Influence of brand preference and loyalty on the success of brands in the Malaysian mobile industry
http://ilokabenneth.blogspot.com/2013/12/influence-of-brand-preference-and.html
Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie
Published 27/12/2013
0.1 ABSTRACT
Purpose: there have been numerous reports that link
brand loyalty and preference to overall performance of organization as it
creates increased repurchase intention and recommendation from customers. The
purpose of this research is to understand the role played by brand preference
and brand loyalty on the performance of service providers in the Malaysian
mobile industry.
Design / methodology / approach: this research is
primary based; with data for prove of hypotheses gathered via online survey.
The choice of online survey is to offer responders from all over the world to
participate in contributing to the overall quality of the research. The
gathered data were analyzed with SPSS – factor analysis and multivariate
regressions were conducted to prove the hypotheses.
Findings – the analyzed data revealed that brand
preference and loyalty increases repurchase intention, increases the
possibility of customers to recommend the products to other people, reduces
price sensitivity, increases passion towards the product and increases higher
perception of value from the product. As such, these findings are in line with
the theories in this paper that links brand preference and loyalty to increased
profitability in the Malaysian mobile telecommunications industry.
Originality / value: the findings offer important implications for
the support of theories on brand preference, brand loyalty, and customers’
perception of value in the mobile telecommunications industry.
Keywords:brand loyalty, brand preference, Malaysian
mobile telecommunications industry
Paper type: Dissertation
for the award of BA (Hons) in Business Administration
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
It
has been reported that the Malaysian mobile telecommunications industry has
witnessed high growth since 2004 as a result of fierce competition between
major players in the industry to enhance their individual market shares (Mohd and Khairul, 2010). The intense competition
between the brands have resulted in price ways and adopting of numerous
marketing and pricing strategies geared towards improving the rate of mobile
phone adoption in the country (Mohd and Khairul, 2010).
The high growth in the industry has also been linked to high penetration of
prepaid services which was introduced into the country in the late 1990s.
The
prepaid services are highly affordable and convenient, and these qualities have
increased the penetration of mobile phones in the less affluent and teenage
segment of the Malaysian markets (KhairulAkmaliah et
al., 2008). The Malaysians less willingness to adopt wired (PC-based)
internet communication systems like e-mail have also been regarded as another
reason why wireless communication is advancing in the Malaysian market. KhairulAkmaliah et al. (2009) also attributed
Malaysians desires and value for an opportunity to be socially connected with
friends and family as another reason why devices (such as mobile phones) that
offer such opportunity will be highly welcomed in the market.
Although
it has been acknowledged by numerous literatures that the Malaysian mobile
telecommunication industry is witnessing tremendous growth, none of these
literatures have tried to study the antecedents of brand preference and loyalty
in this growth. As such, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how after
effects of brand preference and loyalty influence financial performance and
overall business growth in the Malaysian mobile telecommunication industry.
1.2 IMPORTANCE OF STUDY
It
has already been indicated in the background analysis that the Malaysian mobile
telecommunications industry has witnessed tremendous growth since inception,
and numerous researchers have been enacted to address the after effects of
customer loyalty and brand preferences in the mobile industry. As such, this
paper is significant for a number of reasons in line with the above statement.
1.3 RESEARCH PURPOSE
As
stated earlier, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the antecedents of
brand loyalty and preferences in the Malaysian mobile industry. In order to
achieve the research purpose, this paper will address the questions contained
in the research question as a way of meeting the research objectives. Based on
the purpose of this study, the objective can be stated as:
1.3.1 Research
objectives
1. To
understand whether brand image is an important determinant of customer loyalty
in the Malaysian mobile industry.
2. To
understand the antecedents of brand preferences
3. To
understand the antecedents of brand loyalty
4. To
understand how the antecedents of brand preference and loyalty can help
increase profits for services providers in the Malaysian mobile industry
5. To
reveal other factors that are necessary for increasing profit in the Malaysian
mobile industry
1.3.2Research questions
1. Is
brand value an important determinant of customers’ loyalty in the Malaysian
mobile industry?
2. What
are the antecedents of brand preferences and loyalty in the Malaysian mobile
industry?
3. How
do these antecedents improve financial performance and overall business growth
in the Malaysian mobile industry?
1.4 LIMITATIONS
There
are few limitations to this paper, and all are related to the scope of study.
Although this paper can be stated to be significant in its attempt to
understand how the antecedents of brand loyalty and preferences influences
profit maximization in the Malaysian mobile industry, the scope is too small
and doesn’t offer high in-depth. While there are numerous factors that might
contribute to profit maximization in businesses, this paper only focuses on the
antecedent of brand preference and loyalty. Additionally, the focus is only on
the Malaysian mobile industry. Thus, the scope is limited and this is a
limitation to the study because it doesn’t create room for applicability in
order industries or considering other factors that can influence profit
maximization.
1.5 ORGANISATION OF
STUDY
Figure
(1): How the research will be undertaken
As
illustrated in the figure (1) above, the research will follow the four steps
above. Firstly, a literature review will be conducted to highlight theories
related to the topic in order to aid understanding of the whole research.
Secondary, primary data will be gathered from people across Malaysia and
analysed in relation to the topic. The third step will involve proofing
hypothesis which will be stated in the literatures. Finally, the fourth
approach will involve discussing the findings as it’s related to the
literatures review, and evaluating the proven hypotheses. As such, this paper
will involve both primary research and desktop research.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
This
chapter will present a review of literature on all the topics to be discussed. In
this chapter, the Malaysian mobile telecommunication service industry will be
review in relation to how they develop preference and loyalty towards their
brands, the concept of branding and customers relationship management, and the
effects of these concepts on financial productivity and business growth of a
company.
2.2 FRAMEWORK FOR
REVIEW
The
framework for the literature review will follow the pattern of: 1) presenting
an overview of the Malaysian telecommunications industry, the business
strategies adopted in the industry, market size and trends, and
competitiveness. 2) How customers choose a particular brand over others will
also be review in relation to factors that encourage brand preference, branding
and marketing strategies adopted in the industry, and the antecedents of brand
preference in the Malaysian mobile telecommunications industry. 3) The final
section of the literature review will involve addressing the context of brand
loyalty in the Malaysian mobile telecommunications industry, in relation to
strategies adopted by companies in the industry, brand assets management,
competitive strategies, and antecedents of brand loyalty in the industry.
2.3 BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE MALAYSIAN MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY
The
Malaysian Post and Telegraph Department had the responsibility of providing all
telecommunications services in Malaysia before 1946 (BursaMalaysia,
2002). With the creation of Telecommunications Department in the Country
the same year, the postal services were separated from telecommunications
services. In 1968, both the postal services department and telecommunications
services department were combined together to form the Department of
Telecommunication Malaysia (Telekomunikasi Malaysia (JTM)) (BursaMalaysia, 2002).
In
1987, the responsibility to provide telecommunications services were
transferred from JTM to Syarikat Telemnkom Malaysia Berhad, and the company was
publicly listed in 1990. The company assumed its current name (Telekom Malaysia
Berhard) in 1991. As a means of ensuring that the company’s policies are in
line with government policies, the Malaysian government retains majority of the
company’s shares (BursaMalaysia, 2002).
Telekom
Malaysia introduced mobile telecommunications service in Malaysia in 1985, and
since the introduction, the government of Malaysia has gone ahead to license
numerous other private sector telecommunications services providers in line
with the government’s desire to develop the country’s telecommunications
services and advance its infrastructure.
SIZE OF THE MOBILE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA
The
mobile telecommunication industry is one of the fastest growing industries in
the country, and this is because mobile phones have become Malaysians most
favourable way to communicate as is experienced in other parts of the world.
The main driver of growth in the industry is the mobile phones segment with its
high subscribers’ base, increased international calls, and increase in
multimedia services and mobile phone data usage (AHK,
2011). The introduction of 3G phone is also playing a significant role
in the industry as it provides computer application on mobile phones.
It
has been projected that the revenue of the mobile phone segment will grow at
the rate of 6% per annum from 2008 to 2013. There is also a boom in mobile data
such as text messaging, and it is also expected to grow at the rate of 6% per
annum. The SMS traffic clocked 57 billion as of 2007, and the figure further
increased to 73 billion in 2008, before eventually exceeding the 100 billion
bench mark in 2010. Additionally, high tech phones are now easily affordable
and telecommunications service providers now offer quality data plans and
internet services that give customers the best experience since inception (AHK, 2011).
Figure
(3): The market shares of major mobile telecommunications providers in Malaysia
Source
as re-adapted from: AHK (2011)
From
the figure (3) above, it can be seen that Maxis is the market leader with a
share value of 39.9%, followed by TM-Celcom with a share value of 34.4% and
Digi with the third largest market share in the Malaysian mobile
telecommunications industry. besides these three players, there are also other
services providers such as Umobile, but the above analysis is only an
illustration of the top three market leaders in the industry.
A
recent survey by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC, 2010) revealed that Malays make up 60.8% of the
overall subscribers in Malaysia, followed by the Chinese at 235, the Bumiputra
Sabah/Sarawak and Orang Asli at 8.3%, Indians at 6.3%, and others at 1.6%. The
same survey also shows that 71.5% of the users have only one phone, while the
remaining 28.5 person have more than one phone.
Figure
(4): GDP contribution of the Malaysian communication and multimedia industry
Source
as adapted from: SKMM (2011)
From
the above figure it can be seen that the mobile telecommunications industry
play a significant role in Malaysia’s GDP growth with its 6.3% contribution to
the country’s economic growth. Thus, this industry is significant for both
economic growth and business development in the country.
2.4 ANALYSIS OF THE
ANTECEDENTS OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN THE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY
Customer
loyalty is a gained trust that exists between a producer and consumers, with
which the consumer view the products to be superior to the competitors.
Usually, the outcome of loyalty is continued and repetitive purchase. This is beneficial
for the organization because it increases their revenue generation and profit
maximization. However, the question still remains as to what are the factors
that influence customer loyalty? What factors make customer trust a brand above
its competitors? There have been possible answers to these questions, but the
most reoccurring answers are those that will be discussed in this paper.
2.4.1 Service quality
Although
there is no consensus on the measurement and conceptualization of service
quality (Carman, 1990), there is an agreement on
the concept of service quality being the judgment a customer expressed about
the overall excellence of superiority of a service (Zeithaml,
1988). In order to better describe service quality, it is important to
state the general characteristics of a service. These characteristic are:
1. Services
are intangible;
2. Services
are heterogeneous – which means that their performance always varies in
accordance with the service provider and the customer seeking the service;
3. Services
cannot be placed in a time capsule, and as such cannot be tested or re-tested
over time; and
4. The
production process in services is usually not separate from their consumption (Gronroos, 1990).
As
a result of these features, the evaluation of service quality is not easy.
Also, the evaluation can be linked with service delivery process and output (Cody and Hope, 1999).
On
a general note, service quality is viewed as being very important for
profitability, and the success of a firm. There are two views that explain why
service quality is important and the first is that service quality is seen as
one of the very few ways for service differentiation and gaining competitive
advantage that attracts new customers and contributes to the overall increase
in market share of a given corporation (Venetis and
Ghauri, 2000, p. 215).
Secondly,
service quality increases customer’s desire to repurchase the same products, to
buy a different product from the same company, to become less price-sensitive
with products offered by the company, and to recommend the product to other
people based on favourable experience (Venetis and
Ghauri, 2000, p. 215). For example, Bloemer et al. (1998) and Jones et al.
(2002),stated that there is a positive relationship between service
quality and repurchase intention, recommendation, and resistance to better
alternatives. All these aspects of repurchase intention, recommendation and
less price-sensitivity are attributes of customer behaviour towards a brand.
Thus, it can be stated that the quality of services influences customer’s
loyalty towards a brand.
2.4.2 Trust
Emphasis
was made by Anderson and Narus (1990) that trust
occurs when one party believes in the possibility of another party’s actions
yielding positive results for itself. As such, in order for customers to trust
a brand, they must perceive the brand as being of positive quality.
Trust
has been recognizes as an essential element for establishing relationship
between commitment (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and then
customer loyalty (Gundlach and Murphy, 1993). It
is obvious that when a party trust the other, that party will likely develop
positive attitudes towards the trusted party. Therefore, when a customer trusts
a brand, it implies that the customer is likely to form positive attitude (in
the form of purchase intention) towards that brand (Lau
and Lee, 1999).
In
view of the above statement, trust is important for establishing investment by
working together for business exchange between partners, resisting attractive
short-term alternative in favour of expected long-term benefits with staying
with a partners, and seeing potentially high risk actions as being worthwhile
because of the level of trust gained from previous experience (Morgan and Hunt,
1994). As such, it has been stated that positive relationship exists between
trust in a firm and customer’s loyalty towards products offered by the firm (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; Lau and Lee, 1999).
Doney and Cannon (1997) made the suggestion
that the establishment of trust is done through a calculative process that
involves the ability of a party to continually meet the expectations of another
party in a comparison between the reward gained and the cost of staying with
that particular party. As such, trusting a brand should not be associated with
only perceived positive outcomes, but it should be believed that these positive
outcomes will continue to be obtained in the future. Thus, the quality of
service will influence the trust towards that service.
2.4.3 Corporate image
This
is described as the overall impression a customer used to match a firm in his
or her mindset. (Barich and Kotler, 1991). Nguyen and
Leblanc (2001, p. 228) made the claim that corporate image is related to
the physical and behavioural aspect of a firm, such as business name,
architecture, products and services offered, and the impression of quality
communicated by the staffs of the company.
Corporate
image is the outcome of a process (MacInnis and Price,
1987). The process comes from ideas, feelings and consumption experiences
with a firm that are gotten from the memory and worked into a mental image (Yuille and Catchpole, 1977). In that case, corporate
image is the outcome of evaluation processes. Even though customers might not
know the firm, information gotten from advertisement and word-of-mouth will be
used to form the corporate image.
Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) argued that
attitudes are functional in relation to behavioural intentions that are used to
predict behaviour. Therefore, corporate image as an attitude influences
behavioural intentions like customer loyalty (Johnson
et al., 2001, p. 224). Nguyen and Leblanc (2001) also demonstrated that
corporate image positively influences customer loyalty in three sections telecommunication,
retailing and education). The same relationship is demonstrated by Kristensen et al. (2000) for Danish postal services
and by Juhl et al. (2002) for the Danish food
retailing sector.
From
the above statements, it can be seen that corporate image is produces from
customer’s consumption experiences, and the quality of services that is used to
function the consumption experience. Therefore, how a customer perceived the
quality of services offered by a firm will directly influence how he sees the
corporate image.
2.4.4 Switching costs
Porter (1998, p. 10) presented the
definition of switching costs as the cost the buyer will have to face for
switching from one service provider to another.
As an addition to objective measureable monetary costs, switching cost
can also be linked to time and psychological efforts involves in facing the
uncertainty of dealing with a new service provider
(Bloemer et al., 1998, Klemperer, 1987). Therefore, switching cost is
somewhat customer-focused (Shy, 2002). In that
hand, switching cost can be defined as the cost that discourages customers from
purchasing from a rival brand.
Jackson (1985) described switching
cost as the total of economic, psychological and physical costs. The economic
or financial cost is a kind of sunk cost that seems to appear when the customer
changes his or her brand (Klemperer, 1987). Procedural switching costs are from the
process of customers’ purchase decision making and their implementation of the
decision. Thus, it can be stated that the cost of switching from one brand
influence customers’ loyalty because customers will be less willing to switch
to another brand if the associated cost of doing so is more expensive than the
cost of staying with the brand.
2.4.5 WHAT ARE THE
ANTECEDENTS OF BRAND LOYALTY IN MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY?
From
the above analysis, brand loyalty has been identified as being vital for
increased profit maximization through increased revenue generation. This is
because, when customers are loyalty to a brand, they are less willing to switch
to another brand irrespective of associated benefits that might emanate from
such switch.
Therefore,
the antecedents of customer loyalty in the mobile industry will be increased
repurchase intention, increased trust and reduced possibility of switch
intention. When customer associates brands in the mobile industry as offering
high quality services that meet their requirement in a service, the customers
will gain high trust towards the brand. This gained high trust means that the
customer will develop passion and loyalty towards the brand, and in essence,
the customer will continue to use the brand in expectation of continued
benefits. Definitely when customers are purchasing the same particular brand,
it becomes very obvious that the brand will continue to maximize its profits
because of increased and sustainable sales.
2.5 ANALYSIS OF THE
ANTECEDENTS OF BRAND PREFERENCES IN THE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY
Judging
from contextual review, there seem to be a lack of consensus on the definition
of brand preference and limited empirical research on the antecedents to, or
the factors that influence, brand preferences. In that case, the research
presented in this paper has been informed by different contributions on
branding and brand strategy, and also previous works in relation to factors
that influence brand preference.
In
order to understand the antecedents, firstly, the definition of brand
preferences needs to be established. A number of authors have viewed brand
preferences in different ways, and establish different relationship between
brand preferences and other branding variables. For example, Keller (2003) stated that preferenceis an antecedent
of brand loyalty and brand equity, while Chang and Ming
(2009) defined brand preference as a consequence of brand loyalty and
brand equity. Other authors (e.g. Rundle-Thiele and
Mackay, 2001) use brand preference and brand loyalty interchangeably.
For this study, brand preference will be defined as an antecedent to brand
loyalty. Many authors (e.g. Keller, 2003; Jamal and
Good, 2001) do not offer a definition of brand preference. Hellier et al. (2003) offered a definition of brand preference
and operationalize its measurement.Hellier et al. (2003)’s
definition will be adopted for this study, and they defined brand preference as
the extent to which the customer desires a specific services provides by the
company currently used, in relative comparison to the services provided by
other companies being considered.
Mitchell and Amioku (1985) explored the
different factors that might result in brand preference, and they
conceptualized brand preference to be a result of different attributes which
makes a customer to favour one brand over others. These attributes have been
classified into three sets as: customer attributes, product attributes and
market attributes. A number of authors have also established reference to brand
preferences as yielding positive outcomes in relation to certain branding
variables, such as brand equity (Chang and Ming, 2009),
reference group (Escalas and Bettman, 2003),
advertising (Ayanwale et al., 2005), self-image
congruence (Jamal and Good, 2001), and re-purchase
intention (Hellier et al., 2003).
In
view of that, it can be stated that brand preference yield a similar result to
companies as brand loyalty. This is because, brand preference is an outcome of
brand loyalty and it implies a customer choosing a particular brand over its
competitors. When a customer prefers (choses0 a brand of the other, it is
expected that the decision must have been made based on past positive
experiences and expectation of the positive experience to continue. Thus, the
antecedent is the same as brand loyalty in the sense that the company will be
able to maximize profit through increased and sustainable sales.
2.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
From
the above discussion, it can be hypothesized in this paper that:
HP1.
The antecedents of both brand preference and loyalty influence profit
maximization in the Malaysian mobile industry positively.
HP2.
Brand preference and loyalty is a product of quality services experience in
with a service provider
HP3.
Brand image, trust, and quality of services are important determinants of brand
preference and loyalty.
HP4.
There are other variables besides brand preference and loyalty (such as
advertisement, cost of services, and post service experience) that can also
influence profit maximization in the Malaysian mobile telecommunications
industry.
2.7 KEY FINDINGS FROM
LITERATURE REVIEW
The
literature review above has been successful in describing the concepts of brand
loyalty and preference. It was identified that both elements yield the same
result. Brand loyalty on its own is customer desire to stick with a particular
brand as a result of experienced positive results, while preference is customer
decision to choose a particular brand over its competitors. From the overview
presented, it can be seen that brand loyalty and preference are similar because
the both address the idea of customers choosing a particular products over its
competitors as a result of positive outcomes experienced from choosing that
particular product. In the view of that, it was noted that the antecedent of
both factors will be increased profit as a result of increased and sustainable
sales. This is because, when customer are loyal to – or prefer a brand, they
will continue purchasing that brand because they have associated positive
influence experienced from previous consumption. Thus, in the end, the company
will generate more profits because of sustainable sales. This is also applicable
in the Malaysian mobile industry where it can be stated that increased brand
loyalty and preference in the industry will result to increased profit
maximization because the customer’s loyalty and preference towards a brand
means that they purchase the brand frequently and increases the revenue
generation by the company, as well as sustainable business growth.
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION OF
THE CHAPTER
In this chapter, the method to be adopted for primary research will be
discussed. This will include the data gathering format, data coding and
analysis format as well as the format for prove of hypotheses. This section
will contain an explanation of all necessary tools that will be adopted for the
primary research.
3.1 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
Figure (3): the framework for the research
The framework for this research is as shown above. Data will be gathered
through online survey, and these data will be used to analyze how the
antecedents of brand loyalty and preferences increases profit in the Malaysian
mobile industry. The choice of online survey is because it offers in-depth in
the sense that participants can come from all over the world.
3.2 DATA COLLECTION
The questionnaire for this research was designed by following guidelines
from other related researches previous conducted (the questionnaire is
available in appendix 1). A pilot test was conducted by distributing the
designed questionnaire to online users via FreeSurveyOnline.com. The pilot test
was conducted in order to test whether the choice of online survey will be
right for this research in terms of data quantity and quality. Survey was
chosen as the preferred data gathering method because it can easily be read and
generalized, and it incorporates studies that are based on present situations (Churchill
and Iacobucci, 2005). Surveys also
provide researchers with the opportunity to access high variables (Ma, 2007). Additionally, surveys are convenient, fast and a cost effective data
gathering method (Zikmund, 1999). It also
reduced the biases associated with other form of data gathering such as
interview. In order to determine the right sample size for this research,
Roscoe’s Rule of Thumb (Roscoe, 1975; cited in Sekaran (2003)) was utilized as the guiding criterion. The rule states that the
sample size must be bigger than the sample components by a high margin.
Therefore, a sample of 10 questions targeted to 120 responders is considered
appropriate for the research, because 120 is greater than 10 by 22 times. Once
the sample size has been determined, and the survey developed, the survey was
hosted at www.FreeOnlineSurvey.com for data gathering. The reason for choosing online survey is because it
offers participants from all over the world the opportunity of contributing to
the studying by sharing their workplace experience as related to perception of
organizational politics and its effects on job performance. Once the survey has
been hosted for contribution, responders were made aware of the survey through
Google advertisement and advertisement on FreeOnlineSurvey.com for its
registered members to participate.
3.3 MEASUREMENT
A self-addressed questionnaire was adopted in the research, and
responders were to answer the questionnaire by choosing between either totally
agreeing or totally disagreeing with each question from a 7-point rating likert
scale method. The adoption of likert scale method is because it is the most
commonly used rating scale method in business research, and it offer responders
the opportunity of being more precise with their responds.
3.4 RESPONDERS’
PROFILE
Basically, the criterion set for responder’s profile are that responders
must be at least 13 years old; can be any gender or race; must understand what
brand loyalty and preference is all about; and must be residing in Malaysia.
3.5 CODING AND
ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT
The data was electronically coded with IBM SPSS data analyzer. Since the
study was conducted only, coding was easier because it can directed be pasted from
the database to the SPSS system. The idea of copying and pasting the data from
the database directly into the SPSS system ensured a higher level of efficiency
and reduced the level of human error (e.g. typing) that might have impacted on
the overall quality of the research. While 120 questionnaires were answered,
only 100 was adopted for analysis because the outstanding 9 contained more than
1 unanswered questions and it was believed that inclusion of these
questionnaires will impact on the quality of the overall research as they will
create missing links with the answered questions.
3.6 GOODNESS OF
MEASURE
In order to validate the overall quality of data gathered, they will
subject to factor analyses. A principle factor analyses was used to dismantle the
huge associated variables and pin-point the main factors to the used for
prediction purposes in the preceding multivariate and regression analysis.
Additionally, a scree plot was used to highlight the main variables for
consideration. The main components for consideration were determined through
their Eigenvalues that are greater than 1, and only 7 of the analyzed
components meet this specification. The significance point for this research is
0.60 but the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was 0.624, and
this demonstrates the high value of data gathered for analyses. The Bartlett’s
Test of Sphericity was highlight significant at 0.00. As suggested by Hair et al,
(1998), selected factors and components were grouped and discussed
appropriately.
To further prove the goodness of data gathered, reliability test was
conducted with Crombach’s Alpha. Sekaran (2003) stated that reliability over 0.80 is good; those within the range of
0.70 are acceptable and reliability below 0.60 is not good. The data gathered
for this research were above 0.70, thus laying down a good base for further
analysis and prove of hypotheses.
3.7 LOADING
The objective of this research paper is to evaluate how the antecedents
of customer loyalty and brand preferences help service providers in the
Malaysian mobile industry to maximize profit. As such, the variable:
antecedents of customer loyalty, brand preference, and profit maximization in
the Malaysian mobile telecommunications industry where loaded into the 10
questionnaires designed for this research.
3.8 ANALYSIS OF
FINDINGS
The findings from this study were also analyzed. The analysis involves
presenting an outlook on what customers think about the antecedents of brand
loyalty and preference, and how it influence profit maximization in the
Malaysian mobile telecommunications industry. The analysis is also linked back
to the theories discussed in the literature review, in order to reveal any
finding that is similar to or contradicts with existing theories. Stated hypotheses
were also proved in this section.
3.9 ETHICS OF DATA
GATHERING AND ANALYSIS
Since the whole data gathering process was via online survey, little
worry was raised in link to the ethics involved in data gathering. This is
because, the online platform set standard guidelines for responders to follow
and offered necessary help for solving all difficulties the responder might
experience. There was no case of data gathering biasness as the responder was
under full control of his or her self, and had the right and opportunity to
respond exactly as he or she fells without any interruption from the
interviewer.
On the analysis part, it became clear that ethics was essential for
maintaining the quality of the research and either proving or disproving the
stated hypotheses. Thus, as stated earlier on, the gathered data were directly
copied from the database and imputed into the SPSS system for analysis. Thus,
there was no change in the data gathered as related to the data analyses.
Ethical principals were always put into full consideration during the whole
data analysis section.
3.10 LIMITATIONS OF
CHOSEN METHODOLOGY
The components of online survey is a common topic of discussion in
numerous literatures (for example, Fricker and Schonlau, 2002; Furrer
and Sudharshan, 2001; Ilieva et al., 2002; Malhotra, 2004; McDaniel and Gates,
2005; Tingling et al., 2003; Wilson and Laskey, 2003) and some of the weak-points of online survey can be considered as
limitations to the overall quality of this research. These limitations are
discussed below.
3.10.1 Skewed
attributes of internet population – not until
recently, the internet was considered as being true representatives of the
overall population. However, studies that question the real representativeness
of online survey to the general population has emerged, suggesting that the
internet is not a real representative of the overall population (for example, Fricker and
Schonlau, 2002; Grossnickle and Raskin, 2001; Miller, 2001; Ray and Tabor,
2003; Wilson and Laskey, 2003). This is a
limitation especially for this research because the 120 responders in real
sense cannot be considered to be a true representative of the global population
and other factors such as differences in culture, lifestyle and management
system can also influence the perception of organizational politics and its
impact on job performance. Job performance on the other hand can be measured in
different ways and be said to mean different things to difference people.
Nevertheless, Fricker and Schonlau (2002) stated that
this difference in terms of representativeness of the internet population to
the overall population is closing in and can be considered as being
insignificant in the near future.
3.10.2 Sample
selection and implementation - research
have frowned heavily on the choice of online survey as a data gathering option,
because of the fact that samples cannot really be determined by the
interviewers. For this research, the man limitation is representativeness of
samples. This is because, unintended responders can pretend to be have meet set
criterion and contribute, while in reality they don’t meet the set criterion.
Qualified responders on the other hand can input wrong information due to
social or psychological pressure. For instance, responders who have been
victimized but suffered little negativities can input that he or she suffered
high level of associated negativity due to the psychological pressure that the
responder might still be facing. However, Kulp and Hunter (2001, p. 35)
associated this limitation as with low significance level, by saying that it
can also be possible with offline surveys.
3.10.3 Responders
lack of online expertise – although the
internet adoption is increasing growing, it has been noted that the majority of
the internet population is made up of users who have not used the internet for
several months (Greenspan, 2003). Thus, the
responders’ skills might be lacking on understanding the current survey
methodology and required skills. Therefore, this can become a limitation as incompetence
responders can enter results based on lack of understand and might find it
difficult to delete mistake based inputs.
3.10.4 Technological
variations - both differences in the
responders’ computer device and their internet connection can influence the
quality of the research. This is because, the model of software used are
different and the higher the model the quality of information presented to its
users. Thus, questions that are properly arranged might appear disorganized in
lower computer versions (Ray and Tabor, 2003) and this can affect the overall quality of research and responders
might not clearly understand the question being asked. Other technological
factors such as electricity and dialup speed can also determine whether the
responder will be able to finish the question or forced to drop out of the
survey as a result of inconveniences caused by these technological factors.
3.10.5 Interpersonal
issues – as compared with offline
interview, there is no direct contact between the responder and the interview
and it can influence the in-depth of the research conducted to a great extent.
This is because, lack of contact between the responders and interview limits
the possibility of in-depth probing that is commonly used in offline survey to
gather more information (Scholl et al., 2002). Brown et al. (2001) supports this argument by stating that telephone interview offer
greater opportunities for responders to pause and reflect on the questions
being asked before presenting sound answers. Thus, responder might be forced to
drop out of the survey if they face any difficult and don’t seem to find the
perfect solution to the difficulty faced.
Although numerous limitations have been highlighted as to how the
quality of the research might be affect, it must be noted that different
measures have been put into place to ensure that the expected negative effects
does not occur. Such measures include a 24/7 support system, where responders
can contact the interviewer via email or phone contact to verify any issue or
difficult faced during the survey. An introductory page is also provided
advising the responders on how to about with the study and urging them not to
participate if they don’t meet any of the set criterions as it could impact the
overall quality of data gathered.
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
4.0 INTRODUCTION OF
THE CHAPTER
In this chapter, all the data gathered will be analyzed and used to
prove stated hypotheses. The data analysis will both factor analyses and
descriptive analyses. The factor analyses will focus primary on testing as well
as proving the reliability of gathered data, while the regression analysis will
focus on proving stated hypotheses.
4.1 RELIABILITY TEST
– CRONBACH’S ALPHA
Computing the reliability of gathered data is important in order to
prove the overall importance of the research. Alpha was developed by Lee
Cronbach in 1951 as a tool for measuring the internal consistence of a test (Mohsen and
Reg 2011). Test of reliability brings all gathered data together and analyze
them against their variables, providing response patterns and factors in order
to determine if the data is significantly reliable. The score of 0.50 or 50%
will be adopted as the measure of reliability for this paper. If the
reliability test scores above 0.50, the whole data will be considered reliable,
but if the score is below 0.50, the data will be considered unreliable.
Table (2): Test of reliability
|
Case
Processing Summary
|
|||
|
|
N
|
 % |
|
|
Cases
|
Valid
|
103
|
92.8
|
|
Excludeda
|
8
|
7.2
|
|
|
Total
|
111
|
100.0
|
|
|
|||
This gathered data has been proven to be reliable from the table (2)
above because it not only meet the stipulated 0.50 score mark, but it exceeded
it by an additional 0.129 which makes the overall reliability score to be
62.9%. Eight questions were missing from the main analysis, and these questions
are part of an incomplete survey. 8 responders had at least one unanswered
questions in their questionnaire, but the outstanding 19 was still included for
analysis because they were still considered valuable and capable of improving
the overall quality of the research. The one unanswered question has been coded
with number 9 for further analysis.
4.2FREQUENCY ANALYSIS
This section will present a frequency analysis of some of the variables
studied in this research. The idea is to understand how each other these
variables weigh up in terms of responder’s thoughts about their influence in
the organization.
Table (3): frequency of the effect of brand image on loyalty
|
I am more loyal to a company with quality
brand image
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
totally agreed
|
36
|
32.4
|
32.4
|
32.4
|
|
strongly agree
|
21
|
18.9
|
18.9
|
51.4
|
|
|
Agree
|
14
|
12.6
|
12.6
|
64.0
|
|
|
not sure
|
8
|
7.2
|
7.2
|
71.2
|
|
|
Disagree
|
7
|
6.3
|
6.3
|
77.5
|
|
|
strongly disagree
|
6
|
5.4
|
5.4
|
82.9
|
|
|
totally disagree
|
19
|
17.1
|
17.1
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
111
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
It was discussed in the literature review that brand image is important
for enhancing customer loyalty. The reason is that companies with quality brand
image are viewed as capable of offering quality services. Additionally, quality
brand image is a product of positive past experience that a customer accustoms
with a brand. This case have been proven in the above analysis, where it can be
seen that the number of responders who agree to be more loyal to brand with
quality image make 63.9% of the total responders. Thus, it can be stated in
view of the analysis that quality brand image is essential for increasing and
maintaining customer brand loyalty in the Malaysian mobile telecommunications
industry.
Table (4): responders’ thought about repurchasing based on service
quality
|
I will repurchase more frequently from a
brand that offers me quality service
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
totally agreed
|
54
|
48.6
|
48.6
|
48.6
|
|
strongly agree
|
24
|
21.6
|
21.6
|
70.3
|
|
|
Agree
|
12
|
10.8
|
10.8
|
81.1
|
|
|
not sure
|
16
|
14.4
|
14.4
|
95.5
|
|
|
Disagree
|
4
|
3.6
|
3.6
|
99.1
|
|
|
strongly disagree
|
1
|
.9
|
.9
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
111
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
The finding from table (4), serves as a support to existing theories
that link quality service to positive repurchase intention. From the literature
review, it was noted that the quality of services offered is an important
determinant of a consumer’s intention to repurchase from a specific brand. In
view of that, it was stated that if the quality of the service is high, then
the potentials to repurchase will be positive, but if the quality of the
service is low, then the potential to repurchase will be negative.
The finding from the above table shows that responders are generally
loyal to companies that provide quality services. This claim is based on the
number of responders (83%) that agree that they will repurchase more frequently
from the brands that offer them quality services.
The idea of linking quality services to loyalty and increased repurchase
intention is based on the perceived value theorem. The theory if of the notion
that the higher value a customer obtains from using a brand, the more loyal the
customer will be. Consumers want to experience the best values at the least
cost because they have unlimited wants but limited resources to satisfy these
wants. Thus, offering higher value than competing brand is a good way of
creating competitive advantage and increasing customers’ repurchase intention.
Table (5): what responders think about recommendation
|
I will recommend brands to people if i
experience quality services from them
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
totally agreed
|
9
|
8.1
|
8.1
|
8.1
|
|
strongly agree
|
15
|
13.5
|
13.5
|
21.6
|
|
|
Agree
|
4
|
3.6
|
3.6
|
25.2
|
|
|
not sure
|
4
|
3.6
|
3.6
|
28.8
|
|
|
Disagree
|
20
|
18.0
|
18.0
|
46.8
|
|
|
strongly disagree
|
23
|
20.7
|
20.7
|
67.6
|
|
|
totally disagree
|
36
|
32.4
|
32.4
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
111
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Still don’t see a reason why corporations should take organizational
politics serious? Well the above table (5) might give you some insight on the
reason because most of the responders (71.1%) are not able to control the
outcome of experienced organizational politics. Thus, they are left at the mercy
of such experience and in the long run have their commitment and performance
reduced.
4.3 REGRESSION
ANALYSIS
4.3.1 DESCRIPTIVE
STATISTICS
The first thing in regression analysis will be to describe the mean of
demographic data gathered in relation to their response part. As illustrated in
the table (4) below, the average age of responders is between the rage of 20 to
39 (1.87). This is because, from the statistical analyses, 1 was denoted to
represent age of 19 and below, 2 represents 20 to 39, 3 represents 40 to 59
while 4 represents 60 and above.
Figure (4): race of responders
From the above analysis, it is clear that Malay have the highest
response followed by Chinese, Indian and then others. This is also in line with
the population statistics of Malaysia, where the Malay make up the largest
ethnic group, followed by the Chinese, Indians and other natives in the
country.
Figure (5): employment status of responders
Additionally, it can be revealed that majority of the responders are
currently employed. This is significant for this paper because it means that
the response to be gathered will be viable because on the fact that the
responders are judging from current trends and status of organizational
politics in their various sectors of employment.
Table (6): gender of responders
|
Gender of Responders
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
male
|
40
|
36.0
|
36.0
|
36.0
|
|
female
|
71
|
64.0
|
64.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
111
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
The final element to be highlighted in the descriptive statistics is
that women made up 64% of the responders. There have been recent studies that
conclude women as making up the biggest gender population in online
environment. If this case is true, then this findings is in line with the
studies on such issue.
4.4 ANOVA
|
Table (8): Model Summaryb
|
|||||||||||
|
Model
|
R
|
R Square
|
Adjusted R Square
|
Std. Error of the
Estimate
|
|||||||
|
1
|
.474a
|
.225
|
.188
|
.346
|
|||||||
|
a. Predictors: (Constant), Gender of Responders, Average Monthly Wages /
Salary, Type of Employment
|
|||||||||||
|
b. Dependent Variable: Ages of Responders
|
|||||||||||
|
Table
(9): ANOVAa
|
|||||||||||
|
Model
|
Sum of Squares
|
Df
|
Mean Square
|
F
|
Sig.
|
||||||
|
1
|
Regression
|
3.655
|
5
|
.731
|
6.101
|
.000b
|
|||||
|
Residual
|
12.580
|
105
|
.120
|
|
|
||||||
|
Total
|
16.234
|
110
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
a. Dependent Variable: Ages of
Responders
|
|||||||||||
|
b. Predictors: (Constant), Gender
of Responders, Average Monthly Wages / Salary, Type of Employment
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
Table (8) above demonstrates a regression of 0.474 between the dependent
variable (age of responders) and the independent variables (constants). Table
(9) on the other hand illustrated a frequency distribution of 6.101 which is
significantly high in relation to the dependent variable and the constants.
This illustration demonstrates a linear relationship between the age of
responders and their type of employment, average monthly wages / salary, and
gender.
The linear relationship that exists between the dependent variables and
constants is as earlier discussed in the correlation above. It was earlier
stated that the older an employee is, the likely he is to be employees on
full-time, and the type of job is not a determinant of the amount of pay as
some part-time jobs pay higher than some full-time jobs. For instance, a
part-time medical consultant is expected to be receiving higher pay than a
full-time security man if both of them where to be working in the same company.
This prove of correlation supported by the ANOVA test pose a new point of
research in the future as these new discoveries can aid the understanding of
how age and type of employment influences the amount of wage / salary
receivable.
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION
5.1. CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
With
the data gathered and analysed in the previous chapters, this chapter aims to
discuss findings from the data analysis. It was stated early that the findings
will be linked to existing theories. Additionally, the stated hypothesis will
be proved in this chapter as well.
5.2. FINDINGS FROM DATA
ANALYSIS
From
the data analysis presented above, numerous findings related to theories on the
antecedents of brand loyalty and preference on profit maximization has been
revealed. It was shown in the findings that customers are more loyal to brand
with quality services and willing to be stay with the brands irrespective of
price based on the fact that responders agree to be frequently purchasing from
brands that offer them quality services. Also, it was found from the study that
responders are likely to recommend brands that offer quality services to other
people.
Thus,
it can be seen from the above revelation that the quality of services offered
is highly important and directly influences the performance of service
providers in the Malaysian mobile telecommunication industry because: consumers
will be loyal to the brand and recommend the brand to other people. However,
there is a question of differentiating service by quality considering the fact
that most if not all the services providers in the Malaysian mobile
telecommunication industry offer similar services. For instance, the main
purpose of mobile telecommunications service providers is to offer the customers
the opportunity to be connected, and all the service providers in the country
do that by offering calling services, SMS services, and internet services. So
how can the quality of service be measured in this case considering the fact
that is no relative differences between the companies in relation to the
services offered.
Well,
the literature review has been successful to pin-point certain factors that can
be used to differentiate service qualities in the mobile industry. Such include
wide area coverage (providing services in the most primitive and rural areas of
the country to keep customers connected no matter where they are); fast upload
and download internet services; extra features that supports customers life
such as health tips and news updates; and affordable pricing. Thus, it can
clearly be seen that service differentiation is highly possible in the
Malaysian mobile industry, as is the case in order mobile industries of the
world. So, corporations should not be reluctant with providing these service features
as clients will use them in measuring the overall benefit of services received
in terms of per value of money spent.
There
is still a situation of low level switch intention. Considering that this is a
telecommunication service where by individuals are offered services based on
identifiable personal qualities, settings and requirements, there is still a
question of whether customers will really switch even if they are not getting
the appropriate services in terms of per value of money spent when compared
with other services providers. For instance, if a customer decides to switch
from one service providers to another, the customers must forego his or her
registered number and this can result in loss of contacts as not all his
contacts will be able to know or get notified about the switch. In cases where
the contacts are mainly businesses contacts, it can also result to loss of
potentially businesses. Thus, the associated alternative that must be foregone
for the customer to successfully switch to another service provider discourages
them from doing so because of potential loss of important contacts.
Additionally, there seems to be little price differences in terms of per value
costing of services provided in the Malaysian mobile industry as all service
provider seems to offer similar costs. For example, it cost 5 to send SMS
within same network and 10 per SMS to different networks in Celcom, Digi and
Maxis. All these factors put together discourages the customer from switching
service providers.
However,
the importance of providing quality service and maintaining good customer
relationship through value added products and services must not be overlooked
as all these factors put together cannot serve as a discouragement if customers
begin to view the services offered by a service provider as being below par in
relation to other customers. No matter the factors that might have been
highlighted above, it is still very important to ensure that customer get best
value in the per price investment on services as it is the only way to really
keep them loyal. Therefore, services providers in the Malaysian industry are
advised to look into the antecedents of customer loyalty and preference as
discussed about as it has a direct influence on their overall performance.
Where customers are offered high value at lowest cost, they will be loyal to
the brand and always prefer it amongst its competitors. Additionally, the paper
discovered that they will also have a high tendency of recommending the service
providers to other customers.
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS
6.1. CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
In
this chapter, this paper will look back at all the contents provided above, and
summarize it in a simple way that will be easier for the reader to understand,
and reflect on the findings from this paper as well.
6.2. REFLECTION ON
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Right
from the first chapter of this paper, the objective of the study was stated as:
“to understand the influence of the antecedents of brand loyalty and preference
on the performance of service providers in the Malaysian industry”. This topic
was chosen because it has been discovered that the Malaysian mobile
telecommunications industry is highly competitive and customer are now focused
on per value of money spent as the determinant of how they conceive a brand to
be good and choose to stay with the brand.
The
antecedents of brand loyalty and preference were found to be related because
when a customer is loyal to a brand, he or she will prefer the brand to its
competitors; and when a customer prefers a brand to its competitor, he or she
will be loyal to that brand. So why the division in the module of
understanding? The reason is that both variables are measured differently.
Loyalty is a product of experience, but preference might occur by just listening
to adverts and word-of-mouths from peoples who have used the products or
services before. It antecedents of these variables were found to be increased
in value conception, increase in possibility to recommend the service provider,
increase in repurchase intention, and reduction in price sensitivity. When all
these outcomes merge together, the output is increase in loyalty and
preference, which will result in subsequent increase in profit maximization for
the firm as a result of increased sales and revenue generation.
Therefore,
it is highly significant to note that the research objective has been meet as
the review of literature and findings from data analysis are in line with these
stated outcomes. It the concluding sections, managers in the Malaysian mobile
industry were reminded of the need not to forget the important of quality
service offering as it can directly be linked to their sustainable business in
their firms.
6.3. IMPLICATIONS FOR
RESEARCH
This
paper has been successful in contributing to exiting theories and research in
the sense that the findings from the paper support theories that stated brand
preference and loyalty as being an important determinant of business success
because loyal customers will increase their repurchase intention and it will
subsequently result in increase in profit for the company.
6.4. IMPLICATIONS FOR
PRACTICE
On
a practical ground, it has been suggested that increasing the quality of
service will directly result in increased profit generation. Therefore, managers
are advised to call to mind the need to always make sure that their services
are of the highest value and highly affordable as it will result in increased
customer loyalty and preferences towards their brand.
6.5. REVISITING THE
LIMITATIONS
Earlier
in the research, it was stated that since data for this study will be collected
via online survey. This method of data gathering was linked to numerous
limitations such as: questions on whether the online population can be
considered as a true representative of the real population, and the issues of
unintended audience answering the questions or intended audience attempting
more than once.
However,
these issues were taken care of in the data analysis. In the case of being a
true representative of the overall population, it must be comprehended that
online survey is far better than offline because it allowed the research to get
response from all over Malaysia, which would have been difficult with offline
survey. The second issue is about unintended audience participating in the
study. This issue was curbed out by programing the survey to reject any IP that
is not from Malaysia. As such, it can be stated that only Malaysians answered
the questionnaire because all the IPs of the responders are based on Malaysia.
As such, it can be seen that the highlighted limitations didn’t implant any
negativity on the data gathered.
6.6. DIRECTIONS FOR
FUTURE RESEARCH
There
is still a great need of importance to expand this paper. This is because, it
is important to understand other factors (besides brand loyalty and preference)
that impact on the overall financial performance of corporations. As such, the
direction for future research should be focused on studying about other
variables besides those contained in this paper.
7 APPENDICES
APPENDIX ONE – PERSONAL
REFLECTION ON THE RESEARCH PROCESS
This
has been an interesting paper in the sense that it has helped the researcher to
gain new grounds understandings about customers’ satisfaction, brand loyalty
and its antecedents. However, it must boldly be stated with pity and gratitude
that undertaking this work was never an easy tasks.
Right
from the beginning, the researcher faced numerous difficulties in relation to
designing the approach for the research, reading through tens of journals for
development of the literature review, data gathering, and data analysis. At
some point, the researcher almost gave up as a result of the high degree of
difficulty experienced. Such period include when the researcher was gathering
data and most of the people approached didn’t pick interest in undertaking in
the research. The reason behind such could be that there were no benefit given
to people for participating in the survey.
Although
the paper is largely associated with numerous difficulties, at the end, the
researcher is happy and joyous because the benefits overweigh these
difficulties. For instance, the researcher have learned more about management
of customer relationship, influence of customers satisfaction on revenue
generation, and factors that can be used to increase customers’ satisfaction.
As such, it is at the best of the researcher’s knowledge that this paper has
been able to position him as a better and reliable leader and manager.
Thus,
prospective researchers that might pick interest in expanding the natures and
scope of this research or going into new research with the recommended topics
in this paper are advised not to be discouraged by the enormous task involved
in producing this kind of quality paper, but should be rather focused on the
potential benefits they will gain from completing the task in the form of
increased knowledge, experience, expertise and new skills. With such note, it
is concluded that this paper was slightly difficult but widely enjoyable,
educating, and inspiring. Thank you very much for reading.
APPENDIX TWO –
QUESTIONNAIRE USED FOR THIS STUDY
PART 1
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
|
Name (s)
|
||||||
|
Gender
|
Male
|
Female
|
||||
|
Form of employment
|
Full-time
|
part-time
|
||||
|
Age
|
18 to 39
|
40 to 59
|
50 and above
|
|||
|
How many timed you
eat in a SelangorianMamak restaurant.
|
4-7 times per week
|
1-3 times per week
|
At least once per
month
|
At least once per
year
|
Never
|
|
PLEASE ANSWER THESE
20 QUESTIONS
|
#
|
|
1 – totally
disagree to totally agree – 7
|
||||||
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
||
|
1
|
I will recommend
brands to people if i experience quality services from them
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
I will repurchase
more frequently from a brand that offers me quality service
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
I am more loyal to
a company with quality brand image
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
My preference for a
brand is usually based on past experience
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5
|
I think quality
service and product is important for quality brand image
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
If my preferred
brand starts to offer low quality products, I will leave them
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
I think that low
price can be used as a measure of low quality
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8
|
I am willing to
purchase more services from a brand that offers quality even if price is
increased
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9
|
I will not purchase
from low quality brands even if price is reduced
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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