The topic that has been chosen to conduct the study is “The effect of brand image on consumer preference”. In order to reach out to the consumers and to make a valuable long term relation, the companies communicate constantly and create an identity that is in sync with the core values and principles of the company (Malik et al. 2013). For example, the image of a Zara which is a global fashion brand is that of casual high quality garments that are classy yet trendy. This is the reason why a consumer will chose this brand over any other fashion line. Competition in the market on an international level has made it imperative for brands to focus on their image (Wang and Tsai 2014). To explore the topic the case study that will be focused upon is Ryanair. This brand image is what sets one brand apart from another in the market (Severi and Ling 2013). With the help of several communication and marketing tool this image is established among the target market. Competition in the industry has made the consumers exposed to a number of choices, starting from the consumer goods to luxury or heavy items. Due to globalization this competition has intensified (Oladepo and Abimbola 2015).
Ryanair was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company has over the years gone through ups and downs in the business, but has successfully established the image of being a “low cost airline”. The company operates over 600,000 flights in a year and focuses on providing the customers with low cost air fare. Punctuality is also one aspect that the company concentrates while offering services to the customers. The company claims to be the number 1 airline in Europe serving over 130 million customers in a year. The company operates in 37 countries and has developed various innovative strategies to ensure that they maintain their low cost plan.
The objectives of the study are:
What are the factors that are associated in developing the brand image?
What are the elements that are effect the consumer preference?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of brand Image?
How does the brand image of Brand image of Ryanair coincide with the preference of the consumers?
Brand Image and consumer preference are two important variables in the marketing decisions of a company (Severi and Ling 2013). Over the years with strategic decisions taken by the management a company is successful in establishing an image which is in sync with what the consumers perceive of the brand or more appropriately what the company wants the consumers to perceive. The impression of a brand on the target market is important to establish as it helps in achieving the profit goals of the company as well as develop goodwill among the stakeholders. With the help of marketing and communication concepts the management of an organisation understands the needs and requirements of the customers and thus develops an image around it (Oladepo and Abimbola 2015).
There are several issues associated with the research for example the term brand image have a number of technical aspect that has to considered while concluding the assignment. Collection of primary data can also be a challenge for the researcher.
The research will help in understanding the importance of brand image and how profit objectives of the business are influenced with the help of this aspect. The company that is selected is a large scale operation but attributes that will be drawn from the study can be implemented by any business organisation. This research will help management of organisations to develop their communication and marketing plan more effectively so that they can strategies to achieve the objectives of the business (Sasmita and Mohd Suki 2015).
In this research the academic area that will be associated is management and specifically marketing. As mentioned above the variables of the topic is associated with research are marketing concepts which will be explored in details in the study (Severi and Ling 2013). Concepts like Banding, Brand image, consumer behavior, consumer preference, decision making of the consumer will be analyzed in the next section of the study. This will help in understanding the basic concepts before carrying out the research (Severi and Ling 2013).
Brand is a concept that is widely used in marketing management; it is the way in which a consumer or any other stakeholder distinguishes a product or a service from other players in the market (Isik and Yasar 2015). A brand has several features which cumulatively offer a personality to a company whereby a consumer can easily associate and recognize the company and its products or service. Some of the features which are essential in building a brand are: name, colour scheme, logo or symbol, tag line or message (Tekin et al. 2015). It is created by the management in order to develop an edge over the other competitors in the market. Over time branding the company has become a significant part of the strategic management. Zhang (2015), explains from the perspective of a consumer a brand is the like what a company promises the customer. Consumers build expectations and ideas around the company due to the branding strategies. Consistency is a significant feature of the process; a company takes a long period of time to establish as a brand in the minds of the consumers (Isik and Yasar 2015).
Brand equity is the concept that defines the commercial value of a company that is created by the branding strategy. It is the ways in which a consumer responds to a branding strategy. According to Tekin et al. (2015), brand equity is not only the values that is being created it is also the liabilities that the brand has in terms of the responsibility the brand has towards its customers. with the help of the elements associated in creating the brand the success can be measured by the concept of brand equity. Isik and Yasar (2015), argues that having brand equity indicates that the company has successfully established itself as an independent identity and has made it clear in the minds of the customer that they are different from the other competitors (Zhang 2015).
Another important concept that is associated with branding is Brand awareness. This is associated with communication and promotion element of marketing (Isik and Yasar 2015). Spreading the brand awareness depends on the communication plan of the company, it is with the help of the logo and colour, name and all the hard elements in a brand that the help in creating the awareness, there has been instances where the tagline immediately reminds the customer of the brand, for example: Just Do It is the tag line for Nike it is popular and the customers immediately recognize and associated the tag with the company. According to Sasmita and Mohd Suki (2015), brand awareness is a continuous process as the brand has to continuously and consistently engage the customers in a similar way. The degree to which the consumers are acquainted with the brand is called brand awareness. Strategies of branding are not effective until the customers are aware of the brand (Tekin et al. 2015).
Brand Image is the most important concepts in branding; it is the identity of the brand that is perceived by the customers (Park et al. 1986). A brand may place itself as a premium quality luxury product brand, or a brand may place itself as a low cost brand with good quality products. Depending on the values and principles of the business and the nature of the product or service, decisions should be taken to build the brand image (Tekin et al. 2015). The image differentiates form one brand to another adds personality and characteristics to the company. The red and white color scheme of coke has over the years made it a companion of happiness and good times. The way in which a consumer perceives a brand is the image that it has created. It is dependent on the interpretation of the customers regarding the product or service (Severi and Ling 2013).
The way a person behaves in the consumer market can be termed as consumer behavior. It is the process by which an individual decides whether he or she wants to avail the product or service offered by a particular company. There are a number of factors that drive a person to spend a sum of money to avail the product or service like requirement, preferences as well as purchasing power (Heitz-Spahn 2013). There are several psychological aspects associated with the way a consumer behaves while buying and consuming a product (Solomon 2011). According to Solomon et al. (2014), it is not only the process of buying product the ways, in which a consumer evaluates, perceives and disposes a product or service is also important. One of the most significant academic model that is used in the preliminary studies of consumer behavior is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs where, Maslow explains how an individual moves up the pyramid considering the one phase is completely fulfilled. The buying process as discussed by Kotler and Armstrong (2013) that there are five functions in the decision making process of initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and user. For a product or service it not necessary that all the above functions are performed by a single individual. There are several stages in the process of consumer decisions, need and recognition, gathering information, analyzing the alternative options, purchase of the product or service and lastly post purchase analysis (Karimi et al. 2015).
The decision of an individual to buy a particular product or service involves a number of factors apart from the need for the item. Social, Personal and psychological factors are associated with the buying decision of a person. For example if a person observes his or her friend using a handbag from Gucci and likes it, the friend will explain the positive aspects of the product and the person may get influenced in buying the product. On the other hand Karimi et al. (2015), explains how personal need or perception of a product or service influences the buying decisions. Here the communications also play an important role a person may get intrigued by the PR or advertising campaign of a particular product (Karimi et al. 2015). However, Solomon et al. (2014), describes the several psychological factors that are associated with consumer decision making like motivation, believes and faith, perception etc (Heitz-Spahn 2013). Perception of a product is directly responsible for the brand image that has been created by the company (Heitz-Spahn 2013). Therefore it can be said that brand image is responsible for developing an interest of the consumers.
In the commercial aviation industry the impact of brand image is also equally important, as a service industry the companies have to ensure that the relation as well as the communication with the customers is updated (Shafiee et al. 2014). Depending on the type of service that the company provides the customers the image of the brand is created in similar ways, for example, Emirates Airlines is popular to provide the customers with high quality premium services, and the tagline (Hello Tomorrow) also depicts the core value of the company is innovation. On the other hand, the brand image of Ryanair focuses on the low cost of the fare the company offers; the consumers of the service know the brand to be affordable (Manhas and Tukamushaba 2015). Therefore based on the needs of the customers they can choose to take a flight from Emirates airline or Ryanair. Creating a brand image is essential for the airline industry as people rely on the services for travel as well as travelling safely. There are a number of issues that has been highlighted regarding security and other service aspects of the airline industry that it is important for the companies to build and consistently live up to the expectations that is being built.
The gap in the literature that has been observed is that there are no secondary data involved which is directly related to brand image and consumer preference in the aviation industry. Branding and brand image are aspects that are mostly explored in the academic purpose in the product industry. While buying a service such as transportation a consumer has a number of factors impacting the decisions other than Brand Image, therefore this study will help in understanding the dynamics of the service industry in terms of its impact of brand image as well.
Full Reference of Peer Reviewed Text:
Tekin, G., Yiltay, S. and Esra, A.Y.A.Z., 2016. The Effect of Brand Image on Consumer Behaviour: Case Study of Louiss Vuitton-Moet Hennessy. International Journal of Academic Values Studies, (2), pp.1-24.
What is the impact of branding in the consumer behavior of luxury products?
What are the attributes of a consumer of luxury goods?
What is the mode of communication preferred by the consumers of Luxury products?
The literature is conceptual and theoretical in nature; it is well connected to the research that will be undertaken. There are secondary as well as primary data used in the text.
The understanding of the concepts are clear, it is critically evaluated as the authors reach a conclusion at the end of the study. Both the secondary and the primary information that is gathered are used in the analysis of the topic.
This is a mixed approach and it is appropriate as there are a number of theoretical and conceptual approaches which has to be undertaken on the other hand proper primary research has also been untaken thus it is seeks to reach a conclusion effectively.
The theories are investigated in order to relate one independent theory with another. At the end of the study the authors find a relation in between the two concepts.
The knowledge claim is regarding marketing management, there is also understanding of the luxury goods industry as well as human behavior. It has been claimed that the researcher has undertaken primary research and also related literature is used in order to develop the basis of the questionnaire.
The introduction clearly gets the reader engaged to the study and the conclusion is clear stating suggest “that the brand image has a significant power of creating a product or wiping it from consumers market”.
The analysis of the primary data, back up the claims that has been stated by the authors in the conclusion.
The claims are derived from acclaimed and accredited published literature and they are claimed to apply to the luxury goods industry as the focus of the case is on the particular industry. The dynamics of the consumer behavior change form one industry to another.
All the claims that are made in document are based on the range of source which are scholarly and are published in some academic journal or published books.
The evidences are robust as there are a number of calculations and graphs that are provided in the analysis prove it.
As there is only a literature review that has been conducted it can be said that the concepts are used in a similar manner, however there is a great difference on the case study as the one that will be used is based on Ryanair and the industry that the authors of the text have chosen are based on a popular luxury lifestyle brand.
The authors’ claims are convincing as there is clarity in the language as well as the materials which has been used to reach the conclusion. The Primary data analysis is also authentic and thus making sure that any of the claims is not assumptions.
No, there are no changes that can be made in the claims as the authors have already undertaken the mixed approach and have justified the decision in the study.
References
Heitz-Spahn, S., 2013. Cross-channel free-riding consumer behavior in a multichannel environment: An investigation of shopping motives, sociodemographics and product categories. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 20(6), pp.570-578.
Isik, A. and Yasar, M.F., 2015. Effects of Brand on Consumer Preferences: A study in Turkmenistan. Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, 8(16), pp.139-150.
Karimi, S., Papamichail, K.N. and Holland, C.P., 2015. The effect of prior knowledge and decision-making style on the online purchase decision-making process: A typology of consumer shopping behaviour. Decision Support Systems, 77, pp.137-147.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2013. Principles of Marketing (16th Global Edition).
Malik, M.E., Ghafoor, M.M., Iqbal, H.K., Ali, Q., Hunbal, H., Noman, M. and Ahmad, B., 2013. Impact of brand image and advertisement on consumer buying behavior. World Applied Sciences Journal, 23(1), pp.117-122.
Manhas, P.S. and Tukamushaba, E.K., 2015. Understanding service experience and its impact on brand image in hospitality sector. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 45, pp.77-87.
Oladepo, O.I. and Abimbola, O.S., 2015. The influence of brand image and promotional mix on consumer buying decision-a study of beverage consumers in Lagos State, Nigeria. British journal of marketing studies, 3(4), pp.97-109.
Park, C.W., Jaworski, B.J. and Maclnnis, D.J., 1986. Strategic brand concept-image management. The Journal of Marketing, pp.135-145.
Sasmita, J. and Mohd Suki, N., 2015. Young consumers’ insights on brand equity. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 43(3), pp. 276-292.
Severi, E. and Ling, K.C., 2013. The mediating effects of brand association, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality on brand equity. Asian Social Science, 9(3), p.125.
Severi, E. and Ling, K.C., 2013. The mediating effects of brand association, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality on brand equity. Asian Social Science, 9(3), p.125.
Shafiee, M.M., Sanayei, A., Shahin, A. and Dolatabadi, H.R., 2014. The role of brand image in forming airlines passengers’ purchase intention: study of Iran aviation industry. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 19(3), pp.360-376.
Solomon, M.R., Dahl, D.W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J.L. and Polegato, R., 2014. Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). London: Pearson.
Solomon. M.R., 2011. Consumer Behaviour: BUYING, HAVING, AND BEING. 9TH Edition.Pearson education INC.New Jersey
Tekin, G., Yiltay, S. and Esra, A.Y.A.Z., 2016. The Effect of Brand Image on Consumer Behaviour: Case Study of Louiss Vuitton-Moet Hennessy. International Journal of Academic Values Studies, (2), pp.1-24.
Wang, Y.H. and Tsai, C.F., 2014. The relationship between brand image and purchase intention: Evidence from award winning mutual funds.
Zhang, Y., 2015. The impact of brand image on consumer behavior: a literature review. Open journal of business and management, 3(1).
Batra, R. and Homer, P.M., 2004. The situational impact of brand image beliefs. Journal of consumer psychology, 14(3), pp.318-330.
Burmann, C. and Zeplin, S., 2005. Building brand commitment: A behavioural approach to internal brand management. Journal of brand management, 12(4), pp.279-300.
Chang, P.L. and Chieng, M.H., 2006. Building consumer–brand relationship: A cross?cultural experiential view. Psychology & Marketing, 23(11), pp.927-959.
De Chernatony, L., 1999. Brand management through narrowing the gap between brand identity and brand reputation. Journal of marketing management, 15(1-3), pp.157-179.
Faircloth, J.B., Capella, L.M. and Alford, B.L., 2001. The effect of brand attitude and brand image on brand equity. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 9(3), pp.61-75.
Grunert, K.G., 2005. Food quality and safety: consumer perception and demand. European review of agricultural economics, 32(3), pp.369-391.
Hawkins, D., Best, R.J. and Coney, K.A., 2009. Consumer behavior. McGraw-Hill Publishing.
Johnson, R. and Bruwer, J., 2007. Regional brand image and perceived wine quality: the consumer perspective. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 19(4), pp.276-297.
Kapferer, J.N., 2012. The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking. Kogan page publishers.
Keller, K.L., Parameswaran, M.G. and Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India.
Malik, M.E., Ghafoor, M.M., Iqbal, H.K., Ali, Q., Hunbal, H., Noman, M. and Ahmad, B., 2013. Impact of brand image and advertisement on consumer buying behavior. World Applied Sciences Journal, 23(1), pp.117-122.
Mohr, L.A., Webb, D.J. and Harris, K.E., 2001. Do consumers expect companies to be socially responsible? The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying behavior. Journal of Consumer affairs, 35(1), pp.45-72.
Myers, J.H. and Alpert, M.I., 1968. Determinant buying attitudes: meaning and measurement. The Journal of Marketing, pp.13-20.
Padel, S. and Foster, C., 2005. Exploring the gap between attitudes and behaviour: Understanding why consumers buy or do not buy organic food. British food journal, 107(8), pp.606-625.
Peter, J.P., Olson, J.C. and Grunert, K.G., 1999. Consumer behavior and marketing strategy.
Posner, H., Williams, S. and Posner, H., 2015. Marketing fashion: strategy, branding and promotion. Laurence King Publishing.
Rust, R.T., Zeithaml, V.A. and Lemon, K.N., 2004. Customer-centered brand management. Harvard business review, 82(9), pp.110-8.
Sirgy, M.J., 1982. Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of consumer research, 9(3), pp.287-300.
Vinson, D.E., Scott, J.E. and Lamont, L.M., 1977. The role of personal values in marketing and consumer behavior. The Journal of Marketing, pp.44-50.
Yang, Z. and Jun, M., 2002. Consumer perception of e-service quality: from internet purchaser and non-purchaser perspectives. Journal of Business strategies, 19(1), p.19.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download