This dissertation is an empirical study of demand and supply in differentiated products markets using supermarket scanner data on two particular product categories - canned tuna and hot-breakfast cereals. First, I study the impact of retailers' price promotions on consumer demand and retailer profits in the canned-tuna product category. Since canned tuna is storable, I examine whether consumers stock up during sales. The results suggest that only a limited amount of stockpiling exists in this product category. Since inventory is not very important, consumer demand is thus modeled by a static demand model with a random-coefficients-nested-logit specification, which is estimated by the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. The unit-sales decomposition results show that on average 36% of the demand response to price promotions comes from brand-switching, so market expansion effects due to consumers switching from the outside good and to higher quantities usually dominate the brand-switching effect. Using the demand estimates, I compute optimal retail prices assuming that stores are local monopolists and choose prices to maximize static category-level profits. I find that regular prices at "high-low" stores are typically at or slightly below the optimal prices, but that regular prices at "every-day-low-price" stores are substantially below the optimal prices. These results suggest that retail price levels and price promotions are more likely related to local market conditions such as retail competition. In addition, I study the effects of store-brand (SB) entry on the demand elasticities of incumbent national brands (NB), consumers' substitution patterns for national and store brands, and the implications for consumer welfare in the hot-breakfast-cereals product category. A random-coefficients model of consumer demand is estimated by the generalized-method-of-moments approach. The empirical findings are: (1) After the entry of SB's, demand becomes more elastic for non-imitated NB's, and either more elastic or shows no change for imitated NB's; (2) in general, substitution patterns for NB's and SB's are asymmetric, i.e., when the prices of their favorite products increase, most NB buyers tend to substitute to other NB products, but SB buyers will substitute to the corresponding imitated NB's; (3) the increase in consumer surplus due to SB entry is trivial for an individual consumer, but the aggregate benefit could be quite substantial.

HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic; and for South African Authorities it is still a huge concern. 17 per cent of the population aged 15 to 49 live with the HIV virus and KwaZulu-Natal remains the area most affected by the pandemic. In order to prevent the disease’s expansion among university students, the health authorities have make available across all campuses and for free Choice and Love condoms.This study explores the perception of the positioning of these government brands compared to the other commercial condoms available among students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study is in part a survey, using research questionnaire administered to more than 200 students at the Westville and Howard College and Nelson Mandela Medical School campuses to determine their perceptions of the competing condom brands. The study primarily makes use of the marketing theory of brand positioning to address the issue; a perceptual map is designed indicating the respective positions of the competing brands. The survey revealed that the Love brand is not very well known by students, and confirmed that the Choice brand is perceived as poor. One reason provided is the negative association of the South African government with the brand. Many students complained of experiencing a bad smell after using Choice. That led to the variant of scent being used in the study as an essential component for condom preference. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This study aims at understanding the decision to buy "Made in Mozambique" products, which is important for developing marketing strategy and promoting national products. To explore the factors influencing consumers' buying decisions, means-end theory and its associated methodology provide a useful framework for understanding why people buy "Made in Mozambique" rice by characterising the relationships between the attributes, consequences associated with those attributes, and the values those consequences help reinforce. Methodology: a total of 20 consumers were interviewed. It is important to mention that only rice was used in this study. The laddering interviewing technique was then used to link these chains of meanings. Analyses and interpretation of the resulting data provide an effective complement for studying consumer purchasing motives and suggest recommendations for managerial practice and future research efforts. Summary of the study findings include: (i) Attributes: Quality, cost, national; (ii) Consequences: healthy, well-being, affordable, trust, contribution, and fulfillment; and (iii) Values: Feeling happy, longevity and self-esteem.The theoretical component of this research covers the definition and discussion of Means-end theory and consumer decision-making. / Industrial Psychology / M.A. (Industrial & Organisational Psychology)

Submitted by Kirla Ferreira (kirlacardoso@outlook.com) on 2018-03-27T13:51:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final.pdf: 1734762 bytes, checksum: 58702523e1dfcfd8be1d38bc6cab44aa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Nunes Ferreira (debora.nunes@fgv.br) on 2018-03-28T15:55:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final.pdf: 1734762 bytes, checksum: 58702523e1dfcfd8be1d38bc6cab44aa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-03-28T16:08:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final.pdf: 1734762 bytes, checksum: 58702523e1dfcfd8be1d38bc6cab44aa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-28T16:08:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final.pdf: 1734762 bytes, checksum: 58702523e1dfcfd8be1d38bc6cab44aa (MD5) / Envy has become popular as a marketing tool, and marketers are not only trying to evoke envy but also trying to convince consumers to use their products and brands to provoke envy in other consumers, so brands are strengthened. However, I demonstrate that malicious envy leads consumers to be more likely to choose a competing brand (analysis 2), and while benign envy increases consumers’ attitude toward a brand, malicious envy decreases their attitude toward a brand (analysis 3). Moreover, analysis 1 demonstrates that the effects of deservingness on malicious envy has a moderator factor (type of relationship) that affects how undeservingness is perceived, in terms of luck and deceit. The objective is to investigate the influence of deservingness and type of relationship (like or dislike a person) on benign and malicious envy, and the role of such envy subtypes on brand choice and brand attitude. The findings introduce a more nuanced view of the undeservingness effects and type of relationship, and contribute to the literature on brands and emotions, showing that each envy subtype brings different consequences for brands. / A inveja tornou-se popular como uma ferramenta de marketing, e os profissionais de marketing não somente tentam evocar inveja como também tentam convencer os consumidores a usar seus produtos e marcas para provocar inveja em outros consumidores, de modo que as marcas sejam fortalecidas. No entanto, eu demonstro que a inveja maligna leva os consumidores a serem mais propensos a escolher uma marca concorrente (análise 2), e enquanto a inveja benigna aumenta a atitude dos consumidores em relação a uma marca, a inveja maligna diminui a atitude em relação a marca (análise 3). Além disso, a análise 1 demonstra que os efeitos do merecimento na inveja maligna têm um fator moderador (tipo de relacionamento), que afeta como o merecimento é percebido, em termos de sorte e engano. O objetivo é investigar a influência do merecimento e do tipo de relacionamento (gostar ou não de uma pessoa) sobre a inveja benigna e maligna, e o papel dos subtipos de inveja na escolha de marca e na atitude de marca. Os resultados introduzem uma visão mais detalhada dos efeitos do merecimento e tipo de relacionamento, e contribuem para a literatura sobre marcas e emoções, mostrando que cada subtipo da inveja do consumidor traz diferentes conseqüências para as marcas.

The main purpose of the study is to determine strategies for retaining valuable current customers and acquiring attractive new customers for Corobrik; therefore, the problem to be investigated is the reason for Corobrik’s inability to gain significant market share in the brick market over the last five years. Although there has been tremendous growth in the building industry, Corobrik has not been able to fully capitalise on the situation despite increasing its own capacity. A competitive-strength evaluation will form the basis of this study in order to determine customer preferences, as well as competitor performance relating to these preferences. The study will be limited to the Gauteng Province owing to the enormous number of customers in South Africa as well as to time constraints. The market in Gauteng is substantial enough to yield a fair representation of what is to be achieved with the study. A questionnaire will be distributed to Architects, Contractors and Distributors, which represent the different market segments, and the data will be collected by means of telephonic interviews. McDonald & Dunbar (2004) expounded on a method of competitive-strength evaluation, entailing a method of understanding the customers’ preferences and understanding their views of competitor performance in relation to the customers' own preferences. Based on this method, a questionnaire was drafted which will be distributed to role players in the market in order to collect the required data. This research study can be seen as exploratory, since future research tasks could be discovered during the study. This study will be a ‘snapshot in time’ because of time constraints, and could possibly yield different results if repeated at any other time. The questionnaire is such that the data could be analysed and certain propositions could be compared with the ratings. Therefore, a semi-quantitative study is possible, i.e. people’s perceptions can be measured. It is important that the study be done in a ‘field setting’ to reflect what would occur under actual conditions. In addition, exactly the same questionnaire was used for all respondents, minimising the possibility of the respondents or the researcher manipulating the ratings reflected in the survey. The main findings revealed that sales to Distributors and Contractors constitute approximately 85 per cent of the total product sales of Corobrik and that Distributors and Contractors perceived Corobrik as expensive, Price being rated as their most important DBC. Architects rated Quality and Aesthetics as the most important DBCs and they rated Corobrik the best performer in these categories. This finding implies that Corobrik manages to satisfy Architects’ most important needs; however, Price was also Corobrik’s worst performing DBC in terms of the Architect ratings. Corobrik does satisfy the needs of Architects fairly well; however, this study was limited to the brick industry and did not attempt to compare face bricks with rival materials such as glass, aluminium, wood, plaster and paint and others. Consequently, Corobrik’s performance was not compared with that of the manufacturers of these rival products with regard to the relevant DBCs. It is, therefore, recommended that such a study be conducted in order to determine how well Corobrik performs in comparison with the rival companies. In addition, Corobrik should consider a marketing objective of developing new products for existing market segments (Architects), i.e. products that are able to compete with glass, aluminium and other rival materials, or that could even be used to compliment one another. This initiative could lead to increased market share, not only in the brick market but also in the bigger construction market. It appears that Corobrik has to date followed the marketing strategy of supplying existing products to new segments such as the residential market, and the researcher’s impression is that this new segment does not really want the product because of its affordability. Therefore, Corobrik needs to consider developing new products for the relatively new residential market, but with the emphasis on affordability. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.

Embora haja um consenso sobre a importância do valor da marca, um modelo de estimação único e uniformemente aceito ainda não surgiu, nem na perspectiva baseada no cliente ou consumidor nem na perspectiva da firma ou financeira. Assim, os profissionais de marketing ainda são desafiados a estimar o valor da marca. Além disso, é importante para a construção de um modelo de estimativa de valor da marca detectar as percepções dos consumidores e também apresentar uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca, satisfazendo às exigências de financistas, contabilistas e acionistas empresariais. A maioria dos modelos de valor da marca baseado no consumidor existentes não oferece uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca e muitos modelos de valor da marca baseado na firma não observam as percepções dos consumidores. A maioria deles não avalia o desempenho das marcas em futuros períodos de tempo. Esta pesquisa desenvolveu um modelo que permite estimar o valor da marca observando as probabilidades de escolha (manutenção ou troca) de marca pelos consumidores, com a aplicação da Matriz de Troca Markov. A matriz de troca de marca foi estimada por um estudo transversal, utilizando um modelo de escolha logit, analisando todas as marcas competidoras no mercado. Esta pesquisa também investigou o valor monetário da marca, utilizando o mecanismo de fluxo de caixa descontado. O modelo permite o cálculo do valor da marca de um produto, em particular, bem como o cálculo do valor da marca da empresa. Além disso, o modelo possibilita o estabelecimento da relação entre o mindset do cliente e a avaliação do desempenho de marca no mercado, comparando a marca de seus concorrentes. A integração entre valor da marca baseado no consumidor e valor da marca baseado na firma permite estimar o retorno financeiro das ações de marketing, verificando a contribuição de cada um dos condutores (consciência de marca, qualidade percebida, lealdade à marca, valor percebido, personalidade da marca e associações organizacionais) ao valor marca. / Although there is a consensus about brand equity importance, a single, uniformly accepted estimation model has not yet emerged, neither from consumer-based brand equity or firm or financial-based brand equity perspectives. Hence, marketing professionals are still challenged to estimate the value of the brand. Furthermore, it is important to build a brand equity estimation model, which detects the consumers’ perceptions and also presents a monetary estimation of brand equity, satisfying shareholders’ requirements. Most of the existent consumer-based brand equity models do not offer a monetary estimation of brand equity and many firm-based brand equity models do not observe consumers’ perceptions. Most of them do not evaluate the brands’ performance in future periods of time. This research developed a model that permits estimation of brand equity observing the consumers’ brand choices probabilities (purchase maintenance and brand-switching), by applying the Markov Matrix. The brand-switching matrix was estimated by a cross-sectional survey, using a logit choice model, analyzing all competing brand. This research also investigated the monetary value of the brand, using the discounted cash flow mechanism. Our model allows the calculation of the value of the brand of a product, in particular, as well as the calculation of the company's brand. Our model enables the establishment of the link between customer mindset and evaluating the performance of brand in market, comparing the brand to its competitors. The integration between consumer-based brand equity and firm or financial-based brand equity allows the estimation of the financial return of marketing actions, checking the contribution of each of the drivers (brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, perceived value, brand personality and organizational associations) in brand equity.

Embora haja um consenso sobre a importância do valor da marca, um modelo de estimação único e uniformemente aceito ainda não surgiu, nem na perspectiva baseada no cliente ou consumidor nem na perspectiva da firma ou financeira. Assim, os profissionais de marketing ainda são desafiados a estimar o valor da marca. Além disso, é importante para a construção de um modelo de estimativa de valor da marca detectar as percepções dos consumidores e também apresentar uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca, satisfazendo às exigências de financistas, contabilistas e acionistas empresariais. A maioria dos modelos de valor da marca baseado no consumidor existentes não oferece uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca e muitos modelos de valor da marca baseado na firma não observam as percepções dos consumidores. A maioria deles não avalia o desempenho das marcas em futuros períodos de tempo. Esta pesquisa desenvolveu um modelo que permite estimar o valor da marca observando as probabilidades de escolha (manutenção ou troca) de marca pelos consumidores, com a aplicação da Matriz de Troca Markov. A matriz de troca de marca foi estimada por um estudo transversal, utilizando um modelo de escolha logit, analisando todas as marcas competidoras no mercado. Esta pesquisa também investigou o valor monetário da marca, utilizando o mecanismo de fluxo de caixa descontado. O modelo permite o cálculo do valor da marca de um produto, em particular, bem como o cálculo do valor da marca da empresa. Além disso, o modelo possibilita o estabelecimento da relação entre o mindset do cliente e a avaliação do desempenho de marca no mercado, comparando a marca de seus concorrentes. A integração entre valor da marca baseado no consumidor e valor da marca baseado na firma permite estimar o retorno financeiro das ações de marketing, verificando a contribuição de cada um dos condutores (consciência de marca, qualidade percebida, lealdade à marca, valor percebido, personalidade da marca e associações organizacionais) ao valor marca. / Although there is a consensus about brand equity importance, a single, uniformly accepted estimation model has not yet emerged, neither from consumer-based brand equity or firm or financial-based brand equity perspectives. Hence, marketing professionals are still challenged to estimate the value of the brand. Furthermore, it is important to build a brand equity estimation model, which detects the consumers’ perceptions and also presents a monetary estimation of brand equity, satisfying shareholders’ requirements. Most of the existent consumer-based brand equity models do not offer a monetary estimation of brand equity and many firm-based brand equity models do not observe consumers’ perceptions. Most of them do not evaluate the brands’ performance in future periods of time. This research developed a model that permits estimation of brand equity observing the consumers’ brand choices probabilities (purchase maintenance and brand-switching), by applying the Markov Matrix. The brand-switching matrix was estimated by a cross-sectional survey, using a logit choice model, analyzing all competing brand. This research also investigated the monetary value of the brand, using the discounted cash flow mechanism. Our model allows the calculation of the value of the brand of a product, in particular, as well as the calculation of the company's brand. Our model enables the establishment of the link between customer mindset and evaluating the performance of brand in market, comparing the brand to its competitors. The integration between consumer-based brand equity and firm or financial-based brand equity allows the estimation of the financial return of marketing actions, checking the contribution of each of the drivers (brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, perceived value, brand personality and organizational associations) in brand equity.

Embora haja um consenso sobre a importância do valor da marca, um modelo de estimação único e uniformemente aceito ainda não surgiu, nem na perspectiva baseada no cliente ou consumidor nem na perspectiva da firma ou financeira. Assim, os profissionais de marketing ainda são desafiados a estimar o valor da marca. Além disso, é importante para a construção de um modelo de estimativa de valor da marca detectar as percepções dos consumidores e também apresentar uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca, satisfazendo às exigências de financistas, contabilistas e acionistas empresariais. A maioria dos modelos de valor da marca baseado no consumidor existentes não oferece uma estimativa monetária do valor da marca e muitos modelos de valor da marca baseado na firma não observam as percepções dos consumidores. A maioria deles não avalia o desempenho das marcas em futuros períodos de tempo. Esta pesquisa desenvolveu um modelo que permite estimar o valor da marca observando as probabilidades de escolha (manutenção ou troca) de marca pelos consumidores, com a aplicação da Matriz de Troca Markov. A matriz de troca de marca foi estimada por um estudo transversal, utilizando um modelo de escolha logit, analisando todas as marcas competidoras no mercado. Esta pesquisa também investigou o valor monetário da marca, utilizando o mecanismo de fluxo de caixa descontado. O modelo permite o cálculo do valor da marca de um produto, em particular, bem como o cálculo do valor da marca da empresa. Além disso, o modelo possibilita o estabelecimento da relação entre o mindset do cliente e a avaliação do desempenho de marca no mercado, comparando a marca de seus concorrentes. A integração entre valor da marca baseado no consumidor e valor da marca baseado na firma permite estimar o retorno financeiro das ações de marketing, verificando a contribuição de cada um dos condutores (consciência de marca, qualidade percebida, lealdade à marca, valor percebido, personalidade da marca e associações organizacionais) ao valor marca. / Although there is a consensus about brand equity importance, a single, uniformly accepted estimation model has not yet emerged, neither from consumer-based brand equity or firm or financial-based brand equity perspectives. Hence, marketing professionals are still challenged to estimate the value of the brand. Furthermore, it is important to build a brand equity estimation model, which detects the consumers’ perceptions and also presents a monetary estimation of brand equity, satisfying shareholders’ requirements. Most of the existent consumer-based brand equity models do not offer a monetary estimation of brand equity and many firm-based brand equity models do not observe consumers’ perceptions. Most of them do not evaluate the brands’ performance in future periods of time. This research developed a model that permits estimation of brand equity observing the consumers’ brand choices probabilities (purchase maintenance and brand-switching), by applying the Markov Matrix. The brand-switching matrix was estimated by a cross-sectional survey, using a logit choice model, analyzing all competing brand. This research also investigated the monetary value of the brand, using the discounted cash flow mechanism. Our model allows the calculation of the value of the brand of a product, in particular, as well as the calculation of the company's brand. Our model enables the establishment of the link between customer mindset and evaluating the performance of brand in market, comparing the brand to its competitors. The integration between consumer-based brand equity and firm or financial-based brand equity allows the estimation of the financial return of marketing actions, checking the contribution of each of the drivers (brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, perceived value, brand personality and organizational associations) in brand equity.

This research study will clarify with facts and evidence that drinking alcoholic beverages is a social problem in American society. It will also focus on indepth interviews using the laddering technique on a small sample of eight respondents.

M. Tech. (Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Supermarket store brands are affordable alternatives towards the customers’ intended brands. For many years, marketers and retailers of store brands have positioned this brand as a cheap or low-cost brand that could be afforded by most customers. This positioning has catapulted the popularity of store brands. However, on the downward side, most consumers associate cheap or low cost with low quality. The low-cost and low-quality association and perception has been a major impediment towards the real success of store brands. Store brands have long since moved from competing on price, to competing on quality. The shift of focus by marketers and retailers of store brands from price to quality puts store brands on an equal footing with national brands and, consequently, a fierce competitor. This study investigated the influence of consumer-based brand equity elements, namely brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality on brand preference and purchase intention of store brands. This study restricted its scope to the food brands. Investigating store brands within a South African context is particularly important since store brands are produced and owned by local retailers as opposed to national brands. The literature suggests that store brands are more profitable to retailers compared to their counterparts and serve as a point of differentiation from one retailer to another. A quantitative research design was employed in this study and a non-probability convenience sampling technique was adopted. The target population comprised students from a tertiary institution within the Vaal triangle, namely Vaal University of Technology. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to the participants, of which 361 participated in the study. To ensure reliability of the scales, pre-testing and piloting of the questionnaire preceded the main survey. Results from correlation and regression analysis revealed that brand equity elements, namely brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality explain 68.4 percent of the variance in brand preference. This result suggests that consumer-based brand equity elements significantly contribute towards building consumer brand preference towards the store brands. In addition, amongst all the variables, brand loyalty made the strongest contribution towards explaining brand preference (β= 0.342). Moreover, brand preference explains 65.3 percent of the variance in purchase intention. These results suggest that brand preference strongly contributes towards building purchase intention of store brands. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for retailers of store brands are provided as follows:  Retailers of store brands should implement greater awareness programmes for store brands and create positive word-of-mouth through superior product quality.  Retailers of store brands should strengthen store brands’ brand associations to improve the image of store brands.  Retailers of store brands should pay special attention to creating brand loyalty of store brands through implementing store brands’ loyalty programmes. Limitations, future research opportunities and contributions of this study are discussed in the study.