Apples Brand Awareness and Brand Quality Influence on Peoples Perceptions - Case Study Example

Apple’s brand awareness and brand quality influence on people’s perceptions Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Apple’s Background 3 Research significance 3 Aim and objectives of research 4 Research question: 4 Literature Review 4 Methodology 5 Discussion of Findings 6 Brand Loyalty 8 Brand Awareness 9 Conclusion 9 Reference List 11 Apple’s brand awareness and brand quality influence on people’s perceptions Introduction Apple’s Background Apple Inc is a US-based corporation that manufactures and designs computer hardware, software and consumer electronic products. The company makes Macs brand of computers along with popular software brands such as iLife, OS X and iWork. Apple is also a leader in digital revolution with its iTune online store and iPods. The company has also re-created the mobile phone industry with its revolutionary App Store and iPhone brand of phones (Fadaei 2013, 6-8). It is also redefining the next-generation mobile media with its innovative computing devices such as iPads. The company’s flagship products such as Macintosh personal computer brand, Mac OS X, have been extremely dignified in the IT industry for causing loyal user-base. Other such brands with extreme loyal user-base include iPads, iTune, iPhone and iPod. Consumers of these electronic products are strongly influenced by the brand. Strong and clear brand image can increase consumer confidence and convince consumers to buy the products (Fadaei 2013, 6). Research significance The findings of this research will be of significance to electronic manufacturers in understanding the bases for customer preferences in the electronics market. To this end, understanding the brand identity and brand equity that has given Apple a competitive edge cannot be downplayed. Such profound understanding would provide valuable clue on customer preferences, rationale for loyalty to a brand and how effectively brand awareness can be built. Aim and objectives of research The research is aimed at determining Apple’s brand awareness and brand loyalty. The key objective of this research is to examine Apple on the basis of brand equity and brand identity and how the two influence people to select Apple-brand products. Special emphasis is given to the Apple-branded smartphones -- specifically the iPhone series. Therefore, the aim is to study smartphone users at Regent Business School London. Research question: How does Apple’s brand awareness and brand quality influence people’s perceptions? Literature Review As stated by Kapferer (2004), brand is a name that influences customers. The researcher clarified that a brand should be able to command attention because of its attributes of differentiability, saliency, trust and intensity. In this case, a successful brand should be able to pass a consistent message as well as create an emotional attachment on the customers. Hammond (2003, 14) defines a brand as the total emotional experience that a consumer maintains with a company along with its products and services. Hence, the conception of brand loyalty arises. Consistent with Kuhn and Alpert (2004, 1-3) brand loyalty should refer to a behavioural sense depicted by the extent of repeat purchases. It involves the process through which consumers stick with a brand while rejecting the substitutable ones. Aaker (1991, 39) explained that brand loyalty should maintain a consumer’s loyalty since the consumer treasures the brand based on its quality and what the consumer derives from it. Ots (2008, 3-4) shared the perspective that a brand loyalty represents the extent a customer sticks to a brand. In regards brand equity, Aaker (1991, p.24) portrays it to be among the available strategic assets that companies can use to ensure long-term competitive advantage. Dahlen et al. (2010) pointed out that brand equity consists of the liabilities and assets that are associated to a brand, such as logo or name. It is composed of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand assets, brand awareness and perceived quality. Aaker (1996, p 8) acknowledged that these brand equity assets generate value in a range of ways, including influencing positive brand perception and brand awareness. Methodology The population of study was selected to be Regent Business School London. The sample size consisted of 114 students within the school. Literature review using the search string “Apple brand awareness, Apple customer’s perception, brand equity” was used to conduct online document analysis. Free access databases for journals were searched to obtain secondary data, such as Google Scholar and Google Books. Published online articles, industry reports and company financial reports were accessed. Afterwards, questionnaires were used to reflect the concepts used in the research. The researcher distributed structured questionnaires to the respondents -- through email -- in the first week of the study. The decision to use pre-coded questionnaire was anchored in Bryman (2012, 45) perspective, who suggested that pre-coded approach is appropriate when the research materials have to be quantified. The researcher used non-probability sample technique in the research, since the questionnaire was distributed randomly to the study population. The primary data acquired from the questionnaires was extracted and analysed through empirical data analysis. Later, the researcher drew conclusion from the analysis. Discussion of Findings The research had a response rate of 92.1 percent. Of the 114 respondents selected to take part in the study, 105 responded. This implies the study was successful. Basing on analysis of Table 1, (which represents empirical data obtained), responses from the users revealed that 58.6% of those surveyed use Apple-branded phones, while 45.3% use other brands (namely Motorolla 8.2%, Black Berry 12.1%, HTC 15.3% and Nokia 9.7%). (See Fig 1) Table 1: smartphone users at Regent Business School London This implies that Apple has significantly more brand users than other types of brands. Another critical observation made is that 42.3 percent of users of other brands acknowledged that Apple is the strong brand. 43.7 percent strongly agreed. The number of those who disagreed were only 4.5 percent. The theoretical implication of this is that Apple brand of smartphone have the strongest brand value and the highest customer loyalty. Aaker (1991, p.48) explained that the degree of brand loyalty is indicated by willingness of customers to stick to a brand despite better competitor brand’s features. Table 2: Apple smartphone Brand awareness and loyalty empirical data Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly Agree Response count I will use apple brand despite better competitor phone functionality 3.6% 9.3% 14.6% 35.7% 36.8% 105 Is Apple a strong brand 1% 3.5 8.5 42.3 43.7 105 I plan to switch to another brand due to Apple’s premium price 35.3 21.2 28.1 8.2 7.2 105 I would recommend Apple to my friend due to its quality 1.2 4.6 16.3 42.2 35.7 101 I would be loyal to my Apple brand 6.4 4.5 12.8 41.6 34.7 99 Does smartphome come to mind whenever smarthone is mentioned 7.4 7.1 6.5 29 50 105 Brand Loyalty As indicated in Table 1, Apple has a greater user base with 76.35% of the 99 respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing that they would be loyal to the brand. Apple’s eminence is further indicated by the number of users who acknowledge they would stick to the brand even if the competitor brands such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Nokia and Black Berry phones had better features. Of the 105 respondents, 35.7% agreed while 36.8% strongly agreed. Based on Aaker’s (1991, p. 87) classification of consumers, these types of consumers can be categorised to be on the level 4 of brand loyalty since their preference for a brand is anchored on the company’s logo, previous use experience and the symbol. These kinds of consumers are not susceptible to competitors. Brand Awareness As indicated in Table 1, the scores obtained in the empirical data show that Apple has very high brand awareness among its consumers than the competitor brands. The findings suggest that 50% of the 105 respondents strongly agreed that Apple smartphones come to mind when smartphone is mentioned, while 29 percent agreed. This is consistent with Kuhn and Alpert (2004, 1-3) view that a key advantage of brand awareness is that customers get to think of a certain brand when the category of the brand is mentioned. Conclusion The study explored the brand loyalty and brand awareness through empirical analysis of smartphone users of Apple and other brands. A number of conclusions can be drawn. Apple has relatively higher brand equity and dimensions of identity due to the high rate of brand loyalty and brand awareness. The brand name signifies the level of consistency and quality consumers can trust. The company has always aimed to instil into consumers a level of confidence with their Apple-branded products. This perspective is based on the assumption that other high-tech companies – such as HTC, Black Berry, Nokia and Motorola -- have pursued the brand building initiative under the assumption that such initiatives can develop an asset that generates long-term profitability. As stated by Aaker (1991, 270), strong brand is built on the four aspects of brand equity, namely brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand assets, brand awareness and perceived quality. Apple is also chosen over other brand based on its brand name. Hence, the brand loyalty is high among users of Apple phones. Apple also has a higher rate of brand preference compared to competitor brands. This is since it has been able to build numerous brand components due to its strong brand equity. Forensic analysis of the empirical data shows that Apple’s brand’s most salient or outstanding component of brand concept is the image of the brand along with the strength of the key brand concepts: namely brand awareness and brand loyalty. Additionally, Apple smartphone users have a high level of brand loyalty, which accrues from the conception that the users acknowledged that they are confident with the quality of the phone and would therefore recommend it to friends. This clearly indicates high brand loyalty (Glynn & Woodside 2009, 263). Further, comparison between Apple and competitor brands based on the aspect of perceived quality score shows that Apple ranks higher, based on the fact that Apple is innovative. This in the way the users would be willing to pay additional price and the premium price that the brand commands. This also shows that Apple has a relatively higher brand loyalty and brand awareness (Glynn & Woodside 2009, 263). According to Aaker (1991, 46), the higher the perceived quality the higher the brand awareness and brand loyalty. As indicated by Aaker (1991, 46), higher perceive quality indicates that Apple smartphone is a strong brand based on its quality. Hence, it will have a high number of loyal consumer-base. The findings further suggest that the main reason Apple maintains high brand identity and equity is since it had built its brand by emphasising on the components of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand associations. It ensures this by delivering smartphone of high perceived quality and creating high brand awareness through attracting a local customer base and brand association. To this end, this research achieved its aim of determining Apple’s brand awareness and brand loyalty, and how it manages to maintain brand equity and brand identity. To conclude, brand identity and brand equity play an integral role in influencing customers to prefer using the Apple-branded smartphones. Reference List Aaker, A 1991, Managing Brand Equity; Capitalizing On the Value of a Brand Name, The Free Press, New York. Aaker, D 1996, Building Strong Brands, The Free Press, New York Bryman, A 2012, Social Research Methods, Oxford University Press, London Dahlen, M, Lange, F & Smith, T 2010, Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach, John Wiley & Sons, New York Fadaei, R 2013, Apple iPhone Marketing Analysis, The Verge Glynn, M & Woodside , A 2009, Business-to-business Brand Management: Theory, Research and Executive Case Study Exercises, Emerald Publishing Hammond, J 2008, Branding your Business, Kogan Page Ltd, London Kapferer J 2004, The New Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, Kogan Page, London Kuhn, K & Alpert, F 2004, Applying Keller’s brand equity model in a B2B context : limitations and an empirical test. In: ANZMAC 2004 : marketing accountabilities and responsibilities, 29 November-1 December 2004, Wellington, New Zealand. Ots, M 2008, Media Brands and Branding, Jönkoping International Business School, Jönköping Read More