Why are 16-24 year old Indian boys based in London so keen to buy a brand and not a product?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

1.1. Background of the Study1

1.2. Aims and Objectives3

1.3. Research Questions4

1.4. Rationale of the Study5

1.5. Ethical Concerns5

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW6

2.1. Introduction6

2.2. Branding6

2.3. Consumer Behaviour7

2.3. Theories of Consumer Behaviour10

2.4. Brand versus Local Products11

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY16

3.1. Introduction16

3.2. Methodology Employed16

3.4. Data Analysis17

3.4.1. Qualitative Analysis17

3.4.2. Quantitative Analysis17

3.5. Rationale for Employing a Qualitative Study18

3.6. Rationale for Employing a Quantitative Study18

3.7. Survey Questionnaire19

3.9. Participants of the Study20

3.10. Reliability and Validity21

3.11. Informed Consent21

3.12. Conclusion21

REFERENCES22

APPENDIX29

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

Brands play a significant informational function for consumers. In their study of the annals of development of brands, Srull (1984) discovered that brands permitted buyers to accredit persona to distinct manufacturers' products. Research has furthermore shown that when a living brand is utilized to insert a new product, buyers are inclined to use their living worth insights (as they concern to the initial branded product) to assess the new proposing.

Brand image is aligned with the needs and desires of a target market by utilizing the “four P's” (product, price, place, and promotion). The combined success of these factors determines brand strength, the degree of loyalty or attachment customers feel toward the brand. There are a number of related concepts that have been summarized with the use of some of the key principles of brand equity; a brand is necessarily intertwined with a product(s), but it is different because there is a consumer investment over time. Brand equity consists of the incremental, added value qualities that synergistically combine in the minds of consumers. A brand may be a product, but it can also represent an organization through the creation of a unique identity (Zaltman & Coulter, 1995, pp. 35).

At the high end of the dimension of involvement are products and services that are carriers of significant symbolic meaning. Here, emotional processes rather than cognitive evaluation are dominant. Instead of focusing on the individual decision-makers, several studies of consumer choice where the involvement is high that draw attention to the social and cultural context. From an interpretive perspective, and drawing on contemporary social theory, the consumer is viewed as taking symbolic meanings into account in making consumption choices, and not making a choice simply on a judgment of the products' utilities.

These meanings also serve in the construction, maintenance and communication of social and individual identity. Possessions may be used to portray images of personality, lifestyle and social connectedness, and individuals who feel that they lack a personal quality may attempt to compensate by using symbolic resources, drawn largely from possessions (Wansink, 2003, p. 111). Attempts to use consumption to cope with low self-esteem have been found to be associated with dysfunctional and even addictive consumer brand perception.

Products and their symbolic meanings are deeply implicated in many areas of interpersonal-brand perception and in the development and affirmation of social relationships, especially through the act of gift-giving. Every culture prescribes certain occasions and ceremonies for gift-giving and this play a significant ...