Consumer brand equity : a model for the measurement, analysis and evaluation of consumer perceived value

The topic of my research is consumer brand equity (CBE). My thesis is that the success or otherwise of a brand is better viewed from the consumers’ perspective. I specifically focus on consumers as a unique group of stakeholders whose involvement with brands is crucial to the overall success of branding strategy. To this end, this research examines the constellation of ideas on brand equity that have hitherto been offered by various scholars. Through a systematic integration of the concepts and practices identified but these scholars (concepts and practices such as: competitiveness, consumer searching, consumer behaviour, brand image, brand relevance, consumer perceived value, etc.), this research identifies CBE as a construct that is shaped, directed and made valuable by the beliefs, attitudes and the subjective preferences of consumers. This is done by examining the criteria on the basis of which the consumers evaluate brands and make brand purchase decisions. Understanding the criteria by which consumers evaluate brands is crucial for several reasons. First, as the basis upon which consumers select brands changes with consumption norms and technology, understanding the consumer choice process will help in formulating branding strategy. Secondly, an understanding of these criteria will help in formulating a creative and innovative agenda for ‘new brand’ propositions. Thirdly, it will also influence firms’ ability to simulate and mould the plasticity of demand for existing brands. In examining these three issues, this thesis presents a comprehensive account of CBE. This is because the first issue raised in the preceding paragraph deals with the content of CBE. The second issue addresses the problem of how to develop a reliable and valid measuring instrument for CBE. The third issue examines the structural and statistical relationships between the factors of CBE and the consequences of CBE on consumer perceived value (CPV). Using LISREL-SIMPLIS 8.30, the study finds direct and significant influential links between consumer brand equity and consumer value perception.

A study of learners' perceived value and satisfaction for implied effectiveness of online learning systems

Online learning systems (OLS) have become center stage for corporations and educational institutions as a competitive tool in the knowledge economy. The satisfaction construct has received extensive coverage in information systems literature as an indicator of effectiveness but has been criticized for lack of validity; yet, the value construct has been largely ignored, although it has a long history in psychology, sociology, and behavioral science. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the value and satisfaction constructs in the context of OLS, and their perceived by learners relationship for implied effectiveness of OLS. ^ First, a qualitative phase is employed to gather OLS values from learners' focus groups, followed by a pilot phase to refine a proposed instrument, and a main phase to validate the survey. Responses were received from 75 students in four focus groups, 141 in the pilot, and 207 the main survey. Extensive data cleaning and exploratory factor analysis were done to identify factors of learners' perceived value and satisfaction of OLS. Then, Value-Satisfaction grids and the Learners' Value Index of Satisfaction (LeVIS) were developed as benchmarking tools of OLS. Moreover, Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques were employed to impute value from satisfaction scores in order to reduce survey response time. ^ The results provided four satisfaction and four value factors with high reliability (Cronbach's α). Moreover, value and satisfaction were found to have low linear and nonlinear correlations, indicating that they are two distinct uncorrelated constructs. This is consistent with the literature. Value-Satisfaction grids and the LeVIS index indicated relatively high effectiveness for technology and support characteristics, relatively low effectiveness for professor's characteristics, while course and learner characteristics indicated average effectiveness. ^ The main contributions of this study include identifying, defining, and articulating the relationship between value and satisfaction constructs as assessment of users' implied IS effectiveness, as well as assessing the accuracy of MCDA procedures to predict value scores, thus reducing by half the survey questionnaire size. ^

Perceived Value of Fast-food Restaurant Franchises in the USA

The main research objective of this study was to find out whether perceived value significantly affects consumers’ purchase intention. Additionally, this study examined if there are any significant differences in perceived value for different fast-food restaurant brands and attempted to identify which fast-food restaurant is perceived to be the industry leader. A total number of six fast-food restaurants (McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell) were selected. Findings showed that among the five perceived service value dimensions, Starbucks is the leader in terms of quality, emotional response, and reputation. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were performed to test the study hypotheses. Results indicated that there were significant differences in perceived value for different fast-food restaurant brands. Besides, monetary and behavioral price significantly affects consumers’ purchase intention. Findings are expected to help hospitality marketers to strategically manage their brands.

Customer involvement in new service development

This case study aims at filling the research gap in the literature, by researching how customers experience customer involvement in new service development, in addition to giving insight on what are the organisational customers’ motivations to become involved in service development. These subjects are studied by conducting three interviews. The thesis gives a review of previous findings regarding customer-driven new service development, customer involvement, customer roles, modes of involvement, communication in the involvement process, what is the role of customer engagement and what are the motivational drivers for customers. The thesis also explains what new service development is and makes a distinction between new service development and new service design. The results revealed that organisational customers want to be involved throughout the development process, with active involvement in the beginning and end phases. Moreover, customers prefer face-to-face methods and active and bidirectional communication throughout the process. The findings propose seven motivational factors, a new framework for customer-driven new service development and communication process map. The managerial implications list five themes for service providers to take into consideration when involving customers to the service development process.

Determinants and impact of the perceived value of an ad on the consumers’ perceptions and behavioral responses

Actualmente o tópico da atitude dos consumidores para com a publicidade e as suas intenções comportamentais tem vindo a suscitar bastante atenção na academia e na gestão. A presente investigação analisa os antecedentes do valor percebido de um anúncio, a sua influência no modo como os consumidores veem a imagem da marca e os seus efeitos nas respostas comportamentais para com a publicidade. A cultura exerce um impacto vasto e profundo nas atitudes e comportamentos das pessoas. Para examinar esta questão, o questionário foi implementado a inquiridos na Bielorrússia e em Portugal. A análise estatística dos dados do questionário foi realizada através de modelos de equações estruturais. Os resultados do estudo indicam que a informação transmitida pelo anúncio, a atitude favorável dos consumidores para com a publicidade e a credibilidade do anúncio são determinantes importantes do valor percebido de um anúncio. Os resultados fornecem evidência para a influência do valor percebido de um anúncio nas percepções e respostas comportamentais dos consumidores. Com base nestes resultados propomos pistas de investigação futura na área e apresentamos as implicações para a gestão.

Asiakaslähtöisyyden huomioiminen teollisuusyritysten hinnanasetannassa

Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli tutkia tuotteen hinnanasetantaa teollisuusyrityksissä asiakaslähtöisyyden näkökulmasta. Hinnoittelumenetelmiä ja hinnoittelustrategioita tutkimalla pyrittiin etsimään ne tekijät, jotka tulisi ottaa huomioon suunniteltaessa arvoperusteista hinnoittelumenetelmää. Tutkimus on toteutettu yhden tapauksen kvalitatiivisena tutkimuksena ja se suoritettiin teollisuuden tuotteita valmistavassa yrityksessä. Haastattelut tehtiin vuoden 2008 alussa yksilöhaastatteluina käyttäen pohjana puolistrukturoitua haastattelurunkoa. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että kohdeyrityksestä voidaan löytää ne tekijät, jotka teorian mukaan tulisi ottaa huomioon suunniteltaessa asiakkaan arvoon perustuvaa hinnoittelua. Tutkimustulosten mukaan asiakaslähtöisyyttä tarkastellaan asiakkaan näkökulmasta. Asiakas määrittelee näin ollen itse tuotteista kokemansa/havaitsemansa arvon. Tuotteen arvon onnistunut argumentointi asiakkaalle nähdään myös tärkeänä kilpailutekijänä.

Asiakasarvo teollisilla markkinoilla

Tämän kandidaatintyön tavoitteena on analysoida asiakasarvon ulottuvuuksia teollisilla markkinoilla kirjallisuuskatsauksen perusteella. Asiakasarvo on yritykselle kilpailuedun lähde ja siksi sen ulottuvuuksien ymmärtäminen on tärkeää. Asiakasarvon ulottuvuuksia ovat tarjooman arvo ja liiketoimintasuhteen arvo. Nämä arvot muodostuvat hyödyistä ja uhrauksista, joiden perusteella asiakas arvioi muodostuneen kokonaisarvon. Tarjooma voidaan jakaa tuotteeseen ja palveluun, joiden hyötyjen ja uhrausten erotuksena muodostuu tarjooman arvo. Liiketoimintasuhteen arvo muodostuu henkilökohtaisesta arvosta, strategisesta arvosta, taloudellisesta arvosta ja tietoarvosta. Myös jokainen näistä arvoista muodostuu asiakkaan kokemien hyötyjen ja tekemien uhrausten erotuksena.

Launch communications best practices: Online newspaper paywall context

The goal of the thesis is to identify the best practices of marketing communications in the context of online newspaper paywall launch. Theoretical point of views emphasize the value for the customer as an antecedent for a workable value proposition and marketing communications. Value-based communications contribute to the customer loyalty. The empirical evidence for this benchmark study was collected in seven company interviews. These firms represented several kinds of Finnish newspaper companies which had recently gone through the paywall launch and launch communications process. The results imply that there are multiple factors influencing on launch communications choices. However, recommendations can be drawn based on the common practices. The main managerial results were that the companies should utilize the online newspaper content and usage value as the core of the launch message, target both new and current readers and use multiple online and offline communications channels to reach the target audience. The launch communications message should be started with the emotional appeal, complemented with the more informative message later.

Asiakasarvon selvittäminen ja palvelukonseptin kehittäminen muovialan pk-yrityksessä

Kahden yrityksen väliset transaktiot perustuvat pohjimmiltaan asiakkaan kokemaan arvoon, eli siihen, mitä hyötyjä asiakas kokee saavansa suhteessa niihin kustannuksiin, jotka se joutuu uhraamaan ne saavuttaakseen. Tämän arvon tulee parantaa asiakkaan asemaa suhteessa sen omaan kilpailutilanteeseen ja asiakkaisiin. Arvo voi muodostua tarjooman hinnoittelusta, mutta muita asiakasarvon ulottuvuuksia voivat olla muun muassa laatutekijät sekä asiakassuhteen ja toimittajan imagon vaikutukset. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, mitkä ulottuvuuden muodostavat asiakkaan kokeman arvon case-yrityksen toimialalla sen urakoitsija- ja jälleenmyyjäasiakkailleen segmenteissä. Lisäksi analysoidaan, kuinka tuotantoon keskittyneen yrityksen tulisi kehittää palvelukonseptiaan luodakseen lisäarvoa kyseisille segmenteille ja saavuttaakseen siten kilpailuetua markkinoilla. Tutkimus on tapaustutkimus, jonka tärkeimpänä aineistonkeruumenetelmänä toimivat 17 nykyisten, entisten ja potentiaalisten asiakkaiden teemahaastattelua. Tulokset osoittavat, että toimiala on haastava lisäpalveluiden kannalta, koska ne eivät ole sille tyypillisiä. Asiakkaiden näyttää olevan erityisen vaikea tunnistaa palveluita, joista ne olisivat valmiita maksamaan. Tämä johtaa tilanteeseen, jossa asiakasuskollisuus ei ole erityisen korkea, vaan etenkin jälleenmyyjäasiakkaat ostavat tuotteet pääosin hintaan perustuen. Selkeän lisäarvopalvelukonseptin luominen voikin parantaa asiakasuskollisuutta ja sitä kautta asiakkaan elinkaaren arvoa, mikä voi rikkoa markkinoiden perinteisiä toimintamalleja case-yrityksen eduksi.

Tukitoiminto palveluliiketoiminnassa

The purpose of this thesis was to discover whether the common financial concept has created benefits for the franchisees as well as to find out how the financial con-cept should be developed. Services play an important role in franchising supporting the core competence and releasing the franchisee to do what he knows best. So they don’t need to use their time and energy on something that a working service function does for them. This thesis has been implemented by using a qualitative research. A survey to fran-chisees and semi-structured thematic interviews formed the research material used in this study. A theoretical framework was created through value chain, core compe-tence, customer-perceived value, creating value to the customer and together with the customer and noticing the difficulties in individual decision-making. The thesis is based on practical and investigational needs. On the practical level, the research is intended to support the development process of the financial ser-vices. The purpose of the financial service concept is to support the core business. Furthermore the intention was to find through the theoretical basis the background to support the practical work specifically in a service-dominant business.

Bienestar de los clientes en el marco de las Organizaciones Saludables

En este estudio se pretende demostrar la relación existente entre los clientes y las organizaciones saludables, siendo estas aquellas que tienen impactos positivos en sus grupos de interés “stakeholders”. Para llegar a encontrar dicha relación, se revisaron varios conceptos claves, como el bienestar que ha sido definido como “la valoración que hacemos de las circunstancias y el funcionamiento dentro de la sociedad” (Blanco y Diaz, 2005, p. 583). Durante el estudio se presentan diferentes variables que pueden ayudar a identificar si los clientes perciben bienestar o no de parte de alguna compañía, algo que no se puede llegar a considerar como una generalidad si se tiene en cuenta las diferencias que pueden existir entre los diferentes sectores económicos y las diferentes culturas, sin embargo se hallaron algunas variables más aterrizadas al común denominador de los consumidores, que son: calidad del producto/servicio, respuesta ante las quejas, recuperación del servicio y valor percibido por los clientes.

Estratégia de operações de redes: uma proposta de abordagem metodológica de investigação para o estudo da relação entre o projeto de rede de negócios, as prioridades competitivas e o valor para o cliente

Nos últimos anos a competição mundial aumentou significativamente o que tem levado a uma maior pressão por flexibilidade nas operações das empresas. Isso causou a mudança das estruturas burocráticas verticais para a organização horizontal, modificando o paradigma prévio, de que a competição se dava entre unidades de negócios. O modelo burocrático tradicional de organização tem se mostrado esgotado, assim a formação de redes de empresas tem possibilitado a emergência de novos modelos organizacionais mais flexíveis. A estratégia de operações, historicamente focada em unidades de negócios, se tornou um campo profícuo para uma nova análise das práticas e modelos existentes. Como a criação e entrega de valor são imprescindíveis para a sobrevivência das redes interfirmas, supõe-se que o valor percebido pelo cliente está conectado com o projeto das organizações em rede. Essa tese propõe, portanto, categorizar as redes simultâneas nas quais as firmas estão inseridas e apresentar uma abordagem metodológica para a investigação da relação entre o valor percebido pelo cliente e o projeto da rede de negócios. Com esse objetivo é conduzido um estudo qualitativo e explanatório das redes simultâneas dentro do campo da estratégia de operações. As conclusões sugerem que o projeto da rede de negócios pesquisada reflete a percepção de valor pelo cliente

The effects of the service process on satisfaction, trust and value as creators of customer loyalty in a daily deals concept

This study aims at applying the customer behaviour studies of satisfaction, trust, perceived value and loyalty to a daily deals concept. The goal is to find out whether the relationships are the same in this specific context when compared to previous e-commerce studies. The study examines how the daily deals service process affects customer satisfaction, trust and value, and how these in turn impact customer loyalty and each other. The data was collected via e-mail survey from case company customers, and research was conducted on a quantitative basis by using multivariate methods as tools. The results suggest that daily deals service process and service quality do have a direct and positive effect on customer satisfac-tion, trust and value. Additionally, positive correlations between the latter variables and customer loyalty were found. The results imply that the daily deals concept does not differ from other e-services when considering the studied factors. The results also emphasize the importance of recognizing what determinants have the greatest impact on customer loyalty in this specific context.