Does the Country Of Origin (COO) of the bank providing credit card service has
an impact on customers’ decision to avail the same? Evidently, yes. The same is
true of customer involvement too. Further, COO of the bank and customer involvement also together impact upon customers’ choice of bank for availing credit card service. These are the findings of the paper, “Impact of Country of Origin and Customer Involvement on Brand Preference – Discriminant Modeling in Indian Credit Card Business”, by Tapan K Panda.

In the next paper, “A Study on Selection of Most Preferred Brands”, by Gaurav Gupta and Vikas Singla, Maruti, Colgate, Coke, Dettol, Nike, Samsung and Airtel are the most preferred brands in their respective categories, i.e., motor cars, oral care, soft drinks, hand wash, sportswear, mobile phones and mobile communication service. This is the conclusion that the authors have drawn based on a study conducted among consumers in the Delhi NCR region, which used the run test to identify the most preferred brand among two shortlisted brands in each product category.

The precariat are those who are financially in a precarious position, as they do not have permanent jobs or an assured and steady income; and this class of people is steadily increasing in numbers. The paper, “Luxury and the Precariat: An Unusual Pairing?”, by Rachel Sussman-Wander Kaplan, explores how corporations customize luxury so as to make them accessible to the precariat. It also explains how luxury is marketed to the precariat so as to provide them the experience of luxury, which they would otherwise not be able to afford.

Anything can be branded; and this holds true for politicians and political parties as well. The paper, “Political Branding: The New-Age Mantra for Political Leaders and Parties”, by Amit Kumar, Somesh Dhamija and Arun Dhamija, explores how political branding has gained prominence in the recent past, thanks to the advent of modern technology. Social media have also made political brands subject to closer scrutiny and to be more accountable for their omissions and commissions.

The various dimensions of brand equity, i.e., perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand association and brand trust are predictors of purchase intention. This is established in the context of purchase of home appliances in the paper, “Impact of Brand Equity on Purchase Intention of Home Appliances”, by S Lakshmi and V Kavida.

-R Harish
Consulting Editor