Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Retail brand equity'

This study concerns retail brands in the food retail industry and focuses on premium products. The research is investigating how ICA can best use premium products to increase their profitability. The study is thus based on their brand ICA Selection and investigates three sub purposes concerning the customers’ perception of the products, their purchase behavior and their willingness to pay a price premium.

 

To investigate, theory concerning brand resources was utilized, involving both brand equity and brand management. To measure brand equity, the authors adapted a customer mind set and utilized Aaker’s framework and the specific industry developments made by Anselmsson, Johansson and Persson. Accordingly, this theory is based on five brand equity attributes: perceived quality, brand associations, loyalty, awareness and uniqueness. These attributes were thereafter developed to explain food premium products. The brand management theory used was Kapferer’s brand management strategies, in order to assess ICA’s strategic advantages and disadvantages.

 

The research was quantitative and the authors utilized a visit self completion questionnaire, in order to describe and investigate the purpose. The questionnaire was handed out according to a systematic sampling method, to customers at the 4 different concept ICA stores in Umeå.

 

Based on the findings, the authors concluded that in order to increase the profitability of ICAs food premium products, the following strategies should be considered. First, the customer awareness of ICA Selection must be increased and the customers must be educated about the benefits of the product. Moreover, the premium brand should aim to provide value for money, high intrinsic product quality (i.e. taste, ingredients etc) and an improved store image. These factors will help defend the price premium.  Furthermore, to attract buyers, the brand has to have a high enough brand status and a sufficiently attractive and functional packaging. This research has therefore concluded how to efficiently allocate the resources and obtain an increased customer satisfaction. This may in turn increase the profitability of ICA Selection. However, it is of course important to also take into account the external environment, such as the recession and competition, when deciding on the brand strategy.

The area of Brand Equity has received considerable attention during the past twenty years. The importance of a brand emanates from the fact that brand recognition and positive associations with it create value for companies and consumers. This value is called Brand Equity and translates into monetary value. Until now, there is scant research on brand equity for online retailers to test whether theoretical frameworks developed for offline companies apply to online businesses. The study is an attempt to bridge this gap by developing and testing a comprehensive brand equity model with selected drivers (customer support and a mix of functionality and fulfilment marketing efforts) and sources (awareness, association of value and trust, and loyalty) of brand equity. Grounded in a traditional offline consumer-based brand equity framework, a research model (at the aggregate level) for assessing brand equity of online companies is developed and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Several key findings are reported: First, a measurement model based on dimensions of awareness, associations of value and trust, and attitudinal loyalty seem to fit the data well. Measures have adequate reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Secondly, from the SEM application, only value association and loyalty are potent determinants of brand equity. Third, awareness, trust and value associations contribute indirectly to create brand equity. Fourth, the hierarchical hypothesized relationships between the sources of brand equity are confirmed. The final best-fitting (calibrating) model derived from the subjects that had bought from the online businesses under study was validated across a sample of subjects. Simultaneous model comparison using structural equation (by means of Chi square difference) confirms the tenability of the calibrating model. To test for the probability than an incorrect model will be rejected, power analysis was calculated. The results indicate that the likelihood of rejecting the hypothesis of exact and close fit equals 1.0. The second phase of the study involved brand analysis at the individual level. According to the calculations Amazon obtains slightly higher brand equity than eBay and puts it in first place, eBay is in second place, followed by Dell in third. CDNow is the worst performer and obtains consumer-based brand equity below average. The study offers contributions to both academia and business in several ways.

Previous research has proven that perceived Brand Authenticity functions as a differentiator, which brands can use to stand out in today’s marketplace. However, few studies have investigated whether it is possible for brands to become more profitable by utilizing their authenticity. This thesis therefore investigates the relationship between the two branding concepts Brand Authenticity and Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE). An explanatory survey study is made on the Swedish retail clothing industry, which measures the effect of the Brand Authenticity associations Continuity, Originality, Trustworthiness, Genuineness, Heritage, and Symbolism on the CBBE outcomes (1) consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium, (2) recommend a brand, and (3) buy a brand before other brands. The results show that while some Brand Authenticity associations increase the CBBE outcomes, others seem to give no effect and some even to undermine them. If brand managers of authentic brands wish to increase their value sales through price premiums and increase volume sales through increased purchases, they should focus on communicating Symbolism, Originality and Genuineness. If decreased marketing costs through word of mouth is the goal, brand recommendations can be achieved through communicating Trustworthiness as well. However, Continuity and Heritage should be avoided in all brand communication if increased profits is the primarily goal.

Building strong brand equity is imperative in the highly competitive arena of financial services. Despite tremendous interest in brand equity and relationship marketing,- little conceptual development or empirical research has addressed whether relationships exist between these important marketing issues. This study explores the associations between customer relationships and brand equity. A conceptual framework is proposed, in which the constructs of customer relationships including relationship closeness, relationship strength and relationship satisfaction are related to the dimensions of brand equity comprising of perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand associations combined with brand awareness. Two phases of qualitative and quantitative data gathering have been conducted. In the primary quantitative research, personal interviews were conducted with 998 respondents and the response rate was 85%. Empirical tests using factor analysis and structural equation model support the research hypotheses and an establishment of linkage between the two domains of branding and relationship marketing, which are traditionally apart, is established. The research findings provide bank managers with a comprehensive understanding of how customer relationships impact on the dimensions of brand equity, which will enable them in turn to design more effective marketing strategies to enhance the evaluation of brand equity. Key Words: Brand Equity, Branding, Relationship Marketing, Customer Relationships, Services Marketing, China

The retail industry has seen an immense increase in competition. Brands are becoming more similar, which makes it essential for firms to differentiate themselves against their competitors. The brand is considered the company's biggest intangible asset, possessing an array of different values for the company. Even though research continuously manifest the importance of establishing and managing a strong brand, companies are becoming increasingly less prone to invest in intangible assets such as the brand. The nature of profit maximizing companies has seen investments being directed at measurable and concrete areas, where the return on investment is readily established. One efficient way to work with brand assets is through brand equity, a concept with the main objective of understanding the customer. Brand equity is an approach that enables the firm to deliver value to the customer and being able to receive the benefits of increased margins and profitability from satisfied customers. Previous research has stressed the importance and need for future scholars to investigate brand equity and provide practical examples of how to manage and develop brand equity in different industries. Brand equity investments further need to be connected to financial indicators in order to legitimize and manifest the financial importance and benefits of brand equity. In other words, concretization and legitimization are needed in order for brand equity investments to be regarded as strategically viable and efficient. Previous research is largely quantitative and focus on statistically reliable relationships. Meaning that there is an evident need for qualitative research explaining “how”, and not “if”. The purpose of this degree project is to develop a deeper understanding of how companies manage and develop their brand equity and how brand equity influences shareholder value in the Swedish retail industry. Our degree project answers to the following research question: How do firms manage and develop their brand equity in order to generate shareholder value in the Swedish retail industry?". In order for us to successfully answer our research question and achieve the purpose of this degree project, we have therefore conducted a qualitative study. This study was carried out through six in-depth interviews with managers, working with brand related questions and responsibilities at established firms in the Swedish retail industry. The findings provide instrumental practical insights about actions and activities of how to manage and develop the four dimensions of brand equity; brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty. Furthermore, the findings also provide a deeper understanding as to how each dimension contribute to cash flows of shareholder value, short-term and long-term. Our findings manifest the relevance of each brand equity dimension and acknowledge how accurate and relevant the dimensions are in the retail industry currently. The findings in our study are presented through a conceptual model, adopted in order to concretize and legitimize brand equity investments. The conceptual model encapsulates and visualizes concrete actions and activities for each dimension, as well as how each dimension is connected to the drivers of shareholder value. This degree project also provides other important insights regarding brand equity, presenting the main functions of brand equity in accordance to the literature and the empirical findings. Lastly, this degree project provides managerial implications of how to manage and develop brand equity from a holistic point of view, to successfully generate shareholder value.

Mestrado em Economia
O objetivo deste estudo é a avaliação da eficiência de uma cadeia de lojas de retalho que representa várias marcas internacionais de prestígio no mercado Português e a identificação dos determinantes que influenciam a eficiência. O estudo compara o desempenho das lojas compostas por 3 diferentes marcas do segmento Brand Equity e propõe melhorias no âmbito da melhoria da performance. Para avaliar a eficiência e os seus determinantes a análise é realizada em duas fases: na primeira fase a metodologia Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA) é usada para determinar os níveis de eficiência e na segunda fase, os resultados obtidos na primeira fase são estimados através de uma regressão linear quantile de forma a determinar os determinantes da eficiência. Os principais resultados revelam que o número de lojas eficientes aumenta quando estamos perante retorno variável à escala e quando a variável renda é inserida no modelo DEA. As marcas e a localização comercial das lojas são os determinantes da eficiência.
This study aims to assess efficiency of a retail stores chain of Fashion & Accessories that represents several international prestigious brands in the Portuguese market and to identify the driving forces that influence efficiency. The study compares the performance among the stores of 3 different brands of the Brand equity market and provides insights into ways of improving performance. To evaluate the efficiency and its determinants we use a two-approach methodology: first Data Envelopment Analysis methodology (DEA) is used to determine the efficient scores and then a Quantile linear regression to determine the efficiency drivers. Main results show that the number of efficient stores increase under variable return to scale and when the variable rent is included in the DEA model. The brands and the retail commercial location are the factors that explain efficiency.

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About fifteen years ago, a phenomenon of retail concentration, an important and already consolidated movement in some European countries, started to occur in the Brazilian market. As a consequence, manufacturer s structures and relationships with retailers suffered great alterations. In relation to structure, there has been an increasing number of Trade Marketing departments in the companies and, investment in point of sale actions is growing steadily and has a significantly larger share in the total amount of brands investments. The manufacturer-retail relationship has become a zone of greater conflict and there has been a shift of power from the hands of manufacturers to those of retailers. Every year the market absorbs more and more brands and their extensions. The consumer is impacted by several product messages sent by expensive media, transforming brand equity maintenance or building into a constant challenge for the manufacturers. In addition to this situation there is a growing pressure for short term results, at precisely the moment in which investment in brand building, usually related to Advertising, is migrating to point of sale activities or is related to Trade Marketing. The main objective of the research is to acquire knowledge on the impact of Trade Marketing actions on Brand Equity. In order to achieve this objective, the case study methodology was used for an important external sanitary napkin brand in the Brazilian market. As a result, it was verified that the increasing amounts invested in Trade Marketing actions as opposed to amounts invested in advertising, have not helped maintenance and differentiate brand awareness and its associations in two different periods of the study
Há cerca de quinze anos teve início no mercado brasileiro o fenômeno de concentração do varejo, movimento expressivo e consolidado em alguns países da Europa. Como decorrência, a estrutura dos fabricantes e o relacionamento com os varejistas sofreram grandes alterações. No que se refere à estrutura, o número de empresas com departamentos de Trade Marketing é cada vez maior e, o investimento voltado para ações no ponto de venda cresce e representa cada vez mais no valor de investimento das marcas. A relação varejo - fabricante tornou-se mais conflituosa e o poder inverteu-se para das mãos dos fabricantes para a do varejista. O mercado absorve a cada ano cada vez mais marcas e extensões das mesmas. O consumidor é impactado por inúmeras mensagens de produtos através das dispendiosas mídias existentes, tornando a manutenção ou construção do patrimônio de marca um desafio constante para os fabricantes. Soma-se a situação da pressão por resultados no curto prazo, momento em que muitas vezes os valores de investimentos na construção de marcas, geralmente relacionados à Propaganda, migram para atividades no ponto de venda ou relacionadas ao Trade Marketing. O objetivo central da pesquisa é conhecer o impacto das ações de Trade Marketing sobre o patrimômio ou Brand Equity das marcas. Para alcançar este objetivo, foi utilizada a metodologia de estudo de caso com uma marca de absorventes externos atuante no mercado brasileiro. Como resultado verificou-se que o incremento das ações de Trade Marketing em detrimento à propaganda, não auxiliou na manutenção e diferenciação das associações da marca entre dois períodos distintos

Digitalization has forced retailers to reevaluate their business models and channel strategies. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are no longer the standard and most of today’s retailers offer customers multiple sales channels to purchase from. The present study focusses on the grocery retail industry, which is rapidly shifting towards a more online purchasing setting. There is a need for further research regarding customer experience and customer loyalty, in an online grocery setting, with the aim to identifyimportant online attributes. Previous studies on online grocery and purchasing behavior have neglected to consider customers’ shift from the physical to the online store. Therefore, this study contributes to explain how factors of Brand Equity, Online Customer Experience (OCE) and E-loyalty affect customers’ willingness to stay with same grocery retailer while moving from offline to online. The study used a quantitative research approach by distributing a questionnaire on social media, resulting in 128 useful responds. The result demonstrated a positive relationship between the three concepts and customers’ willingness to choose the same online grocery retailer as offline. Brand was a significant factor in both offline and online. An online grocery retailer’s Website, Products, Interaction and Convenience wereshown to be important online attributes. Feeling secure with providing personal information and using acredit card online, was important. Lastly, maintaining a relationship with their online grocery retailer andfeeling emotionally satisfied after their online purchase was essential. Future research couldcomplement with other concepts that further explain grocery customers’ shift from the physical store to online.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge about technology based services affection of the ability of retail banks to build customer based brand equity among students. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model has been developed from theories regarding customer based brand equity, switching barriers and choice criteria. Based on this conceptual model, seven in depth interviews including several brand elicitation techniques were conducted. Findings – The findings show that students perceive the target banks to be rather similar, especially regarding technologies. In addition, the students are satisfied with their bank, however; the technology based services have difficulties in creating true customer based brand equity. Behind this difficulties are the special character of financial service combined with the student role. Together, these results suggest that the banks need to do something besides the actual services in order to build customer based brand equity and keep the customers for a long term relationship. These strategies must be developed and implemented carefully in order to keep the current image of credibility. Research limitations/implications – The paper has not included comprehensive eliciting techniques and this must be taken into account when reflecting about unconscious brand associations.  Practical implications – The findings include good insights and advices that bank managers can use to create meaningful differentiations in the future and attract and keep students as customers for a long time.  Originality/value - The paper combines customer based brand equity with switching barriers, which give valuable insights to both banks and researchers. Moreover, the time period of the study related to the technological innovation provides the brand equity research in the financial sector with updated knowledge.

The Thesis shows theoretical approaches of brand management and compares it with best practices used in international and czech companies. There is a picture of brand management impact of brand management into consumption behaviour of university students in Czech republic documented by own desk research.

Les distributeurs se caractérisent désormais comme de véritables marques qui cherchent à construire leur capital pour délivrer davantage de valeur aux consommateurs et ainsi tenter de les satisfaire, de les fidéliser et finalement d'améliorer leur performance. Si de nombreuses recherches académiques et managériales insistent sur la pertinence pour les entreprises de développer leur capital-marque, d'autres investigations rappellent la complexité dune telle tâche et les nombreuses difficultés afférentes à la mesure. Le distributeur n'échappe pas à cette complexité, pis encore, les spécificités de la distribution et les comportements des consommateurs dans ce secteur requièrent davantage de précaution dans l'application du concept aux firmes de distribution. L'objectif de ce travail porte donc sur la définition, la conceptualisation et la mesure du capital-marque du distributeur. Pour ce faire, une analyse qualitative exploratoire est tout d'abord menée afin de compléter la revue de littérature, d'explorer les perceptions et comportements des consommateurs et de faire émerger les variables d'action du distributeur grâce auxquelles il peut générer de la valeur. Afin de pallier aux insuffisances théoriques et de proposer un outil opérationnel aux managers, un cadre conceptuel du capital-marque adapté au distributeur est ensuite construit sur la complémentarité des apports de la littérature et de l'étude exploratoire. Puis le test empirique de ce modèle, par l'usage d'un questionnaire administré auprès de 313 consommateurs et d'une analyse avec l'approche PLS, permet de confirmer le cadre conceptuel défini. Enfin, la discussion des résultats suggèrent que les distributeurs peuvent construire leur marque sur huit dimensions distinctes qu'elles soient relatives aux produits vendus, aux points de vente ou aux expériences de magasinage des consommateurs. Plus spécifiquement, l'apparence du magasin et la qualité des produits contribuent le plus fortement à la création de valeur
Nowadays, retailers must be considered as real and unique brands that wish to build their equity. By enhancing the value offered to consumers, they can retain and attract them and consequently, increase their own performance. However, the brand equity measure is complex and many specificities arise from the retail area that clearly call for a specific conceptualization. The aim of this research is to define, conceptualize and measure the equity of the retailer as a brand. In that respect, an exploratory qualitative research is conducted to firstly, obtain a better understanding of consumers' perceptions and behaviors and secondly, to identify the variables the retailer can leverage to build its equity. Then, a new conceptual framework is established. It includes eight variables related to the product assortment, the outlet or the consumer experience. The model is estimated by using a survey based upon 313 consumer responses and the PLS path modeling approach. The results provide evidence that retailers can build their equity on these eight dimensions. More specifically, the outlet interior appearance and the product quality are the two main drivers of retailer brand equity

Este estudo pretende analisar o capital das marcas de distribuidor, na perspetiva do consumidor. A investigação relativa ao estudo do capital de marca na perspetiva do consumidor tem vindo a ser realizado através de diferentes abordagens. Contudo, não se identificaram estudos de capital de marca relacionados com as marcas de distribuidor. Relativamente ao capital de marca retalhista, verifica-se a existência de um número substancialmente reduzido de trabalhos publicados. Nesta investigação foi aplicado um questionário a uma amostra de clientes das duas principais insígnias retalhistas portuguesas. Os dados foram tratados através de análise fatorial exploratória e confirmatória, obtendo-se uma escala validada para o capital de marca do retalhista. Tendo por base duas escalas identificadas, foi possível validar uma escala para o capital de marca retalhista, com três dimensões – associações, preferências e marca de distribuidor – e quinze itens O trabalho realizado permitiu verificar que as marcas de distribuidor não são entidades com capital de marca autónomo, mas um componente relevante do capital de marca do retalhista; Abstract: Private labels and brand equity in food retailing. Brand equity research focused on two food retailers and their private labels in Portugal This research aims to analyze the brand equity of food retailer’s private labels. Consumer based brand equity has been analyzed by several authors, focusing on producer brands and service brands. Some studies centered on retailer brand equity (retailer equity) can be found in the literature. Although, it was not possible to find any published studies concerning private label brand equity. A face to face survey was applied to a sample of clients of the two bigger Portuguese retailers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to analyze the obtained data. From that was possible to validate a scale to measure retailer brand equity in fast moving consumer food products. This scale has three dimensions (associations, preferences and private labels) and fifteen items. It was also concluded that private labels do not have autonomous brand equity, but they are a key component of the retailer equity.

The fundamental purpose of this thesis was to determine how effective is the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict and explain shopping for embarrassing products in single and multi-channel. This is important because multi-channel consumers buy more, the question is why (Neslin, Grewal et al. 2006). The question was answered by comparing consumer behaviour in three different channels: drugstore, internet and multi-channel. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has been successful to predict intentions for a wide variety of products and behaviours. However, little is known about how effective it is when the behaviour under study is influenced by the emotion of embarrassment. Similarly, the TPB is parsimonious and has a good predictive power; nevertheless, this thesis identified that the TPB could be more effective if it considered: (1) the role of positive and negative emotions (2) other determinants of choice like personality and demographics (3) variables that are useful to make marketing decisions like the synergistic effect of brands, retailers and channels (4) variables that explain consumer response like approach and avoidance. To provide a comprehensive theoretical framework that is able to understand single and multi-channel, this thesis integrated the TPB within the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. To evaluate the proposed model, the study used a context and target product that resonated with the theory: the purchase of Regaine (a hair loss product that is embarrassing to buy) in Boots (a well-known UK. multi-channel drugstore). The embarrassing nature of Regaine created differences in the importance that variables play in each channel. The results were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and the three shopping environments were compared using multi-group analysis (MGA). The effectiveness of the TPB was improved. The variance explained (R² to intention) was 73 percent for the drugstore, 67 percent for the internet and 54 percent for multi-channel. However, subjective norm (SN) was the only factor that achieved significance for the three shopping environments. Personality and demographic factors had a low but significant moderating effect on intention. This thesis built on a series of contributions in different areas, such as the TPB, attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, embarrassing products, multi-channel, marketing, emotions, personality and demographics. Future research should expand this thesis to other embarrassing products, industries and social media settings.

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
行銷與流通管理所
96
In recently, the brand has become the key point to enhance the product or the store awareness, recognition and competition differentiation. Therefore, the important topic in academic and in practice is how to strengthen the brand equity and to create brand value in customer heart. Most of the researches in the past were focused on product side but ignored the retail service brand (ex, MacDonald, Starbucks) which also influenced brand equity. The purpose of this study is that combined three retail store consumer sample to explore how retail mix elements toward brand equity (brand awareness and brand image), and store loyalty. The retail mix elements contained location convenience, store atmosphere, and the advertisement with store related aspect; price, product mix, and personnel service with product/service related aspect. These all retail mix factors will influence on retail service brand equity, and store loyalty. The empirical tests using a structural equation model with AMOS 6.0 and spss 15.0 to support the research hypotheses.The main research findings are as follows: 1. The retail mix elements (location convenience, store atmosphere, and advertisement) with store related aspect have a direct effect on retail service brand equity. 2. The retail mix elements (pricing and personnel service) with product/service related aspect have a significant effect on retail service brand equity. The product mix has a direct effect on brand awareness, but not effect on brand image. 3. The brand awareness and store image have a significant effect on store loyalty. Finally, the article concludes with implications for retail store, and directions for future research.

In this project, brand personality is studied as a brand construct applied to a specific economic area, the Portuguese retail sector. By considering Aaker’s original brand personality scale as its main basis and applying it to the sector, brand personality gets a new meaning through the consumers of the brands that were selected as a representative sample of the universe of the sector. This new meaning is then a result of test of the original scale perceived by the consumers when it comes to the retail sector in Portugal, which then defines what are the dimensions of this original scale are valid to represent the sector, and then resulting into a unique brand personality scale structure exclusive for it. By applying quantitative and qualitative methodologies (Likert five point scale questionnaire and Exploratory Factor Analysis respectively) it was possible to reach the conclusion that three dimensions from Aaker’s original BPS best represent the factor (Sincerity, Excitement and Competence) while the remaining two could not (Sophistication and Ruggedness), although not all the traits within those dimensions were applied for the sector, thus the conclusion was a result for the traits that reached closest. Since then, a new BPS was achieved then for the sector, combining four dimensions and 21 traits derived from Aaker’s original BPS.

This study aimed to determine the potential of packaging to strengthen brand equity in female apparel retail stores. A field experiment was conducted in the Tshwane metropolitan - a key political, economic and urban area in South Africa - to investigate the potential of packaging to be acknowledged as an additional element of the marketing mix in terms of its influence on consumers’ perceptions of the service offering of retailers and their brand equity. The study was done in the context of an emerging economy, where international clothing brands have infiltrated the market and become widely accessible in recent years. The data was collected by using convenience sampling methods, and the self-completion of a structured questionnaire after respondents acted as mystery shoppers at a Single Brand Retailer (SBR) and a Department Store (DS) that carry the same footwear brand in a major shopping centre in this metropolitan. The SBR offers consumers a branded high quality canvas tote bag after purchase, whereas the DS offers a generic plastic bag irrespective of the type of purchase or the price paid. Willing females, all final year students at the University of Pretoria (n =103) were divided in two groups. Individuals visited the two retailers according to a schedule compiled by the researcher. One group visited the SBR first, followed by the DS. The other group did the task in the reverse order. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, specifically Principle Component analysis using PROMAX and PROCRUSTES rotation for the two scales that investigated the service offering and brand equity respectively, Means, Standard deviations, Cronbach’s Alpha as well as paired and non-paired 2-tailed t-tests. This study confirmed the potential of secondary packaging as an independent element of the marketing mix in the branded clothing retail industry. The packaging construct dissociated it from the construct ‘Product’ as the literature suggests, which confirms that marketing elements adapt over time and that these changes have to be acknowledged in retail. Respondents generally had a less favourable instore experience in the DS compared to the SBR. The packaging format of SBR was also evaluated more favourably, which enhanced perceptions of the overall service offering. This suggests that respondents’ less favourable evaluation of the less prestigious packaging offered in the DS, is partly to blame for the lower overall evaluations of the service offering of the DS. Packaging also contributed/enhanced brand equity as consumers’ perceptions of the packaging formats – irrespective of whether it was a SBR or a DS – positively contributed to consumers’ perceptions of the brand equity of the retailers that they visited. The contribution of packaging towards brand equity was mostly more prominent than the contribution of other marketing elements such Advertising and Promotion. An order effect was noted. Respondents who visited the DS first, were significantly more impressed with the SBR. Those who went to the SBR first, seemed more forgiving and evaluated the service offering and the brand equity lower compared to the SBR but nevertheless evaluated it more favourably than the group that patronized the DS first. Packaging does not seem to relieve post purchase regret. Respondents were more regretful after their SBR experience. Several explanations may be used to explain this and future studies are envisaged to expand the findings.
Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
gm2014
Consumer Science
unrestricted

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Industrial e de Sistemas
Segundo dados da FoodDrinkEurope, a indústria de alimentos e bebidas na Europa é o maior player na economia. Este setor é considerado como sendo “estável, resiliente e robusto” (FoodDrink Europe 2017, p. 2), e o que mais contribui para a economia europeia. Nas últimas três décadas, o setor alimentar tem evidenciado um crescimento notável (Olper, Pacca & Curzi, 2014) e um aumento significativo dos níveis de competição nas indústrias alimentares (van Duren, Sparling, Turvey & Lake, 2003). Em Portugal o consumo de produtos alimentares e bebidas representa 18% do valor total de gastos do agregado familiar. O setor alimentar é um setor caraterizado por uma intensa competição, pelo que as empresas nele inseridas devem tentar evidenciar a sua oferta junto dos consumidores. As marcas são um ativo estratégico que permite às empresas atingir esse objetivo pois atribuem às empresas uma vantagem competitiva a longo prazo, através da brand equity. Brand equity é um conceito recorrentemente utilizado em marketing e que auxilia a explicar o porquê de o marketing dos produtos com marca apresentar melhores resultados do que o marketing dos produtos sem marca. As marcas de retalhista são uma derivação da marca, incorporam a personalidade do retalhista e têm um preço de aquisição 30% inferior às outras marcas. Ao longo do tempo, estas marcas têm alterado o seu posicionamento de serem consideradas uma alternativa de preço baixo e de qualidade inferior, para, nos dias que correm, serem uma alternativa viável às marcas de fabricante. Portugal, por exemplo, foi em 2014, o quinto país com a maior quota de mercado de marcas de retalhista em produtos alimentares na Europa, de acordo com dados da MetroAG (2015). Urge às marcas de fabricante munirem-se de estratégias para poderem manter-se e prosperarem no mercado e existem quatro tipos de estratégias possíveis de implementar: não fazer nada, realizar um ajuste de preço, um ajuste de qualidade ou um ajuste de portefólio. A estratégia de não fazer nada em resposta às ações das marcas de retalhista consiste, como o nome indica, numa inação por parte das marcas de fabricante aos avanços das marcas de retalhista. Esta estratégia pode representar um risco elevado e, como tal, deve ser desenvolvida após uma análise criteriosa, no sentido de compreender efetivamente o valor que a marca representa no mercado e a importância que tem para os seus consumidores, para evitar posicionar-se num nicho de mercado. A estratégia ajuste de qualidade é uma estratégia que se baseia na qualidade como atributo diferenciador e na inovação (contínua) para alcançar o sucesso no mercado e evitar a competição pelo preço. A estratégia ajuste de preço, que, de acordo com a literatura é a estratégia mais utilizada pelas marcas de fabricante, consiste numa redução do preço de mercado, com o objetivo de acompanhar o preço das marcas de retalhista. Deste modo, é permitido às marcas competirem diretamente com a MDD, havendo, no entanto, o risco de erosão do poder da marca. A estratégia ajuste de portefólio é uma estratégia que consiste na introdução pela marca principal (de fabricante) de uma segunda marca no mercado, que associa o seu poder no mercado a um preço mais baixo, tornando-se numa alternativa às marcas de retalhista. Esta opção é dispendiosa e deve ser devidamente comunicada para evitar a canibalização de vendas da marca principal. O objetivo deste trabalho de investigação foi perceber qual a melhor estratégia a aplicar pelas MDF, para contrapor os avanços das marcas de retalhista no setor alimentar. O trabalho foi desenvolvido em dois passos que envolveram em simultâneo, questionários. A pré-fase foi conduzida usando um questionário para conduzir uma entrevista semiestruturada a académicos, retalhistas e produtores nos setores de marketing e/ou branding. O trabalho de campo envolveu o envio de um questionário via correio eletrónico a importantes empresas do setor alimentar, com o traço comum de pertencerem a uma associação portuguesa de relevo na sua atividade em Portugal. Os resultados obtidos confirmam em parte a literatura sobre o tema. Os respondentes mostraram concordância com o facto de o ajuste de qualidade ser uma estratégia importante para a vantagem competitiva e que o preço pode ser percebido como um indicador de qualidade. Assim, quanto maior for o preço, maior será a qualidade expectável e pelo contrário existe a competição pelo preço com as MDD que, a médio/longo prazo é uma estratégia incomportável de ser mantida. Contrariamente ao expectável, os respondentes selecionaram o lançamento de marcas fighter como a principal estratégia a escolher na competição com as marcas de retalhista. À semelhança do que defende Hoch (1996), foram encontradas correlações entre as estratégias. Na análise das dimensões, foram encontradas sete dimensões caracterizadoras das estratégias, nomeadamente “Indiferenciação”, “Qualidade, Inovação e Diferenciação”, “Competição pelo preço”, “Preço Premium”, “Premissas ao lançamento de marcas fighter”, “Lançamento da marca fighter como alternativa à guerra de preços, proteção da MDF e oportunidade de mercado” e finalmente “Posicionamento da marca fighter”, sendo que as dimensões “Qualidade, Inovação e Diferenciação”, “Preço Premium” e “Posicionamento da marca fighter” foram as dimensões consideradas mais importantes pelos respondentes.
According to FoodDrinkEurope, the food and beverage industry in Europe is the largest player in the European economy. This sector is considered to be "stable, resilient and robust" (FoodDrink Europe 2017, page 2), and the one that contributes the most to the European economy. In the last three decades, the food sector has shown remarkable growth (Olper, Pacca & Curzi, 2014) and a significant increase of levels in competition in the food industries (van Duren, Sparling, Turvey & Lake, 2003). In Portugal, the consumption of food and drink goods accounts for 18% of the total value of household expenditures. The food sector is characterized by intense competition, so the companies included in it should try to highlight their offer to consumers. Brands are a strategic asset that allows companies to achieve this goal because they give companies a long-term competitive advantage through brand equity. Brand equity is a concept that is often used in marketing and helps explain why branded product marketing has better results than unbranded product marketing. Retailer brands are a derivation of a brand, incorporating the personality of the retailer and having a 30% lower purchase price than other brands. Over the time, these brands have changed their positioning to be considered a low-price alternative and inferior quality to become a viable alternative to the national brands. Portugal, for example, was the fifth country with the largest market share of retail food brands in Europe in 2014, according to MetroAG (2015) data. It is though imperative for national brands to have strategies to stay in and thrive the market, and there are four types of possible strategies to implement: not to react, carry out a price adjustment, a quality adjustment or a portfolio adjustment. The strategy of not responding to the actions of retailers is, as the name implies, an inaction on the part of a national brand to the advances of retail brands. This strategy can pose a high risk and as such should be developed after a careful analysis, in order to effectively understand the value that the brand represents in the market and the importance it has for its consumers, to avoid positioning itself in a market niche. The "Quality Adjustment" strategy is a strategy that relies on quality as a differentiating attribute and on (continuous) innovation to achieve market success and avoid competition by price. The "Price Adjustment" strategy, which, according to the literature is the most used strategy by the national brands, consists of a reduction of the market price, in order to follow the price of retail brands. This way, brands are allowed to compete directly with the retail brand in terms of price; however, according to the literature, there is a risk of brand power erosion. The "Portfolio Adjustment" strategy is a strategy consisting on the introduction by the main (national) brand of a second brand in the market, which associates its power in the market with a lower price, becoming an alternative to retail brands. This option is expensive and must be properly communicated to avoid cannibalizing sales of the main brand. The objective of this research was to understand the best strategy to be applied by the national brands, to counter the advances of the retail brands in the food sector. The work was developed in two steps that involved simultaneously questionnaires. The pre-phase was conducted using a questionnaire to conduct a semi-structured interview with academics, retailers and producers in the marketing and/or branding sectors. The work field involved sending a questionnaire via email to important food companies, belonging to a very relevant Portuguese association in their activity in Portugal. The results obtained partially confirm the literature on the subject. Respondents agreed that "Quality Adjustment" is an important strategy for competitive advantage and that price can be perceived as an indicator of quality: the higher the price, the higher the expected quality or a strategy of competition by price with the retail brands that in the medium/long term is an unaffordable strategy to maintain. Contrary to expected, respondents selected the launch of fighter brands as the main choice in the competition with the retail brands. As Hoch (1996) argues, correlations were found between the strategies. In the analysis of the dimensions, seven dimensions characterizing the strategies were identified, namely "Undifferentiation", "Quality, Innovation and Differentiation", "Competition for price", "Premium price", "Premises to launch fighter brands", “Fighter as an alternative to the price war, national brands protection and market opportunity "and finally" Fighter brand positioning ", with the dimensions" Quality, Innovation and Differentiation", "Premium Price" and "Fighter brand dimensions” considered more important by the respondents.

博士
國立高雄第一科技大學
管理研究所
97
Retail service brands as a powerful differentiate identity in retail landscape. This study draws the parallels between communication theory and brand theory and uses three key points at which the two disciplines intersect to develop a communication-based branding model for building consumers’ retail service brand equity. The key points of intersection are: (i) message (corporate and consumer level); (ii) competition; and (iii) feedback (retail service brand knowledge and loyalty). After depth interview and focus group to confirm the research model, the study conducted two studies to examine retail service branding model and retail service competing brand model. The study 1 compiles an aggregate data set for 192 and 109 retail service brand’s store from two retail formats of convenience store and cosmeceutical store. And study 2 addresses and tests the influence of competition on brand equity formation process in consumers’ consideration set. Among the responses were refusals and unusable responses, resulting in 173 and 91 usable responses in convenience and cosmeceutical store, respectively. And the data was examined through PLS (Partial Least Square) structural equation analysis to test the hypotheses. The results of study 1 indicate that no matter in retail format of convenience store or cosmeceutical store, inner communication of market orientation, outer communication of planned communication and unplanned communication within consumers have positive effect on brand knowledge and brand loyalty. In study 2, planned communication brought negative influence on brand loyalty to a competitor brand in retail format of convenience store. In the retail format of cosmeceutical store, only when strong brand knowledge was established in the minds of consumers and they identify with the brand value of the retail service store, they reduce their loyalty with a competitor brand.

Nowadays brands are spending a lot of money creating its brand image, still, many times they neglect the visual aspects of stores while it reflects the face of brands. Using a descriptive method with Factor Analyses and multiple regressions, the present research suggests that visual merchandising dimensions can influence the value customers attribute to brands. Two main dimensions of visual merchandising and three constructs of consumer-based brand equity were found and their relationships recommend fashion retailers should consider interior and layout aspects in consumers’ favourable and strength of associations of their brands, and the exterior window displays in terms of awareness.

碩士
國立臺北科技大學
經營管理系碩士班
100
In recent years, the rise in the retail industry in Taiwan, according to statistics by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the turnover growth of 40% over the past decade. Revolution in retail channels changed the original manufacture, wholesale and retailer tripartite structure of relations. High concentration of retail channels and price competition, so the retailers have begun to invested in the establishment of its own brand and product development. In the global apparel retail industry environment, "Fast Fashion" will be the consumption trends for the next 10 years. The central idea "cheap and fast", has a direct impact on the purchasing decisions of consumers and the managers’ operation way. With this industry trend, the rise of private label clothing brands like ZARA(Spain), UNIQLO(Japan), H&M(Sweden) and so on. In Taiwan also felt the impact of changes in both “private label clothing brand” and “Fast Fashion” significantly. In Taiwan market, foreign brands have to open retail stores and the private label clothing brand in Taiwan have been established, makes consumers more and more choices for apparel brands. Therefore, this study observed these phenomenon as a research background. Through the integration of past academic books and related research, to develop a brand of country-of-origin, brand judgment, brand resonance and brand equity of the theoretical framework. The data collected from the consumers in Taipei area by the questionnaire investigation method. Using structural equation modeling and AMOS as the main analysis tools. Explore the correlation between brand country-of-origin, brand judgments, brand resonance and brand equity in the industry. The most significant findings are: 1.There is a significant, positive correlation between Brand of Country-of-Origin and Brand Judgment. 2.There is a significant, positive correlation between Brand Judgment and Brand Resonance. 3.There is not a significant, positive correlation between Brand Judgment and Brand Equity. 4.There is a significant, positive correlation between Brand Resonance and Brand Equity. 5.There is a significant, positive correlation between Brand of Country-of-Origin and Brand Equity. In this survey, an empirical study takes private label of the clothing retail industry to discover the relationships in different variables. Contributions of the findings are to provide business marketing strategy.

碩士
國立嘉義大學
行銷與流通管理研究所
95
Abstract Nowadays network trading, industry over-capacity, numerous homogeneious products, and strong power of intermediary have made fims brand their company and product actively. Therefore, firms are devoted to being engaged in various kinds of marketing forces to beat competitors in increasing the visibility of their own products, raising customer preference and loyalty to its brand, and finally setting up and consolidate its brand equity. In the process of trading, how should the supplier make great efforts in order to strengthen the brand equity? The objective of this research is to explore the relationships among the factors of marketing force, industrial brand equity, brand preference and purchase intention. After reviewing the literatures, the author develops the concept and rival models. Four constructs, i.e., marketing forces, industrial brand equity, brand preference, and purchase intention are included. In Taiwan bedding retailer’s market, ninety-seven bedding retailers are examined. Comparing the estimates and goodness of fit between structure model Ⅲ and rival model, the structure model Ⅲ has a better model fit. The industrial brand equity and brand preference are the mediating variables between marketing forces and purchase intention. Among these constructs, the industrial brand equity has the strongest effect on purchase intention. Thus the factor of industrial brand equity is the important factor for bedding suppliers to improve on. Keywords: Marketing forces, brand equity, brand preference, purchase intention

碩士
國立臺北科技大學
商業自動化與管理研究所
99
Because of recession, personal disposable income is becoming lower and lower. Therefore, consumers start to take economical element account to choose product. Taking clothing retailer industry for example, there are many famous value clothing retailers cutting down cost of channel to provide more attractive and reasonable price. As above mention, they create their own competitive advantage at the same time. Furthermore, in order to touch customers and let customers know more about brand, more and more famous clothing brand start to build flagship stores to make customers feel happy and satisfied while they are shopping. This research integrated with academic books and with related references has developed a theory framework. The data collected from questionnaire investigation method in Taipei City, probe into the value clothing retail industry this brand extension, sale promotion and experiential marketing, is it close of connecting with customer satisfaction degree and brand equity by way of structural equation modeling. The most significant finding : There is a significant, positive correlation between brand extension and customer satisfaction degree.There is a significant, positive correlation between sale promotion and customer satisfaction degree.There is a significant, positive correlation between experiential marketing and customer satisfaction degree.There is a significant, positive correlation between customer satisfaction degree and brand equity. The survey takes consumer of the value clothing retail industry to discover the relationships in different variables. Contributions of the findings are to provide business marketing strategy.

Private label products have become so appealing that not even big retail chains can dismiss them. Initially seen as cheap alternatives, they now compete with premium national brand products, since consumers perceive them as legitimate and trustworthy brands. It’s imperative that brand equity dimensions are seen through the light of private labels. The main focus of this thesis is to better understand the relationship between private label loyalty and consumer based brand equity, improving and applying previous scales and frameworks to a new universe. This framework relates the different dimensions of brand equity with brand equity itself, also looking at the hierarchical relationship between them. It takes into account the brand equity dimensions derived from private label brand research and their influence on the brand equity based dimensions. Regarding conclusions, in order to increase brand awareness, retailers should invest in strategies such as store taste tests, comparisons with other brands, samples or coupons, or invest in extrinsic cues like package design, labeling and branding strategies. Low product risk is essential to foster product quality, reliability and consistency. Only a risk-free product will be able to grow, allowing it to become a familiar item in the consumer’s basket. The most relevant factors in influencing the purchase of private label goods are brand familiarity, perceived value and perceived risk of goods. In the end, it’s seen the influence that perceived value has on the whole process, impacting private label antecedents, CBBE antecedents and brand loyalty itself.
Produtos de marca branca tornaram-se tão apelativos que nem mesmo as grandes cadeias de retalhistas os podem ignorar. Inicialmente vistos como alternativas baratas, agora competem com produtos de marca de fabricante, dado que são vistos pelo consumidor como marcas legítimas e de confiança. É imperativo que as dimensões de brand equity sejam vistas através da posição das marcas brancas. O principal foco desta tese é compreender melhor a relação entre produtos de marca branca e brand equity, melhorando e aplicando as escalas e frameworks existentes a um novo universo. Este framework relaciona as diferentes dimensões de brand equity consigo mesma, olhando também para a sua relação hierárquica. Tem em conta as dimensões de brand equity de produtos de marca branca e a sua influência em dimensões de brand equity. Relativamente a conclusões, para aumentar brand awareness, os retalhistas devem investirr em estratégias como provas em loja, comparação com outras marcas, amostras e cupões, ou investiver em sinais extrinsicos como embalagem, rótulo, estratégias de gestão de marca. Produtos de baixo risco são essenciais para fomentar qualidade, confiança e consistência. Apenas um produto de baixo risco poderá crescer e tornar-se familiar para o consumidor. Os factores mais relevantes para influenciar a compra de produtos de marca branca são a familiaridade da marca, o “valor” e o risco desses produtos. No final, é vista a influência que o “valor” do produto tem em todo o processo, tendo impacto nos antecedentes de marca branca, nos antecedentes de brand equity e na lealdade em si.

Retailers face a complex task in designing promotional strategies in today’s business environment and, since Millennials will revolutionize consumer marketing, it is critical for companies to succeed in attracting them in order to thrive. As consumers shop while using their smartphone, there is an opportunity window for retailers to easily attract them, by sending push notifications with Real Time Promotions to their smartphones. Hence, the main purpose of this dissertation is to understand whether having Real Time Promotions, in the form of digital coupons, increases coupon redemption and retailer’s brand equity. It also aims to understand if the form in which the coupon is presented, either percentage or cents-off, influences its usage by consumers. Additionally, it will allow us to see if there is a specific consumer profile who will value the most these promotions. For this matter, an online experimental study and seven in-depth interviews were made to reach insightful information. The main conclusions taken from the present study indicate that RTP may increase coupon redemption since coupons are delivered in the store and available for a short time period, signalling time urgency. Regarding the coupon face value, being framed in percentage-off (vs. cents-off) increases coupon redemption for both low-priced and high-priced products, in a supermarket context. Moreover, the implementation of Real Time Promotions enhances retailer’s Brand Equity and these promotions were found to be more relevant for younger consumers.
Os retalhistas enfrentam uma tarefa complexa ao desenvolver estratégias promocionais no atual ambiente de negócios e, uma vez que os Millennials irão revolucionar o marketing de consumo, é fundamental que as empresas consigam atraí-los para prosperar. Uma vez que os consumidores utilizam o telemóvel enquanto fazem compras, existe uma oportunidade para os retalhistas os atraírem facilmente enviando notificações com promoções em tempo real para os seus smartphones. Assim, o objetivo principal desta dissertação é perceber se as Promoções em Tempo Real, na forma de vales de desconto digitais, aumentam a redenção dos mesmos e a brand equity do retalhista. Este estudo pretende também investigar se a forma em que o cupão é apresentado, quer em percentagem ou dinheiro, influencia o seu uso pelos consumidores e se existe um perfil específico do consumidor que valorize mais estas promoções. Com este propósito, um questionário on-line e sete entrevistas foram feitas para obter informações mais detalhadas. As principais conclusões do presente estudo indicam que as Promoções em Tempo Real podem aumentar o uso de vales de desconto, uma vez que são entregues em loja e estão disponíveis por um período limitado de tempo, criando pressão no consumidor. Verificou-se também que os cupões em percentagem, em vez de euros, têm um resgate maior tanto para produtos mais baratos como para os produtos mais caros. Além disso, a implementação destas promoções aumenta a brand equity do retalhista e é mais relevante para os consumidores mais jovens.

碩士
國立政治大學
經營管理碩士學程(EMBA)
99
Recent change in the consumer-based retail market trend has redefined consumers’ perception of the meaning of brand. War over brand equity between the manufacturer and the retailer has evolved to another level. As retailers’ private brand (PB) takes on a new concept, it is taking a toll at the manufacturer’s expense. This research tries to identify the perception of private brand from three different perspectives: the manufacturer, the retailer, and the consumer. The consumer-based retailers’ PB equity survey data was analyzed for the difference in subjective perspective based on respondents’ gender, age, personal income, level of education, and occupation. The result shows that 97.87% of the respondents recognize the brand identity of retailers’ PB. However, only 25% of the respondents are aware of the brand meaning and actually purchase PB products on a regular basis. 83.45% of the respondents answered positively on the future development of PB, but the majority still can’t accept the notion that retail prices for PB are higher than the manufacturers’ brand (MB). Gender does not seem to be a factor in the consumer’s perception of PB. However, age does have a major influence on the acceptance of the PB for consumers. Although older respondents, 30-years old or older, recognize the competitiveness of PB products for their innovative capability, with the emotional connection and the brand loyalty toward MB, the group of 41-year-olds or older expressed reluctance to purchase more PB products in the future. Obviously brand equity of PB products has yet to develop brand relationship with older consumers to allure them into the shops. On the contrary, brand equity of the retailer shops itself does have a positive influence on the sales of PB products. Consumers’ educational level has a negative effect on the degree of satisfaction in PB product innovation. Furthermore, contrary to general perception, consumers with higher income level registered a higher preference for the PB product as well. Both of the two convenience stores (CVS) in this case study agree with the upward trend of the PB. In fact, in 2009, 7-ELEVEN and FamilyMart each grew an impressive 110% and 130% respectively in sales revenue of their PB products. However, both CVS have very different innovation models in strategic thinking and positioning their stores. 7-ELEVEN focuses more on value innovation and uses pricing as differentiation tactic in the market. On the other hand, FamilyMart puts product innovation and uniqueness as its priority to attract consumers. Manufacturers who choose to ignore the threat of PB may subject themselves to the high risk presented by the burgeoning of such products. One possible solution may be through OEM/ODM of PB for various retailers in order to diversify and minimize possible threats and risks. Production of manufacturers’ own brand and retailers’ private brand in a two-track manufacturing system may well be a strategic way to survive for manufacturers. Consumers are aware of and have recognized the existence of PB in retailer stores. The idea of smart shopping has its own right on the value innovation of PB for the consumer. PB no longer represents cheap products in the retail market. As PB positions itself with higher retail prices, it will possess the brand equity and earn the price premium at the toll of MB. Low pricing does not imply cheap quality but the elimination of excessively unreasonable price premium of a product. Pricing is important to brand development, but value should be the key in establishing the perception of brand quality. Affordable luxury is a value innovation of the PB that creates an irresistible value proposition to touch the heart of consumers. Consumers have clearly perceived the brand value of the PB. Retailers are also aware of the advantages they have with the channel, the scale and scope of economy; as a result, they are vigorously preparing for the battle to redefine the meaning of brand. It is time for manufacturers to change their mindset and face the inconvenient truth of the competition over brand equity. Manufacturers’ brand still has its own right, but the brand equity is no longer monopolized by them. Retailers’ PB has certainly become the strongest competition that manufacturers will need to confront now and in the near future.

碩士
義守大學
管理學院碩士班
98
With domestic channel getting stronger everyday, it is a trend to develop private brand in the retailing industry in Taiwan, this makes retailers act more keenly on developing private brand. In light of fast developing trend of private brand, it is an inevitable path for retailer to develope their private brand. Retailers no longer develop private brand just to compete with national brand, but to differentiate itself from other retailers. To develop a store brand equity for retailers are beyond doubt, there''s a necessity for measuring the store brand equity. This research focus on whether the development of private brand can elevate the store brand equity and therefore achieve differentiation. The sample pool of this research are students from middle or southern Taiwan. The research consist of two stages, each stages are conducted by using questionnaires. Data analysis using SPSS 12.0, including consistency test, descriptive statistics and regression analysis, etc. The results are as follow: 1. Research results show that private brand is identifiable to consumers, and differentiated commodities affect consumer behaviors. Private brand is a positive effect to store brand equity, therefore the development of private brand shows differentiating effect. With different goals and different ways of developing private brand, the effect of differentiation is different. 2. With the rise of private brand, the competition of convenient store will be more competitive. From logo labeling of convenient store, it is obvious that through private brand strategy it does show effect of differentiation. Within same type of retailing management, by developing different private brand strategy, different brand equity will be emerged to the store brand equity. Therefore we know that consumer perceived differently toward different private brands. 3. Retailers receive a better revenue from selling a private brand than that of national brand, and at the same time better pricing control. Private brand with good quality can also result in differentiation between retailers. By developing private brand, retailers can be closer to the consumers and increase customer loyalty to the store. To sum up, the higher the perceiveness to private brand, the better the positive effect it has toward store brand equity.

This thesis explores the issues around the process of brand building, brand positioning, and brand management in emerging countries. Despite these topics being largely debated, some important multinationals still have been showing an inconsistency in its emerging markets strategies. The purpose of this thesis is to give a real and practical example of a brand which was built from scratch adopting its marketing strategy to Angola and to Angolans' needs and which faced some problems related to consumers' brand knowledge. Quantitative and qualitative studies were run in order to understand the main habits and attitudes of the Angolan middle-class segment when buying Furniture and Decoration products, as well as their relationship to the home, the different rooms in the home, and decoration. The empirical findings indicate that the branding policies and marketing strategies in emerging countries are highly influenced by the following factors: Complexity on segmentation, differences on communication channels, on consumers’ needs and desires, on frames of reference being significant the traditional commerce, a lack of trust in brands promises and fear regarding modern distribution. In conclusion, based on the research done, I came up some executable rules and policies for brand management and brand building on Furniture and decoration retail industry in emerging markets.
Esta tese explora as questões em torno do processo de posicionamento da marca, construção e gestão da mesma em países emergentes. Apesar de ser um tema já levantado, algumas multinacionais importantes ainda têm mostrado uma inconsistência nas suas estratégias ao atuar nos países em desenvolvimento. O objetivo deste trabalho é dar um exemplo prático de uma marca que foi construída de raiz, que adoptou a sua estratégia às necessidades dos angolanos. E que apesar disso, enfrentou alguns desafios relativos à percepção desejada dos consumidores pela marca. Foram executados estudos quantitativos e qualitativos para compreender os principais hábitos e atitudes da classe média Angolana, na compra de produtos de mobiliário e decoração. Os resultados dos estudos, indicam que as estratégias de sucesso marketing em países em desenvolvimento, são altamente influenciados por estes fatores: Complexidade na segmentação do mercado, diferenças nos canais de comunicação, diversidade de necessidades dos consumidores e desejos, diferentes quadros de referência, sendo significativo o comércio tradicional, a falta de confiança nas promessas das marcas e medo com relação à distribuição moderna. Em conclusão, com base na pesquisa feita estabelecem-se algumas regras e políticas executáveis para o processo de gestão da marca nos mercados emergentes.