Brand IExploring the impact of Apple brand image on the customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and commitment in the UK

7/25/2019 Brand IExploring the impact of Apple brand image on the customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and commitmen…

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Exploring the impact of Apple brand image on the customer

satisfaction, customer loyalty and commitment in the UK

1



Abstract

The study impact of Apple brand on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer

commitment was conducted in UK in order to investigate the perception of customers

regarding the brand image and their relative response towards the brand image of Apple

brand. The study was conducted by employing quantitative research by the way survey

questionnaire. The responses of the respondents were collected online. The result of the

research reveal positive impact of brand image on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty

and customer commitment, however, when the impact of customer satisfaction was

investigated on the customer loyalty and customer commitment the results were not positive,

which shows in spite of positive impact of brand image on customer satisfaction, customer

satisfaction does not have positive impact on loyalty which meant customer satisfaction alone

cannot be a significant factor of determining loyalty amongst customers.

2



Acknowledgement

I would like to take this opportunity to thank rofessor !!! for pro"iding me with guidance

throughout my research, as well as an excellent suggestion for the current topic# I especially

thank !!! for his willingness to organi$e and interpret my fre%uent rash ideas and loose

assumptions# &his will be my final year at the Uni"ersity !!! and so I would also like

express my gratitude to rofessor !!!, on behalf of the graduate students, for his genuine

concern, most especially for his rigorous efforts to ensure that we were all funded and well

fed#

I would like to express my profound and humble and gracious thanks to my family, for their

lo"e, guidance and encouragement# I thank my parents for instilling in me the "alue of an

education# &hank you for allowing me to stray from the flock on occasion and find my own

way# &hank you for supporting me throughout# &hanks to my father who, by example, taught

me to honor the history and struggle of my people, to not only talk about great things but to

do great things as well, and to lea"e a positi"e legacy# I would especially like to thank my

mum for being the best role model a mother, a woman, a person can be# &here are no words

to express how I feel about what you ha"e done for me# 'one of this, absolutely none of it

would be possible without you( )ou are e"ery element I need to sur"i"e#

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Table of Contents

1# Introduction+################################################################################################################## 1

1#2 -ignificance of the study+####################################################################################### 2

1#* .esearch /b0ecti"es+############################################################################################### 2

1# /rgani$ation of the study+####################################################################################### 2

hapter 2############################################################################################################################### *

2# 3iterature .e"iew+######################################################################################################### *

2#1 4rand image+########################################################################################################### *

2#1 4rand image and customer loyalty+######################################################################## 5

2#2 4rand image and customer commitment+############################################################# 16

2#* 4rand image and customer satisfaction+############################################################### 17

2# onclusion+########################################################################################################### 21

2.5 &heoretical frame work######################################################################################### 22

*# .esearch 8ethodology################################################################################################ 2*

*#1 .esearch -trategy and rocedure+######################################################################## 2*

*#2 9ypothesis of the study+####################################################################################### 2

*#* -ur"ey Instrument and :ariables 8easurement+################################################## 26

*# .esearch methods+################################################################################################ 2;

*##1 <uantitati"e .esearch+########################################################################################## 2=

*#6 >ata ollection procedure+################################################################################### 2=

*#6#1 rimary .esearch+################################################################################################# 27

*#6#2 -econdary .esearch+############################################################################################# 27

*#; >esigning of <uestionnaire+################################################################################# 27

*#= -ample+################################################################################################################# 25

*#7 haracteristics of .espondents+############################################################################ 25

*#5 -i$e+###################################################################################################################### 25

*#1? >ata reparation+################################################################################################## *?

*#11 >ata oding and @eeding+#################################################################################### *?

*#12 Ethical onsiderations+######################################################################################### *?

*#1* .eliability and :alidity+######################################################################################## *1

# @indings and analysis+################################################################################################# *2

#1 -ociodemographic Analysis+############################################################################### *2

#* .egression 8odels+ 9ypothesis &esting+############################################################## 2



#*#1 9ypothesis &esting+ 919+################################################################################# *

#*#2 9ypothesis &esting+ 96+######################################################################################## 5

#*#* 9ypothesis &esting+ 9;+######################################################################################## 61

#*# 9ypothesis &esting+ 9=+######################################################################################## 62

#*#6 9ypothesis &esting+ 97+######################################################################################## 6

#*#; 9ypothesis &esting+ 95+######################################################################################## 6;

;#1 8anagerial implications+###################################################################################### ;*

;#2 3imitations and @uture .esearch >irections+####################################################### ;

.eferences+########################################################################################################################## ;6

Appendix############################################################################################################################# =1

.eflection .eport+############################################################################################################### =5

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LIST OF TABLE

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List of Figure

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Chapter

1. Introduction:

In the fast growing world of today, customer satisfaction, %uality of ser"ice, customer loyalty

and commitment ha"e become important areas of consideration in which all the

organi$ations, big or small are struggling to do their best# @or organi$ations it is not difficult

to attract consumers, what is critical is to retain the consumers# And in the competiti"e

atmosphere organi$ations can only achie"e this through high le"el of customer satisfaction

which ultimately leads to consumer loyalty, commitment and long term relationship of the

organi$ation and customer# -imilarly for any organi$ation consumers are the most important

asset, and if the organi$ations are deficient in this imperati"e asset, then organi$ation suffer

from the problem of income less than the cost, moreo"er leading to low profits# In the same

context research has pro"ed the fact that impro"ing the %uality of products and ser"ices not

only enhances the customer satisfaction but also the profits of the organi$ation# @urther more

research has pro"ed that company image brand imageB and reputation of the company are

two important factors that forms the customer loyalty and commitment and affects the

purchasing beha"ior of customers Ceiwei, 2??=B#

9owe"er customer loyalty and commitment is important as it pro"ides a bigger share in the

market and pro"ides the organi$ation to demand higher prices for the products than the

competitors haudhuri and 9olbrook, 2??1B# ustomer loyalty and commitment is also

fruitful for the organi$ation in lowering the market cost, attract more customers and earn

better profits# And the most important through customer loyalty and commitment words of

mouth are spread that promotes the product of the organi$ation , in short customer loyalty

and commitment are considered as the most important factors of success for the organi$ations

5



as it fosters the buying beha"ior of the customers and builds long lasting relationships with

the organi$ation 9sieh and 3i, 2??=B#

-o is the impact of brand image and reputation of the organi$ation on the customers# 4rand

image is what that comes to the minds of customers when they hear the name of the product

either good or bad, moreo"er brand image is the response of the customers towards the offers

made by the particular organi$ation in fact brand image is the "iewpoint, thoughts, ideas and

impression in the mind of the customers about the organi$ation which is created by words of

mouth and ad"ertising which compels the customers buy that brand Ceiwei, 2??=B#

-imilarly organi$ationDs reputation is a concept related to image, but one that refers to value

udgments among the public about an organi!ation"s qualities, formed over a long period,

regarding its consistency, trustworthiness and reliabilityF 4ennett and .entschler, 2??*B#

&he companyDs brand image influences the trustworthiness and efficiency of the company

and de"elops customer loyalty and commitment#

In this study the impact of Apple brand image on the customer loyalty, commitment and

satisfaction in the UK is "iewed# &his study is the first research conducted on the impact of

brand image on the loyalty, commitment and satisfaction of the customers, as prior to this

research many researches were conducted to see the impact of brand image on the satisfaction

of the customer# @urther this empirical study will contribute to sol"e the problem statement+

“What is the impact of Apple brand image on the customer loyalty, commitment and

satisfaction in the UK”

!"Significance of the stud#$

It is imperati"e to look into the matter of this study as an indepth study is re%uired in order to

study the relationship between the "ariables customer satisfaction, customer loyalty,

customer commitmentB of this study with the brand image# &his study will pro"ide the

organi$ations to better gauge their performance and efficiency factors# &he most importantly

1?



the analysis of this study will pro"ide the organi$ations an insight of the perception of

customers towards the brand image, loyalty, satisfaction and commitment, and in light of this

perception the organi$ations can adopt better tools to impro"e their brand image in order to

be competiti"e and gain the benefits of this tool and de"ice their strategies accordingly#

!%&esearch Ob'ecti(es$

4y going through the literature following ob0ecti"es could be deri"ed+

&o study the influence of Apple brand image on the customer loyalty in the UK#

&o explore the relationship between Apple brand image and customer commitment in

the UK#

&o examine the impact of Apple brand image on the satisfaction of the customers in

the UK#

&o examine the impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and commitment#

!)Organi*ation of the stud#$&his study has been di"ided into six chapters# &he first chapter gi"es a brief introduction of

the study, along with the significance and ob0ecti"es of the study# hapter two throws light on

the a"ailable literature and pre"ious study on the basis of which hypothesis and conceptual

frame work is de"eloped# @urther, in third chapter the detailed research methodology is

explained and it explains how the current study will be conducted# hapter four explains the

findings of the study along with graphical presentation while the chapter fi"e pro"ides

discussion on the result foundG chapter six concludes the study and pro"ides managerial

implications and limitations of the study#

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Chapter "

!. "iterature #e$ie%:

&his chapter tends to co"er the "ast literature re"iew that will co"er all the past studies related

to the current study# 8oreo"er, the literature re"iew will focus on brand image, brand image

and consumer loyalty, commitment and repurchase beha"ior of customers in detail on the

basis of which a conceptual frame work will be made and hypothesis will be suggested#

"!Brand image$

&he term brand image was first pioneered in the marketing discipline formally by Hardner

and le"y 1566B and since then communi%u of brand image is considered an important

source to the target market in wide marketing acti"ities# 9owe"er, the term brand image has

been gi"en different meanings since its inception in the marketing discipline# 8oreo"er, the

researchers ha"e often used interchangeable concepts such as brand identity with the term of

brand image 4ian and 8outinho, 2?11B# /n the contrary to 4ian and 8outinho, Aaker

155;B is of the "iew that brand identity and brand image are two different concepts, he

defined brand identity as uni%ue set of brand associations that the brand strategists tend to

create and maintain similarly brand identity basically represents what actually the brand

stands for and what it promises to its consumers on the behalf of organi$ation and its

members, whereas Aaker says about brand image that brand image is how the brand is

percei"ed by the customers and basically it is set of brand association in the memory of

customers# According to >olich the brand image is an important deri"er which helps the

customers to decide whether the particular brand is according to their choice and preferences

and similarly brand image persuades the customers buying beha"ior >olich, 15;5B#

@urthermore, a brand image if communicated properly to the target market helps the

organi$ation establish the brand position, shield the brand from competition, impro"e the

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market performance of the brand and leads to build a long term and successful brand e%uity

of the brand of any organi$ation Aaker and KellerG ark et al#, 1551B

&herefore, 4rand image is a wide and important concept of marketing and for branding of the

organi$ations# 8oreo"er, according to 9er$og 15;*B brand image is about what customersD

thinks of the brand of any particular company and portrays its association with the brand# And

this association could be de"eloped by the direct contact of the customer with the brand or

through the words of mouth spread by others and may be through ad"ertisement Keller,

155*B# 4rand image is, therefore, the mental picture or perception of a brand or a branded

product or ser"ice and includes symbolic meanings that consumers associate with the specific

attributes of a product or ser"ice Aperia and 4ack, 2??, p#=1B# In simple words, brand

image could be defined as the perception of the product or the brand of the company by the

consumerF lake, 2?11B# -imilarly,

brand image represents the reasoned or emotional perceptions consumers attach to specific

brandsF 3ow and 3amb, 2???, p# *62B#

As opposed to the abo"e discussions about the brand image :ahie and aswan 2??;B present

a different concept of the brand image# &hey state that according to Ceiner 2???B the

customers purchase products on the basis of some satisfaction about the product that is

termed as the sub0ecti"e expectation or probability of likeness of the product# 9owe"er, the

attribution theory tends to address this beha"ior of consumers that how customers the

sub0ecti"e inferences or likeness of product affects the purchasing beha"ior of the customers,

as the likeness of any product comes only by using that product before# /n the contrary, if

the consumer has not used the particular product before the sub0ecti"e anticipation and

likeness does not contribute to the purchase of the product# In such situation if the consumer

has not used a pri"ate labeled brand 34B, then the store owing that product becomes the

potential cue for the purchase of that 34# In the same context, the products of other known

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brands present in the retail store can be a cue as well# 9owe"er, the attribution theory states

that the more reliable the cues are it will help the consumers more to purchase the product#

&he other factors that contribute along with the consistent cues is the atmosphere, ser"ices,

con"enience of purchasing at the store that contribute towards the purchase of any 34

products which is basically the brand image of that pri"ate labeled product#

8oreo"er, the brand image reflects the emotional attachment of the customer with the

specific brand plus the beliefs of the customers in the brand which relies on the intrinsic and

extrinsic characteristics of the brand and the most important on the %uality and satisfaction

the customer gets from the particular brand and not from any other Harcia .odrigue$ and

4ergantinos, 2??1B# -imilarly Faircloth (2005) is also of the view that brand

image is the mental image the users have in their mind as well as the

uniqueness attached to the particular brand in comparison to the other

brands present in the market.

Furthermore, the brand image is composition of knowledge and beliefs of

the customers about the various products and non products

characteristics of the brand. rand image shows the personal s!mbolism

the customers attach with their preferred brand encompassing all the

information and knowledge related to that brand ("versen and #em,

200$). #sieh and %i (200$) in the same wa! sa!s when consumers have a

clear and constructive image of the brand the brand image tends to have

a stronger e&ect as compare to those of the competitors.

'ccording to artenson (200) a favourable image of an organi*ation+s

brand tends to create a positive impact on the customers behaviour

regarding enhancing the brand lo!alt!, towards commanding the price

1







premiums of the brand products and moreover towards the words of

mouth about the brand and organi*ation. imilarl! Faircloth et al., states

that brand image is an important factor a&ecting the behaviour of the

consumers and a&ects the bu!ing behaviours, lo!alt! and commitment of

consumers towards the brand. "t is found that the more positive the brand

image of an! organi*ation the more the customers are lo!al and

committed and the more the customers pa! to purchase the products of

such organi*ations (Faircloth etal., (200-).

esearch shows that the companies with inferior brand image merge or

acquire those companies with high brand image so that the! can enhance

their share in the market (/gu!en and leiner, 2001). #owever the

companies do this in order to be beneted with the stronger brand image

of the acquired compan! and in the same wa! improve the brand image

of their own compan! (ao et al., -33-).4orter and la!comb (-33) are of

the view that positive brand image of an! organi*ations help the

organi*ation to draw positive feelings and attitudes towards the brand.

A study was conducted by 3ee to explore the affects of strong brand image of an organi$ation

on a firm with weak brand image after merger and ac%uisition# 9owe"er, this study was the

first study to examine the "ariance of two brand images# &hough, the result of the study

showed that the company with weak brand image can make significant impro"ements

towards the consumer beha"iour after 8JA of the company with strong brand image# )et, it

could be said the companies with inferior brand image can enhance the image of their brand

along market share by ac%uiring the firm with strong brand image and bigger market share#

9owe"er, the results of the study were consistent with the study of .ichardson et al#, 155B

as they say that the customers use brand image as an extrinsic indication to assess the %uality

16



of the product of a specific brand similarly >odds et al#, 1551B also said that brand image

ser"es as the product guarantee for any brand of the organi$ation and significantly affects the

consumer beha"iours such as commitment, loyalty and repurchase# &hus the study conducted

concludes the better the brand image of any organi$ation the better would be the %uality of

brand concei"ed by the consumers# &herefore, the results of the study conducted by 3ee et

al#, 2?11B also shows that ac%uiring the company with strong brand image impro"es the

brand image of the parent company# -imilarly, the further results show that ac%uiring the

company with superior brand image also significantly increases the brand loyalty of the

parent company, howe"er the results of the study are in conformity of the pre"ious studies of

ins 2??1BG retu and 4rodie 2??=B as they are of the "iew that brand image positi"ely

affects the brand loyalty of the company# According to the study of -iomkos 1555B, the

image of the company has a positi"e impact to determine the beha"iour of the customer# &he

study by Aaker 155B also supports the study of -iomkos and he is of the "iew that brand

image helps create "alue for the brand and this image is useful in fi"e different ways+

• &he brand image of any product helps the customers to get information about the

product#

• It helps in positioning of the product and differentiates it from other products#

• &he brand image helps consumers to find a reason for purchasing the product#

• &he brand image helps in building a positi"e attitude and feeling towards the

products#

• &he most important the brand image of a product helps in brand extension of the

product#

9owe"er, these reasons explains the importance of brand image of a company in attaining a

positi"e impact on the beha"iour of consumers to such a le"el that the image helps to

process information on the productF# -imilarly, Lolly and 8owen 157B are of the "iew that

during a recall a good image of the company and product helps maintain the customers

confidence in the product as well as the producer# &he study conducted by the >innie et al#,

1;



2??;B has also confirmed the study of Lolly and 8owen and they are of the "iew that the

more good the brand image of a company the more positi"e are the intentions of customers to

purchase the products of the company# &he study conducted by 4arber and >arrough 155;B

also shows the similar results that brand image ha"e a positi"e impact on the purchasing

beha"iour of the consumers# 9owe"er, in their research 4arber and >arrough compared the

brands of American and Lapanese companies for the period of 15=* and 1552, the result of

the study showed that go"ernmental bodies accounted for 6?= recalls affecting the American

producers on the contrary only ;; recalls were reported for Lapanese producers# 9owe"er the

results pro"ide the e"idence of the common fact that Lapanese "ehicles are considered more

reliable than the American cars# &he authors explain the perception of the customers

attributed to the increased market share of the Lapanese producers and a fall in the market

share of the American producers# >innie et al#, 2??;B further said that the positi"e brand

image of a company helps the company to retain its clients# 9owe"er a number of empirical

studies ha"e been conducted on impact of brand image and these studies shows brand image

leads to brand loyalty and this in return ha"e positi"e influence on the purchase intentions of

the customers 9ennig&hurau et al#, 2??2B#

&he abo"e mentioned studies of different authors explained brand image in term of products

%uality, attributes, and "alue and brand benefits, on the contrary -ondoh Lr#et al 2??=B in his

study presented the brand image in terms of the satisfaction le"el of the consumer# &hey are

of the "iew that the satisfaction le"el of the consumers reflects the likeness and affection

towards the product of a brand# /li"er 1555B noted that consumers at the affecti"e stage

would de"elop a positi"e attitude towards the brand or liking the brand as a result of

satisfactory repetiti"e usage o"er timeF p# 77#

A brand image helps the consumer to select the brand of his choice according to hisM her

satisfaction le"el# &he other positi"e aspects of a brand image are the confidence the

1=



consumers ha"e on the products of the manufacturer remains in the memory f the customer

and this positi"e response tends to build a positi"e perception of the consumer about the

company in general as well# And this positi"e perception about the brand image, company

and the products of the company lead to the brand loyalty of the consumers with the products

-ouiden et al#, 2??;B# -imilarly brand image tends to ha"e positi"e impact on the

commitment, repurchase beha"iour of the consumer as well#

9owe"er, the current study uses the loyalty, commitment and repurchases constructs of

brand image to explore the impact of brand image on the customer beha"iour#

"!Brand image and customer lo#alt#$

&he literature on customer loyalty has emphasi$ed how loyal customers promote firm and

shareholder "alue .eichheld, 155; and 2??;G -ri"asta"a, -her"ani and @ahey, 1557B#

ustomer satisfaction could be linked with loyalty of the customer with the brand is a "ery

uncertain concept as the concept of loyalty is a di"erse term in marketing acti"ities and for

organi$ations# Ehrenberg 1577B and Lacoby 15=1B say that the repurchase of any brand by

the customer happens only when they embark on a purchase again for a brand offered# &he

repurchase act of the customer presents the loyalty of the customer with the brand which has

de"eloped through customer satisfaction with the %uality of the product and faith of the

customer in the brand# 8oreo"er few authors are of the "iew that loyalty is associated with

the preference and commitment of the customer 9ess and -orry, 2??6B#

According to /li"er 1555B ultimate customer loyalty is a function of percei"ed product

superiority, personal fortitude, social bonding, and their synergistic effects p *B# /li"er,

155=B, further defined brand loyalty as Na deep held commitment to rebuy or repatroni$e a

preferred productMser"ice consistently in the future, thereby causing repetiti"e samebrand or

17












same brandset purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts that ha"e the

potential to cause switching beha"iourN p# *B#

-imilarly, customer loyalty could also be defined as+ @eelings or attitudes that incline a

customer either to return to a company, shop or outlet to purchase there again, or else to re

purchase a particular product, ser"ice or brandF >ick et al#, 155B#

9owe"er, Cood 2??1B is of the "iew that for organi$ations the influence of brand loyalty

tends to be critical on the cost of marketing for the reason that attracting a new client is far

more difficult than retaining the already existing client# In the same way Keller states that the

existing and loyal customers tend to create a barrier foe to the opponent or competitor

company to enter the market and capture the existing companyDs market share Keller, 1557B#

-chult$ 2??6B states that the most important asset for any organi$ation is its brand and a

better %uality brand tends to attract more customers along with this de"elops more loyalty of

customers towards the brand and also catches the imaginations of the customer for the

particular brand# -imilarly well known and popular brand not only tend to attract customers

but also play an important role in retaining building customer loyalty Ehrenberg et al#,

155?B# /n the other as opposed to Ehrenberg et al, Kim and hung, 155=B say the factors

that cause the popularity of the brand include high brand image, word of mouth C/8B and

imitation# 4rand image acts an important element of determining the perception of the

customer towards a product or ser"ice when it is difficult to make a choice among different

products a"ailable# And 'andan 2??6B presented his "iew that a company with the help of

brand image can increase the brand loyalty of customers by assuring the customers that the

brand image and brand identity are congruent# -imilarly the studies conducted by eithaml

1557B and ins 2??1B also re"eal that fa"orable brand image ha"e positi"e impact on the

brand loyalty of the customers#

15



-ondoh Lr# et al#, 2??=B, in his paper stated that more than 6? operational definitions of brand

loyalty were identified by Locoby and hestnut 15=7B and these definitions could be

categori$ed as beha"ioral, attitudinal and composite approaches# 3oyalty is mostly explained

in beha"ioral terms in ma0ority of the studies of Locoby and hestnut and they explained

loyalty as repeated purchasing regularity and the amount of purchase, on the other hand

attitudinal loyalty is explained as stated preferences, commitment or the purchasing intentions

of the consumers# &hese beha"ioral approaches ha"e been critici$ed by /li"er 1555B, Lacoby

and hestnut 15=7B and >ay 15;5B as according to them these approaches ha"e some

problem in them as /li"er argued that these definitions focussed on what consumer do but

the definition failed to address the psychological meaning of the term loyalty# 8oreo"er,

Locoby and chestnut criticised that the beha"ioural approach address the static outcome of the

dynamic decision process that is entirely based on the beha"iour of the consumer# @urther

they are of the "iew that these approaches of beha"ioural loyalty do not address the factor

that lead to brand loyalty, purchase beha"iour and the approaches are unable to determine

why, how brand loyalty has de"eloped# Chereas the attitudinal approach measure the feelings

of consumers towards the status of likeliness to recommend the product or to repurchase the

product# Amine 1577B also stated brand loyalty could not be measured if the attitudinal

loyalty is not extensi"e for the action beha"iour#

.esearch presented three streams of loyalty such as beha"ioral loyalty by &ellis 1557B and

&ucker 15;B attitudinal loyalty by 4ennett and .undle&hiele 2??2B and composite loyalty

by >ay 15;5B and Lacoby 15=1B# According to the thoughts of &ucker the past purchases of

the particular product of a brand by the consumers constitutes for beha"ioural loyalty# /n the

other hand Lacoby 15=1B in conformity with the concept of beha"ioral loyalty states that as

the beha"ioral loyalty stems from the recurring purchasing acti"ity which shows the sign of

2?



loyalty# 9owe"er the beha"ioral loyalty in this case is considered as stochastic rather than

deterministic# 9owe"er in attitudinal loyalty, loyalty is measured by the words of mouth for

example one using the brand and persuading others to use the brand, this action of consumers

constitutes the attitudinal loyalty of the brand which is the result of fa"orable brand image

and satisfaction from the particular brand#

-imilarly, in many models of brand image brand loyalty is mainly found to be an outcome or

constituent of brand image# -imilarly marketing research shows that brand loyalty of

customers is an asset for the organi$ations as it is difficult and costly to recruit a new

customer, as it in"ol"es great deal of ad"ertisements, personal selling, creating new accounts

of the customers, therefore it is always more significant to retain existing and old customers

rather than attracting new ones as it is found that the re"enue generated by the way of loyal

brand customers increase with passage of time .eichheld and -asser, 155?B#

According to the research work of /li"er 1555B he is of the "iew that customer loyalty is

considered to be a function of apparent and alleged superiority the customer attaches to the

product, his personal resilience, the social bond of the customer and the s!nergistic

impact of the customer on the brand or product. Further 6liver e7plains

his thought that lo!alt! is not commitment to the product but it is an

aspect of the commitment which he named as attitudinal or emotional

constituents of commitment. oreover customer lo!alt! as termed b!

8ncles et al., (2001) is based on three dimensions according to them

customer lo!alt! basicall! comes from the favourable attributes and

beliefs of customers for a particular brand which comes from the

emotional attachment of the customer with the brand. imilarl! the

second dimension of the brand lo!alt! is the behavioural aspect of the

customer that is the bu!ing behaviour of the customer to a particular

21



brand of his choice in this case lo!alt! as an accident approach is

assumed to have a relation between the attitude and behaviour of the

customer.

'ccording to unc! (-339) there ma! be man! meanings of brand lo!alt!

as it is dened b! various authors with di&erent approaches but the sum

of all the approaches is that brand lo!alt! the comes as an outcome of

interaction between the consumers of virtual attitude with a special brand

and also the repeat bu!ing behaviour of the consumers of that brand.

:herefore, it could be said that the brand lo!alt! subsists as an outcome

of the repeat bu!ing behaviour or there ma! absence of the perceived

value which the consumer is looking for in the alternative brands available

in the market. 6n the contrar! to unc!, 'ssael (-33$) is of the view that

brand lo!alt! ma! e7ist as c consequence of simple habitual bu!ing

behaviour of consumers which could be a long lasting involvement of the

consumer or which ma! a shot time involvement of the consumer with a

particular brand which is being o&ered " the market. ;ood (2000) on the

other hand keeps a di&erent view as opposed to unc! and 'ssael< he

sa!s it is imperative for the consumers to posse the relative knowledge

about the brand lo!alt! as brand image tends to tailor the desires and

needs of the target segment of the market in order to facilitate brand

lo!alt!. :hat will determine the consumer involvement in the repeat

bu!ing behaviour of a brand and the success of this process will help

determine the brand lo!alt! and tends to have a long lasting e&ect on the

consumers.

22



=arl! researches on brand lo!alt! b! man! researchers generall! state the

fact that brand lo!alt! comes as a result of repeat purchasing behaviour

b! consumers in short the! took the act of repurchase to measure brand

lo!alt! but on the contrar! the recent researches on the brand lo!alt!

depicts the fact that a&ective lo!alt! is the best wa! of measuring the

lo!alt! of an! consumer for an! brand 4ennett and .undle&hiele, 2???B# 4rand

loyalty concept co"ers both affecti"e loyalty and action loyalty measures in order to

determine the loyalty# 9owe"er, the term affecti"e loyalty is related to the preference of the

consumers and attraction towards a particular brand but this does not deploys the actual

buying acti"ity yet whereas action loyalty is referred to the actual buying acti"ity conducted

by the consumer for a particular brand 4aldinger and .ubinson, 155;B# According to Hroth

and 8c>aniel 155*B, the affecti"e loyalty shows that the consumer is loyal to the particular

brand all the way# &o Eisman 155?B action loyalty comes when the customer is satisfied with

the brand and the continuous purchase of that brand# As per the abo"e mentioned "aried

"iews about brand loyalty Assael 155*B concluded that brand loyalty comes as a repeat

purchase acti"ity which is based primarily on satisfaction gained from the brand by the

customer with repetiti"e purchasing of that brand#

/li"er 1555B classified the brand loyalty into four parts which are+

• ogniti"e loyalty

• Affecti"e loyalty• onation loyalty

• Action loyalty

/n the other hand, >ay 155;B further refined brand loyalty by adding two indicators such as

affection and action and categori$ed brand loyalty as spurious brand loyalty and true brand

loyalty# 9owe"er the consumers with spurious brand loyalty ought to repurchase the brand as

there is only one brand a"ailable in the stores therefore they buy that brand only# /n the

contrary, the consumers with true brand loyalty show psychological and affecti"e

2*



commitments towards the brand of their choice and show repetiti"e consistency in purchasing

the product and brand# >ick and 4asu 155B also categori$ed loyalty into+

• &rue loyalty#

• -purious loyalty#

• 3atent loyalty#

• 'o loyalty#

Figure .1

&he studies from past and recent researches has concluded the fact that small reductions in

customer defections can result in producing momentous increase the profits of the

organi$ation for the reason

• &he 3oyal customers of any brand tend to buy more products#

• &he 3oyal customers of the brand are not pricing sensiti"e and thy pay little attention

to the brand of any ad"ertisement by a competitors#

• It is easier to pro"ide ser"ices to the existing customers who are familiar with the

products of the company rather than the new customers, as the staffs at the company

gets familiar with the preferences of the existing customers#

• &he most importantly the loyal customers of any company are the biggest source of

spreading positi"e word of mouth about the brands of the company and this helps in

bringing in new and referred customers .eichheld and -asser, 155?B#

2



"!"Brand image and customer commitment$

&here is an unending discussion going on the concept of customer commitment theory and its

scope as the concept of commitment has been explained by many of the authors and ma0ority

of the authors has referred the concept of commitment same as any employee of an

organi$ation is possessing emotional affection and in"ol"ement with that organi$ation he is

working in similarly the authors refer to continuous attachment of employee with the

company and the employee knows or ha"e the awareness of the cost of %uitting the

organi$ation, moreo"er the authors further classified commitment as normati"e commitment

which consists of feeling of obligation in order to continue the employment 8eyer and

Allen, 1551B# &he "iews of these authors are further taken in a holistic definition of

commitment to the extent the employees of the company are associated with their

organi$ation psychologically, further the employees are sustained to continue to remain the

employee of the same organi$ation, mo"ing on the employee express their emotional

feelings, the connection they ha"e with the organi$ation, the in"ol"ements and considerations

of alternati"es, sacrifices, and costs due to internal organisational and external cultural

influences /gba, 2??=, p# 7B# &his approach gi"es the thought that commitment exist as an

outcome of antecedent "ariables which could be presented to some foci which as a result

shows that commitment does exist 8athieu and a0ac, 155?G 8eyer and Allen, 1551B#

9owe"er considering commitment in the context of customers then it is e"idenced that

customers desire to maintain a valued relationship with organisations #directly and

indirectly through commitment which affects e$change outcomesF with the brand or other

offerings in the market 8oorman et al#, 1552, p# *1;B#

&he concept of customer commitment is a new concept in relation to the commitment

expression and it is said that it is retrie"ed as an upshot of the expected outcomes form any

brand and product that is offered in the market and this outcome includes such expectation of

26







customers such as psychological ego, identification of the brand and preferred choices among

the other alternati"es 8organ and 9unt, 155B#

@urther many authors ha"e examined the related theory of commitment which ha"e been

presented by 8oorman, altman and >eshpandO 1552B as an enduring desire to maintain a

valued relationshipF the authors say that this definition of commitment consists the attitudinal

dimension which is based on the emotional sense of affection attached with the brand or with

the relationship with the organi$ation 8organ and 9unt, 155B#

8oorman et al# , 1552B says that customer commitment is+

An enduring attitude or desire for a particular brand or firm. %t is the degree to which

customers as members of an organi!ation are emotionally connected to an organi!ation, its

brand or product, sustained by continues desire to maintain membershipF#

&o put it in the nutshell it could be said that customer commitment could be referred as a

sustained experience, psychological belonging and intention to look for identification with a

specific brand# /n the other hand, customer commitment is regarded as a deeper concept than

loyalty and repeat purchase# According to Aaker 1551B the brand with high e%uity tends to

ha"e more committed consumers that lead to more interaction between the customers and

organi$ations and increases the communication between the customer and brand# As a result

of this the brand becomes important for the customer, as the brand tends to shape the

personality of the customer, changes their beliefs, changes their beliefs and grooms the

customer about carrying a brand# &ustomer commitment is, therefore, customers" enduring

desire to maintain a valued relationship with the brand or organisation that directly and

indirectly through commitment affects e$change outcomes 8oorman et al#, 1552B#

2;






8oreo"er, another significance of commitment is that it helps determine the potentially

rewarded genuine customer loyalty 3acey 2??=B# As a result of this customer commitment

is a source of commitment with not only the organi$ation but it includes its foci of brands,

brand image and other ser"ices offered by the organi$ation#

8oreo"er from different researches it is seen that customer commitment as like all the other

types of commitment associated with the nature of human beings is an outcome of

expectations which they ha"e from specific brands and products being offered in market,

similarly, commitment of humans with any brands is also the result of repurchase of

particular product and the emotional attachment of customer with that brand# Aaker 1551B is

of the "iew that a brand with high brand e%uity has the tendency to commit large number of

loyal and committed customers that tends to ha"e a long lasting relation of the customer with

the brand and the company#

"!%Brand image and customer satisfaction$

-atisfaction is defined by /li"er 155=B as Nthe consumer's fulfillment response. %t is a

udgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is

providing) a pleasurable level of consumption*related fulfillment, including levels of under*

or over*fulfillment N p# 1*B#

'ow a days, the market oriented companies tend to focus on fulfilling the customer

preferences in order to satisfy their needs and demand, hence marketing has been termed as

customer satisfaction engineering by Kotler and 3e"y 155;B#

&he authors -$ymanski and 9enard 2??1B while conducting their research come up with the

findings that the early studies primarily focused on the effects of expectations, the

disconfirmation of expectations, performance, affect and e%uity on satisfaction when studying

customer satisfaction# 9owe"er the significance of expectations has been highlighted in the

2=



pre"ious studies and at the same time has been acknowledged by any authors such as

hurchill J -urprenant, 1572G /li"er, 157?G &se J Cilton, 1577# According to /lson and

>o"er 15=5B the expectations a customer ha"e from any products determines the pre trial

beliefs of the customer about that product, that ser"es the purpose for comparing the

standards and reference points with the help of which the performance of the product could

be 0udged /li"er, 157?G 4earden J &eel, 157*B# /n the other hand the term the e$pectancy

disconfirmation paradigm suggests that consumers are satisfie d when the product perform

better than e$pected (positive disconfirmation), dissatisfied when consumers' e$pectations

e$ceeded actual product performance (negative disconfirmation), and neutral satisfaction

when the product performance matches e$pectations (!ero disconfirmation+confirmation)F

/li"er 157?BG hurchill J -urprenant 1572BG /li"er J -arbo 1577BG 4earden J &eel,

157*B# 9owe"er, many other authors ha"e also determined different comparison standards to

measure satisfaction apart from expectations and these are

• Experienced based norms

• E%uity theory

• Ideal performance#

All these standards inclusi"e of expectations ha"e been widely used to determine customer

satisfaction for a product in different research studies Coodruff et al#, 157*B, adotte et al#,

157=B, /li"er J -wan 1575BG &se J Cilton 1577B, -preng and /lsha"sky 155*B#

@urthermore, apart from the aforementioned predictors of satisfaction some of the potential

factors of satisfaction has been in"estigated by hiou et al#, 2??2BG -i"adas J 4akerrewitt,

2???B, and 4ei J hiao 2??1B, Koo 2??*BG 4loemer J .uyter 1557B and ullman J

Hross 2??B and these predictors are

• roductM ser"ice %uality

• ercei"ed "alue

• -er"ice hospitality

• Experience design• ustomer relationship benefits

27



• 4rand image retailMstoreB

9owe"er, for the current study the customer satisfaction will measured in terms of its

reflection towards the le"el of affection attached to the brand image of Apple ompany, thus

it is in line with the studies of Lacoby 15=7B and /li"er 155=B, according to /li"er 1555B,

customers at an affecti"e stage tend to de"elop a positi"e response towards liking of a brand

as a conse%uence of satisfaction attained from the repeated use of that brand again and again#

'umerous studies conducted by different authors such as Ismail, et al,# 2??;BG -il"a and

Alwi 2??;BG Anderson and -ulli"an 155*BG hiou et al#, 2??2BG 4loemer and .uyter 1557B

and )ang and eterson, 2??B ha"e in"estigated that satisfaction tends to ha"e a positi"e

influence on loyalty, further they are of the "iew that when a customer gets satisfaction from

a certain product is becomes certainly more ob"ious that the satisfied customer may become a

loyal customer of the brand where as if a customer is not satisfied from a product at the first

side it is unlikely that heMshe will become the loyal customer, similarly the satisfied and loyal

brand suggests his friends and family members to purchase that brand in this way one

satisfied and loyal customer brings in many other satisfied and loyal customer for the

company# A study is conducted by Kandampully and -uhartanto 2???B on the retailMstore

image on customers re"ealed that the predictor of satisfaction ha"e positi"e impact on the

loyalty of customers ha"e examined that customer satisfaction tend to ha"e a positi"e impact

on loyalty , in addition to the intention of recommending others to purchase the products#

they further state that when a customer is satisfied with a product or brand they are more

likely to purchase that product or brand again, recommend others to purchase that brand and

the chances of switching the brand becomes "ery less 4ennett J .undle&hiele, 2??B#

9owe"er there are also studies found which oppose the abo"e findings such as the studies of

ronin and &aylor 1552B and /li"a 1552B, these studies depicted the fact that customer

25



satisfaction is not enough to explain loyalty or in other words customer satisfaction alone

cannot generate positi"e results o loyalty# &he current study also focuses to find out the

impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty#

"!)Conclusion$

@rom the abo"e mentioned discussions it could be concluded that brand image plays a "ital

role in the perception of customers towards the brand loyalty, commitment and repurchase of

a brand# 8any studies ha"e pro"ided e"idence that brand image has a positi"e impact on the

brand loyalty of the customer and such studies are by 4ian and 8outinho, 2?11B, Aaker and

KellerG ark et al#, 1551B, >olich, 15;5B, 3ow and 3amb 2???B# 8any factors ha"e been

discussed that contribute to creating a brand image of any company such as the %uality of

product, the %uality of ser"ices pro"ided, awareness about the brand etc# the brand image of

any product or company helps the company to attract customers and satisfying the existing

clients by pro"iding %uality product is considered to be easier than attracting new ones#

8oreo"er, brand image helps the customers to seek the re%uired product in presence of so

many other brands# -imilarly the brands with good image tend to attract more customers and

builds brand loyalty, de"elops commitment of loyal customers to repurchase the brand#

*?



Customer commitment

Customer loyalty

Customer satisfaction

EconomicUtilitarianSymbolicSensory

Brand image

!.&Theoretical frame work

*1



C+A,TE& %

'. #esearch (ethodology

According to -aunder et al#, 2??*B, a research methodology is a basically a philosophical

approach that could be employed to manoeu"re a compatible strategy in order to gi"e support

to the study under research# &he current study has undertaken the impact of brand image of

apple brand on the customer loyalty, commitment and repurchases beha"iour in order to

examine the conceptual model de"eloped in the course of studies discussed in the of

literature re"iew# 8oreo"er for the current study deducti"e approach will be employed as this

approach is sufficient to adhere to the re%uirements of the study -ekaran, 2??B# &he

deducti"e approach compliments the self administered %uestionnaire to in"estigate the

relationship amongst the four ma0or "ariables which are brand image, brand loyalty,

commitment and repurchase beha"ior of customer#

%!&esearch Strateg# and ,rocedure$

&he data for the current study was collected by the way of an online sur"ey methodology in

order to test the theoretical model# @or this purpose the %uestionnaire which was de"eloped

was uploaded on an authori$ed U.3 which is allotted by renowned research company the

Psur"ey monkeyD# &he link of the sur"ey was sent to the respondents selected for the sur"ey

from the uni"ersity email and face book in order to get the response from the consumers

about the impact of apple brand image on the customer loyalty, commitment and customer

satisfaction# 9owe"er the respondents were told the purpose of the study and they were

assured that the information shared would be kept confidential and unidentified#

*2



%!"+#pothesis of the stud#$

@rom the abo"e discussions following hypothesis are de"eloped to test the impact of brand

image on customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and customer commitment#

o- /ensory attributes related to brand image does not tend to have positive impact on

consumer loyalty.

- /ensory attributes related to brand image tends to have positive impact on consumers

loyalty.

o2 /ymbolic attributes related to brand image does not tend to have positive impact on

consumer loyalty.

2 /ymbolic attributes related to brand image brand image tends to have positive impact on

consumers

o0 Utilitarian attributes related to brand image brand image does not tend to have positive

impact on consumers

0 Utilitarian attributes related to brand image brand image tends to have positive impact

on consumers.

o1 conomic attributes related to brand image to brand image does not tend to have

positive impact on consumers.

1 conomic attributes related to brand image brand image tends to have positive impact

on consumers.

o5 3rand image does not have positive impact on customer satisfaction.

5 3rand image have positive impact on customer satisfaction.

**





loyalty and customer commitment according to their experience with the Apple brand# &he

"ariable brand image was di"ided into further constructs with the help of which it was

measuredG these constructs are sensory, utilitarian, symbolic and economic# &he scales for the

constructs were taken from the article of 9sieh 2??2B, the %uestion related to symbolic were

deri"ed from the study of Hoodyear 155*B, Loreskog and -orbom 155*B and Loreskog and

-orbom 155;B# 9owe"er the %uestions related to utilitarian construct were retrie"ed from the

study of 3ienert 1557B, Kirmani and eithaml 1551B# @or the construct of sensory and

economic the scale was adopted from the studies of Keller 155*B, 4ago$$i and hilips

1572B, >ean 1555B and Hreenacre 157B# &he next "ariable of the study comprise of

customer satisfaction and for this "ariable the %uestions were deri"ed from the studies of

ronin and &aylor 1552B and /li"a 1552B, Kandampully and -uhartanto 2???B, 4ennett J

.undle&hiele 2??B, 4loemer and .uyter 1557B and )ang and eterson, 2??B# 9owe"er,

the attributes for customer commitment are deri"ed from the studies of Aaker 1551B, 3acey

2??=B, 8oorman et al#, 1552B, 8organ and 9unt 155B, 8athieu and a0ac, 155?G 8eyer

and Allen, 1551B# @or the "ariable customer loyalty, its attributes were deri"ed from

.eichheld and -asser 155?B, >ick and 4asu 155B, >ay 155;B, Eisman 155?B, 4aldinger

and .ubinson 155;B, 4ennett and .undle&hiele 2???B, 8ncles et al., (2001) and

-ondoh Lr# et al#, 2??=B# @urther all the "ariables of the current study were measured on a

scale of 6 likert point which ha"e scales represented as 1 e%ual to strongly disagree, 2

disagree, * neutral, agree and 6 strongly agree#

%!)&esearch methods$

&he most widely methods adopted to in"estigate a research comprise of %uantitati"e research

and %ualitati"e research# 4oth of these methods possesD uni%ue characteristics but at the same

time contain certain pros and cones which differentiate the two methods in respect of scope

and degree of appropriateness# 9owe"er on the basis of nature and degree of appropriateness

*6



for the current study %uantitati"e method of research is adopted in order to yield more precise

and accurate results# &he %uantitati"e method is adopted as the study en%uires to ha"e a

detailed statistical analysis on the basis of which we could test the hypothesis further closed

ended %uestionnaire is employed to gather data and for such kind of data to be interpreted

%uantitati"e research method is most appropriate and in this study hypothesis are generated

which will be tested with the data obtained by the way of %uestionnaire therefore %uantitati"e

research method is most suitable as it does not in"ol"e any theory making as in %ualitati"e

research#

%!)! 2uantitati(e &esearch$

According to shah and orley 2??;B %uantitati"e research could be defined as+

8uantitative study uses statistical analysis to order its sample results to yield predictions of

the future behaviour of a similar sample group. 8uantitative research is underta9en by means

of forming a hypothesis, gathering data, which is then ordered and analysed. :inally the

conclusion will discern whether the initial hypothesis is supported by the evidence (data);

-hah and orley, 2??;B#

In order to carry out %uantitati"e research a self administered %uestionnaire sur"ey will be

conducted in order to gather data to test the proposed hypothesis#

%!34ata Collection procedure$

@or the current study in order to collect data both primary and secondary sources were

utili$ed to get better understanding of the research under study and to gain comprehensi"e

results#

*;



%!3! ,rimar# &esearch$

According to 8c>aniel and gates 2??*B rimary research as that data which is in raw form

means which has to be collected according to the research conducted and the data could be

collected by the way of sur"eys, inter"iews, %uestionnaires, obser"ations and focus groupsF

8c>aniel and gates 2??*B#

In order to test the hypothesis the primary data for the current study was collected by the way

of self administered %uestionnaires and in order to make the study more understandable and

elaborati"e primary data pro"ided the rational in collecting the secondary data for the study#

%!3!" Secondar# &esearch$

-econdary data comprise of that data which is present in the published form, moreo"er

according to Callace 2??5B secondary data is an organi$ed piece of search to answer the

%ueries, pro"ide empirical as well logical e"idence for the applied theories and pro"ide better

understanding of the research topicF# @or the current study literature re"iew originated from

the extensi"e secondary sources such as articles 0ournals, newspaper and the information was

mainly collected from the secondary resources pro"ided by leading academic databases such

as E4-/, 8I'&E3, and E8A.3>, L-&/. etc#

%!54esigning of 2uestionnaire$

As the current study is conducted by the way of carrying out %uestionnaire therefore the

%uestionnaire tend to co"er e"ery aspect of the study and different %uestions were made on

each "ariable such as brand image customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and customer

commitment# 8oreo"er different %uestions were de"eloped on the constructs of brand image

in order to pro"ide comprehensi"e and accurate results# @or further preciseness and

accurateness of results closed ended %uestions were de"eloped as the participants find a close

ended %uestionnaire easy to fill rather than to answer an open ended %uestion# -imilarly

*=



results of close ended %uestionnaire tend to be more precise and accurate as they are

measured against a particular scale rather than open answers 8c>aniel and Hates, 155=B#

%!6Sample$

&he sample for the current study is comprised of the users of Apple brand# And non random

or non probability sampling method is adopted# According to &rochim 2??7B, 'on random

is an incidental kind of sampling which is aimed at making explicit choices on self 0udgment

basis about what should be added to the sample exactlyF# /ther reason of adopting non

random sampling was the time constraint and insufficient resources as non random sampling

is con"enient to employ -aunders et# al 2??=B#

%!7Characteristics of &espondents$

&he participants who were included in the sur"ey were mostly from the age group of 1; to

26, 2; to *6, *; to 6, and ; to 66 and abo"e# &he participants comprised of students of high

school, few were from bachelorDs le"el, few uni"ersity graduates and few were from post

graduate le"el# 8oreo"er the sample comprised of both female and male respondents# &he

purpose of selecting such sample was to get different "iews of people from all age groups,

different le"els of students reswell, 2??*B#

%!8Si*e$

&he sample si$e for the current study was set at 16?# And this included 16? %uestionnaires

which were filled by both male and female respondents online# &his sample si$e was selected

for the reason of round figures more for the reason as a large sample si$e is good for

computing more generali$ed results# 9owe"er few of the %uestionnaires filled were

ambiguous and few were incomplete and due to time constraint the sample si$e was resi$e to

1??# @urther the sample si$e of 1?? could be handled con"eniently and was interpreted easily

as well @ly"0berg, 2??;B,

*7



%!9 4ata ,reparation$

Chile collecting data online the %uestionnaires which were filled were properly assessed

in order to see whether all the %uestions in the %uestionnaire are filled or not or whether

there are any ambiguous %uestionnaire which were not included# 4y doing this, a lot of

time could be sa"ed as it helped the researcher to properly screen the %uestionnaires and

achie"e the sample si$e as against the ambiguous and incomplete %uestionnaires more

%uestionnaires were got filled -ekaran, 2??B#

%! 4ata Coding and Feeding$

After compiling the sur"ey all the answers from the %uestionnaire were fed into computer

software --- -tatistical ackage for -ocial -ciencesB, the most widely used software for

conducting %uantitati"e research# &he options were implied from 1 to 6 on the likert scale# 1

presented strongly disagree, 2 disagree, * neutral 2 agree and 6 strongly agree# @urther

regression and correlation analysis were run on the data#

%!" Ethical Considerations$

4efore conducting the sur"ey, it was informed to the respondents that the purpose of this

search is entirely academic, and the data collected from them will be misused# @urther the

respondents were appreciated for the "oluntary participation, and it was made sure to the

respondents that their identity will not be disclosed moreo"er the names will be kept

anonymous# &he respondents who were interesting in getting the copy of the study, their

email address were collected so that on completion of the study a copy of it could be sent to

them% -hah and orley, 2??;B#

*5



%!% &eliabilit# and -alidit#$

&he research scale for the current study was decided to adopt the inter"al rating fi"e point

likert scale so that the respondents can respond on an e%ual scale for each %uestion and the

purpose of employing this scale was to indicate the extent of the degree of agreement with

each statement by the respondent# &he fi"e points of likert scale are as 1 is e%ual to strongly

disagree, disagree, * for neutral, for agree and 6 for strongly agree# &his will show how

much degree of agreement and disagreement respondentDs show regarding to a %uestion

according to their experience# 8oreo"er this scale will gi"e the respondents more choice to

express their opinion more easily and this will pro"ide the room for a better assessment of

each scale "alidity and ratability#

?



C+A,TE& )

). *indings and analysis:

&his chapter is designed to present the findings and analysis of the data collected by the way

of %uestionnaire# &he first section of this chapter will present the socio demographic analysis

of the sample characteristics which are done on gender, age, education, how much users care

about using apple brands, the duration for which the users ha"e been using apple brand and

the factors which influenced them to buy Apple brand# @or the second phase of this chapter

the --- compute option was employed to get the means of all the dimensional scale of

brand image such as sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic# In the next phase linear

regression model and correlation was run on the --- in order to present statistical model,

A'/:A, tstatistics and regression coefficients on the "ariables of the research study

moreo"er to test the hypothesis de"eloped from literature#

)!Socio/demographic Anal#sis$

&he table 1 represents the gender table which shows that the female respondents were in

ma0ority as compare to male respondents# A total of ;1 respondents were female and *5 were

male respondents#

Table no!

Statistics

What is your gender?

N Valid 100

Missing 0

What is your gender?

1



Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative

PercentValid Male 39 390 390 390

Female !1 !10 !10 1000

"otal 100 1000 1000

Figure 1.1

&he table 2 re"eals the results for age, the respondents belonged to different age groups

howe"er 27 respondents belonged to the age group of 1; to 2, 2= belonged to age group of

26 to *, 2* respondents belonged to *6 to age group, 5 respondents were from 6 to 6

age group and 1* respondents belonged to the age group of abo"e 66 years of age#

2



Table no! "

What is your age?

N Valid 100

Missing 0

What is your age?


Cumulative

Percent

Valid 1!#$% &ears $' $'0 $'0 $'0

$(#3% &ears $) $)0 $)0 ((0

3(#%% &ears $3 $30 $30 )'0

%(#(% &ears 9 90 90 ')0

(( years or a*ove 13 130 130 1000

"otal 100 1000 1000

Figure 1.2

*



&he table * shows the results for education of the respondents, according to the results

ma0ority of the respondents *6QB are high school students, * respondents are college

graduate, 1; respondents are uni"ersity graduate and 16 respondents are post graduate

students# 9owe"er ma0ority of the respondents attained high school and graduate le"el which

is a strong indicator that ma0ority of the users of Apple brand are educated people#

Table no! %

Statistics

What is your +ducation?

N Valid 100

Missing 0

What is your Education?


Cumulative

Percent

Valid ,igh school 3( 3(0 3(0 3(0

College -raduate 3% 3%0 3%0 !90

.niversity -raduate 1! 1!0 1!0 '(0

Post -raduate or more 1( 1(0 1(0 1000

"otal 100 1000 1000

Figure 1.3



&he following table represents the responses of users regarding how much they care about

using the Apple brand# &he result re"eals that the ma0ority of the users about 6= percent

strongly care about using apple brand, 27 percent respondents slightly care about using the

particular brand, 1? percent of the respondent does not care much about using apple bands

and 6 percent of respondents ne"er care about using apple brand or any other# 9owe"er

ma0ority of the respondent i#e# 6= percent strongly care about using apple brand which is a

strong indicator for the current study#

Table no! )

Statistics

,o/ much do you care a*out using ale *rands?

N Valid 100

Missing 0

How much do you care about using apple brands?

6




Cumulative

Percent

Valid lightly $' $'0 $'0 $'0

trongly () ()0 ()0 '(0

Not much 10 100 100 9(0

never ( (0 (0 1000

"otal 100 1000 1000

Figure 1.4

&he table 6 is about the duration the users ha"e been using apple brand# &he results disclosed

that about 1* respondents ha"e used apple brand for less than 1 month, 16 users ha"e used

apple brand for 1 to ; months period, 1 respondents ha"e used apple brand for a period of ;

to 1 year, 2 users ha"e used it for 1 to * years and * users ha"e used Apple brand for o"er *

years which is a strong indicator for the study#

Table no! 3

Statistics

;



,o/ long have you used the *rands o2 le Comany?

N Valid 100

Missing 0

How long have you used the brands of Apple Company?


Cumulative

Percent

Valid 4ess than 1 month 13 130 130 130

1 to ! months 1( 1(0 1(0 $'0

! months to a year 1% 1%0 1%0 %$0

1 to 3 years $% $%0 $%0 !!0

5ver 3 years 3% 3%0 3%0 1000

"otal 100 1000 1000

Figure 1.5

&he table ; re"eals the results for the %uestion about the factors which influence the users to

buy apple brand products# &he results disclosed that 25 out of 1?? respondents selected the

price factor for buying the apple brand products, respondents selected brand image as the

=



reason for buying apple brand products and 2= respondents selected %uality of product factor

as their reason of buying apple products# &he demographic result shows ma0ority of the

respondents are inclined towards buying and using apple brand because of its brand image,

%uality of products and buying and using of apple brand is more e"ident in youngsters

ranging from age of 1; to 16 and ma0ority of the users are using apple brand for more than *

years#

Table no! 5

6an7 the 2ollo/ing 2actors /hich in2luenced you to *uy the *rand?

N Valid 100

Missing 0

Rank the following factors which influenced you to buy the brand?


Cumulative

Percent

Valid Price $9 $90 $90 $90

8rand image %% %%0 %%0 )30

uality o2 roduct $) $)0 $)0 1000

"otal 100 1000 1000

Figure 1.

7



)!"Correlations$

According to 4erenson et al#, 2??5B coefficient of correlations PrD is employed to measure the

relati"e strength between the two numeric "ariables# @or the current study the four constructs

of brand image that are sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic ha"e been linked

hypothetically with the brand image# .egarding the hypothetical relation among the brand

image and its four constructs the table = shows that there exists a positi"e correlation among

the brand image and its constructs that are sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economical#

Amongst the four "ariables the most significant "ariable ha"ing strong correlation with 4rand

image is the economical construct that is ?#=16# &he result of the correlation shows positi"e

relation between the sensory construct and brand image, as this "ariable is positi"ely linked

with brand image to ha"e a positi"e impact on customers of apple brand# 9owe"er other

constructs also tend to ha"e positi"e correlation with 4rand image for instance symbolic is

correlated with brand image at ?#;25, utilitarian is correlated at ?#;77 and sensory at ?#61;#

5



/n the contrary the other three "ariables such as customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and

customer commitment also tend ha"e positi"e correlation with brand image# &he table =

shows the correlations of all "ariables with brand image# Among these three "ariables

customer satisfaction shows a strong relation with brand image which is ?#;?* where as

customer loyalty tends to ha"e weak positi"e association with brand image and is statistically

positi"e at #??# Chereas customer commitment tends to ha"e positi"e association of #*2

with brand image# @rom the analysis it could be seen that the "ariable economical tends to

ha"e the strongest correlation with the brand image, i#e# #=16 more close to 1, utilitarian ha"e

more strong relation than sensory and symbolic at #;77# &he findings gained through

correlation statistical analysis pro"ide empirical e"idence to the significance of the

hypothetical conceptual model# 9owe"er the correlation results re"eal that all the "ariables

tend to ha"e a positi"e association with the brand image# &he analysis of linear correlation of

the study supports the hypothesis of the study strongly#

Table no! 6 orrelations+

ensorymean

ym*olicmean

+conomic mean

.tilitarianmean

Customer:satis2action: mean

Customer:commitment :mean

Customer :loyalty: mean

ensory mean PearsonCorrelation

1 #0$3 $$0<=> $)!<==> $%%<=> 31$<==> 3'1<==>

ig <$#tailed> '1) 0$' 00( 01( 00$ 000 N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

ym*olic mean PearsonCorrelation

#0$3 1 $1%<=> 13' $$'<=> $$0<=> 300<==>

ig <$#tailed> '1) 03$ 1)0 0$3 0$' 00$

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

+conomic mean PearsonCorrelation

$$0<=> $1%<=> 1 %)9<==> (%%<==> $3%<=> 1!1

ig <$#tailed> 0$' 03$ 000 000 019 109

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

.tilitarian mean PearsonCorrelation

$)!<==> 13' %)9<==> 1 (')<==> 3!0<==> 1(!

ig <$#tailed> 00( 1)0 000

000 000 1$1

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

6?



Customer:satis2action:mean

PearsonCorrelation

$%%<=> $$'<=> (%%<==> (')<==> 1 3%(<==> 0)%

ig <$#tailed> 01( 0$3 000 000 000 %!3

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

Customer:commitment:mean

PearsonCorrelation

31$<==> $$0<=> $3%<=> 3!0<==> 3%(<==> 1 3!3<==>

ig <$#tailed> 00$ 0$' 019 000 000 000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

Customer:loyalty:mean PearsonCorrelation

3'1<==> 300<==> 1!1 1(! 0)% 3!3<==> 1

ig <$#tailed> 000 00$ 109 1$1 %!3 000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

8rand:;mage:mean PearsonCorrelation

(1!<==> !$9<==> )1(<==> !''<==> !03<==> %3$<==> %00<==> 1

ig <$#tailed> 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1

)!%&egression .odels$ +#pothesis Testing$

.egression model is used to predict the beha"ior of dependent "ariable# &he e%uation of

regression model is as follows+

)R a S bx S c

Chere

) R dependent "ariable which the e%uation tend to predict or explain

xR independent "ariable which is being used to explain the dependent "ariable

a R y intercept of the line

cR regression residual "alue

a and b are selected in order reduce the s%uare of regression residual#

&he empirical data collected by the way of %uestionnaires is examined by employing

A'/:A, ttest and linear regression model in order to show the results of the study and in

order to show the relationship that exist between different "ariables#

61



)!%! +#pothesis Testing$ +/+)$

&he first four hypothesis related to the brand image that are sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and

economic has positi"e impact on the customer loyalty and are supported by the A'/:A test#

&he table 7#2 shows the significance "alue is p e%ual to ?#??? which is T ?#???1 and the @

statistics "alue is 1=#?*= which fall in the acceptance "icinity of the critical region# &he "alue

of . s%uare pro"ided in the table 7#1 of model summary is #17 at 57 degree of freedom

which shows certain descripti"e power# @urther it depicts 1#7 percent of the "ariation of

"ariable i#e# customer loyalty can be significantly caused by independent "ariable i#e# sensory#

If the "alue of p is less than #?6 at 56 percent inter"al le"el it means there exist a significant

relation between the two "ariables taken# In the same way the "alue for tstatistic at 56

percent and 55 percent at 57 degree of freedom should be bigger than 1#5; and 2#67 "alue of

coefficient beta accepts the hypothesis# In case of hypothesis 1 the regression result re"eals

that the standardi$ed coefficient of beta B is #*76 and tVstatistics is #127 and p "alue is

?#??? which infers that that the constructs of brand image sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and

economicB does ha"e a positi"e impact on customer loyalty# @urther it re"eals *7 percent of

"ariation in customer loyalty is caused by the sensory attributes of brand image#

Table no!7ariables Entered!Removed"b#

Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 ensory:m

ean<a> +nter

a ll requested varia*les entered

* eendent Varia*le@ Customer:loyalty:mean

62



!.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 3'(<a> 1%' 139 %(%00a Predictors@ <Constant>B ensory:mean

!.2 #$%&#'b(

Model

um o2

quares d2 Mean quare F ig

1 6egression 3(1$ 1 3(1$ 1)03) 000<a>

6esidual $0199 9' $0! "otal $3)11 99

a Predictors@ <Constant>B ensory:mean


!.3 Coe)cients'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> $$'$ $(! '93$ 000

ensory:mean $!! 0!% 3'( %1$' 000

a eendent Varia*le@ Customer:loyalty:mean

In case of hypothesis 2 the regression result shows that the standardised coefficient of beta

B is #*1* and tVstatistics is *#26= and p "alue is ?#??2 which infers that that the attribute

symbolic of brand image ha"e a positi"e impact on customer loyalty#

Table no! 8ariables Entered!Removed"b#

Model Varia*les Varia*les Method

6*



+ntered 6emoved

1 ym*olic:m

ean<a> +nter



*.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 313<a> 09' 0'' %!)$%

a Predictors@ <Constant>B ym*olic:mean

*.2 #$%&#'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression $31! 1 $31! 10!0! 00$<a>

6esidual $139( 9' $1'

"otal $3)11 99 a Predictors@ <Constant>B ym*olic:mean


*.3 Coe)cients'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> $''0 1%3 $01$9 000

ym*olic:mean 1(0 0%! 313 3$() 00$


9owe"er taking hypothesis * the regression result shows that the standardised coefficient of

beta B is #1; and tVstatistics is 1#;* and p "alue is #1? which infers that that the attribute

6



utilitarian of brand image does not ha"e a positi"e impact on customer loyalty and does not

accepts the alternate hypothesis#


Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 .tilitarian:

mean<a> +nter



1+.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 1!%<a> 0$) 01) %'($%

a Predictors@ <Constant>B .tilitarian:mean

1+.2 #$%&#'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression !3! 1 !3! $)01 10%<a>

6esidual $30)( 9' $3(

"otal $3)11 99

a Predictors@ <Constant>B .tilitarian:mean


1+. 3 Coe)cients'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta1 <Constant> $'!! $'1 10$0! 000

66



.tilitarian:mean 11( 0)0 1!% 1!%3 10%


9owe"er considering hypothesis the regression result shows that the standardised

coefficient of beta B is #166 and tVstatistics is 1#67 and p "alue is #126 which infers that

that the attribute economic of brand image also does not ha"e a positi"e impact on customer

loyalty and does not accepts the alternate hypothesis#

Table no! ariables Entered!Removed"b#

Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 +conomic:

mean<a> +nter



11.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 1((<a> 0$% 01% %'(9)

a Predictors@ <Constant>B +conomic:mean

11.2 #$%&#'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression (!! 1 (!! $39) 1$(<a>

6esidual $31%( 9' $3!

"otal $3)11 99

a Predictors@ <Constant>B +conomic:mean


6;



11.3 Coe)cients'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> $93% $(% 11(!1 000

+conomic:mean 10% 0!) 1(( 1(%' 1$(


)!%!" +#pothesis Testing$ +3$

&he next hypothesis of the study is regarding the impact of brand image on customer loyalty

and the hypothesis is supported by the A'/:A test model# &he table 12#2 shows the

significance "alue p is e%ual to ?#??? which is T ?#???1G moreo"er the @statistics "alue is

e%ual to 17#;52 which fall in the acceptance category of the critical region# @urthermore the

summary table re"eals that the . s%uare "alue is e%ual to #1;? at 57 degrees of freedom

which shows the model posses explanatory power# &he . s%uare further indicates that 1;

percent of the "ariation of the dependent "ariable which is customer loyalty can be

considerably be explained by the brand image which is the independent "ariable# @urther the

table for regression coefficients pro"ides the "alues for standardi$ed coefficient beta B e%ual

to #??G the "alue of t is e%ual to #*2* and p "alue e%ual to ?#??? which shows that the

hypothesis, 4rand image ha"e certain positi"e impact on customer loyalty# @urther he results

also tend to conclude that ? percent of the "ariation in customer loyalty is caused by the

brand image# 9ence this accepts the alternate hypothesis that the higher the impact of brand

image of Apple ompany is on customers the higher will be the customer loyalty#

Table no!"ariables Entered!Removed "b#

6=



Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 8rand:;mag

e:mean<a> +nter



12.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 %00<a> 1!0 1($ %(0!3

a Predictors@ <Constant>B 8rand:;mage:mean

12.2 #$%&# 'b(

Model

um o2

quares d2 Mean quare F ig1 6egression 3)9! 1 3)9! 1'!9$ 000<a>

6esidual 19901 9' $03

"otal $3!9) 99



12.3 Coe)cients 'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> 190$ 330 ()!% 000

8rand:;mage:mean 390 090 %00 %3$3 000


67



)!%!% +#pothesis Testing$ +5$

&he hypothesis ; of the study is regarding the impact of brand image on customer satisfaction

and this hypothesis is also supported by the A'/:A test model# &he table 1*#2 shows the


e%ual to 66#75? which fall in the acceptance "icinity of the critical region# Additionally the

summary table re"eals that the . s%uare "alue is e%ual to #*;* at 57 degrees of freedom

which shows the model posses explanatory power# &his further indicates that *;#* percent of

the "ariation of the dependent "ariable which is customer satisfaction can be considerably be

explained by the brand image which is the independent "ariable# @urther the table for

regression coefficients pro"ides the "alues for standardi$ed coefficient beta B e%ual to #;?*G

the "alue of t is e%ual to =#=; and p "alue e%ual to ?#??? which shows that the hypothesis,

4rand image ha"e positi"e impact on customer satisfaction# @urther he results also tend to

conclude that ;?#* percent of the "ariation in customer satisfaction is caused by the brand

image# 9ence this accepts the alternate hypothesis that the higher the impact of brand image

of Apple ompany is on customers the higher will be the customer satisfaction#

Table no! %ariables Entered!Removed "b#

Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 8rand:;mag

e:mean<a> +nter


* eendent Varia*le@ Customer:satis2action:mean

13.1 "odel Summary

65



Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 !03<a> 3!3 3() (00$1


13.2 #$%&# 'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression 139'( 1 139'( (('90 000<a>

6esidual $%($1 9' $(0

"otal 3'(0! 99


* eendent Varia*le@ Customer:satis2action:mean

13.3 Coe)cients 'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> 1199 3!! 3$)3 001

8rand:;mage:mean )%' 100 !03 )%)! 000

a eendent Varia*le@ Customer:satis2action:mean

;?



)!%!) +#pothesis Testing$ +6$

&he result of the hypothesis = which is regarding the impact of brand image on customer

commitment is also supported by the A'/:A test model# &he table 1#2 shows that the


e%ual to 22#=5 which fall in the acceptance "icinity of the critical region# Additionally the

summary table re"eals that the . s%uare "alue is e%ual to #17= at 57 degrees of freedom

which shows the model posses explanatory power# &his further indicates that 17#= percent of

the "ariation of the dependent "ariable customer commitment can be considerably be

explained by the brand image the independent "ariable# @urther the table for regression

coefficients pro"ides the "alues for standardi$ed coefficient beta B e%ual to #*2G the "alue

of t is e%ual to #=1 and p "alue e%ual to ?#??? which shows that the hypothesis, 4rand

image ha"e positi"e impact on customer commitment# @urther the results also tend to

conclude that *#2 percent of the "ariation in customer commitment is caused by the brand

image# 9ence this concludes that the higher the impact of brand image of Apple brands is on

customers the higher will be the customer commitment#

Table no!)ariables Entered!Removed "b#

Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 8rand:;mage

:mean<a> +nter


* eendent Varia*le@ Customer:commitment:mean

14.1 "odel Summary

;1



Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 %3$<a> 1') 1)' %!!(!


14.2 #$%&# 'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression %'93 1 %'93 $$%)9 000<a>

6esidual $133$ 9' $1'

"otal $!$$! 99



14.3 Coe)cients 'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> $3'3 3%$ !9)( 000

8rand:;mage:mean %%$ 093 %3$ %)%1 000

a eendent Varia*le@ Customer:commitment:mean

;2



)!%!3 +#pothesis Testing$ +7$

&he hypothesis 7 is de"eloped to measure the impact of customer satisfaction on the customer

loyalty# &he results of the hypothesis are not supported by the A'/:A test model# &he table

16#2 shows that the significance "alue p is e%ual to #;*G moreo"er the @statistics "alue is

e%ual to #6 which falls in the acceptance "icinity of the critical region# Additionally the

summary table re"eals that the . s%uare "alue is e%ual to #??; at 57 degrees of freedom

which shows ; percent of the "ariation of the dependent "ariable customer satisfaction can be

considerably be explained by the customer loyalty# @urther the table for regression

coefficients pro"ides the "alues for standardi$ed coefficient beta B e%ual to #?=G the "alue

of t is e%ual to #=*=and p "alue e%ual to #;* which shows that the hypothesis, customer

satisfaction does not ha"e positi"e impact on customer loyalty# 9ence this re0ects the alternate

hypothesis that customer satisfaction has positi"e impact on customer loyalty and accepts the

null hypothesis#


Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 Customer:s

atis2action:

mean<a>

+nter



15.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate1 0)%<a> 00! #00( %903'

;*



a Predictors@ <Constant>B Customer:satis2action:mean

15.2 #$%&#'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression 131 1 131 (%% %!3<a>

6esidual $3(!! 9' $%0

"otal $3!9) 99



15.3 Coe)cients'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> 30'' 313 9'!% 000

Customer:satis2action:me

an0(' 0)9 0)% )3) %!3


;



)!%!5 +#pothesis Testing$ +8$

In order to measure the impact of customer satisfaction on customer commitment, this

hypothesis was de"eloped and the results are supported by the A'/:A test model# &he table

1;#2 shows that the significance "alue p is e%ual to ?#??? which is T ?#???1G moreo"er the @

statistics "alue is e%ual to 1*#2=1 which fall in the acceptance "icinity of the critical region#

Additionally the summary table re"eals that the . s%uare "alue is e%ual to #115 at 57 degrees

of freedom which shows the model posses explanatory power# &his further indicates that 11#5

percent of the "ariation of the dependent "ariable customer satisfaction can be considerably

be explained by the customer commitment# @urther the table for regression coefficients

pro"ides the "alues for standardi$ed coefficient beta B e%ual to #*6G the "alue of t is e%ual

to *#;* and p "alue e%ual to ?#??? which shows that the hypothesis, customer satisfaction

ha"e some positi"e impact on customer commitment# @urther the results also tend to conclude

that * percent of the "ariation in customer commitment is caused by the customer

satisfaction# 9ence this concludes that the higher the impact of customer satisfaction of Apple

brands is on customers the higher will be the customer commitment and this accepts our

alternate hypothesis#


Model

Varia*les

+ntered

Varia*les

6emoved Method

1 Customer:s

atis2action:

mean<a>

+nter



;6



1.1 "odel Summary

Model 6 6 quare

dAusted 6

quare

td +rror o2

the +stimate

1 3%(<a> 119 110 %'(%'a Predictors@ <Constant>B Customer:satis2action:mean

1.2 #$%&#'b(

Model

um o2


1 6egression 31$' 1 31$' 13$)1 000<a>

6esidual $309' 9' $3! "otal $!$$! 99



1.3 Coe)cients'a(

Model

.nstandardied

Coe22icients

tandardied

Coe22icients

t ig8 td +rror 8eta

1 <Constant> $')3 310 9$)1 000

Customer:satis2action:me

an$'( 0)' 3%( 3!%3 000

a eendent Varia*le@ Customer:commitment:mean

;;



Chapter 3

&. +iscussions

In this chapter the findings will be discussed in the light of literature re"iew#

In the first four hypothesis of the study regression was run on the attributes of brand image

and customer loyalty# It was found that the first two constructs that are sensory and symbolic

tend to ha"e a positi"e impact on the customer loyalty while the other two constructs that are

utilitarian and economic does not ha"e a positi"e influence on customer loyalty which

accepts the null hypothesis# &he results of hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 2 are consistent with

the pre"ious findings of I"ersen and 9em 2??7B as they say brand image shows the personal

symbolism the customers attach with their preferred brand encompassing all the information

and knowledge related to that brand in the same way, 9sieh and 3i 2??7B says when

consumers ha"e a clear and constructi"e image of the brand, the brand image tends to ha"e a

stronger effect as compare to those of the competitors# 9owe"er the finding of hypothesis *

;=



and of the current study oppose most of the findings of pre"ious studies as researchers in

pre"ious study say a fa"orable image of an organi$ationDs brand tends to create a positi"e

impact on the customers beha"ior regarding enhancing the brand loyalty, towards

commanding the price premiums of the brand products and moreo"er towards the words of

mouth about the brand and organi$ation to 8artenson, 2??=B# 4ut from the current study

findings the attributes utilitarian and economic did not tend to generate positi"e results on

customer loyalty#

:he h!pothesis 5 of the current stud! tests the impact of brand image on

the customer lo!alt! as a whole. :he regression result reveal that when

mean of all the attributes of brand image were regressed with the mean of

brand lo!alt! the outcome was a positive impact of brand image on

customer lo!alt!. 's opposed to the individual in>uence attributes of

brand image collective attributes tend to give a positive relation between

brand image and customer lo!alt!. :he h!pothesis could be supported

from the previous studies as Faircloth et al., states that brand image is an

important factor a&ecting the behaviour of the consumers and a&ects the

bu!ing behaviours, lo!alt! and commitment of consumers towards the

brand. "t is found that the more positive the brand image of an!

organi*ation the more the customers are lo!al and committed and the

more the customers pa! to purchase the products of such organi*ations

(Faircloth etal., (200-).

9owe"er the hypothesis ; of the study re"eals positi"e relation between brand image and

customer satisfaction and also re0ects the null hypothesis# &his hypothesis re"eals the same

results as by the study of -ondoh Lr#et al 2??=B# &hey in their study present the "iew that the

satisfaction le"el of the consumers reflects the likeness and affection towards the product of a

;7



brand# In the same way /li"er 1555B said that consumers tend to de"elop a positi"e attitude

towards a brand at an affecti"e stage or they show their liking towards a brand as a result of

satisfaction after using the brand se"eral times# &hus the findings of hypothesis 6 of the

current study are coherent with the pre"ious studies#

&he hypothesis = of the study is de"eloped to check the impact the impact of brand image on

customer commitment# 8any studies conducted in past has supported the hypothesis for

instance the research studies by 8oorman et al#, 1552B, /gba, 2??=B, 3ok et al#, 2??6B,

Aaker 1551B, 8eyer and Allen, 1551B and 3acey 2??=B all supported the relation of brand

image and customer commitment and they all are of the "iew that brand image plays a "ital

role in retaining customers the more strong image the consumers will ha"e of any brand the

more committed would be the consumers# -imilarly Aaker 1551B says a brand with strong

image tends to ha"e a larger number of consumers that are committed to the company and

these consumers tend to create a long lasting relationship with the brand# -imilarly 8oorman

et al#, 1552B says customers want to ha"e a maintained relationship with the company

directly or indirectly through their commitment with the brand of the company and this

generates a positi"e effect on outcome f the company#

;5







In the next two hypothesis the impact of customer satisfaction was tested on customer loyalty

and customer commitment in order to know whether a satisfied customer could be committed

or loyal to the brand or not# &he hypothesis 7 test result shows that for the current study the

hypothesis has been re0ected which shows that there exists a negati"e relation between

customer satisfaction and customer loyalty# Chere as the hypothesis 5 has been accepted and

shows that there exists a positi"e relation between customer satisfaction and customer

commitment# 9owe"er the result of the hypothesis is in line with the studies conducted by

ronin and &aylor 1552B and /li"a 1552B, the results of these studies clearly showed that

customer satisfaction alone cannot be sufficient predictor to attain the loyalty of the

customers there might be different predictors due to which e"en a satisfied customer may not

become a loyal customer, similarly a dissatisfied customer will ne"er opt to purchase the

product of that brand again and "ice "ersa#

Chapter 5

5! Conclusion$

=?



&his chapter is designed to conclude the study# @urther managerial implications are gi"en for

the mangers of the same industry to follow the practical approach deri"ed from the study in

order to run their business more successfully# 8oreo"er the limitations of the study ha"e been

put together which the researcher faced due to limited time and resources during the course of

research# @urthermore some useful future recommendations ha"e been gi"en in order to

continue the future work#

In order to check the impact of brand image of Apple brand on customer satisfaction,

customer loyalty and customer commitment nine hypotheses were de"eloped along with the

conceptual frame work# &he data for research was collected by the way of %uestionnaire and

the answers of the %uestionnaires were fed in --- and results were generated# In order to

test the impact of brand image four ma0or constructs of brand image were de"eloped to check

the impact on consumers# &he constructs are sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic#

@rom the findings it was found that the brand image tends to ha"e positi"e impact on

customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer commitment# 9owe"er the relation

between brand image and customer satisfaction is the strongest# &his shows the customers

who are satisfied by using a particular brand opt to use the same brand again and again being

satisfied from the ser"ices, %uality of product and image of the brand and this leads to make

these customers loyal customers of the brand# -imilarly the loyal customers tend to be

committee to the organi$ation and brand as they de"elop an association with the brand# @rom

the findings it was also found that customer satisfaction does not tend to ha"e positi"e

influence on the customer loyalty which means its not necessary a satisfied customer is a

loyal customer of the organi$ation as well, may be the customer is satisfied from the product

but he had got a better brand or product from the other alternati"es a"ailable in the market at

a more reasonable price therefore his preference will be to buy that product rather the one he

purchased earlier, similarly there could be many other predictors which may not lead a

=1



satisfied customer to loyal customer such as pri"acy and security issues, information and

responsi"eness, %uality of the product, di"ersity in range of products of a particular brand etc#

5!.anagerial implications$Cith the ad"ancement in technology and tough competition it is important for the companies

to make their product better than their competitors in %uality, a"ailability, and marketing,

affordability in order to attract customers and in return retain the customers# In order to retain

the customers the companies need to focus on the satisfaction le"el of the customers as it has

been found out in the current study that a more satisfied customer will become the loyal and

committed customer# -o for this the managers and owners should adopt smart policies in

order to attract and retain customers# &he managers need to know that only satisfaction is not

the only factor that can attract and retain customers# &he mangers need to adopt good

marketing policies along with good %uality of the product# As awareness of product among

customers will bring in new customers and the satisfaction the customers will get from the

product will e"entually make them the loyal customers of the company# In addition to this as

the analysis and discussion part of the study re"eals that there is a negati"e relation between

impacts of satisfaction on the customer commitment of the apple brand, which shows that the

demands of customer which they ha"e from the apple brand ha"e not been fulfilled# As

customer commitment is said to be dri"en as a result of expected outcomes from any product,

including outcomes from buying of a product, psychological ego of identifying with brand,

etc# &herefore the new mangers should focus on the psychological needs of the customers in

order to ha"e positi"e impact on them in order to retain them# &he psychological needs of the

customers could in"ol"e the way the company deals with the customers, the way the

company presents it product so the mangers of the Apple ompany should ha"e a courteous

customer ser"ices staff# 8oreo"er from the discussions and analysis presented abo"e it was

found that utilitarian and economic attributes of brand image did not yield positi"e results in

=2



terms of customer loyalty, and the mangers need to focus their attention on this and should

consider other option which can facilitate the customers apart from reliability, durable and

easy to use features as the customers demand highly sophisticated products with enhanced

functionality and features# 8oreo"er the managers should also enhance their economic

features as consumers also showed negati"e response in the current study# @ollowing and

focusing more on the aforementioned implications will help the organi$ations to attract more

customers, satisfy their needs with their products and build long lasting relation with the

customers#

5!"Limitations and Future &esearch 4irections$

&he current study is also not free from limitations# As the ma0or limitation faced in this study

was in terms of generali$ation, as the current study was conducted in UK, therefore the

people here may ha"e different culture, norms, habits choices and preferences from those

li"ing in any other part of the world# As these factors greatly affect the attitudes and

preferences of people# @urther the time and cost were the biggest constraints in the current

study# 8oreo"er the data collected by the way of online sur"ey may not real population and

this may affect the generali$ation of the study# @urther this study has a scope for future

research as the current was conducted by taking the %uantitati"e research solely in future a

study with %ualitati"e research could also be conducted as through inter"iews one can ha"e a

better opinion of customers regarding brand image#

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international markets+ the piracy paradox persistsF, &olumbia >ournal of Borld

3usiness, %*B, pp# *5#

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affect to brand performance+ the role of brand loyaltyF, >ournal of <ar9eting, 53 2B,

pp# 715*#

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ublications, 155#

hoi, -## and oughlan, A#&# 2??;B, ri"ate label positioning+ %uality "ersus feature

differentiation from the national brandF, >ournal of ?etailing , 7";2B, pp# =55*#

ollins>odd, # and 3indley, &# 2??*B, -tore brands and retail differentiation+ the

influence of store image and store brand attitude on store own brand perceptionsF,

>ournal of ?etailing and &onsumer /ervices, 9, pp# *662#

>ick, A#-#, Lain, A#K# and .ichardson, # 1556B, orrelates of store brand proneness+ some

empirical obser"ationsF, >ournal of =roduct C 3rand <anagement , )B, pp# 1622#

>ick, A#-#, Lain, A#K# and .ichardson, # 155;B, 9ow consumers e"aluate store brandsF,

>ournal of =roduct C 3rand <anagement , " 6B, pp# 1527#

>ick, Alan -# and 4asu, Kunal 155B, ustomer 3oyalty+ &owards an Integrated

@rameworkF, >ournal of The Academy of <ar9eting /cience, "" 2B, 5511*#

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>olich, I#L# 15;5B, ongruence relationships between self images and product brandsF,

>ournal of <ar9eting ?esearch, 5 1B, pp# 7?#

>innie, K#, Calsh, H# and Ciedmann, K## 2??;B, 9ow do corporate reputation and

customer satisfaction impact customer defectionW A study of pri"ate energy customersin

HermanyF, >ournal of /ervices <ar9eting , "9 ;B,pp# 122?#

Easingwood, #, 8urphy, L# 2??1B, NUsing %ualitati"e research to refine ser"ice %uality

modelsN, 8ualitative <ar9et ?esearch, ) pp#21=2*#

Echtner, #8# and .itchie, L#4#.# 155*B, &he measurement of destination image+ an

empirical assessmentF, >ournal of Travel ?esearch, %B, pp# *1*#

Ehrenberg, A#-## 1577B, ?epeat*3uying :acts, Theory and Applications, 2nd ed#, Edward

Arnold, 3ondon#

@aircloth, L# 4#, apella, 3# 8#, J Alford, 4# 3# 2??1B# &he effect of brand attitude and brand

image on brand e%uity# >ournal of <ar9eting Theory and =ractice, 8*B, ;1V=#

9ess, L#, -tory, L# 2??6B, N&rustbased commitment+ multidimensional consumerbrand

relationshipsN, >ournal of &onsumer <ar9eting , "";B, pp#*1*22#

9er$og, 9# 15;*B, N4eha"ioral science concepts for analy$ing the consumerN, in 4liss, #

EdsB,8arketing and the 4eha"ioral -ciences, Allyn and 4acon, Inc#, 4oston, 8A,

pp#=;7;#

9ess, L#, -tory, L# 2??6B, N&rustbased commitment+ multidimensional consumerbrand

relationshipsN, >ournal of &onsumer <ar9eting : "" ;B, pp#*1*22#

9sieh, A'&# and 3i, hungK# 2??7B, &he moderating effect of brand image on public

relations perception and customer loyaltyF, <ar9eting %ntelligence C =lanning , "51B,

pp# 2;2#

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9sieh, 8ing 9# 2??2B, Identifying 4rand Image >imensionality and 8easuring the >egree

of 4rand Hlobali$ation+ A ross'ational -tudy, >ournal of %nternational <ar9eting , 9

2B, pp# ;;=#

Hardner, 4#4# and 3e"y, -#L# 1566B, N&he roduct and the 4randN, 9ar"ard 4usiness .e"iew,

pp# ***5#

Harcia .odrigue$, 8#L#, 4ergantinos, #H# 2??1B, N3os components del "alor de lamarca+

una aplicacion empirica en el segmento alto del 8ercado automo"ilisticoN, .e"ista

Europea de >ireccion y Economia de la Empresa, 9 2B, pp#1;1=7#

Lacoby, L# 15=1B, N4rand loyalty+ a conceptual definitionN, =roceedings of the American

=sychological Association, American =sychological Association, Bashington, & , 5

pp#;66;#

Keller, K# 3# 155*B# onceptuali$ing, measuring, and managing customer based brand

e%uity# >ournal of <ar9eting , 36, 1V22#

Keller, K#3# 155*bB, Nonceptuali$ing, measuring and managing customerbased brand

e%uityN, >ournal of <ar9eting , 36 1B, pp#122#

Kotler, # 2???B, <ar9eting <anagement Analysis, =lanning, and &ontrol , rentice9all,

Englewood liffs, 'L#

3e"y, -#L# 1555B, 3rands, &onsumers, /ymbols, and ?esearch+ -ydney L# 3e"y on

8arketing, -age, &housand /aks, A#

3i, 9#, >augherty, &# and 4iocca, @# 2??2B, Impact of *> ad"ertising on product

knowledge, brand attitude, and purchase intention+ the mediating role of presenceF,

>ournal of Advertising , :ol# %*B, pp# *6=#

3acey, .# 2??=B, N.elationship dri"ers of customer commitmentN, >ournal of <ar9eting

Theory and =ractice, 3;B, pp#*16**#

==



3ee, K#, Allen, '#L#, 8eyer, L##, .hee, )# 2??1B, N&he threecomponent model of

organi$ational commitment+ an application to -outh KoreaN, Applied =sychology An

%nternational ?eview, 39 pp#65;;1#

3ow, H#-# and 3amb, #C# 2???B, &he measurement and dimensionality of brand

associationsF, >ournal of =roduct C 3rand <anagement , 8 ;B, pp# *6?;7#

8artensen, A#, Hronholdt, 3# and &ra0ce"ski, -# 2??B, 4uilding customerbrand

relationships on the internet+ de"elopment of an online brand e%uity modelF, @orum for

Ad"ertising .esearch#

8eyer, L#, Allen, '# 1551B, NA threecomponent conceptuali$ation of organi$ational

commitmentN, uman resources <anagement ?eview, pp#;175#

8eyer, L#, Allen, '#, -mith, # 155*B, Nommitment to organi$ations and occupations+

extension and test of a threecomponent conceptuali$ationN, >ournal of Applied

=sychology, 67 pp#6*761#

8ieres, #H#, 8artin, A#8# and HutieXrre$, L#A#&# 2??;B, Influence of percei"ed risk on

store brand pronenessF, %nternational >ournal of ?etail C istribution <anagement ,

%)1?B, pp# =;1=2#

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of market research+ the dynamic of trust within and between organisationsN, >ournal of

<ar9eting ?esearch, "8*B, pp#*127#

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"% 1B, pp#11=#

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/li"er, .#3# and 4earden, C#/# 157*B, &he role of in"ol"ement in satisfaction processesF,

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=5

http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingglossary/g/brandimagedef.htm





Appendi

2<ESTIO==AI&E

I am a student of &his sur"ey is a partial re%uirement of my degree program

to do a research in order to examine the perception of consumersD perception about the brand

image, customer loyalty, and customer commitment and repurchase beha"ior of customers

7?



towards Apple brand in the UK# lease answer the following %uestions according to your best

knowledge# &he %uestionnaire will take almost 16 minutes to finish its both sections

completely# All the information you will share through this %uestionnaire is mean to be kept

confidential and anonymous# -hared information will be solely used for the fulfillment of the

current academic research#

&hanks for your prestigious time and I am looking ahead to recei"e a filled %uestionnaire#

-incerely,

//////

Section Y % would li9e you to enter your profile informationZ

>ender

• 8ale

• @emale

Age

• 1;2

• 26*

• *6

• 66

• 66 or abo"e

Education

• 9igh -chool or 3ower

• -ome ollege

• ollege graduate

• Uni"ersity Hraduates or Upper

9ow much do you care about using brandsW

71



• -lightly

• -trongly

•

'ot much

• 'e"er

.ank the following factors which influenced you to buy the brandW

• rice

• 4rand Image

• :alue Added -er"ices

9ow long ha"e you used the brands of this companyW

• 3ess than one month

• 1 to ; months

• ; months to a year

•

1 to * years

• /"er * years

Section "The second section as9s about the perception of respondents regarding the brand image,

customer loyalty, and customer commitment and repurchase behavior of customers towards Apple brand. . Fou may encircle any of the numbers in the middle that show how strong your

feelings are, where -G $tremely disagreeH 2G Dargely disagreeH 0G Dittle bit disagreeH 1G

IeutralH 5G A little bit agreeH 4G Dargely agreeH and G $tremely agreeZ#

Brand image

>o our products pro"ide a sense of selfesteem to youW

Sensor#$

72



S#mbolic

<tilitarian

7*

lease indicate to what extent you agreeMdisagree with the

following statements+

where, 1Rstrongly disagree and 6R strongly agreeB

I am associated with the apple brand because I think it is+

A

' e u t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e m e l y

Exciting

-tylish

A mean to fill the owners with pride#

A high %uality brand

8ultifunctional

I use apple brands because I think it is

A

' e u t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e m

e l y

restigious

osses luxury features



Economic

+! Brand image has a positi(e impact on customer lo#alt#

7


A

' e u

t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e

m e l y

.eliable

8ade to last

Easy to use


A

' e

u t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e m e l y

Hood customer ser"ice

Affordable





where, 1Rstrongly disagree and 6R strongly agreeB A

' e u t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e m e l y

I would like to take the same brand again

I recommend my brand to others

I prefer my brand abo"e others

I intend to continue using my brand

In the near future, I intend to use more of the products pro"ided

by this company#

I consider myself to be a loyal customer of this company#

Brand image has a positi(e impact on customer commitmentlease indicate to what extent you agreeMdisagree with the



' e u t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e m e l y

I found the staffs of this company "ery helpful#

76



I ha"e been the customer of this company for long now#

I will not switch my brand e"er#

If any other such product is offered at low prices e"en then I

will not change my brand#

Brand image has a positi(e impact on customer satisfaction




' e u t r a l

A gr e e

E x t r e m e l y

&his company has an extensi"e stock that with "ariety of

applications that satisfy my needs#

7;



I am satisfied with the competence of customer ser"ices

pro"ided by this company#

I am satisfied with the product %uality of apple brand#

I am satisfied being the regular customer of this company#

In general, I am satisfied with the ser"ices and products offered

by this company#

#eflection #eport:&o begin with, the current study exploring the impact of Apple brand image on customer

satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer commitment in the UK was a great learning and

experience# &he study was conducted to percei"e the perception of people towards different

attitudes and beha"iors such as loyalty commitment and satisfaction# In order to ha"e a

detailed in"estigation the "ariable brand image was further di"ided into four constructs such

as sensory, symbolic, economic and utilitarian#

7=



&he study was conducted in different phases during a period of six months# Initially the

material was collected for the proposal in order to make know what is the topic under

in"estigation, what will be the tools to in"estigate the study, how will be the study analy$ed

and explained# 4asically the main purpose behind selecting the current topic was the brand

association with apple brand and its impact on rest of the consumers, how could the current

study contribute to the organi$ation to change or enhance its strategies# After gi"ing the initial

shape to the study an extensi"e research was done to collect the material for the literature

re"iew which primarily consists of pre"ious studies# &he purpose of formulating literature

re"iew was to know about the results of different studies conducted in the same field which

can pro"ide a path to follow and find the gap between the pre"ious studies and the current

study# 8oreo"er the literature pro"ided the way to formulate the hypothesis of the study and

the conceptual frame work on the basis of which a %uestionnaire was de"eloped and uploaded

on authori$ed U.3 -ur"ey monkey# @or the %uestionnaire two sections were made one

comprised the information related to the respondents such as their age, gender education and

most preferred brand# &he second section contained the %uestions related to different

"ariables and their attributes# After getting the filled %uestionnaire they were fed into ---

and correlations and regressions were run# In the next section the findings were explained and

supported with the help of pre"ious studies# In the next phase the study was concluded and

managerial implications were present along with the limitations of the study and scope for

future research# 9owe"er the introduction of the study was formali$ed in the end as the

ob0ecti"es of the study set at the time of preparing proposal were altered or completely

changed during the course of study due to the re%uirement of the study#

>uring the whole process of dissertation many problems were faced one of the biggest

constraint was the time constraint and the cost constraint# &he time constraint was o"ercome

by setting certain days for each section of the study so that a detailed and comprehensi"e

77



study could be conducted# @urther instead of conducting sur"ey by "isiting different markets

and wasting time on searching the customer for Apple brand the %uestionnaire was uploaded

online which sa"ed time along with the cost# -imilarly uploading the %uestionnaire also sa"ed

other costs and time such as it reduced the cost of getting the %uestionnaires printed

according to the sample si$e, by uploading it online this hassle was o"ercome which not only

sa"ed cost but also sa"ed time# In the same the filled %uestions were easily screened in the

soft copy form which sa"ed time but if printed %uestions would ha"e been distributed many

of the %uestionnaire might not ha"e been filled properly so in order to complete the sample

si$e more prints would ha"e been re%uired and another sur"ey would ha"e been conducted

but the online sur"ey sa"ed time and cost from all this hassle#

After completing each section it was thoroughly checked by the instructor and the changes

re%uired by the tutor were seriously addressed and incorporated#

Another area of difficulty was the formulating the %uestionnaire as the %uestionnaire was

aimed at co"ering ma0ority of the aspects of the study therefore it was made certain that any

important aspect of the study is also not missed# 9owe"er the %uestionnaire formulated at the

first step was not accepted by the instructor therefore an extensi"e research was done

collecting different articles using the similar kind of study and then a scale was de"eloped

from the different articles and was added to the %uestionnaire#

-electing the sample si$e was another problem# -uch a sample si$e was aimed to be selected

which could be easily handles, collected and interpreted therefore after careful in"estigation

and studying pre"ious studies a sample si$e of 1?? was selected which was comprehensi"e

from all point of "iews such it was easy to handle this sample si$e, it was easy to fed it in the

--- it was easy to interpret the data and it was also suitable for the generali$ation of the

study#

75



Apart from the academic point of this study was of great help to me and my future career# As

conducting the whole research independently has gi"en me more confidence in myself and

now I feel I can conduct better research studies in future# @urther due to this study my reading

habits ha"e been enhanced to the maximum as it in"ol"ed extensi"e reading# &his study

cleared all my ambiguities regarding any academic term which could not be cleared during

the lectures# I could analy$e things more precisely and finely#

9owe"er the study is a great guide line for my future career# As I am planning to ha"e my

own business in the same field therefore the perception of customers, their thinking, and their

priority is "ery important to know for such kind of business# In future being the sole manager

of my business I will make sure to launch such brand in market which ha"e high reputation

and image with the help of which I can cater different people, bring such brands in market

which will be based on customer choices and preferences# Along with good brand image I

will focus on the customer ser"ices and will make sure customers are treated in the best way

and in the most comfortable way# @rom the study I ha"e come to know that satisfaction alone

is not sufficient to make customers loyal therefore I will make sure to pro"ide e"ery possible

comfort to my customers in term of product %uality, product ser"ice at reasonable prices and

best customer ser"ices# Another important finding of the study is that people who are brand

loyal does not care for the price because they are ready to pay anything for the product of

their choice so I will incorporate all the aforesaid strategies while managing and running my

business#

&hrough this study I learnt many new applications such as ---, it was a new application

which I got to use during my research and it was "ery useful for interpreting and analy$ing

my study, further I got full command n different features of 8- office word which I ne"er

used before# 9owe"er through this study I ha"e enhanced my analytical skills, now I feel I

could write better and e"aluate any study critically %uite easily# rior to this study I ne"er

5?



wrote such a big report, in the beginning it seemed difficult but with the support of my

super"isor and his guidance it was managed %uite easily, I learnt more about referencing

styles used in the study# &his study contributed immensely in increasing my "ocabulary as I

had exposure to a large amount of pre"ious studies#

In the nutshell I can say that it was a great learning from the current study, and my leaning

experience in line with the thoughts of Kolb as he says learning is Jthe process whereby

9nowledge is created through the transformation of e$perience. Knowledge results from the

combination of grasping and transforming e$perienceN According to the fourstage learning

cycle of this theory, immediate or concrete experiences are the basis for obser"ations and

reflections# &hese reflections are assimilated and distilled into abstract concepts from which

new implications for action can be drawn# &hese implications can be acti"ely tested and ser"e

as guides in creating new experiences Kolb 157, p# 1B#

51



onclusion+

&he o"er all learning experience from this study was significant# &he study was a source of

learning in all fields of life whether academic, professional and personal life# Academically it

increased my knowledge about "arious concept, taught me new things which I ne"er did before

for instance ---, conducting such a long and detailed research, making %uestionnaire,

interpreting findings, in short it was a complete learning package# 8oreo"er through this study I

learnt to mange things within a time frame of work and most importantly to work and research

within defined parameters and not including irrele"ant material, moreo"er, through this study I

learnt how to focus on certain things and not opting to different choices and parameters and in this

I will greatly appreciate my super"isors guidance and support as without him this would not ha"e

been possible# &hrough this study I learnt how to analy$e things and e"aluate them critically#

52



After completing the study I feel more confident about dealing different pro0ects and meeting the

deadline in future, I feel more organi$ed and carrying things in a more systematic and planned

manner which will greatly help me in my future professional life#

Documents

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