Brief description of the topic

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:

• To analyze the elements that are involved in developing brand image
• To determine the factors that impact consumer preference
• To understand the positive as well as the negative impact of brand image
• To determine the impact of brand image on consumer preference

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).

Overview of the case study

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).

Rational of the topic

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).  

Research questions

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.

Background and issues underlying the research

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.

1. What review question am I asking of this text?

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?

1. What type of literature is this?

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.

1. What sort of intellectual project for study is being undertaken?
2. a) How clear is it which project the authors are undertaking?

Justification for the research

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.

1. b) How does the sort of project being undertaken affect the research questions addressed?

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.

1. c) How does the sort of project being undertaken affect the place of theory?

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.

1. What is being claimed?
2. a) What are the main kinds of knowledge claim that the authors are making?

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.

1. b) How clear are the authors’ claims and overall argument?

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”.

1. d) With what degree of certainty do the authors make their claims?

The analysis of the primary data, back up the claims that has been stated by the authors in the conclusion.

1. e) How generalized are the authors’ claims – to what range of phenomena are they claimed to apply?

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.

1. To what extent is there backing for claims?
2. a) What, if any, range of sources is used to back the claims?

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.

1. b) If claims are at least partly based on the authors’ own research, how robust is the evidence?

The evidences are robust as there are a number of calculations and graphs that are provided in the analysis prove it.

1. To what extent are claims consistent with my experience?

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.

1. What is my summary evaluation of the text in relation to my review question or issue?
2. a) How convincing are the authors’ claims, and why?

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.

1. b) How, if at all, could the authors have provided stronger backing for their claims?

Business discipline and academic area(s) that relate to the research

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.

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