CONSUMER BRAND PERCEPTION

Consumers' perception of the brand and its significance

[Name of the Institute]

Introduction1

Literature Review2

Definition of Brand2

Branding3

Importance of Branding3

Reasons behind branding4

Research Questions5

Theory5

Proposed Research Approach6

References7

Consumers' perception of the brand and its significance

Introduction

In today's world, every market is characterized by severe competition in each sector. Product and marketing strategies are open for imitation. In order to survive such a competitive market, it is necessary for every firm to adopt the practice of branding (Mearns, 2007, p. 6). A brand consists of immaterial as well as material aspects. In other words, a brand consists of both intangible and tangible elements. These elements serve to sell a service or a product by providing it a definition. The intangible aspects include rational appeals to but a brand's service or product along with cultural, social, and emotional appeals in the minds of consumers. On the other hand, tangible aspects include colours, logos etc. of the brand and its products. The commercial world of many people today is defined by brands (Lewandowski, 2013, p. 3). The power of brand lies in the minds of consumers. It refers to the experiences of the consumers regarding the brand with the passage of time. A brand protects the producer as well as the consumer from competitors who make efforts to offer products that seem to be identical in nature. This is the reason why the brand and the its value has turned out to be a critical factor in such types of markets.

Various researches have been carried out on the subject of consumer's perception of brand and its values. They have discussed the concepts of brand equity, brand management, asset management and other such concepts that are related to the concept of branding (Ind & Bjerke, 2007, p. 65). Several case studies have been carried out to find out how branding has helped different firms in elevating their values against the other competing firms. A brief overview of the work done on the subject of branding and its importance is provided in the literature review of this study.

This study aims to find out the perception of brand from the point of view of consumers. It aims to determine whether consumers actually understand the real values of different brands. This research will evaluate the underlying factors which makes consumer purchase goods and services from their preferred brands. Finally, this study will find out the main features of the brand that hold importance to the consumers which differentiate it from the other brands.

Literature Review

Several studies have been carried out by researchers on the subject of brand and its importance. In this literature review, the definition of brand, the concept and process of branding, reasons why company opt for branding are shed light upon based on the work that has been done on this subject.

Definition of Brand

According to The American Marketing Association, “A brand is the name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them which is intended to signify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and ...