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Dissertation Proposal

University of Coventry

British Institute of Technology and E-Commerce

Yashwardhan Jain

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Dissertation Proposal

Dissertation Proposal on: Branding Influence of Brand Image on consumer loyalty A Case of MARKS AND SPENCER

Presented By,

Yashwardhan Jain Student Id: 44986 17th November, 2011 Table of Contents
Table of Contents....................................................................................................... 2 Research Question:....................................................................................................9 Yashwardhan Jain Page 2

Dissertation Proposal

Research Objectives:................................................................................................10 Research Methodology:............................................................................................10 Data Collection and Data Analysis:...........................................................................14 Ethical and Practical Consideration: ........................................................................15 Gantt chart:.............................................................................................................. 15 Conclusion:............................................................................................................... 17 References:.............................................................................................................. 18

Title:
Influence of Brand Image on consumers buying decision making and consumer loyalty: A Case of MARKS AND SPENCER SIMPLY FOOD

Background:
The changing business environment has made companies to shift focus from being a product driven to a more consumer driven focus. One of the key factors for success of any business today is its knowledge of consumers buying behavior (Kotler, 1999). In this highly competitive and volatile market companies try different strategies in Supply Chain Management, Human resource management, Pricing, Branding and others to get that competitive edge over others (Koontz and

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Weihrich, 2008). Out of these branding has been one of the latest management technique adopted by businesses. Previous studies conducted by Reicheld and Saser, 1990 and Reicheld and Detrick, 2003 show that a business profit could be increased up to 95% if there is an increase in consumer retention by 5%. Also it has been observed that companies around the world are spending huge amount of money on advertising their product and trying to create a unique identity in consumers mind in order to stand out of the crowd and earn their loyalty. The research is designed to identify if relationship between brand image and developing consumer loyalty with the help of the case of MARKS AND SPENCER.

Literature Review:
Concept of Branding:

According to Kotler (1999) Branding refers to any name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of seller and to differentiates them from those of competitios. Wheeler (2009) further extends Kotlers definition and states A Brand is a persons gut feeling about a product, service or a company. Lou (2008) believes that a brand is any companys invisible guarantee that the product or services will meet consumers need and expectation. The above definitions give a theoretical explanation of branding. In common sense according to the researcher branding is as simple as naming and the importance of branding to the company can be metaphorically explained by understanding how important it is for a father to give name to his child. The name would represent the child for his lifetime. It would create that first impression in peoples mind for him. It would give an overall shape to his personality. It can be better explained with the help of following diagram:

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Entreprene urs

Investors

Compa ny

With the growing complexity of business brand today is not only an identity and a name but also its a central idea by which companies try to attract its target customers. In other words companies create brands to connect emotionally, become irreplaceable and create a long term relationship with the customers. In modern marketing brand has become the only factor that differentiates companys products offered for buying (Levit, 1983). Healey, M (2008) states that branding can actually strengthen companys reputation, ensures quality and encourage loyalty.

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Till now the above views on branding were only in context with consumers and its perception towards companies products and services but, Bach (2005) argues to give equal importance to the employees as it is the employees who offer products and services to the consumers. This phenomenon of branding develops a clear link between internal working environment of the company and the outer world of customers through a brand.

In todays competitive business environment a company needs to create a combination of tangible and intangible values to differentiates from other brands and this combination distinguishes a brand from a being a mere product (Oliver, 1999). King (1991) believes that brand is the nucleus identity of the product. Kotler (1999) explains this philosophy of identity and states that a brand communicates six different meanings called as Six Dimensions which are:

Characteristic Benefits Values Culture Personality Consumer

Brand communicate special characteristics of a product such as esteem Brand improves overall attributes by communicating benefits that makes it more striking. Brand communicates companys core values It represents target customers cultural characteristics It represents personality patterns of targeted consumers It sometimes emulates end user

Taking this argument further Kotler (1999) states that branding helps in formation of a deeper emotional bond between organization and end users of companies products. Once the end users are able to connect with these six dimensions it influences their decision making process.
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Brandings Influence on Customers Buying Behaviour:

When we walk out on a high street we see different shops some with familiar name and logo while others even though they have been there for quite some time, they are very new to us and we fail to recognize them. Why a middle class working employee would easily walk in a Primark Store but hesitate to walk in an Armani Showroom? It is because of the image that brand has created in consumers mind. The development of such brand image is result various factors like product design, prices, packaging, customer service and the overall brand experience that a consumer receives when he walks in to the store. But the results generated by companies by adopting Branding as a marketing strategy has been highly debatable. One set of management experts believe that branding does not influences consumer behavior. Products and services offered by the company are more important that its name and thus does not provides any competitive edge (May, 2006 and Greenwlad & Khan 2007). Whereas others believe that branding helps to connect emotionally with their target consumer which influences their buying behavior. Assael (1998) differentiates consumer buying behavior into four different patterns which could be explained with the help of following diagram

High Involvement Significance difference between brands Few Difference between brands
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Low Involvement Variety Seeking Buying behavior Habitual Buying Behavior

Complex Buying Behavior Dissonance-reducing Buying Behavior

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Source: (Assael, 1987). Consumers who are highly involved in purchasing and tend to gather information on various brands available in the market so as to facilitate their final decision always show a complex buying behavior in the beginning but later on develop a positive attitude towards the products they buy. Consumers Showing Dissonance-reducing buying behavior would have high involvement in purchasing but unlike consumers showing complex buying behavior they differentiate less between various brands instead believe in developing their own opinion based in their experience. People who have low involvement in purchasing but are keen in different brands available in the market would tend to show a more variety seeking buying behavior. Whereas people with least involvement and interest in different brands and their specialty would display a very habitual buying behavior (Assael, 1987). Branding and Customer Loyalty:

Brand loyalty is developed because of a strong brand image of the company (Neguyen & LeBlank, 1998) and this brand image could be evaluated by judging overall attitude of consumers towards the organization. Brand loyalty could be judged on two parameters: Behavioral Attitudinal There are more than 50 definitions of brand loyalty out of which more than 30 are behavioral. According to Oliver (1999, p34) brand loyalty is deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize preferred product/services consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same
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brand or same brand set purchasing, despite situational influence and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior.

The Attitudinal approach consists of customers inclination, buying intent and commitment. Some authors like Singhaniaa (2006) believe that a mixed approach is most suitable to describe brand loyalty of customers.

Research Question:

Based on the preliminary literature review following research question and research objectives has been set

1. The research aims to examine if a brand image influences consumers buying decision and

their loyalty towards a particular brand?


2. To identify various brand management techniques adopted by MARKS AND SPENCER

SIMPLY FOOD to differentiate itself from the competitors? 3. To evaluate various factors taken in to consideration for developing a desired brand image? 4. Does brand influences consumer decision making? 5. Does branding leads to customer loyalty?

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Research Objectives:
1. To understand banding and its various components 2. To evaluate influence of brand image on consumers buying behavior with the help of a questionnaire.
3. To analyze influence of brand image on consumer loyalty with the help of a case study of

MARKS AND SPENCER SIMPLY FOOD fashion.

Research Methodology:

According to Kumar (2008) Research Methodology is the manner in which data is collected or something is done. It comprises of method, measures and procedures used to collect and analyze data. Saunders et al (2003) describes research methodology as a systematic way adopted by the researcher to solve the research problem. The entire research methodology could be better explained with the help of Saunders research Onion.

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Source: Saunders et al (2003)

According to Saunders et al (2003) entire Research Methodology could be divided in to five different layers: Research Philosophy Research Approach Research Strategy Time Horizon
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Data Collection This Research Methodology of this dissertation is constructed on the basis of saunders et al (2003) research onion and is explained as follows:

Research Philosophy:

There are three main type of research philosophy: Positivism, Interpretivism and Realism. Each of this philosophy has its own way of developing the knowledge. It is very important to select an appropriate philosophy as it sets up the direction of the research (Saunders et al 2003). For the current research work the researcher would adopt positivism philosophy. As per positivist philosophy any phenomenon could be explained with scientific reasoning and results generated could be used for future generalization. Since the research is carried to understand influence of brand image on consumer loyalty and buying decision making process. It is believed that the branding as a phenomenon could be expanding with scientific reasoning and could be used for future generalization. Moos (2005) also used positivism as its research philosophy when he tried to establish link between branding and consumer decision making process.

Research Approach:

Basically there are two types of research approach that can be adopted for conducting a research: Inductive and Deductive. In some cases, for better understanding a combination of Inductive and Deductive Research Approach could also be adopted (Saunders et al 2003). In the present research work a combination of deductive and inductive approach would be selected. It makes
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the research more dependable (cresswell 1994). Sareneimi (2009) also used same approach in his research Destination Branding.

Research Strategy:

Research Strategies could be explained as tools that a researcher employ to find solution to a research problem. The various strategies that could be adopted are Experiment, Survey, Grounded Theory, Ethnography, Action Research and Case Study (Saunders et al, 2003). In this dissertation case study and questionnaire are the two strategies used, in line with the adoption of both inductive and deductive approach. The adopted research strategy seems appropriate as Singhaania (2006) and Lou (2008) also used these strategies when they studied branding and its implication on various organizational activities.

Time Horizon:

According to Saunders et al (2003) there are two types of time horizon for a research work: Longitudinal and Cross Sectional. Longitudinal time horizon explains and examines a particular phenomenon and its impact over a period of time and cross-sectional time horizon is focuses on a particular moment. In this research work longitudinal time horizon is adopted as effect of brand image is seen over a period of time and it plays a very crucial role in creation of brand loyalty.

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Data Collection and Data Analysis:

Sampling:

Sampling is a technique that is used by researcher to collect the most appropriate data from the huge population under consideration. Sampling is generally done in two ways Probability and Non Probability. The population consists of all the customers of MARKS AND SPENCER SIMPLY FOOD. A sample size of 100 customers would be selected from the vicinity of different stores located at Westfield (Stratford), Westfield (Shepards Bush) Oxford Street and friends and relatives who shop from MARKS AND SPENCER SIMPLY FOOD. This would be done on the basis of purposive sampling. The participants selected would be below 35 years of age as target customers of MARKS AND SPENCER SIMPLY FOOD is young generation. The survey would be conducted with the help of self administered questionnaire. Likert Scale: The researcher aims to use five point Likert scale collect data. The Scale would contain following five points with each response having a numerical value: 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neutral, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree. The numerical presentation of information makes it easy to analyze the data and present the findings. Lou (2008) and Singhaania (2009) also used Likerts Scale to record consumers feedback during their research on branding. Data Analysis: According to Ader (2008) Data analysis is a process of scrutinizing, clearing, converting, and designing raw data with the objective of focusing on important information. It helps to come to a suitable conclusion and facilitating decision making. Analyzing of information should be done with the use of appropriate tools in order to come up with dependable solution. Here a multi

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factor regression analysis would be done with the help of SPSS to analyze data and establish relation between dependent and independent variable.

Ethical and Practical Consideration:


All the participants must participate voluntarily. Care must be taken that participants liking and confidentiality is respected. All the participants should be made available with the copy of results produced from the research work. The contact information of all the participants should be protected and kept confidential. The research should be not influenced by any personal bias. The research should be conducted in such a manner that the researcher is able to complete it in time with the limited available funds. Use of SPSS should be done diligently.

Gantt chart:

Time/ Activity

Week1 Week 2 Week3 21-26 Nov 27Nov- 5-11 4 Dec Dec

Week4 Week5 Week6 Week7 12-18 Dec 19-25 Dec 26-1 Jan 2-8 Jan

Week8 Week9 9-15 Jan 16-22 Jan

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Read Literature Finalizing aims and objectives Select Research Methods Preparing Questionnaire Data Collection Studying Case of MARKS AND SPENCER SIMPLY FOOD Preparing 1st Draft Revise Draft Print Bind and

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Submission

Conclusion:

The literature review on the current topic under consideration show that there are contradictory views on the influence of brand image on consumer buying decision making which leads to consumer loyalty towards a particular brand. One set of researcher believe that branding is just an investment and just produces return on investment just like other assets of the firm. While the other set of researchers believe that unlike other assets branding and creating a exclusive brand image in consumers mind touches the emotional cord of the consumers and consumers start relating to the company and its products emotionally which ultimately leads to their loyalty towards that brand. This Research would help to deduce relationship between brand image and consumer loyalty in an explicit manner.

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References:

Assael, H. (1998). Customer Behaviour and Marketing Action, 8th edn. Boston: Kent Publishing Ltd. Ader, J. (2008). Advising on Research Methods. Netherland: Centraal Boekhuis. Bach, S. (2005) Managing Human Resource. 4th edn. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Clifton, R. et al. (2009). Brands and Branding. 2nd edn. Canada: Bloomberg Press. Cresswell, W. (1994), Research Design: Qualititive and Quantitative Aproaches. London: Saga Pubblication. Greenwlad, B. and khan, J. (2007). Competition Demystified: A Radically Simplified Approach to Business Strategy. USA: Penguin Group. Healey, M. (2008). What is Branding? Switzerland: Rotovision SA. Inditex (2011), Inditex Annual Report 11, Available at: http://www.inditex.com/en/. [Accessed: 16th November, 2011]. Kotler, P. (1999) Principles of Marketing, 2nd end. Europe: Prentice Hall Publication. King, S. (1991). Brand building in1900s, Journal of Marketing Management. 9, pp 4-13. Koontz, H and Welhrich, H (2008). Essentials of Management. 7th edn. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publication. Kumar, R. (2008). Research Methodology. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation. Levit, T. (1983). Globalization of Business, Harvard Business Review, May/June, pp 24-27.
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Lou, X (2008) How does shopping with others influence consumer purchasing decisions. Journal of consumer psychology. 15 (4) pp 285-295. Available at: http://www3.uta.edu/faculty/luoxm/Home/shoping%20with%20%20others.luo.jcp.pdf [Accessed: 16th November, 2011]. May, R. (2006). Why Branding isnt a source of Competitive Advantage. Available at: http://www.businesspundit.com/why-branding-isnt-a-source-of-competitive-advantage/. [Accessed: 16th November 2011]. Moos, K. (2005). Branding: Its Impact on Customer Buying Decision Making. London: European Business School. Neguyen, N. & LeBlank, G. (1998) The mediating role of corporate image on customers retention decisions: An investigation in financial services, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 16(2), pp. 52-65. Oliver, L. (1999), Whence consumer loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 63(4), 3344. Reicheld, F. & Saser, J. (1990) Zero defections: Quality comes to services, Harvard Business Review, 68(5), 105. Reicheld, F. & Detrick, C. (2003), Loyalty: A prescription for cutting costs, Marketing Management, 12(5), 2425. Sareneimi, S. (2009). Destination Branding In A nation perspective: A Case of Finland in English Market. Finland: University of Joensu. Singahania, P (2006). Branding and Competitive Advantage in Consumer Electronics Industry. Nottingham: University of Nottingham. Saunders et al (2003). Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Wheeler, A. (2009). Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for Entire Branding Team. 3rd edn. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Publication.
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