Creating and Sustaining Strong Brand Equity by Chinese Manufacturing Companies in the International Market

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, it would give me great pleasure to show my gratitude to my professor, for his propositions, remarks, understanding and patience. It would also be an honour to express gratitude to my parents, my mother, my father, my sister and my brother for their endless support in my life and allowing me to make all my decisions. I would also like to take the opportunity to show appreciation to my co-workers for their expert cooperation on every occasion. I would also like to be grateful to the Department, managers of the university, instructors and students who have supported me throughout this research.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

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DECLARATION

I declare that the content presented in this thesis/dissertation is, in my understanding and opinion, original and has not been presented for scholarly assessment in the past, either completely or partly, for an academic degree at this educational institution or elsewhere. I would also like to admit that I have studied and understood the principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines of the University regarding the higher academic degree research award and to my dissertation. I would also like to declare that I have abided by the University's principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines.

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ABSTRACT

Chinese market is developing with an unimaginable speed. In the past Chinese manufacturing companies used to be back-end workhorse to produce products for western countries at lower prices. Although this was good for gaining market share the companies missed out on the chance to produce string brands and create brand equity within the Western markets. Since entering into the international markets the Chinese manufacturers have met a great number of challenges. In order to compete in international markets, building strong manufacturing brand is not just a matter of revenue but survival. Thus, China should build more international brands and create more revenue from a better price premium and consumer loyalty. The purpose of this research is to develop a branding strategy for Chinese manufacturing companies in international markets. On a cross-cultural basis, the USA market will be examined as a potential market for Chinese manufacturing industry.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Research Background1

Research Aims and Objectives3

Structure of the thesis3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

Branding5

Brand Positioning7

Marketing Goals and Strategies8

Brand Communications10

Recent Trends in Brands and Branding13

Brand Equity15

The Changing World of International Market18

The importance of strong brands20

Weaknesses of Chinese manufacturing brands21

The impact of culture on Chinese companies brand building23

Existing branding strategies for Chinese manufacturing companies23

Difference between Chinese and U.S. Manufacturing Industry26

Difference between Chinese and U.S. Consumption Culture28

International Automotive Market Overview30

Conclusion and further research31

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY33

Research Design33

Research Aims and Objectives34

Data Collection34

Time Scale35

Reliability and Validity35

Ethical Concerns36

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION39

Overview39

Country-of-Origin Effects and Implications on the Automobile Marketing40

Industrial Development in China and Globalisation48

Comparison of Chinese and U.S. Automobile Market53

Chinese Automobile Market53

U.S. Automobile Market55

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS58

Conclusion58

Difficulties and Limitations61

REFERENCES63

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader a brief overview about the research topic and provides ...