UNIVERSITY OF WALES INSTITUTE CARDIFF

Master of Business Administration

MBA 404 Research Methodology (Assignment)

Lecturer : Dr. William Lee Student’s Name : Mohammed Atik Student ID Number : 0912/6094 Submission Date : 22/10/2010

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Content S.No

Page No

1 Introduction 3 1.1 Back Ground 4 1.2 Purpose 51.3 Research Questions 52 Literature Review 72.1 Dependent Variable: Brand loylaity 72.2 Brand name 82.3 product 82.4 price 82.5 Style 92.6 Store environment 92.7 promotion 92.8 Service 102.9 Comparisons of brand loyalty philosophy 102.10 Brand loyalty customer satisfaction 112.11 Research Framework 123 Research Methodology 133.1 Types of Research Method 133.2 Quantitative Research Method 133.4 Qualitative Research Method 133.5 Justification of the Method Selection 143.6 Conducting of Research 14 7 Secondary Data Source 14

8 Primary Data Source 14

9 Method of Data Analysis 15

10 Time Table for Dissertation 15

11 references 16

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Introduction

Dissertation topic

Influence of Brand Loyalty on Consumer Sportswear in major city in India

Back ground of the research

In India, sportswear brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Umbra and Fila are popular among sportswear consumers. Sportswear has become a common and popular category among young people as it identifies them with a more relaxed lifestyle, greater versatility and comfort. This has prompted manufacturers like Nike and Adidas to start expanding their business particularly in Asia as it has the potential to give them higher volume of sales for their products .Many companies, especially those in the sportswear industry try to enhance brand loyalty among their customers. Brand loyalty is a consumer’s conscious or unconscious decision that is expressed through the intention or behavior to repurchase a particular brand continually. Brand loyalty has been proclaimed to be the ultimate goal of marketing (Reich held and Sasser, 1990). In marketing, brand loyalty consists of a consumer’s commitment to repurchase the brand through repeated buying of a product or a service or other positive behaviors such as word of mouth. This indicates that the repurchase decision very much depends on trust and quality performance of the product or service (Chaudhuriand Holbrook, 2001).

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According to Fried Posner and N W Nayer “You have to have a brand become a friend”.

Brand Loyalty gives a customer to an industry which committed to repurchase the services and also reflect a motivated and difficult to change habit because it is rooted in high involvement. (James F. Engel, 1990). Brand Loyalty also influenced by the customer attitude towards the brand, behavior and customer experience

Two ways to think of brand loyalty:-

- Brand Loyalty as Behavior

- Brand Loyalty as an Attitude (Jagdish N. Sheth, 2004)

In Brand loyalty as behavior see a customer consistent to repurchase of brand. Example every time customers repurchase a product, like Toothpaste. If the customer buys the same toothpaste every time consider that customer is loyal towards the brand. The consistent of repurchasing the same product is called Brand Loyalty as behavior.

Measurement of customer loyalty, how your loyalty pay off. Like measure loyalty as a percentage, measure is also based on consistency with which the customer switches between brands

Purpose of research

The purpose of this research is to investigate how the respondents are influenced by factors of brand loyalty towards sportswear brands. Previous research adopted seven factors to test in the India environment. The seven factors of brand loyalty are brand name, product quality, price, style, promotion, and service quality and store environment. Brand name has shown strong correlation with brand loyalty. In order to increase customer satisfaction and drive them to be brand loyalists, marketers are encouraged to develop aggressive marketing programs. Questionnaires were distributed and self-administered to 100respondents. Descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation were used in this study. The research results showed that there is positive and significant relationship between factors of brand loyalty (brand name,

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product quality, and price, style, promotion, service quality and store environment) with sportswear brand loyalty. Study of more focused factors that are appropriate to the India environment is recommended in order to obtain accurate information.

Aim

The intention of research is to figure out the reasons that the brand loyalty is the key role in sport wear selection and how the factor influences the brand loyalty. And to learn more about the concept of brand loyalty. In retail industry

Keywords: Brand loyalty, Brand switching, Sportswear, India

Research question and Research Hypotheses

This article focuses on the factors that influence consumers’ brand loyalty towards a particular brand. Based on the factors that influence brand loyalty, the following hypotheses are derived.

1. What are the factors influencing brand loyalty in sport wear industry?2. What are the impacts of these brand loyalty factors on customer satisfaction?3. Is there is a significant and positive relationship between brand name and brand loyalty

on consumer sportswear

Literature review

Brand loyalty

There are many operational definitions of brand loyalty. In general, brand loyalty can be defined as the strength of preference for a brand compared to other similar available options. This is often measured in terms of repeat purchase behavior or price sensitivity (Brandchannel.com, 2006). However, Bloemer and Kasper (1995) defined true brand loyalty as having six necessary conditions which are: 1) the biased (i.e. non-random); 2) behavioral response (i.e. purchase); 3) expressed over time; 4) by some decision-making unit; 5) with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands; and 6) a function of psychological processes.

It can be measure by asking customer to rank various brands in terms of how they like it, which brand prefer more.

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Brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity. If customers are indifferent to the brand with respect to features, price, and convenience with little concern to the brand name, there likely little Brand Equity. Because Brand Equity helps in a power derived from the goodwill of the company. And also the name it has earned over time and helps to translate into higher sale volume.

On the other hand Brand loyal customer purchase the brand even they face competitors with high feature, low price, promotion etc. After a long construction of a marketing brand loyalty builds.

There are different levels of a brand Loyalty:

Sources : Created for this research

In a bottom non loyal customer we can also say that they are basically switchers those who often change a brand. They are completely indifferent from the brand. Each Brand is perceived to be adequate and the brand name plays a little role in purchasing decision. These buyers basically consider the price of the product or known as switcher also.

In the second level, customer no reason to change or switching its product or at least not dissatisfy. No reason for dissatisfaction of the product. These buyers termed as habitual buyers. Such segment can be vulnerable to competitors that can create a visible benefit to switching.

Third level or satisfied buyer with switching costs, In this particular segment to attract buyers competitors need to overcome the switching costs by offering an inducement to switch or by offering a benefit large enough to compensate. This group known as the switching cost loyal.

On the forth level, find those customers that truly like the brand. Their preference may be based upon an associated such symbol, a set of use experience, or a high perceived quality. However,

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liking is often a general feeling that cannot be closely traced to anything specific; it has a life of its own People are not always able to identify why they like something, especially if the relationship has been a long one.

In the Top level, they are very high committed customers. Example I Phone customer, even before launching the 4th edition customer desperately waiting for it and after introduce in the market, customer queuing outside of the store. The brand is very important for them either functionally or as an expression of who they confidence is such that they will recommend the brand to others.

True brand loyalty exists when customers have a high relative attitude toward his brand exhibited through repurchase behavior. This type of loyalty can be a great asset to the firm: customers are willing to pay higher prices, may cost less to serve and can bring in new customers to the firm (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990).The brand loyal consumer does not attempt any kind of attribute evaluation but simply chooses the familiar brand on the basis of some overall positive feelings towards it. This overall positive evaluation stems from past experience with the particular brand under consideration. Brand loyalty provides a firm with time to respond to competitive moves. In loyal, satisfied customers will not be looking for a new product.

“I am very loyal to a brand as long as I am not the only one wearing it”

This devotion to brands should reflect a high brand loyalty. But this is no longer the case. Loyalty is first created among the groups, which then identifies with a particular brand. This means than if one or several people in the group shifts brand (usually the result of observing other television, fashion Magazines) then the whole group follow the same.

Brand Loyalty is a evidence that brand relationship formed in childhood do last into later years, even though the relationship is initiated when the brand is not one that is actively consumed or purchased. Example Nostalgia and childhood association can have a powerful influence on adult brand allegiance. (kotler, 2005)

Amine (1998) in her literature distinguishes two main approaches to define the loyalty construct: the behavioral one suggests that the repeat purchasing of a brand over time by a consumer expresses their loyalty, and; the attitudinal perspective which assumes that consistent buying of a brand is a necessary but not sufficient condition of ‘true’ brand loyalty and it must be complemented with a positive attitude towards this brand to ensure that this behavior will be pursued further.

FACTORS OF BRAND LOYALTY

Lau et al. (2006) in his article mentioned that there were seven factors that influenced consumers’ brand loyalty towards certain sportswear brands. The factors were: brand name, product quality, price, style, store environment, promotion and service quality.

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1. Brand name

Famous brand names can disseminate product benefits and lead to higher recall of advertised benefits than non-famous brand names (Keller, 2003). There are many unfamiliar brand names and alternatives available in the market place. Consumers may prefer to trust major famous brand names. These prestigious brand names and their images attract consumers to purchase the brand and bring about repeat purchasing behavior and reduce price related switching behaviors (Cadogan and Foster, 2000). Furthermore, brand personality provides links tot he brand’s emotional and self-expressive benefits for differentiation.

According to Kohli and Thakor (1997), brand name is the creation of an image or the development of a brand identity and is an expensive and time consuming process. The development of a brand name is an essential part of the process since the name is the basis of a brand’s image. Brand name is important for the firm to attract customers to purchase the product and influence repeat purchasing behavior. Consumers tend to perceive the products from an overall perspective, associating with the brand name all the attributes and satisfaction experienced by the purchase and use of the product.

2. Product Quality

Product Quality encompasses the features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. In other words, product quality is defined as “fitness for use” or ‘conformance to requirement” (Russell and Taylor, 2006). Material is important in product quality because it affects the hand feel, texture and other performance aspects of the product. Further, consumers relate personally to colour, and could select or reject a fashion because of colour. If the colour does not appeal to them or flatter their own colour, they will reject the fashion (Frings, 2005).

Perfectionist or quality consciousness is defined as an awareness of and desire for high quality products, and the need to make the best or perfect choice versus buying the first product or brand available (Sproles and Kendall, 1986). This indicates that quality characteristics are also related to performance

3. Price

According to Cadogan and Foster (2000), price is probably the most important consideration for the average consumer. Consumers with high brand loyalty are willing to pay a premium price for their favored brand, so, their purchase intention is not easily affected by price. In addition, customers have a strong belief in the price and value of their favorite brands so much so that they would compare and evaluate prices with alternative brands (Evans et al., 1996; Keller, 2003). If the perceived values of the product are greater than cost, it is observed that consumers will purchase that product Loyal customers are willing to pay a premium even if the price has

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increased because the perceived risk is very high and they prefer to pay a higher price to avoid the risk of any change (Yoon and Kim, 2000).

4. Style

Style is visual appearance, which includes line, silhouette and details affecting consumer perception towards a brand (Frings, 2005). According to Abraham and Littrell (1995), a composite list of apparel attributes has been generated and one of the conceptual categories is style. Consumers’ judgment depends on the consumers’ level of fashion consciousness, so judgment will be conditioned by their opinion of what is currently fashionable. Brands that supply stylish sportswear attract loyal consumers who are fashion conscious. Fashion leaders or followers usually purchase or continue to repeatedly purchase their fashion garments in stores that are highly fashionable. They gain satisfaction from wearing the latest fashion and style which also satisfies their ego.

5. Store Environment

There are many advantages to retailers having loyal customers. As stated by Huddleston et al. (2004), customer loyalty could yield a favorable operating cost advantage for retailers. Furthermore, they stressed that obtaining new customers cost five to six times as much as retaining current customers. Loyal customers can increase their purchase spending, they are low cost for retailers as compared to obtaining new customers; they accept price premiums and they have customer longevity. Research conducted by Lin and Chang (2003) showed that the channel convenience of the brands had significant influence on buying behaviour. This means that the accessibility to this product/brand in the store is important when purchasing low involvement products. Consumers will not go to another store just to find the brand. Instead, they will stay put and choose another brand.

6. Promotion

Promotion is a marketing mix component which is a kind of communication with consumers. Promotion includes the use of advertising, sales promotions, personal selling and publicity. Advertising is a non-personal presentation of information in mass media about a product, brand, company or store. It greatly affects consumers’ images, beliefs and attitudes towards products and brands, and in turn, influences their purchase behaviors (Evans et al., 1996). This shows that

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promotion, especially through advertising, can help establish ideas or perceptions in the consumers’ minds as well as help differentiate products against other brands

According to Rowley (1998), promotion is an important element of a firm’s marketing strategy. Promotion is used to communicate with customers with respect to product offerings, and it is also a way to encourage purchase or sales of a product or service.

Service Quality

A common definition of service quality is that the service should correspond to the customers’ expectations and satisfy their needs and requirements (Gronroos,1990). Consumers like to shop at specific stores because they like the services provided and are assured of certain service privileges. Trust in salespeople appears to relate to overall perceptions of the store’s service quality, and results in the consumer being totally satisfied with the stores in the end. Additionally, personalization (i.e. reliability, responsiveness, personalization and tangibles) significantly influence consumers’ experience and evaluation of service, and in turn, affects the brand loyalty of consumers (To and Leung, 2001).

Comparison of brand loyalty philosophy

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Source - www.maritz.com

It costs far less to keep a customer than to acquire a new one. That's why customer retention and growth are critical for today's businesses. With the help of the model industry can do a better job of identifying, retaining, and growing your loyal customers.

To influence Brand loyalty, first understand both customer attitudes and behaviours. Positive attitudes do not always translate to loyal behaviour nor does loyal behaviour assume positive attitudes. Behaviour in the absence of a strong attitudinal foundation is highly vulnerable to competitive threats, but unfortunately, most of today's approaches only account for one of these components.

The Maritz Multidimensional Loyalty Model examines both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. Most importantly, it investigates attitudinal loyalty from a multidimensional perspective, helping you understand how attitudes developed during the product or service relationship are converted into future choices.

The model creates a comprehensive view of loyalty by deconstructing it into proven loyalty ingredients including marketplace factors, individual psychographic differences, customer experience attributes and brand factors. It also includes several measures of respondent intentional loyalty that have been shown to be more predictive of customer loyalty than traditional measures. Once the model is teamed with behavioral information, we have a complete view of customer loyalty

Brand Loyalty customer satisfaction

Consumers are more versatile and less loyal than they ever have been. Studies on consumer satisfaction indexes have long demonstrated that, when contemplating their next purchase, satisfied consumers do not automatically buy the same brand of car or television set. Many marketing manager are concerned with an apparent trend towards brand switching. Among the reasons given for decline in brand loyalty is consumer boredom or dissatisfaction with a product, the dazzling array of new products that constantly appear in the marketplace, and an increased concern with the price at the expense of brand loyalty.

(Kapferer, 2005)

Researchers find that people who participate in events (example- Brand Community) feel more positive about the products as a result and this enhance brand loyalty. They are more forgiving

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than others of product failure or lapse in service quality and less likely to switch brands even if they learn that competing product are good or better. These community members become emotionally involved in the company welfare.

Customer satisfaction also related to those target customers who shows no brand loyalty or they also call brand switcher in the belief that such people represent greater market potential than customer who are loyal to competing brands. Often prime target for new product tend not to be brand loyal. Increasingly, marketers stimulate and reward brand loyalty by offering special benefits to consistent or frequent customers. Such frequent usage or relationship programs often take the form of a membership club (example- Hilton HHonors Diamond VIP Membership)

(Leon G. Schiffman, 2007)

Research farm work

sources ; crated to explain framwork

Research methodology

Definition of research methodologies

Definition of Research Methodologies:

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Business research is defined as the systematic and objective process of gathering, recording and analyzing data for aid in making business decisions (Zikmund, 1997). There are two of possible methodology forms: Quantitative and Qualitative (HSC,1999)

Quantitative research materials:

As a simple definition by Neuman(2003), quantitative data was referring to the information in the form of numbers. Relatively Zikmund & Babin(2007) stated that quantitative marketing research can be defined as marketing research that addresses the research objectives through empirical assessments that involve numeric al measurements and analysis approaches.

Both the quantitative and qualitative styles share basic principles of science but the two approaches also differ in significant ways as Table 1 illustrates. Each has its strength and limitations, topics or issues, but the style4s also complement each other.

Table 1 : Quantitative research and Qualitative research

Quantitative Style Qualitative StyleMeasure objective facts Construct social reality, cultural meaningFocus on variables Focus on interactive processes, eventReliability is key Authenticity is keyValue free Values are present and explicitIndependent of Context Situational constrainedMany cases, subjects Few cases subjectsResearcher is detatched Researcher is involved

Source: Mikkelsen, 2005

Qualitative research materials:

Similarly as the definition by Bryman & Bell (2003), qualitative research is a research strategy that usually emphasis words rather than the quantification in the collection and analysis of data. Qualitative research is used to gain insight into people's attitudes, behaviours, value systems, concerns, motivations, aspirations, culture or lifestyles. It’s used to inform business decisions, policy formation, communication and research. Focus groups, in-depth interviews, content analysis, ethnography, evaluation and semiotics are among the many formal approaches that are used, but qualitative research also involves the analysis of any unstructured material, including customer feedback forms, reports or media clips.

Qualitative researches methods have become increasingly important modes of inquiry for the social sciences and applied fields such as education, regional planning and management. (Marshall & Rossman, 1995)

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Justification of the Method Selection

"Qualitative researchers seek to make sense of personal stories and the ways in which they intersect" (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992). As one qualitative researcher noted, "I knew that I was not at home in the world of numbers long before I realized that I was at home in the world of words."

Data is usually collected through sustained contact with people in the settings where they normally spend their time. Participant observations and in-depth interviewing are the two most common ways to collect data. "The researcher enters the world of the people he or she plans to study, gets to know, be known, and trusted by them, and systematically keeps a detailed written record of what is heard and observed. This material is supplemented by other data such as [artifacts], school memos and records, newspaper articles, and photographs" (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992).

According to its strengths and the nature of the topic, qualititative method is more appropriate way for this research.

Conducting of Research

The most common method of generating primary data is through surveys. A survey is a research technique in which information is gathered from a sample of people by use of questionnaire.

Questionnaires are quite flexible in what they can measure, however they are not equally suited to

measuring all types of data.

The steps required to design and administer a questionnaire include:

1. Defining the Objectives of the survey 2. Determining the Sampling Group 3. Writing the Questionnaire 4. Administering the Questionnaire 5. Interpretation of the Results

This document will concentrate on how to formulate objectives and write the questionnaire. Before these steps are examined in detail, it is good to consider what questionnaires are good at measuring and when it is appropriate to use questionnaires. (Design, 2010)

Source of Data

The sources of data may be classified into (a) primary sources and (b) secondary sources.

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Primary Sources: -

Primary sources are original sources from which the researcher directly collects data that have not been previously collected, e.g., collection of data directly by the researcher on brand a brand loyalty and other aspects of consumer behaviour from a sample of consumers by interviewing them. Primary data are first-hand information collected through various methods such as interviewing, mailing etc.

Secondary Sources:-

The secondary sources consist of readily available compendia and already compiled statistical statements and reports whose data may be used by researches for their studies, e.g., census reports, annual reports and financial statements of companies, Statistical statements, Reports of Government Departments, Annual Reports on currency and finance published by the National Trade and Financial Journals, newspapers, etc.

(collection, 2010)

Method of Data Analysis

Qualitative research seeks out the ‘why’, not the ‘how’ of its topic through the analysis of unstructured information – things like interview transcripts, open ended survey responses, emails, notes, feedback forms, photos and videos. It doesn’t just rely on statistics or numbers, which are the domain of quantitative researchers.( www.qsrinternational.com)

Computers are useful for administrative functions and at arranging and sorting data. What computers can't do is think like a qualitative researcher. But the fact that computers don't think is not a limitation at all; in fact, it leaves the researcher doing what they most want to do - the thinking."2010 Gill Ereaut, director of linguistic Landscapes, uk

Time Table for Dissertation:

The research will be processed as the time table shows. According to this time table, the process can be scheduled much more effectively and reasonably in order to finish the dissertation successful.

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