The Impact of Product Quality on Consumer Brand Loyalty
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
- To find out if product quality is a useful tool for achieving organizational goals.
- To determine the impact of product quality on consumer brand loyalty.
- To know the factors that affect brand loyalty.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Product quality
As discussed under the introductory section of this chapter, this paragraph aims to examine the concept of product quality. This would be achieved by looking principally at the meaning of product quality and theories/models of product quality.
Meaning of product quality
The concept of product quality can be critically defined from two different perspectives, namely objective quality and the perceived quality (Brunsø et al., 2005). Objective quality refers to the technical, measurable, and verifiable nature of products/services, processes, and quality controls. This includes product features, product performance, durability amongst others. While subjective or perceived quality refers to the consumers’ value judgments or perceptions of quality. Product Quality encompasses the features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. In other words, product quality is defined as “fitness for use” or ‘conformance to requirement” (Russell and Taylor, 2006).
Perceived quality is a result of consumers’ subjective judgment on a product (Zeithaml, 1988; Dodds et al., 1991; Aaker, 1991). Bhuian (1997) defined perceived quality as a judgment on the consistency of product specification or an evaluation on added value of a product. Garvin (1983) proposes that perceived quality is defined on the basis of users’ recognition while objective quality is defined on the basis of product or manufacturing orientation. The differences between objective quality and perceived quality lie in that objective quality has a pre-design standard to a product, and perceived quality is influenced by internal and external product attributes which is an evaluation basis for consumers (Olshavsky, 1985; Zeithaml, 1988). Kan (2002) points out that objective quality is that consumers will use their experience and knowledge to evaluate overall product benefit, function, durability, technology and reliability when consumers purchase a product. Perceived quality is a consumer judgment on the accumulative product benefits and a subjective feeling on product quality (Zeithaml, 1988; Dodds et al., 1991). Aaker (1991) argues that perceived quality can show the salient differentiation of a product or a service and becomes a selective brand in consumers’ mind.
One of the reasons why perceived quality is different to real quality is because a previous bad image of a product may influence consumers’ judgment on product quality in the future; even if the product quality has been changed, consumers may not trust that product because of their unpleasant experience in previous (Aaker, 1996). However, manufacturers and consumers have different views on the judgment of the quality dimensions (Morgan, 1985; Aaker, 1996), customers rarely hold enough information to assess a product objectively and even though customers have enough information, there may be insufficient time and motivation to do a further judgment, and at the end they may only be able to select little important information to make an evaluation on quality (Aaker, 1996; Wan, 2006). In essence, perceived product quality is very significant in maintaining existing customers. Adding to this, perceived quality is a comparative concept which possesses situational, comparative, and individual attributes. Perceived quality will be affected by factors such as previous experience, education level, and perceived risk and situational variables such as purchase purpose, purchase situation, time pressure, and social background from consumers (Holbrook & Corfman, 1985). In summary, perceived quality is a consumer subjective judgment on product quality, and he or she will evaluate product quality from their previous experiences and feelings and according to how it meets their expectations.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
In the social sciences and some other disciplines, the following research methods can be applied, depending on the objective of the research:
- Qualitative Research: Shank (2002) defined quality research as “a form of systematic empirical enquiry into meaning. It aims to provide an understanding of how and why things are as they are. Qualitative research is especially effective in obtaining culturally specific information about the values, opinions, behaviours, and social contexts of a particular population.
- Quantitative Research: it refers to the systematic empirical investigation of a social construct through the use of statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. It aims at classifying features, counting them, and constructing statistical models in order to explain what is observed.
- Mixed Methods Research: For this research, this involves the use of both the qualitative research method and quantitative research method.
The mixed research method is most appropriate for this study. This is because the combination of both the quantitative and qualitative approaches will provide a better understanding of the research problem than either of the approaches alone.
Population of Study
To get a better understanding of the degree of effect product quality has on brand loyalty, this research studied Intercontinental Distiller users in the Ota of Ogun state, Nigeria. According to the data gotten from Intercontinental Distiller Engineering office in Victoria Island, the population of those who use Intercontinental Distiller in the Ota was estimated at 267, 301.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION/ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF DATA
Presentation/Analysis and Discussion of questionnaire Data
FREQUENCY TABLES
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
This chapter serves a conclusion to the study. It aims at carefully and clearly stating out the findings that were revealed by this research work by summarizing these findings, coming up with a conclusion from the findings and recommendations for further research.
Summary of Findings
This research work was aimed at understanding the degree to which product quality influenced brand loyalty especially when it came to the Nigerian marketing environment. This work was also aimed at finding out the other reasons that were responsible for brand loyalty in the Nigerian consumer goods sector. In order to get a better understanding on the concept of product quality, how it is measured, and brand loyalty, literature on product quality and brand loyalty by different scholars and models on product quality were reviewed.
After these models and literature were reviewed, gaps in the literature and models were indentified and an overall research question was posed. The study made use of a theoretical framework to further explain the concepts of the research work. The theory used in this study was the Disconfirmation-of-expectation paradigm (Oliver 1980) which states that that satisfaction or dissatisfaction responses arise from an evaluation of pre-purchase expectations and compared to cognitions about the product-related experiences or outcomes actually realized in the consumption of the product. This comparison results in expectancy disconfirmation which ranges from negative (when expectations exceed the actual outcome) to positive (when actual outcome meet or exceed expectations). A conceptual model was also derived to further explain the concept of product quality and brand loyalty which could be adopted for the Nigerian market.
In order to find answers to the research question posed in this study, the qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. The study made use of questionnaire and interviews to collect data from the respondents who were arrived at by purposive sampling technique. The findings discovered in this study are presented in the two categories below:
- Key findings from literature review
- Key findings from field study
This categorization is to enable a clearer understanding of the findings made in this study both in the literature review and the field study.
Key findings from literature review
1.) Subjective quality influenced customer brand loyalty. Product quality is classified into two categories; the objective quality and the subjective quality. The objective quality refers to the technical, measurable nature of the product or services while the subjective quality which refers to customer’s perception of quality. Linking this to the relationship between brand loyalty and the quality of the product, it was discovered that subjective product quality had a major influence on brand loyalty.
2.) There exists a gap(s) in the existing literature on the degree of effect product quality has on brand loyalty. The review of models also highlighted the gap(s) in studies on the degree of effect of product quality on brand loyalty especially for the Nigerian marketing environment. The gaps in literature discovered were as follows:
i). There is little or no literature discussing the degree to which product quality influences brand loyalty
Of most of the existing models on brand loyalty, there is none that highlights the Nigerian marketing environment which means that, none of the product quality models was constructed to suit the Nigerian environment.
Key Findings from field study.
1.) Product quality plays a significant role in brand loyalty in the Nigerian consumer goods sector. Product quality influences brand loyalty in the following way:
i.) When product/service is classified as having very high or high quality, this could lead to satisfaction which in turn leads to brand loyalty.
2.) Even though product quality plays a significant role in brand loyalty, market inertia is a stronger factor that leads to brand loyalty. From the study, it was revealed that market inertia (when customer’s are resistant to change) is a major factor for brand loyalty especially in the consumer goods sector.
3.) It was also revealed that brand popularity also plays a significant role in brand loyalty. This was discovered after respondents stated that they have remained with Intercontinental Distiller because most people were using it.
4.) Customer indifference plays some role in brand loyalty.
5.) None of the reasons highlighted by the Intercontinental Distiller personnel as responsible for brand loyalty were highlighted by the customers.
Conclusion
The aim of this research was to further investigate the degree of effect product quality had on brand loyalty. After reviewing works of scholars done in the past who had written extensively on the effect of product quality on brand loyalty, a gap was discovered. Little of this literature had discussed the degree of effect of product quality on brand loyalty even though a vast amount of literature existed discussing the effect of product quality on brand loyalty.
This gap led to the conceptualization of a new model that was assumed suitable for the Nigeria marketing environment, since it was discovered that none of the product quality models that existed were constructed with the Nigerian market in mind. This model was constructed with assumptions of how product quality should influence brand loyalty in the Nigerian market (bearing the consumer goods sector in mind) and other factor that may be responsible for brand loyalty as well. In order to further investigate the efficacy of the conceptual model, the true relationship between product quality and brand loyalty in the Nigerian market and other factors responsible for brand loyalty, a field study was carried out to study Intercontinental Distiller’s product quality. Intercontinental Distiller was chosen for this study because statistics show that it holds a very strong majority of the market share.
The field study made use of both the qualitative and quantitative research methods; interviews were carried out on Intercontinental Distiller personnel while questionnaire were distributed to Intercontinental Distiller customers in the Ota. After analyzing the results from the questionnaire and interviews, it was discovered that product quality played a significant role in customer’s decision to be loyal in the Nigerian consumer goods sector. It was also revealed that product quality was more likely to lead to brand loyalty when the product has been judged by the customer as having very high and high quality and there was a slim chance of product quality influencing brand loyalty if the quality of the product was classified as having very low and low quality by the customer. However, the field study also revealed that market inertia was a very strong factor responsible for brand loyalty (especially in the consumer goods sector) while customer indifference and brand popularity were also revealed to be factors that also influenced brand loyalty. These findings (except brand popularity) were all in line with the conceptual model which was proposed by this study.
Contrary to what the conceptual model proposed, findings also revealed that customer satisfaction was not a compulsory component of brand loyalty. This is because from the analysis, it was discovered that some of those who classified Intercontinental Distiller’s quality as very high and high were not necessarily satisfied but were still loyal to the brand and also that customer indifference may not necessarily be a direct antecedent of market inertia. On the other hand, not all the respondents who classified Intercontinental Distiller’s quality as very high and high were loyal to the brand because of the degree of quality. This means that even though product quality plays a role in brand loyalty, it is not necessarily the only driving factor especially when it comes to brand loyalty in the Nigerian consumer goods marketing environment.
Therefore, it is important to note that product quality is most likely to influence brand loyalty when it is classified as being of high and very high quality and that product quality though a significant factor, is not the major driving factor for loyalty in the consumer goods sector.
Recommendations
This research work was able to investigate what degree of effect product quality has on brand loyalty. It was also discovered during the course of this research that market inertia was a stronger factor responsible for brand loyalty in the Nigerian marketing environment. However, these findings are not encompassing of the entire marketing environment. This is because the field study was dependent on Customers in the Ota and may not apply to the other sectors of the Nigerian marketing environment.
To this effect, it is hereby recommended for further studies on the relationship between product quality and brand loyalty and the derivation of other product quality models that will suit the other sectors on the Nigerian marketing environment. This will help to create a better understanding of product quality and brand loyalty and how it works in the Nigerian market. This would also contribute to lack of literature on product quality and the brand loyalty construct in Nigeria.
From the field study it was revealed that market inertia was a stronger factor that influenced brand loyalty in the consumer goods sector. It is suggested that a study critically examining the concept of market inertia and how it influences brand loyalty be carried out in future studies to enable a better understanding of the concept. However, future studies should not be limited alone to studying market inertia and brand loyalty but continuous effort should be made to always find out other reason or factors that may arise on the brand loyalty concept. This is considering the fact that the marketing environment has evolved with time and will continue to evolve so changes will continue to arise.
Findings from the study reveal that product quality plays a significant role in the Nigerian consumer goods sector. Hence, it is important for brand managers and owners to pay closer attention to the quality of their products and services in order to remain in the customer’s minds and lips. From the findings, a high quality product will influence customers to talk about it to other people which will in turn increase the brand’s popularity which was also discovered to play a significant role in brand loyalty.
Finally, it important for brand managers/owners to continue to carry out surveys in order to be abreast with the needs of their customers because customers’ needs will continue to change, so will their expectations. This is because in the highly saturated Nigerian market, it is very important for brand managers to put more focus on maintaining their customers instead of seeking the new ones, so that existing customers can continue to talk and promote the brands.
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