MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRANNING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS, HO CHI MINH CITY ------------ NGUYỄN VĂN LONG SƠN INFLUENCES OF CONSUMER- BRAND RELATIONSHIP QUALITY ON WORD-OF-MOUTH MASTER THESIS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION HO CHI MINH CITY – 2012 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRANNING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY ------------ NGUYỄN VĂN LONG SƠN INFLUENCES OF CONSUMER- BRAND RELATIONSHIP QUALITY ON WORD-OF-MOUTH Subject: Master of Business Administrator Code: 60.05 MASTER THESIS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SUPERVISOR: Dr. NGUYỄN THỊ MAI TRANG HO CHI MINH CITY – 2012 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Nguyễn Thị Mai Trang for her guidance throughout this research. I would like to thank to all respected lecturers of the eMBA19 course of for their devotions in training and education.
I learn a lot from them. I am appreciative of the help from Mr. Cao Quốc Việt who spent a lot of time to get side by side with me during the research. I also want to thank my classmates for their support.
I would like to especially thank to all members of my family: my Mom, my wife, and my son for their love and their support, encouragement and assistance with this thesis. Ho Chi Minh City, October 2012, Nguyễn Văn Long Sơn TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ii COMMITMENT I would like to commit that this thesis, “Influences of Consumer-brand relationship quality on Word-of-mouth”, was accomplished based on my independent and serious study and scientific research. The data was collected in reality and it has clear origins. In addition to that, the data would be trust-worthily handled and it has never been released in any menu.
Nguyễn Văn Long Sơn TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iii TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT. Research methodology and Research scope. Significances of the research. Structure of the research.
4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. Consumer-Brand Relationship and Its Quality. Consumer-Brand Relationship. Consumer-brand relationship quality.
Conceptual model and hypotheses .1 Six dimensions of consumer-brand relationship:. Love and Passion. Word-of-Mouth (WOM). Proposed conceptual model and hypotheses.
15 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Measurement scales and questionnaire development. Qualitative pilot study. Quantitative pilot study.
Quantitative main study. Methods of data analysis. Reliability assessment of measurement scales (Cronbach alpha). Validity assessment of measurement scales (EFA).
Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). 26 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS. Descriptions of sample. Reliability and validity of the measurement scale.
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA). EFA implementation for independent variables. EFA implementation for dependent variable. Adjust the research model and the hypotheses.
The adjusted research model. The research hypothesis. Testing the adjusted research model and the hypotheses. Testing correlations of constructs.
Testing residuals of dependent variable. Testing research model and hypotheses. 47 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION. Limitation and future research.
50 LIST OF REFERENCES. 51 APPENDIX 1 THE QUESTIONNAIRES (VIETNAMESE VERSION). 63 APPENDIX 2 CRONBACH’S ALPHA ANALYSIS. 67 APPENDIX 3 EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA).
71 APPENDIX 4 MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS (MLR) .1: Testing correlation of constructs .2: Testing assumptions for residuals of dependent variable .3: The MLR analysis of with the sample of 267 participants of study on motorcycle and bank services .4: The MLR analysis of with the sample of 135 parcitipations of study on motorcycles .5: The MLR analysis of with the sample of 132 parcitipations of study on bank services. 80 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v LIST OF TABLE Table 2. The six dimensions of brand relationship quality suggested by Fournier (1998). Measurement scales of independent variables.
Measurement scales of dependent variable. Frequency Table of Product/Service. Frequency Table of Brand. Statistical report of Demographic variables.
Cronbach’s alpha of variables. KMO and Bartlett's Test. Total Variance Explained. Rotated Component Matrix.
EFA results of independent variables. EFA results of dependent variable. MLR results using Enter technique. MLR variables coefficients.
Results of testing the hypotheses. Results of testing H5 .46 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vi LIST OF FIGURE Figure 2. Proposed conceptual framework. The adjusted research model.
The revised research model .45 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 1 ABSTRACT This study seeks to investigate the influences of brand relationship quality on word-of-mouth behavior among consumers in Ho Chi Minh city. A model that incorporates dimensions of consumer-brand relationship quality and word-of-mouth was tested with a sample of 267 consumers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The results showed that to Vietnamese consumers, word-of-mouth would not be influenced by Self-connection while Passion and Trust have very strong influences on Word-of-mouth; Intimacy also has positive influences on Word-of- mouth but weaker. By comparison between users of services and consumers of products, Trust plays the most important role on word-of-mouth to users of services while Passion is the most important factor influencing on word-of-mouth to consumers of products.
These findings suggest that managers should establish high-quality consumer-brand relationships in order to get positive word-of-mouth among consumers. This study provides firms with the knowledge needed to more effectively implement relationship-marketing activities. As the economy of Vietnam continues to grow, competition intensifies, and to ensure service excellence, firms need to establish strong relationships with their consumers as the quality of the consumer- brand relationship can increase word-of-mouth behavior. KEYWORDS: brand relationship quality, word-of-mouth, Ho Chi Minh city.
TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 2 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction Branding plays an important role in marketing. In advanced economies, both marketing academics and practitioners pay a lot of attentions in branding during the past years (e., Aaker, 1991; Aaker, Fournier, & Brasel, 2004; Woodside & Walser, 2007; Yorkston, Nunes, & Matta, 2010). However, little attention has been paid to branding issues in the developing world, especially in countries that have recently transformed their economies from centrally planned economies to market-oriented economies, such as Vietnam (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2011).
In Vietnam, the role of branding has only recently become of interest to Vietnamese practitioners in recent years for the urgent of loosing Vietnamese brands to foreigner firms in international market (e., the situation of Buon Me Thuoc coffee brand registered by a China-based firm in China, Phu Quoc fish-sauce brand registered by a HongKong-based firm in China, Viet Huong fish-sauce registered by a US-based firm in the US and later in European countries and Australia, …). Before 1986, most Vietnamese firms did not recognize the importance of brands and branding. Unbranded practice or the use of a company’s name as a brand name to distinguish one product from others was a common approach. From 1986, the introduction of the open-door policy of the Vietnamese government, which led to the entry of multinational enterprises into the market, together with the launching and promoting of international brands by multinational enterprises has shifted Vietnamese consumers’ shopping habits from buying products to buying brands.
Also, this development has encouraged Vietnamese firms to adopt branding practices, resulting in the launching of several local brands, TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 3 such as MissSaigon (perfume) and Yomilk (yogurt; Nguyen, Nguyen, & Barrett, 2008). Academics and practitioners have focused on how to build a strong brand (e., Aaker, 1991; Woodside and Walser, 2006). Accordingly, a number of approaches have been developed which characterize the strength of a brand. Some stem from cognitive psychology, i., based on consumer cognitive processes, such as brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and brand associations (e.
Others come from information economics, i., based on the signal of the brand to the consumer such as brand credibility and brand clarity (e., Erdem and Swait, 1998). Although based on different perspectives, their common focus is on what makes a brand become strong, i., building a high quality relationship between the brand and the consumer (Fournier, 1998; de Wulf et al. The relationship between brands and consumers has been studied by academics for several years (e., Aaker et al., 2004; Fournier, 1998; Veloutsou & Moutinho, 2009). Marketers are also increasingly trying to build the relationship between their brands and consumers.
Fournier offered a comprehensive model of brand–consumer relationships. This model covers all aspects that contribute to a high-quality relationship between a brand and its consumer. Research Objectives As mentioned above, building strong consumer-brand relationships is an important objective in marketing. Research on consumer-brand relationship quality has focused heavily on advanced economies.
Little research has been devoted to investigating this important issue in the developing world, especially in transition markets like Vietnam. The objective of this study is building and testing theoretical framework on the relations between consumer-brand relationship quality’s dimensions and word-of-mouth in context of Vietnam to investigating the influences of consumer-brand relationship quality dimensions on word-of-mouth. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Research methodology and Research scope This study comprises 2 stages: pilot study and main study.
In the pilot study, a qualitative approach was used to explore whether the scales for measuring the constructs are suitable or not. Then, some necessary adjustments have been made. The pilot study was carried out in Ho Chi Minh city. In the main study, a quantitative approach was employed.
By interviewing the consumers in Ho Chi Minh city, who have experiences in using motorcycles and bank services, data were collected for analysis. This phase is to test the reliability of the measurement scales using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Multiple Linear Regression analysis (MLR) was employed to test the research model and hypotheses. SPSS software version 16 was used for data analysis 1.
Significances of the research This study are practically meaningful in brand literatures with the result from testing the measurement scales of consumer-brand relationship quality’s dimensions and word –of-mouth with Vietnamese consumers samples. The results of this study are expected to enhance firms’ understanding of brand relationship quality and it’s dimensions as well as their roles to word-of- mouth. Such an understanding will help companies to design suitable communication programs to promote their brands in the market. The result of the study is a source of reference for marketing researchers in Vietnam market.
Structure of the research The structure of this research consists of five chapters: chapter 1 presents research background of the study, research objectives, research methodology, and research scope. Chapter 2 reflects the current knowledge of marketing scholars regarding consumer-brand relationships quality and word-of-mouth. Based on these TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 5 literatures, the author suggested 7 hypotheses and proposed a conceptual model for this study. Chapter 3 presents the research methodology used to modify and evaluate the measurement scales, the research model, and the hypotheses.
Chapter 4 discusses the analysis of data related to the evaluation of measurement scales, research model and hypotheses. Chapter 5 presents the main conclusions and recommendations based on the results of the study in chapter 4. The limitations of this study is also presented in chapter 5. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.
Introduction Chapter 2 introduces literature review of consumer-brand relationship quality and word-of-mouth. Further more, a conceptual model and hypothesis were proposed. This chapter consisted of 3 main parts: (1) literature review of consumer- brand relationship quality, (2) literature review of word-of-mouth, (3) proposed conceptual model and hypothesis of the study. Consumer-Brand Relationship and Its Quality 2.
Consumer-Brand Relationship The idea that consumers and brands can relate to each other is referred to as “brand relationship” or “consumer–brand relationship” (e. Fournier, 1998; McAlexander et al., 2002; Parvatiyar and Sheth, 2001; Webster, 1992). The consumer–brand relationship concept is an important research topic because of advantages: reduced marketing costs, ease of access, acquiring new customers, customer retention, brand equity and more profit (Blackston, 2000; Dowling, 2002; Reichheld, 1996; Winer, 2001).