Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Indian Housewives’ Purchase Behavior Towards Healthy Food Brands

--Kirti Dutta and Swati Singh

The paper studies the purchase behavior of Indian housewives towards healthy food brands utilizing the framework provided by theory of planned behavior. The paper looks at the relationship of behavioral intention with variables like attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control finally culminating into consumption behavior. The study is based on primary data collected from housewives in Delhi and National Capital Region. The data collected was analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The study attempts to ascertain the relative strength of subjective norm and attitude towards healthy food brands in the context of the Indian housewife, who is in a constant state of conflict between modernism and traditionalism. The study brings forth important implications for marketers of healthy food brands. The structural model highlighted for healthy brands among Indian housewives shows that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control positively impact the behavioral intention, which in turn positively impacts the behavior. The attitude impacts the behavioral intention more than subjective norm, which is heartening news for marketers, since it implies that despite the existence of cultural norms that encourage cooking healthy food as opposed to purchase, the attitude of housewives towards purchase of healthy food brands is becoming more positive.

© 2014 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Energy Versus Relevance in a Comparative Brand Equity Context: Implications for Brand Portfolio Management

--Henrik Uggla

The paper attempts to align brand portfolio management with the concepts of energy and relevance in brand management based on a comparative analysis of three brand equity models. Despite the extreme focus on brand relevance during the last years, it is argued that brand energy might be an even more crucial concept for long-term brand survival.

© 2014 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

The Impact of Brand Loyalty on Consumers’ Sportswear Brand Purchase

--Pankaj Kumar Singh and J K Pattanayak

The paper seeks to find out the factors of brand loyalty towards sportswear brand purchase. The paper reports the results of brand loyalty of 209 respondents aged from 18 to 40. The seven factors of brand loyalty are price, brand name, style, product quality, promotion, store environment and service quality. To collect the necessary data and test the hypotheses, a standard questionnaire was used and distributed among 209 respondents. Factor analysis was conducted to reduce the variable into considerable components. Pearson correlation was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that there is a positive relation between some of the factors of brand loyalty and the sportswear brand purchase.

© 2014 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Rebranding of Bharti Airtel Ltd.: A Case of Logo Change

--Vikas Singla and Nupur Aggarwal

The case attempts to provide an insight into the interesting process of rebranding by studying the drivers and methodology adopted by Airtel, India’s largest private wireless service provider in telecom space. The rebranding process was studied in three phases where in each phase the company has either changed its logo, slogan or both. Firstly, it just underwent a change in slogan as it decided to expand its operations to the entire country. The growth prospects due to telecom boom in the country, intense competition and increasing affordability drove the company to undergo rebranding second time by changing both its logo and slogan. Finally, the study majorly focuses on rebranding that was done in the year 2010 by adopting a change in logo strategy. It underwent rebranding to meet new needs of interconnected youth population and present a new picture of dynamism and innovation in the wake of company’s acquisition of African operations. The study found that skeptics believed that the new logo being similar to Vodafone failed to create brand differentiation among new generation consumers. Consumers’ perspective revealed that the old logo was still more popular than the new logo, which was found to be lagging behind the old logo in terms of familiarity and liking.

© 2014 IUP. All Rights Reserved.