Private label brands have been examined in the literature for more than forty years (Narasimhan and Wilcox, 1998). Due to the rapid growth of private-label market share, researchers have looked into different influential factors in attempting to find out the reasons behind the success of these store products. As consumers reflect the demand side of fast-moving goods, their perceptions critically affect decisions on brand selection, and therefore the performance of the brands.Although the topic of private labels has long been studied, the volume of private-label research is less than that of national-brand studies. Findings from the extant studies of private labels have provided valuable consumer insights for marketing scholars and practitioners to better develop branding theory and strategies. However, issues still exist in the literature, in particular, concerning category-level influences of consumer factors such as perceived risk and attitude. Risk perception and attitude are important explanatory constructs for consumer proneness towards buying private labels. Moreover, category-level differences are stated as the most critical source that can explain the variations in the performance of private labels (Batra and Sinha, 2000; Dhar and Hoch, 1997).This research replicates Batra and Sinha's (2000) study which examined the categorylevel effects of different determinants of perceived risk on consumer preferences for buying private labels. The purpose of this research is to re-examine their hypotheses and to investigate other attitude determinants which Batra and Sinha did not study. In addition, this study also investigates the impact of demographics on the purchase of private labels.A mall-intercept survey was conducted to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that perceived risk and attitude determinants such as quality variability, price consciousness, price-quality association and brand loyalty influence significantly consumers' propensities to buy private labels. Furthermore, these private-label propensities vary across product categories due to category-level variations in perceptions and attitudes. Consumers are more likely to buy private labels in categories where they perceive lower quality variability across brands, where they have higher price consciousness, where they believe weaker price-quality association, and where they have less brand loyalty. Moreover, education and income are also identified as significant indicators of private label buyers.Findings from this study suggest that category-level analysis of consumer factors could more effectively answer the question why private label success varies across different categories. A better way for national-brand manufacturers and retailers to compete against each other is the product quality improvement. Manufacturers should try to keep the quality level of national brands as far above that of private labels as possible, whereas retailers should attempt to reduce the quality gap for their private label brands.

This dissertation addresses three topics on information economics. Generally, information is not perfect or costless as classical economics assumes. Thus, a consumer searches information at his cost or a seller provides information at his cost. First, chapter 2 presents a theoretical model where a consumer searches for local brand information. We show that a national brand providing information has a larger market share. Second, chapter 3 presents a theoretical model where a store randomizes prices and advertises the price changes. We show that at equilibrium the advertising intensity is negatively related to price and price density function is "U" shaped. As advertising costs decrease, average price decreases with more competition. Also as advertising costs decrease from the maximum to zero, price density function changes from monopoly price spike to nonprofit price spike. Thirdly, chapter 4 presents an example where information imperfection is not remedied so information asymmetry remains to cause moral hazard. The deposit insurance rate of a bank is set uniformly regardless of its loan quality because the government cannot discern the quality. Then, a failed bank has higher efficiency in good economic years by spending less on loan monitoring but lending aggressively, but has lower efficiency in difficult years because of its growing non-performing loan. The efficiency of Korean banks between 1990 and 1997 is measured by DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis), and the regression shows that the efficiency of the failed bank is affected by moral hazard. / Graduation date: 2003

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy, Dept. of Media, 2007. / Bibliography: leaves 281-305.

In 2010, an innovative consumer consumption model emerged and companies like Zipcar and Groupon were important examples that demonstrated how rapidly new collaborative ventures were able to attract venture capital funding and attract members. The term “collaborative consumption” became part of the Internet lexicon and demonstrated that such sites and services were more than a way of promoting and selling products; rather, it is a marketing reflection of the ways in which it is now possible to interact and to share ideas and creative initiative in this digitally connected, globalized world. This report will examine the background of collaborative consumption and provide a pilot study examining its use across two cultures (USA and China), the life style and attitudinal variables that characterize those who use it. The discussion will also include the impact of this collaborative behavior on the role of advertising agencies as well as informed guesses about future growth of this retail and networked phenomenon. / text

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

The SAWS is interested in demonstrating the economic and social benefits of the products or services it provides to the public, industries and other organisations. It is also important for the organisation to carry out ongoing performance assessment of public and commercial weather services to ensure that these services are efficient and effectively meeting the public's and customer's needs and contribute to longer term commercial and societal objectives. Some other National Weather Services has developed "Service Charters" which detail their pledge of performance to the user communities, specifically, customers and the general public. These service charters provide a brief overview of the services provided, a commitment of performance against specific targets and a commitments to consult and identify a means by which the customers and the public may register their concern. As a result the service charters has become an important component of the Weather Services branding measurement strategy. The acceptance of the SAWS products or services by the public and other weather users depends on a number of factors. Scientific accuracy is just one of those factors. Also the health of the SAWS depends on the perceptions from full spectrum of weather users ranging from individual citizens, media, aviation, ... Ill marine, industry, government departments, construction companies, and insurance. These perceptions include those about requirements, accessibility, availability, accuracy, timelines, utility, comprehension, sufficient and packaging. The objective is to ultimately measure performance from the user perspective and identify user's needs. It is also to measure the acceptance of the services provided from such dimensions as expectations, understanding, importance, satisfaction, and utility. This study has been framed within the hypothesis that the SAWS brand associations are not strong, not favourable and not unique to create a positive brand. It has come critical to assess the level of customer awareness and familiarity with the SAWS brand so as to improve the dissemination mechanisms of the weather forecast information. Based on a literature review, two types of brand association are identified. One is product association including functional attribute association and non-functional attribute association. The other is organisational association including corporate ability association and corporate social responsibility association. It has been found that, the greater the number of the core brand association, the higher the brand equity. The feedback received on the questionnaire and interviews directed at awareness and familiarity with the SAWS brand indicated that, a need exists to educate the public and potential customers about the products and services of the SAWS. Of paramount important is the improvement of the SAWS dissemination mechanisms and partnerships with other scientific research organisations. This will enable the SAWS to reach a wide range of the public and weather users and to safeguard property and life of all South Africans. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Presently in South Africa, a large number of companies are developing an online presence. For established companies whose brands are already well entrenched in the minds of their consumers, the challenge lies in developing an online site that matches the expectations that consumers have come to rely on from that brand. It is interesting to analyse whether or not top companies employ similar web site design criteria as compared to the runner-up companies. This investigative study researches the application of web site design criteria by 102 leading consumer brand manufacturers in South Africa. Thirty-four objective, marketing-related site design sub-criteria were chosen and subsequently organised into 9 broad categories. These 102 leading manufacturers' sites were separated into leader sites (n=53) and runner-up sites (n=49), with the aim of identifying criteria (if any) that are specifically applied by leader sites as compared to runner-up sites. A quantitative approach was applied in this study. These web sites were checked for the application of each criterion and sub-criterion using content analysis, the results of which were recorded on a data sheet. The generated data was analysed using statistical software and specifically the statistical techniques of t-testing, cluster and discriminant analysis. The cluster analysis showed no difference in the application of web design criteria by leader and runner-up sites. However, the t-test revealed that the navigation and customer support criteria showed the most significant difference in its application between leader and runner-up sites. Discriminant analysis confirmed that navigation and customer support criteria were the most discriminating criteria, and also identified a third criterion of advertising/promotion/publicity. Additional research was undertaken to determine to what extent these three discriminating criteria were actually applied. This involved analysing the mean differences between the 'top 10 vs bottom 10' sites and 'top 30 vs bottom 30' sites. This additional effort further confirmed what was previously determined, that navigation, customer support and advertising/promotion/publicity are the three criteria which demonstrate a significant difference between leader and runner-up sites. This implies that most of the web sites of the top consumer brand manufacturers in South Africa clearly demonstrate application of these three criteria in the web design strategy. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

No abstract available. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The evolution of the internet from Web1.0 to Web2.0 ushered in social sharing, and led to the advent of hundreds of social networking tools being used by millions of individuals online. This is the technology on which social networking sites like YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook are based, and is one of the fastest growing segments of the web. These platforms enable both businesses and individuals to connect with each other with the most popular platform being, Facebook; but is this an effective platform to create brand equity? The focus of this study was to examine the behaviour of South African Facebook users, in order to better understand their interactions with brands and companies on this platform. At the time of this study the only research available was the TNS Digital Life Study which was expensive. No other freely available research regarding how South African Facebook users engaged on this platform was available; this presented a gap in the market which heightened the need for the study. Flowing from the aim, thestudy objectives and research instrument was constructed. The sample comprised 532 respondents of which 408 were valid responses; all respondents were South African Facebook users. An electronic questionnaire was created and hosted online at QuestionPro.com and data analysis was completed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The preferred sampling technique utilised was non-probability convenience sampling. The study researched, amongst other objectives, Facebook user interaction across traditional media platforms. It also investigated television advertisement viewing behaviour the findings of which revealed that only 7 percent of respondents ‘Always’ watched television advertisements. The objectives of the study were all met and investigated South African users in terms of their frequency of Facebook access, the duration of time spent on this platform, the technology used to access Facebook, whether users would ‘Like’ a brand and the extent of engagement with brands. Based on the findings it is recommended that Facebook is an effective platform for brands and individuals to interact, and this interaction has an impact on the return on investment for business, and this platform would not replace but enhance traditional marketing tools. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

This study investigates the role of integrated marketing communications in building customer based brand equity. The study was conducted in Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa using the consumers of the Coca Cola brand as the study subjects. The aim of the study was to determine the differential effect that knowledge of the Coca Cola brand has on consumers’ responses to the marketing of the brand. The study commenced with a survey of literature related to the fields of integrated marketing communications and customer based brand equity. The theoretical framework was determined to be the customer based brand equity model of Keller (2008: 60). For the empirical research, the quantitative research methodology was employed. The primary data was collected from a sample of 285 Coca Cola drinkers from Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa. The findings from the theoretical survey revealed that there are several promotional mix tools that can be used to market a brand and that these can be used in brand building to precipitate the strong, favourable and unique brand associations that are necessary for the development of brand equity. The results of the empirical study revealed that the Coca Cola brand does indeed employ several marketing communications tools and that they have been integrated in such a way that they present a cohesive and consistent message. Respondents revealed that this integration of communications has an impact on their attitudes and beliefs about the brand. The research determined that Coca Cola is a highly salient brand in the minds of consumers and that they hold positive associations about the brand. The study determined however that although they hold strong, favourable and unique brand association of the brand in their minds, the majority of respondents do not have the attitudinal attachment, active involvement and sense of community that are necessary for brand resonance. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.