An investigation on brand loyality of soft drinks in Ireland
Authors
Karippery Francis, Aneesh
Issue Date
2013
Degree
MBA in Business Management
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
Brand loyalty is when people choose to buy selectively one brand in a particular product category. It consists of a consumer‟s commitment to repurchase or otherwise continue using the brand and can be demonstrated by repeated buying of a product or service or other positive behaviours such as word of mouth advocacy. This occurs when customers feel that they have a product at the right quality for the right price. All companies are looking for brand loyalty because it saves them time and money. This research paper focuses on soft drinks. It investigates the reason, how and why customers are being loyal to the soft drink brands. It reports the results of brand loyalty of 100 Irish customers. This study explores brand loyalty behaviour on soft drinks and examines key brand loyalty factors: brand name, product quality, price, style, store environment, promotion and service quality. Consumers are classified into two categories by their degree of brand loyalty: hardcore loyal customers and brand switchers. The study concludes that brand name, style and promotion are the key brand factors which can distinguish hard-core loyal customers and brand switchers. Brand name and style have more influence on the brand loyalty of hard-core loyal customers, while promotion influences more on that of brand switchers. Product quality is perceived by both groups as the most important factor affecting their brand loyalty. This research also results the reasons why a loyal customer is switching to other brands (brand loyalty of sportswear in Hong Kong, vol.5, 2006). Author keywords: Brand loyalty of soft drinks, brand awareness