The Relationship of Brand Equity to Purchase Intention

--Samithamby Senthilnathan and Uthayakumar Tharmi

This study empirically examines the relationship between Brand Equity (BE) as the independent variable and Purchase Intention (PI) as the dependent variable in relation to branded baby soaps selectively. While both the variables individually have high level attributes of the customers, the Pearson’s correlation analysis explores a positively significant linear relationship between BE and PI. This implies that the PI of a customer for purchasing a branded baby soap can be predicted with the customer’s nature of BE. The correlation coefficient between the BE and PI indicates that the BE of a customer is useful to explain the variation in PI of a customer. Further analysis of regression model with intercept indicates that it needs additional suitable variables to predict unexplained variation of 68% of PI. However, the model without intercept indicates that BE alone can predict the PI by explaining its more than 99% variation.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Consumer Expectation, Attitude, and User Occasion of Wellness Services and Its Effect on Wellness Center Loyalty

-- S Satya, P Ganesan and Swathi Ravichandran

The international market for wellness services is estimated to be $150 bn. The wellness industry in India, described as being a sunrise sector, is valued at $2.5 bn. This study explores the consumer behavior of wellness clients by understanding the expected benefits, attitude towards services and user occasion. 310 wellness clients were studied through a questionnaire. Six behavioral factors evolved, with reliability ranging from 0.90 to 0.67. All the six factors were found to have a significant and positive effect on the wellness center loyalty. The factor anti-ageing remedy seekers and strong reviewers had the greatest effect on wellness loyalty. This gives a clear indication as to which factor to focus on and accordingly, promote the services. Future research is recommended with a focus on rating customer experiences at wellness centers.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

The Unethical Practices of Food Advertisements Targeted at Children: A Parental Viewpoint

-- Garima Malik

The Indian food market for children has witnessed a tremendous growth in recent years, and is expected to carry on the momentum in future. Fast food advertising has become a major concern in food product advertising. Advertising to children, in particular, has become a hot topic as it has been observed that there is a lack of advertisers’ responsibility. This study helps to understand the parental viewpoint towards the unethical practices carried on by the food product advertisers, so that corrective action can be taken by the regulatory bodies. The study also attempts to find out parents’ preferences of food items for their children. A quantitative survey, which sheds more light on this research was conducted in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Jaipur, using a well structured questionnaire. The data collected was then analyzed by chi-square test and cluster analysis. The findings highlight the increasing risk associated with too many food advertisements that rely on tricks and gimmicks to attract children. Finally, the paper provides a set of recommendations for the Indian parents and government regulatory bodies.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Purchase of Pre-Owned Small Cars in India: An Exploratory Study

-- Lalit Mohan Kathuria and Varun Singla

India is the one of the top 15 largest passenger car markets globally, and is expected to be among the top 10 markets by 2016. Post-liberalization, many foreign manufacturers have set up their operations in India. The latest trend of new cars on the Indian road has led to the emergence of an entirely new market in the pre-owned cars segment. It is expected that the small car segment is set to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15-16% in the next five years. Also, the pre-owned car market is set to grow at a CAGR of 18-20% till 2015, and small cars dominate the pre-owned car market as well. Though the unorganized segment dominates the pre-owned car market, the organized market also has been gaining momentum. About 75-80% of the transactions in the pre-owned car segment occur in the unorganized sector, and the organized players account for only 20-25% of the pre-owned car market. This study aims to identify the factors influencing the buying behavior of customers towards the purchase of pre-owned small cars, and to analyze the preference of customers towards the organized and unorganized market during the purchase of pre-owned small cars. ‘Budget constraint’, ‘cheaper than a new car’, ‘upgradation of driving skills’ and ‘desire to own a car’ were the important factors that influenced the purchase of a pre-owned small car. Clear title, negotiation, and mutual trust were the important reasons for preferring the unorganized market for the purchase of a pre-owned small car, whereas the respondents preferred the organized market due to clear title, professional assistance, genuine spare parts, certification, and easy availability of after-sales service.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Case Study: Neuromarketing: Is Campbell in Soup?

-- S Samuel Babu and Thalluri Prasanth Vidyasagar

Neuromarketing is the application of cognitive neurosciences to the realm of marketing and market research. This field of study uses a brain-mapping/neuroimaging medical technology, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study hemodynamics (cerebral blood flow and blood oxygenation) in the neuron-activity of consumers at the time of selecting and buying a product. Neuroscience is the study of nervous system. With its origin in ancient Egypt, this field of study gradually evolved over the centuries. The development of molecular biology, electrophysiology and computational neuroscience in the second half of 20th century helped to understand the working of neuron-networks in brain that cause psychological responses such as emotion, cognition and intellectual behavior as well as resulting physiological responses. An attempt to delineate the neural bases of mental diseases like psychotic disorders (e.g., mania, schizophrenia), Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease or addiction propelled the scientists to study the physiological and electrochemical processing of signals transmitted by neurons.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.