the products deliver

what they promise. Trust means a loyal customer base and will also lead to word-

of-mouth advertising. Successful branding happens as a result of a consistent

15
 message being delivered both offline and online media in an effort to build trust

and loyalty. The goal is to create awareness and then make the necessary

investment to build brand loyalty.

• Quality of brand relationship: A strong brand is defined as the best option for

the consumer that delivers a sustainable, differentiable, and long term value to the

consumer. The consumer resolves to buy the same brand whenever he faces a

consumption problem. Whenever a consumer if faced with a problem of choice,

out of the brands he / she considers buying, a particular brand should have its

presence felt. The longitudinal relationship of a brand in the choice set of

consumers decides the success of a brand. It also values the quality of

relationship.

• Pride of Association: Brand associations to consumers are spontaneous signals

which help the marketer to associate their brands with the psyche of consumers.

Consumers may buy a number of brands in a year, but may be loyal to one brand.

In such a situation like this, a strong association ensures a higher probability of

being the brand ladder which is formed in consumer’s mind.

• Identification with the brand: Brand identity is the sum total of the brand stands

for. Brand identity is the judicious mix of the core features and benefits, value

propositions, and significant elements of the brand through which it is presented.

When the consumer identifies the core features and benefits, value prepositions

and significant elements of the brand, he/she feels that brand is the best brand and

that he / she cannot imagine living in this world without that brand.

1.14. Classification of brand loyalty

Dick and Basu classified brand loyalty into four groups termed as spurious

loyalty, circumstantial loyalty, latent loyalty and sustainable loyalty.

16
1. Spurious loyalty: It can be observed when despite consumer perception that

the choices available are undifferentiated, behavioural data suggests loyalty. The

consumer in such cases shows only temporary display of loyalty as he is open to

competing offers and will shift the moment he gets a better deal.

Brand loyalty is more than simple repurchasing, however. Customers may

repurchase a brand due to situational constraints, a lack of viable alternatives, or out

of convenience. Such loyalty is referred to as "spurious loyalty".

2. Circumstantial loyalty: It includes cases where temporary monopoly is

achieved due to patients, copyrights and trademarks.

3. Latent loyalty: It is displayed when consumers have high regard for a

company or brand, but they don’t necessarily but it. This can be due to inconvenient

store locations, out-of-stock situations etc.

4. Sustainable loyalty: It exists when a customer repeatedly buys only one

particular brand or when he recommends it to friends, family, colleagues etc. thus

sustainable (true loyalty) loyalty occurs when there is repeat patronage, which is the

result of a conscious decision by the consumer.

1.15. Building loyalty

This theoretical framework looks at possible responses to the erosion of brand

loyalty, including product innovation and marketing-led responses. Specially, how

companies are innovating in new products, product reformulations, packaging and

adding benefits around the physical product. It also explores marketing activity

intended to shore up and / or build brand loyalty, from high-level branding strategy

through to above and below the line activities, as well as channel strategy19.

17
CHAPTER - 1(B)

THE STUDY
i
 CHAPTER -I (B)

THE STUDY

Traditional marketing paradigms have always stressed the importance of brand

loyalty; and marketers have always believed that brand loyalty would lead them to

customer relationships, which would enable them to make the best use of customer

lifetime value, While academic literature has several articles on some of these latest

concepts, practical considerations suggest certain cautious ways of applying these

concepts.

Marketers may have to probe deeper into the concepts of loyalty to understand

consumers' buying patterns before they embark on loyalty schemes. Traditional

approaches to brand loyalty have stressed the importance of the fact that it is less

expensive to maintain existing consumers than to get new ones. Consumers who are

loyal to a brand are likely to spend more on it and also likely to spread the positive

word of mouth to other consumers, thus becoming advocates of the brand20.

While these may be true in today’s context, there may have to be certain

changes in the environment to be taken into consideration before a policy on loyalty is

formulated.

Some of the loyalty-based challenges faced by today’s marketers are:

> How should loyalty be created and sustained?

> Are there different approaches for mobile cellular services providers?

> How should retail networks be used be build loyalty at the retail outlet

level?

> How should loyalty programmes be floated so that they are profitable

to companies too unljke several programmes which do not get much

value for the brand?

18
 In the case of durable categories, repeat buys of the brand could depend on

how well service has been provided. Beyond this, consumers may also require

feature-rich offerings when they update. For example, a consumer who has bought a

brand of washing machine ten years ago would like to replace the machine with

updated features rather than buy the same model. The brand should be in a position to

offer such features to ensure that the consumer is not lost to competition. It may be

interesting to research if consumers desire updated features because they require it or

because competitive brands offer them. This would enable a brand to define what

value is all about for a loyal consumer.

Having an ongoing relationship with the buyer is another strategy to keep the

brand on top of consumers’ minds. The Passport scheme of Hero Honda related to

service after the purchase is a good example where the consumer may perceive a

value after the purchase is made as there are privileges which could be put to use

while using the product. Retail outlets augment loyalty in a variety of ways.

Shopping experience is one. Offering value on the merchandise with sales promotion

bundling is another. Loyalty programme is also one of the ways of developing retail

loyalty. Shoppers' stop has one which is run in synchronization with consumer

preferences strengthened by a good supply chain system which would enable the

company to save on procurement. A good information technology system is a

prerequisite for any retail chain which has a good database of consumer purchase

patterns21.

Some critical factors for loyalty-based strategies

> Past purchase patterns would provide several insights into the behaviour of
consumers. In a number of cases, there may be more than one pattern of

purchase and hence different programmes required for different consumer

19
 groups. A group of consumers may be interested in the discounts obtained

through bundling of products in a retail chain. Another group may be more

interested in the variety of brands being offered in the market.

> There is a concept known as ‘double jeopardy effect’ which essentially

mentions that smaller brands (in terms of market share) have few buyers and

even fewer repeat buyers. This means that smaller brands are likely to have a

loyalty propensity lesser than large brands. In several categories in the

organized sector a category may be dominated by large brands and checking

for the presence of this effect may open up new avenues to probe loyalty and

the motivation for the buyers.

> The bandwagon effect discussed earlier makes an interesting point with regard

to loyalty-based strategies. A profitability analysis as well as the analysis of

the brand’s strength is required before a brand decides to follow competition

for initiating loyalty programmes. A brand offering a strong product

differentiation (which has to be backed up by the organization) may not need a

mundane loyalty programme simply because the competition has one; in fact,

it has the competitive advantage of developing a segment of consumers who

value the product rather than the undifferentiated loyalty programme which is

offered by competitive brands.

> Firms should examine the product category before firming up loyalty

programmes

A good loyalty programme has to offer profitability and add equity to the

brand rather than direct it towards a price war which would dilute its equity.

20
1.16. Statement of the Problem

Branding is perhaps the most important facet of any business-beyond product,

distribution, pricing, or location. A company’s brand is its definition in the world, the

name that identifies it to itself and the marketplace. A model may be beautiful, but

without a name, she’s just “that girl in that picture”. A brand provides concrete

description to customers and competitors alike, a name for a product or service to

distinguish it from anything else. Developing a brand involves more than just

picking a catchy name and placing an ad in the newspaper - a brand is more than a

unique string of letters denoting a particular product; a successful brand is a

mnemonic trigger that makes a consumer feels a certain way when the brand is

thought of.

Brand loyalty is an integral part of building a brand, as consumers usually

have a choice of products in the same market segment, and so a successful company

will come up with a way to keep consumers rebuying their product or coming back to

their location rather than going to a competitor. These brand loyalty-building efforts

may come in the form of coupons, incentives such as many grocery chains’ technique

of “grocery discount cards” or “loss leaders,” meant to draw consumers into the store,

where they will hopefully buy products along with the discounted fare at a higher

profit ratio. In exchange for these discounts and grocery cards, many companies

collect information about buying habits and average spending amounts, the better to

tailor advertisements and better-focus future promotional efforts. Once a consumer is

hooked, brand loyalty tends to result in higher sales volume, as well as loyal

customers being less sensitive to price changes of their favorite brands (within reason,

of course), as well as less sensitive to competitors’ incentives. Studies have shown

21
that it taken 5 times as much money to gain a customer as it does to retain one. That’s

5 times as much money as could have been spent on other things22.

A brand is who your company is, and what it is selling - it is as important as

naming a baby, and should require the same amount of effort to develop it, but if done

well, can mature into a successful and profitable adult4.

1.17. Brand building in cellular industry

Today’s global market witnesses a cut-throat competition. Many new

products enter the market, stay for a while, and then go obsolete. Fads come into

existence and vanish even quicker than they appear. Rapid changes in the consumers’

choices, increases in their disposable income, globalization, media exposure, and

influence of global and psychological trends attribute to this behavior. In order to

sustain themselves in the market, it is necessary for every manufacturer to build a

‘brand image’ for his product in the market. This is more important for mobile phone

manufacturers as mobile phones have a short life cycle and trends keeping changing

every now and then. Brands create the strongest competitive advantage for the

manufacturer, and the retailer.

1.18. Importance of Branding

To compete in the domestic as well as the global market, creating, and

sustaining a storing brand image is necessary. Some mobile phone manufacturers

attempt to create a brand for their product in the global market, while many others just

supply to international buying houses or retail chains according to their specifications.

Branded mobile phones not only add a stylish image to the mobiles, but it also gives

something extra to the consumers. It enables them to create perceptions about the

value of the mobiles and the brand itself. The value of the brand or the ‘brand equity’

22
is the difference of cash the customer pays for a non-branded mobiles and a branded

one. The customer can buy a similar mobiles somewhere else; without the label and

for a lesser price as well. But, a branded mobile with a label on it gives a status

symbol to the customer thus satisfying his ego. The reputation that the brand image

carries helps in promoting the product among stats savvy consumers23.

1.19. What is iri a Brand?

Strategic thinking is required in the creation of brands. Customers do not

evaluate a product in all the parameters while shopping. A psychological approach is

required to build faith in the minds of the consumer and make them believe that the

particular brand is always associated with quality. Once customers develop faith in a

particular brand, they do not evaluate their notion every time when they go for

shopping. Buying a particular branded mobiles every time reduces their searching

time, and also gives them a mental satisfaction that they are only buying quality

mobiles.

A brand generally consists of the following aspects:

> Mobile with higher value may signify higher quality to the consumers.

> Limited distribution of the products symbolizes uniqueness to discerning

consumers.

> Brand image signifies the quality of the product, thus giving them the

satisfaction of buying quality items.

> Brand indicates a status symbol, and satisfies the ego of the consumer that he

is using a reputed company’s outfit.

> Branding helps in developing a customer commitment. Once the customer

develops brand loyalty for the product, he jumps into buying decision without

23
 much thinking as his mind set is already molded with a positive opinion about

the particular brand.

1.20. Branding Benefits

Branding helps the retailer to ‘push’ the customer into sales. For example, if

the customer is not confident about the quality of the cellular, he may hesitate to buy

the mobile. He will assume it is risky to buy the product. One the contrary, if the

mobile has a label mentioning a renowned brand name, it gives confidence to the

consumer and makes him to belie that he is buying a quality product. Here, the brand

name speaks the goodwill the company has created over the years, and motivates the

consumer to take the purchase decision. Branding highlights the positive features of

the product and displays it ‘Out of the Box’ in the consumer’s eyes, thus encouraging

him to buy24.

Out society contributes to some facts about every product over the years.

During the course of time, these facts make the image of a product, thus building a

strong brand. ‘Brand’ does not essentially mean a logo or a name, it’s the confidence,

and the consumer has in the company and its product.

1.21. Review of literature

Prior research on the relationship of brand loyalty with various elements of

marketing strategy was examined.

• Brand Loyalty and Market: Raj believes that his is the first empirical

investigation into the relationship between brand user share and brand loyalty.

Since then a number of researchers have examined this relationship. Most of them

have found that high market share brands get more brand loyalty than the other

brands.

24
 Ehrenberg et al all finds that simple parameters such as penetration, purchase

frequency and market share are consumer behaviour, including brand loyalty.

Ehrenberg’s views as paraphrased by Baldinger and Rubinson are that “Marketing

efforts in general and advertising in particular, have relatively limited effectiveness

since nothing truly important, like market share, or penetration, is likely to be effected

by the marketer’s efforts is a predictable way25.

The various reasons advanced for this phenomenon of high brand loyalty for

high market share brands include better distribution, bigger advertising budget, more

in store promotion, lesser advertising budget, more in store promotion, lesser social

acceptability, better social acceptability, better suitability as the raw material for

social interaction etc.

While the majority view is that high market share brands reap higher brand

loyalty than do the other brands there does exist research that gives the exception to

this Barnard et al use empirical data to demonstrate, that all high market share brand

do not enjoy such excess loyalty. Bhattacharya finds that low market share brands

following the niche strategy and brands bought in large quantities also enjoy high

brand loyalty, and that excess loyalty for high share brands is more occasional than

general.

• Price and Brand loyalty: Previous research shows that those who are brand loyal

differ from those who are not brand loyal with respect to their response to various

aspects of pricing. Krishna Murthy and Raj found that those who are brand loyal

are less price sensitive than those who are not brand loyal. They also found that

these two categories of buyers respond differently to a price reduction. While a

price reduction can induce those who are not brand loyal to switch brands, it

induces those who are brand loyal to buy more whereas the brand loyal customers

25
 respond to price increase or to price decrease with the same sensitivity, the

consumers who are not loyal to any brand respond more strongly to price decrease

than to price increase. Krishna Murthy et al, and Upshaw felt that the advent of

value pricing was making ‘Switchers’ out of many local customers as they went

looking for the right deal.

What sort of pricing strategy gets higher brand loyalty? Some answers are

provided by Bhattacharya et al who found that higher price brands seem to have lower

loyalty levels compared to other brands. This happens because high price brands have

higher penetration. Consumers who normally purchase low priced brands switch to

high price brands but the reverse of this will not happens. While such behaviour of

the consumer increases penetrations of the brand this increase in penetration is not

accompanied by a commensurate increase in repeat buying. In addition to authors

found that brands that go in for price promotions have less loyalty that of the other

brands. The authors see a difference between ‘buying’ loyalty and ‘earning’ it.

• Brand Loyalty and Sales Promotion: Does sales promotion increases brand

loyalty or reduce it? While reviewing previous research, Papatla and

Krishnamurthi found that there was evidence for both positive and negative

effects of promotional activity (mainly coupons) on repeat purchase probability.

However, their own empirical research as well as that conducted by mela et al

shows that affect of promotions on brand loyalty is ‘bad’ and tends to increase

price sensitivity of consumers.

Agarwak sought to understand the role of brand loyalty in the optional

promotional mix for manufacturers. He explains that advertising is a ‘defensive’

strategy used to build band loyal as it helps in retaining the loyal customers. On the

other hand, price promotions are an offensive strategy used to attract customers away

26
from the rival brand. The stronger brand plays ‘offensive’ by using more trade

promotions and the weaker plays ‘defensive’ by emphasizing advertising.

Singh studied the impact of special offers / deals / incentives on brand loyalty

and found that a majority of the people would continue to stick to their favorite brand.

Only about 12%, of the households would switch over to the brand offering the deal or

adopt it for trail. It is significant that many of these households were from the lower

income group26.

• Brand Loyalty and Advertising: Bhattacharya reports contradictory research

findings on the relationship between advertising and brand loyalty, based on

reviews of earlier literature. There are researchers who propose that advertising’s

main role is to sustain repeat buying among existing customers. On the other

hand, there are those who find that advertising largely induces brand switching

and not repeat purchase. Bhattacharya own findings are that the effect of

advertising are in contract to the effects of the promotional variables and price

cuts. Perhaps advertising induces brand switching that is not purely price related.

The Indian study on the subject does not support the hypothesis that advertising

influences brand loyalty.

Mela et al assess the medium and long term impact of promotion and

advertising on two types of customers. The loyal (or relatively less price sensitive

consumers) and the non-loyal (or price sensitive consumers). The found that

advertising had a powerful role in reinforcing consumer preferences for brands. A

reduction in advertising makes consumers more price sensitive and affects the non-

loyal customers more, increasing the size of the non-loyal segment.

Brand Loyalty and Distribution: That brand loyalty is related to store loyalty is borne

out by research. Earlier research has examined the linkages between trust in a

27
salesperson, trust in the store, and repeat purchase intension. The findings reveal that

those having an interpersonal relationship with the salesperson are directly linked

with purchase intention as well as indirectly linked through store attitude. For

customers not having relations with a salesperson, trust in the store leads to loyalty

indirectly through store attitude. But it does not have a direct impact on purchase

intention.

• Other Relevant Studies: To explain the satisfaction loyalty conundrum, Richard

Oliver investigated what aspect of the consumer satisfaction response had

implications for loyalty and what portion of the loyalty response is due to

satisfaction component. He concluded that satisfaction is a necessary step in

loyalty formation but becomes less significant as loyalty begins to set through

other mechanisms. These mechanisms include the roles of personal determinism

(“fortitude”) and social bonding at the institutional and personal level. When

these additional factors are brought into account ultimate loyalty emerges as a

combination of perceived product synergistic effects. As each fails to be attained

or is attainable by individual firms that serve consumer markets the potential for

loyalty erodes. The conclusion is that loyalty cannot be achieved or pursued as a

reasonable goal by many provides because of the nature of the product category or

consumer disinterest for some firms satisfaction is the only feasible goal for which

they should strive; thus satisfaction remains a community. The disparities

between the pursuit of satisfaction versus loyalty as well as the fundamental

content of the loyalty response, poses several investigate directions for the next

wave of post consumptions research.

Arjun Chaudhuri and Morris B. Holbreok examined two aspects of brand

loyalty purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty as linking variables in the chain of

28
effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance (market share &

relative price). The study includes product level, category- related controls & brand

level controls. The Researchers compiled an aggregate data set for 107 brands from

three separate surveys of consumers and brand managers. The results indicated that

when the product and brand-level variables are controlled for brand trust and brand

affect combine to determine purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty. Purchase loyalty

in turn leads to greater market share, and attitudinal loyalty leads to a higher relative

price for the brand.

K. Abdul Waheed and Need Yadav examine the relationships between brand

personality dimensions and brand loyalty. The examinations of brand personality will

advance the research in marketing especially the growing area of the brand-consumer

relationships. It was found that the company having a brand image of sincerity and

ruggedness wins customer loyalty. It was also found that relationship length does not

have any impact on consumer loyalty a customer buys a company's product for many

years it doesn't means that he/she is loyal to the company it may also be because

he/she doesn't have any other options27.

C. Anandan, K. Ravichandran, M. Prasanna, Mohan Raj and N.K. shetty

studied Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty in branded commodity product. The

researchers found that branding the commodities is not the end of the road, but it is up

to the commodity marketer to adapt to the customer requirements over time and

deliver value in a consistent manner. The marketer with the help of proper

application of marketing mix can convert a basic commodity into brands which are

perceived by customers as offering total satisfaction in fulfilling the customer’s needs.

The marketers must build their brands based on key factors like quality of product and

favorable brand image so that a strong long-term loyal customer base can be created.

29
 Dr. N. Balasubramanyan and Dr. K. Sathyanarayanan analyzed multiple

dimensions of trustworthiness, including operational competences, operational

benevolence, and problem solving orientation, along with two distinct facets of trust

judgments, the model offer fine-grained insights into trust building and trust depletion

processes. This refines and extends contemporary understanding of trust dynamics to

provide theoretical and managerial insights. The study identifies mechanisms that

mediate the conversion of trust into loyalty.

Subhasis Ray and Avishek Sarkar analyzed the influence of brand vis-a-vis

price in Indian mobile industry and concluded that though the schemes and offers help

to attract customers, it is the brand that ultimately reigns in decision making.

Therefore activities like sales promotion and economizing the product should be

backed up with efficient brand building activities. Brand is an element of any firm

that helps it to build intangible and emotional association with its customers. A

company can leverage this association when a customer makes a choice or helps

others to make a choice i.e. recommendations and word of mouth.

Mayank Vinodhbhai Bhatt identified those aspects of mobile usage that in

conjunction with their pervasive impact on society-characterize the mobile landscape.

For mobile carriers, service providers, content developers, equipment manufacturers,

as well as for parents and young people alike, it is important-that the key

characteristics of the technology be well understood so that risks associated with its

potentially damaging or disruptive aspects can be mitigated.

Bedabal Ray emphasized that innovations in communications entice new

customers as well as retain the existing ones. And concluded that if the shopping

experience is good for a particular company, then sales and profits zoom. There is

tremendous growth for innovation even if companies are communicating the same

30
idea, theme, or technology. Even if it is parity communication, companies are

supposed to innovate and put forward out-of-the-box ideas.

Bedabal Ray identified that low price and consumerism are the buzz words for

all telecom operators in India. The scope of Telecom Industry in India has brought

many foreign operators to operate in India. Therefore, MNCs must understand the

working environment of different countries. They fail if they do not understand the

cross-cultural management system that prevails in the country in which they would

like to operate.

The economic impact of the mobile is likely to be strongest when the absence

or inadequacy of existing telecommunications facilities acts as a barrier or bottleneck

to private economic activities, and also when enough other infrastructures exist to

permit the effective use of telecommunications. Research conducted by ICRIER (‘The

Impact of Mobile Phones, Moving the Debate Forward’. The Policy Paper Series No.

9, www.icrier.org) is the first attempt in India to examine the impact of mobile

telephony; the policy and regulatory environment for telecommunications is set at the

centre28.

1.22. Research findings

There is more diversity within India’s borders than any other country — it

comprises more than 1.1 billion people, living and working in very different

circumstances and geographies. The research took advantage of that diversity and the

availability of certain State-level and localised data to investigate the economic

impact of mobile telephony across States, economic sectors and population segments.

The results of the econometric analysis support the conclusion that there is a

causal relationship between mobile tele-density and economic growth.

31
 States with high mobile penetration can be expected to grow faster than those

with lower mobile penetration rates by 1.2 percentage points for every 10 per cent

increase in the penetration rate.

Not only can the mobile phone help nudge up the rate of growth, but it can

also assist in the benefits of growth to ‘trickle down’ to poorer socio-economic groups

in the country. In that context, the ICRIER team examined three segments of the

population — agriculture, small and medium enterprise (SMEs) and urban slum

dwellers29.

In each case, the research demonstrates that access to telecommunications is

an important catalyst to realizing productivity and efficiency improvements and,

thereby, making it possible for the benefits of economic growth to be shared.

1.23. Need for the Study

The Changing competitive structure brought in by the liberalization of

Telecom Industry necessitates that any enterprise engaged in providing telecom

services need to adopt marketing orientation in providing telecom services. The

adoption of services marketing concepts is a precondition for the survival and growth

of enterprises engaged in this sector. Keeping in view the strategic nature of Telecom

Industry in view and the adoption of marketing concepts to provide effective services

as means to create and expand markets, it is proposed to undertake the research study

into services marketing in Telecom Industry with particular emphasis on “BRAND

LOYALTY OF TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS IN TAMILNADU”.

32
1.24. Objectives of the study

The basic objectives of the study are to assess brand loyalty of cellular

services of Tamilnadu. Further the specific objectives are as follows:

1. To make an analysis of consumer profile in relation to demographic variables

to identify the broad features of the cellular service providers.

2. To trace the history, development and growth of Telecom Industry in India.

3. To examine the changes in the marketing environment for Telecom Industry in

India

4. To know about the marketing strategies of cellular service providers operating

in Tamilnadu general and AIRTEL, BSNL, IDEA, RELIANCE, TATA

INDICOM and VODAFONE in particular.

5. To study the various influencing factors of brand loyalty for cellular service

providers.

6. To make an analysis of four key elements of brand loyalty:

a. Brand Awareness

b. Brand Attributes and Association

c. Perceived quality and

d. Brand loyalty for cellular service providers.

7. To draw conclusions based on the analysis made in the study on different

aspects.

8. To offer suitable suggestions based on the finding of the study.

33
1.25. Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is related to the services rendered by different service

providers in the state namely AIRTEL, BSNL, IDEA, RELIANCE, TATA INDICOM

and VODAFONE. The study is conducted to know brand loyalty of selected cellular

companies in selected districts such as Chennai, Coimbatore and Madhuai districts of

Tamilnadu.

Period of the Study: The primary data for the study was collected between the years

2007-2010.

1.26. Methodology

For the purpose of the research study, both the primary and secondary data is

collected. Primary data is collected through comprehensive questionnaire

administered to the customers of selected enterprises namely AIRTEL, BSNL, IDEA,

RELIANCE, TATA INDICOM and VODAFONE.

Secondary data is collected from the various research publications, journals,

magazines, daily newspapers, pamphlets, published repots and published and

unpublished literature related to the above mentioned service providers.

1.27. Pre-testing of questionnaire

The questionnaire was pre-tested on a sample of 50 customers of cellular

service providers in Tamilnadu. The pre-testing of questionnaire has helped the

researcher to modify some questions and alternative answers. Some of the

respondents were happy to real their experiences and asked the researcher to make

provision for other alternative answers which were duly done. The final (modified)

questionnaires after pre-testing were used for collecting the data30.

34
1.28. Sample of the study

The customer sample size is taken as six hundred. The customer sample is

based on randomized cluster sampling technique. The area of the study is restricted to

mobile service providers operating in Tamilnadu.

All 600 respondents have been interviewed with a structured questionnaire for

the purpose of the study. The selection of the respondents was randomly made from

the districts like Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu state.

1.29 analysis and interpretation

The filled in questionnaires were checked to see that the respondents answered

all the questions. In addition to this, while editing the data the following points were

kept in mind as suggested by Paten to see that the data were

> As accurate as possible

> Consistent with other facts secured

> Uniformly entered

> As complete as possible

> Acceptable for tabulation, and

> Arranged to facilitate tabulation

The classification of raw data was essential for analysis and interpretation.

The computer system was used for classification of data. As most of the questions,

included in the questionnaire were close-ended, classification was not complex.

The classified raw data had to be displayed in compact form for analysis. This

was done through tabulation. The tabulation has been done by hand using excel sheet

in the computer. All the tables were prepared from the questionnaire using SPSS

package specially designed software Cross-tabulation has also been done for the sake

35
of analysis. For the data analysis various statistical techniques such as percentages

and ANOVA have been employed depending upon the requirements30.

1.30. Limitations of the study

Every care is taken to study the foregone objectives in detail; however the

study is subjected to the following limitations.

> Since the study is a sample based and undertaken in Andhra Pradesh, the

findings of the study may have the limitation of generalization to the entire

population.

> Despite the care taken to understand the feelings and opinions of the

respondents, some articulation error may have crept into the study.

> The areas selected were few & as such the scope of the study is limited.

> Since the sample is represented by various strata of the universe, they may be

biased in certain responses.

> The conclusion may or may not be generalized since the study is confined to

Tamilnadu only.

> The numbers which are approximated may or may not convey the exact
results.

In spite of the above limitations, the study throws some light on the

understanding of brand loyalty in cellular services. Since this is an exploratory study,

it is hope to have the way for further research in the area.

36
1.31. Organisation of the Thesis

The thesis is organized into six chapters as detailed below:

Chapter 1 : This chapter provides concisely conceptual background of brand related

aspects like branding, brand equity, brand loyalty, different measures of brand loyalty

etc. and this chapter also provides a comprehensive view of the study conducted by

various experts in the area of brand loyalty in India. This chapter provides snap shot

of research design - objectives of the study, need for the study, methodology, sample

design and limitations of the study etc.

Chapter 2 : This chapter broadly gives an overview of telecom sector in India -

evolution and growth of telecom sector in India, recent trends in telecom sector,

profile of different telecom operators etc.

Chapter 3 : This chapter provides the analysis of various dimensions of socio­

economic profile of the consumers.

Chapter 4 : This chapter provides an insights into brand awareness and brand

associations.

Chapter 5 : This chapter unveils various dimensions of perceived quality and brand

loyalty.

Chapter 6 : The conclusions based on the findings of the study are provided with a

few relevant suggestions for further improvement of telecom sector in India.

37
REFERENCES:
1. Suja Nair: Retail Management, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, 2007, pp.
403-405.
2. Shah Kazmi : Marketing Management, Excel Books, New Delhi, 2007, pp. 290-
291.,
3. Khan & Kenneth, B : New product Planning, Response Series, New Delhi, 2007,
pp.61-63.
4. Aaker David, A. Rajeev Bathra and John G. Myres: “Advertising Management”,
New Jercy Prenticehall of India Publishers, 1996, p. 196.
5. “Guarding the brand”, Economist Intelligence Unit, July 2006, p.72.
6. Rajan Saxena : Marketing Management, Tata Mc-Graw Hill Publishers, New
Delhi, 2006, pp.304-307,
7. Tapan K, Panda : Marketing Management, Excel Books, New Delhi, 2007,
pp.352-354,
8. Harsh V. Verma : Brand Management, Excel Books, new Delhi, 2006, pp.36-39.
9. “Building Brand Identity: A strategy for Success in a Hostile Market Place”, Lynn
B. Upshaw, p.89.
10. Raj, S.P. 1985, “Striking a balance Between Brand ‘Popularity’ and Loyalty”,
journal of Marketing, 49 (winter):, pp.53-59.
11. Barnard, H., ASC Ehrenberg, and MD Uncles, 1995, “Dirichlet Discrepancies:
Two clarifications”, Working paper, South Bank Business School, as quoted in
CB Bhattacharya, “Is your Brand’s Loyalty too Much, too Litle or Just Right?
Explaining Deviations in Loyalty from the Dirichlet Norm”, International Journal
of Research in Marketing, 1997, 14 (5), pp 421-435.
12. Krishnamurthi, L, and S P Raj, 1991, “An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship
Between Brand Loyalty and Consumer Price Elasticity”, Marketing Science, 10
(2), pp 172-183.
13. Krishnamurthi, L, T Mazumdar, and S P Raj, "Asymmetric Response to Price in
Consumer Brand Choice and Purchase Quantity Decisions”, Journal of Consumer
Research, 1992, 19 (3), pp 387-400; Upshaw, L B, 1995, Building Brand Identity:
A strategy for Success in a Hostile Market Place, New York: John Wiley.
14. Bhattacharya, C B PS Fader, L M Lodish and W S Desarbo, “The Relationship
Between the Marketing Mix and Share of Category Requirements”, Marketing
Lett, 1996, 7 (1), pp 5-18 as quoted in C B Bhattacharya, “Is your Brand’s Loyalty

38
 too Much, too Little or Just Right? Explaining Deviations in Loyalty from the
Dirichlet Norm”.
15. Papatla, P, and L Krishnamurthi, “Measuring the dynamic effects of Promotions
on Brand Choice”, Journal of Marketing Research, 1996, XXXIII (1), PP 20-35.
16. Mela, C F, S Gupta, and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice, “Journal of
Marketing Research”, 1997, XXXIV (2), pp248-26l.
17. Agarwal, D, “Effect of Brand Loyalty on Advertising and Trade Promotions: A
game of Theoretic Analysis With Empirical Evidence”, Marketing Science, 1996,
15(1), pp 86-108.
18. Singh, R, “Brand and Store Loyalty Among Indian Consumers”.
19. Cunnigham, R M, “Customer Loyalty to Store and Brand”, Harvard Business
Review, 1961, 39 (Nov-Dec), pp 127-137; Singh. R, “Brand and Store Loyalty
Among Indian Consumers”; G Macintosh and L S Lockshin, “Retail Relationships
and Store Loyalty: A Multi Purpose Perspective”, International Journal of
Research in Marketing, 1997, 14 (5): pp.487-497.
20. Oliver R.L (1999):”Whence consumers Loyalty”, Journal of Marketing, 63,
Special Issue; pp.33-44.
21. Arjun Chaudhuri & Morris B. Holbrook, “The Chain of Effects from Brand Trust
and Brand Affect to Brand Performance: The Role of Brand Loyalty”, Journal of
marketing, April 2001, pp81 -89.
22. Abdul K Waheed and Neeti Yadav, “A Study on Brand Personality Orientation to
Brand to Brand Loyalty”, The ICFAI Journal of Brand Management, Vol. IV,
NO.2, 2007.
23. C Anandan, K Ravichandran, M Prasanna Mohan Raj and N K Shetty, “The
ICFAI Journal of Marketing Management”, May 2006, pp 37.
24. Dr. N. Balasbramanian, and Dr K Sathyanarayanan, “A Study on Consumer Trust,
Value and Loyalty in Relational Exchanges”; Indian Journal of Marketing, April
2008, pp 38- 43.
25. Subhasis Ray and Avishek Sarkar, “Analyzing Influence of Brand vis-a-vis Price
in Indian Mobile Industry”, The ICFAI Journal of Marketing Management, The
ICFAI University Press, Vol. V, NO.4, November 2006, pp 50-59.
26. Mayank Vinodhbhai Bhatt, “A study of Mobile Phone Usage Among The Post
Graduate Students”, The Indian Journal of Marketing Management,
Vol.XXXVIII, No.4 , April 2008, pp 13-21.

39
27. Bedabal Ray, “Mobile Operators in the New Communication Paradigm”,
Marketing Master Mind, The ICFA1 University Press, Hyderabad, November
2007, pp36-38.
28. Bedabal Ray, “Vodafone in the Indian Telecom Market- Issues and Challenges”,
Marketing Master Mind, The ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, May 2007,
ppl9-21.
29. Dr.K.Venugopal Rao, “Product and Brand Management - Text and Cases -
Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, 2010.
30. Punniyamoorthy, M and Prasanna Mohan Raj, "An empirical model for brand loyalty
measurement", Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Volume
15, Number 4, September 2007 , pp. 222-233(12).

40