Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CHAPTER - 1(A)
BRAND LOYALTY
CHAPTER-I (A)
BRAND LOYALTY
1.1. Introduction
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
otherwise continue using the brand and can be demonstrated by repeated buying of a
3
Brand loyalty is more than simple repurchasing; however, customers may
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
result of his desired perception and satisfactory purchase decision about the specific
brand which it offers right product feature, image, quality and price.
a product to fulfil his needs. It encourages repeat purchase of the brand and hence is
revenue8.
The stating point for understanding brand equity is the extent to which a brand
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
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
5
1.6. Factors influencing brand loyalty
behaviour, and commitment are found to be the key influencing factors of brand
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
• Motivation • Prices
• Perception • Income
• Learning • Assets
• Attitudes & Reliefs
6
1.7. Internal factors
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
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,
either volition or optimism. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.
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.
system, but subjectively seems mostly effortless because this processing happens
behaviours, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types
machines.
7
Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, school
such as play, seen only in relatively intelligent animals. Learning may occur
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
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
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
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,
power, and attitude towards spending versus saving and price. Income available for
spending is the amount available for personal consumption expenditures and assets.
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
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
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
• Cognitive loyalty: Cognitive loyalty refers to the existence of beliefs that (typically)
is of a shallow nature.
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
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.
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.
incentives with the purpose of attempting to lure them away from their preferred
offering16.
brands each day, yet not all of them register in the consumer's mind. To test how well
differentiating promises to your customers and deliver them in order to build value to
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
primary goal of advertising at the beginning of any product's life cycle in target
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.
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
choosing a brand name, it is essential that the name chosen should reinforce an
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
• Actual or objective quality: the extent to which the product or service delivers
superior service.
included;
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
dimensions will be useful, but the perceived quality itself is a summary, global
construct.
practitioners alike as one of the most important factor influencing a brand’s success or
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
• 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
• 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-
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
• 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
out of the brands he / she considers buying, a particular brand should have its
relationship.
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.
• 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
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.
Dick and Basu classified brand loyalty into four groups termed as spurious
16
1. Spurious loyalty: It can be observed when despite consumer perception that
the choices available are undifferentiated, behavioural data suggests loyalty. The
competing offers and will shift the moment he gets a better deal.
company or brand, but they don’t necessarily but it. This can be due to inconvenient
sustainable (true loyalty) loyalty occurs when there is repeat patronage, which is the
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
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.
Marketers may have to probe deeper into the concepts of loyalty to understand
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
While these may be true in today’s context, there may have to be certain
formulated.
> 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
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
because competitive brands offer them. This would enable a brand to define what
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
prerequisite for any retail chain which has a good database of consumer purchase
patterns21.
> 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
19
groups. A group of consumers may be interested in the discounts obtained
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
for the presence of this effect may open up new avenues to probe loyalty and
> The bandwagon effect discussed earlier makes an interesting point with regard
mundane loyalty programme simply because the competition has one; in fact,
value the product rather than the undifferentiated loyalty programme which is
> 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
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
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
mnemonic trigger that makes a consumer feels a certain way when the brand is
thought of.
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
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,
21
that it taken 5 times as much money to gain a customer as it does to retain one. That’s
naming a baby, and should require the same amount of effort to develop it, but if done
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’
‘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
attempt to create a brand for their product in the global market, while many others just
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
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.
> Mobile with higher value may signify higher quality to the consumers.
consumers.
> Brand image signifies the quality of the product, thus giving them the
> Brand indicates a status symbol, and satisfies the ego of the consumer that he
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
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,
• 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.
since nothing truly important, like market share, or penetration, is likely to be effected
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
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
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
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
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
Krishnamurthi found that there was evidence for both positive and negative
shows that affect of promotions on brand loyalty is ‘bad’ and tends to increase
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
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.
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
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
reduction in advertising makes consumers more price sensitive and affects the non-
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.
implications for loyalty and what portion of the loyalty response is due to
loyalty formation but becomes less significant as loyalty begins to set through
(“fortitude”) and social bonding at the institutional and personal level. When
these additional factors are brought into account ultimate loyalty emerges as a
or is attainable by individual firms that serve consumer markets the potential for
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
content of the loyalty response, poses several investigate directions for the next
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
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
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
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
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
provide theoretical and managerial insights. The study identifies mechanisms that
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
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
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
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
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
to private economic activities, and also when enough other infrastructures exist to
Impact of Mobile Phones, Moving the Debate Forward’. The Policy Paper Series No.
telephony; the policy and regulatory environment for telecommunications is set at the
centre28.
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
impact of mobile telephony across States, economic sectors and population segments.
The results of the econometric analysis support the conclusion that there is a
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
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.
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
32
1.24. Objectives of the study
The basic objectives of the study are to assess brand loyalty of cellular
India
5. To study the various influencing factors of brand loyalty for cellular service
providers.
a. Brand Awareness
aspects.
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
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
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)
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
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.
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
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,
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
Every care is taken to study the foregone objectives in detail; however the
> 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
> 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
36
1.31. Organisation of the Thesis
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
evolution and growth of telecom sector in India, recent trends in telecom sector,
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
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