Dec'20
The IUP Journal of Brand Management
Focus
The first paper, “The Maggi Noodles Ban: Perceived Quality, Emotional Trust and Customer Loyalty During and Post Controversy” by Javed Shaikh and Jinal Parikh, is set in the backdrop of the setback faced by Maggi noodles in India, in the context of the accusation that it contained very high lead and MSG content. It explains what exactly happened and how Nestle (owner of the Maggi brand) responded to the negative publicity, so as to put the Maggi brand back in the saddle. The second part presents a quantitative study based on primary research. Firstly, based on the available literature, a conceptual model is drawn up linking brand associations and perceived quality with brand trust and brand loyalty. Analysis of consumer responses to a structured questionnaire using Structural Equation Modeling establishes the proposed relationships in the conceptual model to a very large extent. Based on the secondary and primary research, the paper also provides insights as to how marketers may respond to such situations during and post controversy.
The second paper, “The Effect of Brand Image on University Preference” by Ebebezer Asare Effah, studies the relevance of university image in students’ preference for enrollment in the universities of Ghana, in the light of increasing competition among the universities. This is based on a qualitative approach and uses secondary information supplemented with detailed interviews of students from four renowned universities in Ghana, with a long list of questions on various aspects related to perceived image about the universities, the decision-making criteria, etc. The study concludes that the university’s image impinges on its trustworthiness, positive evaluation, graduate employability, international recognition, pride of association and social recognition. These in turn influence students’ preference for the university.
The last paper, “Brand Portfolio Mantra: Prioritized Brands” by Henrik Uggla, is about the importance of having a common brand portfolio mantra for groups of prioritized brands, particularly in the context of house-of-brands structure of brand architecture.
Consulting Editor
The Maggi Noodles Ban: Perceived Quality, Emotional Trust and Customer Loyalty During and Post Controversy
It is significant to study the impact of controversy on consumer perceptions and emotions during and post controversy. The paper examines whether the controversy-led brand perceived quality and associations had any impact on brand trust and loyalty of instant noodle brand Maggi in India. The techniques used in this study include two parts, primary and secondary research. The secondary research concentrates on the impact of brand controversy on consumers' emotions and quality perceptions and also how Nestle India tackled numerous consumer affairs during and post controversy to establish brand at a pre-controversy level. The primary research investigates the role of brand perceived quality and brand associations in building brand loyalty through brand trust as a mediator during controversy. The findings reveal that even during and post controversy, relationship between brand trust and brand loyalty remains intact because of consumers' emotional trust attached with the brand for more than three decades in India. However, during and post controversy, consumers' attitudinal and behavioral brand loyalty dropped as far as negative quality perceptions were concerned due to the fact that lead and MSG were found in Maggi samples. While considering the paucity of research associated with food brand controversy, this study not only identifies the glitches confronted by the brand, but also recommends crisis response communication strategies as a form of guidelines to avoid such damage to any food brand in future. With the help of attribution theory, we suggest strategies for managerial implications.
The Effect of Brand Image on University Preference
n the light of heightening competition in the global university education industry, the paper ascertains the relevance of university image in students' preference for higher educational institutions in Ghana, an emerging sub-Saharan African country. This inquisition is against the backdrop of liberalization of the industry which has resulted in a mixed public-private participation, particularly as institutions from Asia, Europe and America continue to encroach upon the fortunes of local operators. A qualitative approach using existing documents and in-depth interviews were employed in collecting data from students selected from four universities in Accra, Ghana's capital city. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data in addressing the objectives. The findings indicate that university image influences students' preference for university institutions in Ghana. Some consequences of university image identified included trustworthi-ness, positive students' evaluation of universities, graduate employability and pride of association emanating from students' sense of belonging to universities with positive images. The sample selection was limited to four universities and so the undergraduate population was not sufficiently probabilistically represented. A more elaborate study using a larger sample size from diverse university institutions would improve its external validity and hence generalizability of findings across university institutions in the sub-Saharan African region and, possibly, beyond. The increasing wave of competition in the universities industry calls for a departure from ad hoc application of traditional strategies that are anchored on tuition fee, physical infrastructure, teaching and learning facilities, haphazard new course introduction and uncoordinated marketing communication programs. The university management in the unique service environments of sub-Saharan Africa should consider the findings of this study useful and invest in their institutions' images as a sustainable differentiation strategy to instigate preference among the prospective student population and thus boost enrolments.
Brand Portfolio Mantra: Prioritized Brands
The paper argues that the notion of prioritized brands may be one of the most important concepts of brand portfolio management today. In the era of make-and-buy brand equity and growing house-of-brands, firms must find new strategies for survival.