Brand Awareness among Customers : A case study of ICA-Kvantum

This research paper has been prepared by Bachelor students from Dalarna University in Borlänge. The project is centered on a case study of ICA – Kvantum and its brand awareness among customers. The purpose of this study is to find out that which measures can help ICA-Kvantum to create brand awareness among its current and potential customers by looking in to the importance of information of its offerings and use of effective communication tools to convey this information. Further, to recommend them what they need to do, to increase brand awareness among their customers with the help of managerial implications. The research question was formulated as what actions could be seen effective for ICA-Kvantum to maintain or improve brand awareness among its current and potential customers.The project was created with the help of theoretical concepts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, consumer decision model, integrated marketing communication approach and strategic planning process. These theories were applied in this thesis in order to find out the most effective communication measures to maintain or improve brand awareness among current and potential customers of ICA-Kvantum.The primary and secondary data was collected. Primary data was gathered through the survey among ICA-Kvantum customers in the front of the store in Borlänge. The personal interview with manager was conducted in the office of ICA-Kvantum store located in Borlänge. Secondary data was gathered from textbooks, academic journals, theses and websites.The empirical findings have been presented in detail and then analyzed with the help of theoretical concepts. The analysis and further results from survey and interview focused on importance of information, marketing communication tools, brand awareness and loyalty, perceived quality and implementation of strategic planning process. Moreover, the main weaknesses and strengths of ICA-Kvantun have been evaluated. The conclusion including short summary of analysis and its results have been provided at the end. Each weakness of issues related to brand awareness i.e. importance of information, effectiveness of marketing communication tools and strengths and weaknesses of ICA-Kvantum discussed in the paper, has been pointed out along with solutions and managerial implications.

Factors influencing the choice of a bank : An international student perspective

Purpose: The purposeof this thesis is to identify what factors influence international students in their choice of a bank.Literature review: A review of previous research about bank selection criteria related to students as well as a few examples of bank choice studies in the general population is presented. The review consists of studies from different years to illustrate criteria that reoccur in order to decrease the chances of overlooking important criteria that may be of importance for today‘s customers. Method: The thesis is based upon empirical data gathering through a non-probability sampling technique by distributing questionnaires through the Internet and in person. The data was analyzedwith the help of exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Conclusion: We found thatfive factors influence the choice of bank for international students. These factors are: cost of the bank services, use of technology, convenience, banks‘ reputation and marketing communication effectiveness. These factors could be helpful for banks who want to gain customers from international students, which are a relatively unexploited customer segment.