Date                                    May 2012 University                          Mälardalen University                                             School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology Course                               Master Thesis, EFO 705 Authors                              Maha Al-azzawi & Mac Anthony Tutor                                  Carl G Thunman Examiner                           Ole Liljefors Title                                    Students Brand Preferences between Apple and Samsung Smartphone Purpose of the Study        Is to compare student brand preference between Apple and Samsung Smartphone Methodology                     Quantitative research approach  Conclusion                         This study showed that brand with high value of brand equity and identity would result in having high brand preference among students. The findings reveal that Apple has stronger brand preference more than Samsung among students. Key Words                        Brand equity, brand identity, Smartphone

The phenomenon which called Trading Up was rising in early 21st century. And it has become a common sense in today¡¦s world showing the global consumer behavior change. At 2003 year the Boston Consulting Group senior vice president Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske present a new concept of New luxury, and he pointed out that the new luxury is a profitable new business model, it puts the high-quality products to the middle market. And it makes the consumer willing and eager to pay the premium price, and put these products first choice in their mind. In our reaserch finding, the new luxury management in the academic literature and practice are mostly made form Western countries.Asian countries, however, is on the rise in the luxury market and it occupies a very important position. Now many emerging countries, consumers are increasingly value the pursuit of self-importance, and the purchase of luxury goods to reward their purchase or to show their unique taste and style. In our reaserch we think that the good quality and low price strategy in New luxury goods must appeal consumers in the Asian market. Therefore, this research background and explore the following three points: First, finding the key elements of a new luxury brand in the fashion industry's of brand. Second, investigate the key elements influence of a new luxury brand to the brand equity.Third, investigate the difference of different types of new luxury brand to influent the brand equity Finally, the study found that¡G First, there are four key elements of a new luxury brand which is quality, perceived price, luxury doctrine and uniqueness. And they are arranged by the important influence of the uniqueness, quality, luxury doctrine, the final is perceived price. Second, the four key elements of brand new luxury brand is positively impact on association ,brand loyalty and brand awareness Third, in the band equity of new luxury brand, the brand association and brand loyalty have a positive impact on brand equity, but the impact of brand awareness to brand equity is not significant. Four different types of its new luxury brand for impact to brand equity is different.

When the global financial tsunami because of the economic downturn a recession, the technology industry into the economic doldrums, the global chemicals industry psychiatric segment due is still not affected, the luxury goods pertaining to the operation of the Group, its brand value far exceeds the practical value of the product itself , was not only both classic and brand pandemic. Products to how to design and creativity to engage in global strategic management, use of mechanization on the the way of a unified image of everything the world's taste and style to attract the same consumers, quality fashion itself as a result of the special character and its products produced in other than value-added, resulting in fine fashion to build the business and brand strategy may be quite different from general consumer products.In recent years, power consumption of the Asian market as a result of the strong brands in many European goods more alcohol began to pay attention to this piece of the market in Asia. Mental Taiwan market competition and more heated, especially civilians legitimate luxury of the wind, the more worthy of our consideration.In this case study, Aaker and Keller comprehensive two scholars point to build brand equity through a case study of a method (case study), a French luxury products for the brand Louis Vuitton, come to the fore in the global competition in the market's success to carry out in depth interviews, and through secondary data collection, to explore the market in Taiwan to build brand equity and action methods. The main purpose of this study found that roughly summarized as follows: 1. Brand of luxury products-of-origin image and brand to create the background and history will help build brand image. 2. Continuous research and development into products and overseas market expansion, brand equity is the focus of luxury boutique practices. 3. The success of cutting-edge designer brands younger image reconstruction is to create an important source of brand awareness. 4. A high-priced luxury products and non-discount customers to shape the brand perception of high-value brands to build brand image. 5. To maintain an independent quality brand image and sales, outlets and flagship stores in the form of the establishment of brand equity. 6. Direct attention to the choice point to repeat before the exposure of consumers and enhance the effectiveness of ads to raise brand awareness. 7. Led the strong access control capability, a blend of high-quality image of a luxury boutique. 8. Advertising and event marketing as a brand marketing communication, to increase brand awareness and create a unique brand image. 9. In Taiwan, to ensure that the global image of the induced to adopt global strategies to establish brand equity products.

A brand can be a valuable asset for a company in two ways: On the one hand the brand can have an influence on the perceptions and preferences of the consumer and therebypositively influence the performance and success of a product, which can lead to acompetitive advantage. On the other hand, a brand can even be an asset of significantfinancial value. For the actual building of a strong brand, several theoretical modelsexist. Car modification companies offer modifications for and modified versions of cars ofother brands. The thereof resulting connection between the two brands and itsconsequences for the brand of the modification company cannot be depicted with theexisting theoretical brand and brand building models. In addition to that, carmodification companies touch upon the field of luxury cars. This factor has to be takeninto consideration when dealing with the brand building of car modification companies. In addition to the lack of applicability of existing brand building models for the carmodification industry, this special industry has not been covered by research yet ingeneral. In this thesis, a theoretical framework for brand building, the model of customer basedbrand equity as well as the characteristics of luxury branding will be lined out. In orderto examine how the special factors of the car modification industry, namely theconnection between the modification company and the base brand and luxury brandingcan be integrated into this model, six representatives from the car modification industryhave been interviewed. The results and analysis of these interviews show that through the assessment of thecustomer based brand equity of the base brand, the modification company can identifystrong and favorable aspects of the base brand that it can build upon, emphasize and/orexpand with the modification as well as weaknesses and flaws of the base brand that itcan make up for with the modification. Furthermore, the examination shows that byassessing the model of customer based brand equity of the modification brand and arelevant special brand factor, in the case of this thesis luxury branding, for commonfeatures and similarities, this special factor can also be integrated into the theoreticalmodel. Through these findings, the thesis is able to present a revised model of customer basedbrand equity that incorporates both the connection between the modification brand andthe base brand as well as the special factor luxury branding.

The objective of the study is the exploration of consumer brand name equity for established products and services. There is little research on consumer brandname equity for established products, despite the general assumption within the literature of the central importance to consumers of the brand name element. To achieve isolation of the brand name element the study focuses on name changes brought about by global marketing. Adopting both a critical realist position and a functional based approach towards consumer brand equity, a mixed methods three stage sequential study design is employed. The first stage of the research focuses on the theoretical literature relevant to consumer brand name equity. In particular it seeks to derive a theoretical model of the consumer impact of a change in brand name for an established product. The second stage of the research uses qualitative analysis to empirically explore established product brand name functions. The model developed in the first stage of research is used as a framework but research is not limited to the empirical exploration of this model. The final stage of the research uses quantitative analysis to empirically explore the importance of the brand name of established product to consumers. The research makes a number of contributions to the existing literature. It empirically identifies a number of ways in which the brand name of established products can provide equity to consumers; specifically through rational, relationship, habitual and symbolic functions. One key finding is the discovery that much of the symbolic value appears to be customer rather than corporate driven. A further contribution from the quantitative work is an indication that the overall importance of the brand name of established products holds significant variance. A minority of research participants placed great importance on the brand name element, whilst for the majority the brand name held little importance. This places in context the above functions of the brand name element. Key implications from this study are that the accepted centrality of the brandname element within branding needs qualification and the active role of the consumer within brand equity creation requires greater recognition. In addition, whilst the research findings provide a good rationale for why corporations are able to change the brand name of their products with minimal impact for most of their customers, it also suggests that for a minority of customers this name change will cause an insurmountable long term problem, which will have to be borne by the corporation.

Brand equity is perhaps the most important marketing concept in both academia and practice. The term came into use during the late 1980s; and the importance of conceptualizing, measuring, and managing brand equity has grown rapidly in the eyes of practitioners and academics alike. This has resulted in several often-divergent view-points on the dimensions of brand equity, the factors that influence it, the perspectives from which it should be studied, and the ways to measure it. Many different definitions and ways to measure brand equity have been proposed, and most of them are based upon the definition: the added value with which a given brand endows a product. The two most influential conceptualizations of brand equity are Aaker and Keller. Aaker defines brand equity as a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’s customers. Keller defines consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand. Currently, all research on brand equity has used the same conceptualization of the construct based on previously determined dimensions with no attempt to argue their validity. Given the importance of the concept of brand equity in marketing, as well as the need for the measurement of brand equity, the literature lacks an empirically based consumer-perceived brand equity scale. Since the brand is the consumer’s idea, the consumer is an active participant in the creation of equity for the brand. So if we want to understand and manage the intangible equity directly, we have to have the consumer’s help. This dissertation enriches and strengthens the current knowledge on brand equity by developing a new conceptualization and scale determined by dimensions that consumers perceive. The new Consumer-Perceived Consumer-Based Brand Equity Scale is made up of five dimensions: quality, preference, social influence, sustainability, and leadership. Previous conceptualizations of brand equity have discussed dimensions that are consumer descriptors. Since perceived brand equity is the value that consumers perceive in the brand, this conceptualization presents dimensions that are brand characteristics. The new robust scale contributes both to the theoretical understanding of consumer-based brand equity measurement, as well as assisting managers, or brand ambassadors, in measuring brand equity and developing successful brand strategies. The value of a consumer-perceived, consumer-based brand equity scale suggests a number of new directions for study and elaboration in what is certain to be a compelling stream of research with vast implications for both theory and practice.

Purpose: The purpose is to explain what factors affect brand equity for SBOs. Hypotheses: These hypotheses were derived from a literature review. H1 - Perceived Quality has a positive effect on SBO brand equity H2 - Brand Association has a positive effect on SBO brand equity H3 - Brand Awareness has a positive effect on SBO brand equity Method: The researcher conducted an quantitative research where the empirical data was collected through a questionnaire. Conclusion: This research show that perceived quality, brand association and brand awareness positively affects SBO brand equity.

Sammanfattning Miljö och hållbarhetstänk har fått en allt mer central position i vårt samhälle. Detta har gjort att allt fler fastighetsbolag väljer att miljöcertifiera sina byggnader, dels vid nyproduktion men även i samband med större renoveringar av befintliga byggnader.  Därför är syftet med den här uppsatsen att ”beskriva de attityder som finns bland lokalhyresgäster gentemot ”gröna byggnader”, samt att beskriva hur dessa attityder påverkar deras val av lokaler”. I teorikapitlet beskrivs grundläggande teorier för ”gröna” byggnader samt deras för och nackdelar, varumärkesperspektiv, varumärkespositionering och brand equity. För att besvara vårt syfte valde vi en kvalitativ metod. Vi använde oss av ett taktiskt urval där vi intervjuade 5 lokalhyresgäster och 3 fastighetsbolag med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuguider. Materialet bearbetades sedan utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Dessutom beskriver vi hur vi har arbetat med etiska överväganden och termer i form av validitet och reliabilitet diskuteras för att bedöma arbetets tillförlitlighet och trovärdighet. Resultatet visar dels på hyresgästernas relevans, kunskap, värderingar och faktiskt agerande rörande miljö och hållbarhet kopplat till de lokaler de hyr samt hur fastighetsbolagen tänker kring miljö och hållbarhet kopplat till företags varumärke, varumärkespositionering och differentiering. I analysdelen jämför vi teori kring varumärkesperspektiv, varumärkespositionering och brand equtiy med vårt resultat för att utreda orsakssamband till de två kategorier av hyresgäster vi kunde urskilja från resultatet. För att svara på detta diskuterar vi kring de fyra faktorer som sägs styra ett varumärkes brand equity, nämligen differentiering, relevans, kunskap och värderingar samt fastighetsbolagens sätt att positionera sig på. I slutsatsen visar uppsatsen på att det framförallt är positioneringsstrategier och brand equity faktorerna för kunskap och differentiering som påverkar ifall hyresgäster är villiga till att betala mer för “gröna” lokaler eller inte. / Abstract The environment and sustainability have become an increasingly central position in our society. Due to this more and more real estate companies have chosen to certifie there buildings, both when constructing new buildings but also in conjunction with major renovations of existing buildings. Since environmental responsibility are valued higher in today's society than it has been historically. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to describe the attitudes among tenants of premises, towards “green buildings”, and also to describe how these attitudes affect their choice of premises. The report is made from a brand positioning and brand equity perspective. In the theoretical framework, we present research of the advantages and disadvantages of "green" buildings. We also present the basic theories on brand perspective, brand positioning, and brand equity. To answer our purpose we chose a qualitative method. We used a tactical choice when we determined our respondent groups. We interviewed five tenants and three property companies using semi-structured interview guides. The material was then processed using a qualitative content analysis. In addition, we describe how we have worked with ethical considerations and the validity and reliability of this paper. The results showed both the tenants relevans, knowledge and values of the environment and sustainability linked to the premises they rent and also what property companies think about brand positioning and tenants knowledge. In the discussion section, we compare our theoretical framework to our results to investigate the difference between the two types of tenantgroups that we discovered from the results. To relate this too our purpose we discuss the four elements which are said to measure brand equity, namely differentiation, relevance, knowledge and values. We also discusses how the property organisations are positioning there brands. In the conclusion, the research shows that it’s mainly the positioning strategy and the knowledge and differencing factor of brand equity that affect if tenants are willing to pay more for “green” premises or not.

<p><strong>Date: </strong>2009-06-02<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Program: </strong>International Marketing<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Authors: </strong>Anantaya Ponbamrungwong & Sirada Chandsawang<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Title: </strong>The impact of brand on Thai female consumer in purchase decision of foreign makeup product<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Research Question: </strong>Does brand equity affect Thai female consumer in foreign makeup product purchase?<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>to investigate the effect of brand on consumer purchasing decision of foreign makeup product. The outcome of the research would be beneficial to marketing professionals especially in Thai cosmetics-makeup industry to understand the target consumer-based brand equity regarding their purchasing decision<strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The concepts of Brand equity and Purchase decision are chosen to study behavior of the target respondents; Thai female consumers who live in Bangkok, Thailand on their purchase decision of buying foreign makeup products.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Brand equity does not totally affect Thai female consumer in their purchasing decision of buying foreign make up products. However, the respondents have the concept of brand equity: brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand associations and perceived quality in their mind but they did not generally relate the whole concepts to make a final purchase decision of foreign makeup products.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Cosmetic, Makeup products, Brand equity, Purchase decision</p>

<p>Hur kan sponsring stärka ett företags varumärke och vilka skillnader</p><p>och likheter finns det mellan hur tjänsteföretag och producerande</p><p>företag använder sig av sponsring i syfte att stärka varumärket?</p><p>Syftet är att studera hur företag använder sig av sponsring i avsikt att stärka</p><p>varumärket samt identifiera skillnader och likheter mellan</p><p>tjänsteföretags och producerande företags sponsringsverksamheter.</p><p>En tvärsnittsstudie har genomförts på fyra fallföretag. Primärdatan</p><p>samlades in genom semistrukturerade personliga intervjuer.</p><p>Den teoretiska referensramen baseras på vår modifierade</p><p>undersökningsmodell, AEGM-modellen, som är utformad utifrån</p><p>befintliga teorier inom ämnesområdena varumärke och sponsring.</p><p>Empiri i form av presentation av de undersökta företagens sponsringsverksamhet och</p><p>intervjupersonernas syn på hur företagen använder sponsring i syfte</p><p>att stärka varumärket.</p><p>Slutsats: Det förefaller skillnader, men även många likheter, mellan hur</p><p>tjänsteföretag och producerande företag använder sig av sponsring.</p><p>Ett varumärke kan stärkas med hjälp av sponsring, exempelvis genom</p><p>att kunden involveras i arrangemanget och att sponsringen</p><p>kombineras med andra marknadsföringsaktiviteter.</p>