eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

Marketing channel structures have been in the interest of researchers, yet little amount of attention has been paid to explore the competition between concurrent sales channels of manufacturer and retailer; moreover the earlier research has been focused more or less on consumer cross-channel behavior and competition between brands. Prior research on brand personalities has strongly focused on confirming the brand personality scale and measures, exploring the effect of the brand personality to the consumer purchasing behavior or intended purchasing behavior.

Therefore the objective of this study was to explore the impact of marketing channel structure on brand personality perception. Additionally channel attributes were also in the interest of the study. Finally the aim was to be able to conclude if brand personality and channel attributes could be used to predict consumer behavior and therefore provide insight to marketing channel strategy of the firm.

METHODOLOGY:

Quantitative method was applied in this study. Data was collected using Internet-based survey during spring 2014. Collected data was then analyzed by using mainly factor analysis.

FINDINGS:

Based on the findings, if might be suggested that marketing channel does impact the brand personality perception of consumer. Brand personality traits found for two groups in the interest of the study suggest that different personality traits are perceived when consumers faced with the manufacturer channel or brand specific channel or retailer channel. Brand personality impacts consumer purchasing behaviour and therefore brand personality could be considered as a strategic option for manufacturer to benefit from with regards to the channel and brand positioning decisions and implementation.