AN INDEPTH STUDY OF ON THE BRAND SWITCHING BEHAVIOR OF MALT DRINK CONSUMER
ABSTRACT
An In-Depth Study on the Brand Switching Behavior of Maltese Drink Customers is the title of this research project. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the effect of the marketing mix on the brand switching behavior of malt beverages. The characteristics that encourage brand switching among consumers of malt beverages and identify the relative advantages of the different brands were enumerated for this study with the chosen areas. Based on the study’s goals, two hypotheses were developed. The study’s participants were selected among Engu’s malt beverage consumers and retailers. The simple size was calculated using Bourley’s formular. Simple tables and percentages were utilized to assess the data after questionnaires were used to gather information from respondents. Depending on the analysis, the availability or lack thereof of malt drink brand and desire for now experience to taste something different. Because there is a considerable correlation between pricing adjustments or differences in malt drink brands and customers brand switching, manufacturers should start an expensive and critical internal audit of their distributional strength.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
When a consumer decides to buy a product from a different brand than they typically or previously do, they are said to be brand flipping. When a consumer or group of consumers shifts their allegiance from one brand of a specific type of goods to another, this is known as brand switching. This brand swapping may be permanent or only momentary.
Brand switching, also referred to as brand jumping, is the decision to switch from consistent use of one product or brand to steady use of another but comparable product.
Brand switching is especially prevalent with goods that don’t appear to have much quality variation between brands, such as bottled water, dairy products, paper towels, etc.
Price promotions, in-store displays, superior availability, perceived innovations or improvements in competing brands, a desire for novelty, the number of brands available, perceived risk, frequency of purchase, changes in quality, or level of satisfaction with the most recent purchase are the most frequent causes of brand switching.
While a consumer is in a market, it is feasible to do research into their attitudes toward brands, likelihood to move from the brand they are now using, and specifically which other brand they may switch to. This makes it possible to create a picture of potential brand switching behavior. It is possible to model the market to predict future market share if the switching tendency of customers is understood. These models might also show how the competing brands are positioned in relation to one another.
Marketing is defined as “the management process responsible for discovering, predicting and satisfying profitable consumer requirement” by the chartered institute of marketing in England in 1984.
Marketing was also described as “the performance of business operations that steer the flow of goods and services to the consumers or users” by the American Marketing Association (1960:1). In other words, marketing encompasses all actions made to facilitate the flow of products and services. Nwaizuggo (2004:8) asserts that the three pillars of modern marketing are as follows:
(i) Consumer satisfaction
(ii) Profitable sales volume
(iii) Integrated marketing
This means that consumers satisfaction must be at the centre of any business motive. The central aim of modern marketing is all about ensuring the consumer satisfaction and also to ensure that consumers always continue to patronize the marketer’s brand.
The American marketing association defines branding as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods or a services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
(2006: 170) defined branding as the activity of giving a particular name and image to goods and services so that people will be attracted to them a tool of marketing used for the purpose of product identification among other uses. Branding is also to win consumers brand loyalty.
Brand name is the name given to a product by the company that produces it and this enable the consumers to easily identify the products. Modern marketing is facing a lot of challenges which includes growing affluence and change in the tast of consumers coupled with the drift of market from a monopolistic structure to that of a near perfect competition consumer now have lots of products alternative to choose from. The result is a gradual elimination of the “concept called “Brand Loyalty” and the emergency of a new idea called “Brand Switching”.
Brand switching is the act of stopping purchases of one brand of a product in favor of another. In Nigeria, product multiplicity was brought about by the marketing concept and the market structure (perfect competition or rather monopolistic). There are many product near alternatives available today, and consumers are swinging from one product brand to another like a pendulum.
The Nigerian soft drink sector has recently suffered from brand switching. For instance, there are several different malt beverage brands available, including Amstle Malta, Guinness Malt, Hi-malt, and Grand Malt. Another study demonstrates that consumers do occasionally swap between brands.
This merely suggests that malta drink marketers have been working hard to figure out how to counter this tendency. In light of the aforementioned, the research’s objective is to investigate the causes of soft drinks. This will help marketers avoid becoming exposed to consumer brand switching behavior.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Consumer behavior is the study of how people, groups, and organizations choose, purchase, use, and discard products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants, according to Kotler and Keller (2006:193).
Kanuk and Schiffman (2007: 3) Consumer behavior is defined as the actions that consumers take when looking for, purchasing, using, assessing, and discarding goods and services that they believe will meet their requirements. Their actions are concentrated on how people choose to spend their available resources (time, money, and effort) on things that are related to consuming. This covers what they acquire, why they do so, where they purchase it, how frequently they do so, how they evaluate it following their purchase, how such evaluations affect their subsequent purchases, and how they use it.
While watching and attempting to explain consumer behavior, the main psychological disciplines come into play. cognitive psychology was first. Consumer behavior is heavily influenced by cognitive psychology, which is the study of all knowledge-related (mental) behaviors. These behaviors include attention, perception, memory, comprehension, and decision-making.
The study of how people’s personalities, attitudes, and motivational behaviors influence and are influenced by social groups is the second psychological science that contains theories to explain specific phenomena (Britaninnica Online) Two key areas of social psychology research that have a significant impact on consumer behavior are the relationships between affect, social influence, and reference groups.
Yet, limited issue solving occurs when a consumer decides to try a new brand and exhibits behavior in response to an emotional or environmental attraction, such as a point-of-purchase display. This condition encourages the consumer to demonstrate brand switching behavior.
Not all factors influencing brand switching are emotionally appealing. Brand switching behavior may also be influenced by how customers react to other marketing mix stimuli, such as the prices of various brands, distribution strategies, product designs, and quality.
Given the aforementioned details, this study’s primary issue is to
i. Conduct an investigation or identify the characteristics or circumstances that lead malt drink consumers to switch brands.
ii. To determine the effects of customer brand switching behavior on the marketing methods used by producers of malt beverages.
iii. To find out how factors in the marketing mix, such as pricing, product quality and design, distribution, and advertising, affect soft drink consumers’ decisions to move to a different brand.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Unfortunately, in a free market economy like ours, no marketer can afford to be complacent while their products are losing market share to rivals. As a result, the main goal of this research is to:
1. To determine how the marketing mix affects customers who buy malt beverages who switch brands.
2. To identify the factors that encourage brand switching among consumers of malt beverages
3. To determine the relative advantages of the several brands listed for this study in a particular market.
4. To determine the impact of customer brand switching on the rate at which various brands are consumed in the market under study.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Why is it vital to assess the effects of malt drink brand switching behavior?
2. What encourages switching brands?
3. What benefits do different brands’ strengths have on the market?
4. How does brand switching by customers affect the market’s rate of consumption of various brands?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following hypothesis has been developed and will be put to the test in order to produce a clear result:
The switching of soft drink brands by consumers is not strongly impacted by pricing variations
H1: Price disparities have a substantial impact on consumers’ decision to switch soft drink brands.
H02: Consumers do not switch soft drink brands frequently due to distributional efficiency of soft drink availability.
H1: Consumer soft drink brand switching is significantly influenced by the accessibility of malt beverages and their distributional effectiveness.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study’s importance can be seen in the following:
– It will allow manufacturers (marketers) to pinpoint the customer brand switching trigger.
– It will support consumers’ inevitable role and general market research in the new business era much more.
– It will assist brand owners in creating marketing plans that will allow them to lessen the negative effects of brand switching on their product line.
The study’s relevance to other consumer goods marketers that compete with companies that make similar products, such cosmetics and beverages, is another goal of the researcher.
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