An Investigation into the Impact of Branding on Consumer Buying Behavior in KFC

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For this piece of work, I acknowledge and want to thank my teaching staff, family and friends for the support and assistance they provided me throughout the completion phase. Their belief and guidance made me able to complete this study by countering various hurdles.

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DECLARATION

I declare that all the information and data, presented in this research, is my personal research effort and no external assistance has been taken for it. I further declare that this work is not submitted to any academic institution and at any educational or professional level. All the information in this research presents my personal views and observations and they are not associated with the academic institution.

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ABSTRACT

Consumer has always been the prime interest of business organizations because they are the ones who make any business successful. With the passage of time, consumer buying behavior has been highly linked with branding. Brand image and service has started to attract more consumers in the food industry as the culture has shifted towards modernization. The extended significance of this research is to provide a foundation for designing consumer service improvement programs that can help ensure the profitability and survival of KFC. So far, KFC has been able to develop a branding strategy that has attracted consumer globally. The year by year statistics speak volume of the success that KFC has gained over time. This dissertation aims at examining into the effect of branding on buying behavior of consumer at KFC. The research also worked to evaluate the type of branding policy that has been adopted by KFC and to determine how it affects product promotion. By researching these facts, the researcher tried to find out the impact of branding on economic growth and profitability of KFC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Rational and Significance3

Aims and Objectives4

Research Questions4

Theoretical Framework4

Definition of Key Terms8

Structure of the Remaining Chapters9

The remaining chapters of dissertation are structured as follows:9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW10

History and Origin of Branding10

Concept of Consumer Buying Behavior12

Relationship between Consumer Buying Behavior and Branding12

Concept of Brand Preference13

Branding and Symbolic Consumption15

Impact of Service Quality on Consumer Buying Behavior17

Brand Prestige19

Role of Branding in Retaining Consumers21

Branding Policy of KFC23

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY25

Research Design25

Population Size25

Population Characteristics & Sample Size26

Data Collection Method26

Survey27

Questionnaires27

Characteristics of the Sample27

Approaches28

Data Validity30

Research Philosophy31

Research Approach32

Ethical Considerations32

Limitations33

Research Path35

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS36

Demographic Data and Details36

Questionnaire Analysis38

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION47

Summary of Findings47

Implications for Practice49

Recommendations for Future Research50

REFERENCES52

APPENDICES59

Questionnaire59

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents aims at presenting a brief overview about the topic of the research and also highlights the basic purpose and aim of the current research. The chapter starts with the background of the topic of study that familiarizes the reader about the basis upon which the research is based. The chapter moves further by describing the rationale and significance of the study in which the principal investigator illustrates that why the research developed interest to the principal investigator and why there was a need for such ...