Surveying the Effects of Cooperation Companies Perception of Brand Personality in Buying Decision of Ardabil Citizens

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1 128 Surveying the Effects of Cooperation Companies Perception of Brand Personality in Buying Decision of Ardabil Citizens Mahdi Mohammadian, Department of Management, Germi Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gemri, Iran Dr. Hossein Alipoor, Department of Management, Khalkhal Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khalkhal, Iran Dr. Shahram Mirzayi Daryani, Department of Management, Germi Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gemri, Iran ABSTRACT The main focus of this study is evaluation of brand personality dimensions (ruggedness, sophistication, competence, excitement, and Sincerity) and those effects in purchase decision of the citizens are being evaluated. The population of this study is all citizens of Ardabil city. Data has collected from 384 Ardabil city citizens by through simple random sampling. To data gathering we used a questionnaire with study of variables. Questionnaires reliability was To analyze the data resulted from collected questionnaires deductive and descriptive statistical methods are used, and to display some statistical data we used column diagram and in deductive level to test the questions of the research we used one simple T test. The analysis has performed with SPSS. Findings show that the perceptions of Cooperation Companies brand personality and its dimensions (competence, excitement and sincerity) have effect in buying. But, Cooperation Companies Sophistication & Ruggedness dimensions don t have any effect in buying decision. Keywords Ruggedness, sophistication, competence, excitement, Sincerity, purchase decision INTRODUCTION Brand is basic assets of company (Aaker, 1995). Branding is the use of a name, term, symbol or design to give a product a unique identity in the marketplace (Handlin and Media, 2012). When we speak of a brand s positioning, we are describing the things that differentiate one brand from others. When we speak of a brand s personality, we are describing the way a brand expresses and represents itself (Staplehurst and Charoenwongse, 2012). In the academic literature, Durgee (1988) contributed a commentary on how to understand brand personality, primarily from an advertising perspective. He suggested a qualitative story-telling approach to issues such as understanding brand personality. Researchers should look at basic wants, setting, characters, opposition, symbols, mood, and story line to comprehensively research via qualitative methods. Brand personality is a strategic tool for the creative however, this construct was not fully understood in measurement, from a cultural perspective, or in theory, until subsequent work was conducted from quantitative studies to the story-telling approach suggested by Durgee. In consumer behavior research, considerable attention has been given to the brand personality construct (Aaker 1997; Johar et al. 2005). Specifically, consumer behavior researchers have suggested that brand personality is a vehicle of consumer self-expression and can be instrumental in helping consumers express their actual self, ideal self, or specific aspects of the self (Belk 1988). Aaker (1997) developed a framework of brand personality and highlighted its five dimensions (sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness). Among these five dimensions, sincere and exciting brand personalities appear to capture much of the variance in personality ratings of brands (Aaker 1997) and have been the focus of the work on brand personalities (Aaker, Fournier, and Brasel 2004). Exciting and sincere brand personalities are particularly interesting because they map onto the key three ideals that Fletcher et al. (1999) note as being important in interpersonal relationships: that is, warmth, vitality, and status. According to Aaker (1997), nurturance, warmth, family orientation, and traditionalism are characteristics of sincere brand personalities. Further, exciting brand personalities convey vitality, uniqueness, and independence. Consumers make purchasing decisions based on any number of associations they have with individual brands, and companies spend millions on advertising and marketing activities so that they can influence what those associations might be. Just as we each chooses our friends based on their personalities, brands can elicit the same sort of response in consumers. In light of this, wouldn t it be interesting to know which human personality traits consumers tend to apply to fivebrands? Jennifer Aaker s paper, Dimensions of Brand Personality (1997), contributes a way to measure the much talked- about and interesting notion of brand personality. The objective of her study is to identify brand

2 129 personality dimensions as perceived in the consumers mind. His five core dimensions and their facets include: - Sincerity - Consumers interpret sincere brands as being down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful. - Excitement - The most exciting brands are daring, spirited, imaginative, and on the cutting edge. - Competence - Reliability, intelligence, and success are the traits associated with these brands. Even in these trying economic times, there are a few financial services firms that still manage to play well in consumer minds. - Sophistication - A brand that is sophisticated is viewed as charming and fit for the upper classes. When it comes to esteem and seemingly eternal longevity, the Chanel brand is unequaled. In good times and bad, this brand remains strong as a symbol of a life lived in all the right places, doing all the right things. - Ruggedness - Interestingly, consumers pick up on this personality dimension quite well. Rugged brands are seen as outdoorsy and tough (Friendin, 2010). Consumer behavior is the actions a person takes in purchasing and using products and services, including the mental and social processes that precede and follow these actions. The behavioral sciences help answer questions such as: Why people choose one product or brand over another, How they make these choices, and How companies use this knowledge to provide value to consumers? Buying Decision is Series of choices made by a consumer prior to making a purchase that begins once the consumer has established a willingness to buy. The consumer must then decide where to make the purchase, what brand, model, or size to purchase, when to make the purchase, how much to spend, and what method of payment will be used. The marketer attempts to influence each of these decisions by supplying information that may shape the consumer's evaluation process. A Buying Decision Process describes the process that a customer goes through when he/she is buying a product. Many scholars have given their interpretation of the buying decision model (Engel et al, 1968; Nicosia, 1966). Although the models vary, there is a common theme of five stages of the decision process. These stages were first introduced by John Dewey (1910). The stages are: (Dewey, 2007). 1. Problem/Need Recognition Problem/Need Recognition is the first and most important step in the Buying Decision Process. Without the recognition of the need, a purchase cannot take place. The need can be triggered by internal stimuli (e.g. hunger, thirst) or external stimuli (e.g. advertising) ( Kotler at el, 2009). Abraham Maslow dictates that needs are arranged in a hierarchy. According to Maslow's hierarchy, only when a person has fulfilled the needs at a certain stage, and then he/she can move to the next stage. 2. Information Search The Information Search stage is the next step customers may take after they have recognized their problems/needs in order to find out what they feel is the best solution. This is buyers' effort at searching the internal and external business environments to identify and observe information sources related to the focal buying decision (Bunn, 1993). A consumer can rely on print, visual and voice media for getting information. 3. Evaluation of Alternatives At this stage, consumers evaluate different products/brands on the basis of varying product attributes, those have the ability to deliver the benefits that the customer is seeking ( Kotler at el, 2009). This stage is heavily influenced by one's attitude, as "attitude puts one in a frame of mind: liking or disliking an object, moving towards or away from it" ( Kotler at el, 2009). Another factor that influences the evaluation process is the degree of involvement. For example, if the customer involvement is high, then he/she will evaluate a number of brands; whereas if it is low, only one brand will be evaluated. 4. Purchase Decision This is the fourth stage, where the purchase takes place. According to Philip Kotler, Keller, Koshy and Jha (2009), the final purchase decision can be disrupted by two factors: negative feedback from other customers and the level of motivation to comply or accept the feedback. For example, after going through the above three stages, a customer chooses to buy a Nikon D80 DSLR camera. Although, because his very personal friend, who is also a photographer, gives him negative feedback, he will then be bound to change his preference. Secondly, the decision may be disrupted due to unanticipated situations such as a sudden job loss or the closing of a retail store. 5. Post-Purchase Behavior These stages are critical to retain customers. In short, customers compare products with their expectations and are either satisfied or dissatisfied. This can then greatly affect the decision process for a similar purchase from the same company in the future (Blythe, 2008). Mainly at the information search stage and evaluation of alternatives stage, if customers are satisfied, these results in brand loyalty, and the information search and evaluation of alternative stages are often fast-tracked or skipped completely. As a result, brand loyalty is the ultimate aim of many companies. On the basis of either being satisfied or dissatisfied, a customer will spread either positive or negative feedback about the product. At this stage, companies should carefully create positive post-purchase communication to engage the customers (Foxall, 2005).

3 Valid International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: Also, cognitive dissonance (consumer confusion in marketing terms) is common at this stage; customers often go through the feelings of post-purchase psychological tension or anxiety. Questions include: "Have I made the right decision?", "Is it a good choice? etc. These five stages make a good framework to evaluate customers' buying decision process, but it is neither necessary that customers get through every stage, nor that they proceed in any particular order. For example, if a customer detects the demand to buy chocolate, he might go straight to the purchase decision stage, skipping information search and evaluation ( Kotler et al, 2009) The main purpose of this research is surveying the effects of perception of brand personality in buying decision of Ardabil citizens from cooperation companies. In this regard, the effects of brand personality dimensions (ruggedness, sophistication, competence, excitement, and Sincerity) in purchase decision of the citizens are being evaluated. For reach this purpose, we have five secondary research objectives: - Understand the effects of ruggedness in buying - Understand the effects of sophistication in buying - Understand the effects of competence in buying - Understand the effects of excitement in buying - Understand the effects of sincerity in buying METHODOLOGY The main focus of this study is evaluation of brand personality dimensions (ruggedness, sophistication, competence, excitement, and Sincerity) and those effects in purchase decision of the citizens are being evaluated. The population of this study is all citizenship of Ardabil city. Data has collected from 384 Ardabil city citizens by through simple random sampling. To data gathering we used a questionnaire with study of variables. Questionnaires reliability was estimated by calculating Cronbach s Alpha via SPSS software that is shown in the table 1. Table 1.Results of questionnaires reliability from SPSS software Variables Cronbach's Alpha Ruggedness Sophistication In order to analyze the data resulted from collected questionnaires deductive and descriptive statistical methods are used, and to display some statistical data we used column diagram and in deductive level to test the questions of the research we used one simple T test. The analysis has performed with SPSS. Competence Excitement Sincerity All ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION 1- Demographical Analysis Sixty-three percent are male and twenty-seven percent are female. The responder s degree is 2.4 percent PHD, 13.6 percent MA, 42 percent BA, 16 percent Associate Degree and 26 percent have DA degree or under. It means that the most of the responder have university degree. (Table 2) Table2- Responders degree Responder s Degree Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Diploma Associate Degree Bachelor MA PhD Total Table 3 shows the amount of monthly purchase of the responders. According to table 2, from the precedence point of view about 39 percent of responders have less than 10$ amount of monthly purchase, and 36 percent have between10-50$, 15 percent $, 6 percent $ and only 2 percent have more than 150$ monthly purchase. It shows that People with more experience are less than 6 years.

4 131 Table 3- the amount of monthly purchase of the responders The Amount of Monthly Purchase Frequ ency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 10$> $ $ $ <151& Total Hypotheses Analysis The One-Sample T Test compares the mean score of a sample to a known value. Usually, the known value is a population mean. Also, a one sample t-test allows us to test whether a sample mean (of a normally distributed interval variable) significantly differs from a hypothesized value. In this study, we have to kind of hypotheses: - Null: Perception of Cooperation Companies brand personality don t have effect in buying decision of Ardabil citizens - Alternate: Perception of Cooperation Companies brand personality have effect in buying decision of Ardabil citizens Main Hypotheses: Perception of Cooperation Companies brand personality has effect in buying. Table 4 shows sample output of a one-sample T test for Table 4. The results of one-sample T test Brand Personality The mean of brand personality is 3.35, which is higher than population mean of 3. And T value is in 286 degrees of freedom. The significance value is The estimated significance (0.000) is less than.05. Therefore, we can say that the brand personality mean of 3.35 is significantly greater than the population mean of 3. In other hands, we can reject null hypothesis and say that brand personality has effect in buying decision of Ardabil citizens. H1.Perception of Cooperation Companies ruggedness has effect in buying. Table 5 shows sample output of a one-sample T test for Table 5. The results of one-sample T test ruggedness The mean of Cooperation Companies ruggedness is 2.50, in 286 degrees of freedom. The significance value is The estimated significance (0.108) is bigger than.05. Therefore, we can say that the Cooperation Companies ruggedness mean of 2.50 is significantly smaller than the population mean of 3. In other hands, we can accept null hypothesis and say that Cooperation Companies ruggedness don t has effect in buying. H2.Perception of Cooperation Companies sophistication has effect in buying. Table 6 shows sample output of a one-sample T test for

5 132 Table 6. The results of one-sample T test Variable N Mean Std. sophistication The mean of Cooperation Companies sophistication is 2.93, which is higher than population mean of 3. And T value is 1.39 in 286 degrees of freedom. The significance value is The estimated significance (0.164) is bigger than.05. Therefore, we can say that the Cooperation Companies sophistication mean of 2.93 is significantly smaller than the population mean of 3. In t other hands, we can accept null hypothesis and say that Cooperation Companies sophistication don t has effect in buying. H3.Perception of Cooperation Companies competence has effect in buying. Table 7 shows sample output of a one-sample T test for Table 7. The results of one-sample T test competence sig The mean of Cooperation Companies competence is 4.00, in 286 degrees of freedom. The significance value is The estimated significance (0.000) is less than.05. Therefore, we can say that the Cooperation Companies competence mean of 4.00 is significantly greater than the population mean of 3. In other hands, we can reject null hypothesis and say that Cooperation Companies competence has effect in buying decision of Ardabil citizens. H4.Perception of Cooperation Companies excitement has effect in buying Table 8 shows sample output of a one-sample T test for Table 8. The results of one-sample T test excitement The mean of Cooperation Companies excitement is 3.54, in 286 degrees of freedom. The significance value is The estimated significance (0.000) is less than.05. Therefore, we can say that the Cooperation Companies excitement mean of 3.54 is significantly greater than the population mean of 3. In other hands, we can reject null hypothesis and say that Cooperation Companies excitement has effect in buying decision of Ardabil citizens. H5.Perception of sincerity has effect in buying decision of Ardabil citizens from cooperation companies. Table 9 shows sample output of a one-sample T test for Table 9. The results of one-sample T test sincerity

6 133 The mean of Cooperation Companies sincerity is 3.81, in 286 degrees of freedom. The significance value is The estimated significance (0.000) is less than.05. Therefore, we can say that the Cooperation Companies sincerity mean of 3.81 is significantly greater than the population mean of 3. In other hands, we can reject null hypothesis and say that Cooperation Companies sincerity has effect in buying. Findings show that the perceptions of Cooperation Companies brand personality and its dimensions (competence, excitement and sincerity) have effect in buying. But, Cooperation Companies Sophistication & Ruggedness dimensions don t have any effect in buying decision. [12] Kotler, P., Keller, K.L., Koshy, A. and Jha, M.(2009) Marketing Management - A South Asian Perspective, but China and Japan also contribute 13th ed. India: Prentice Hall, 2009 [13] Bunn, Michele D. (January 1993). "Taxonomy of Buying Decision Approaches". Journal of Marketing (American Marketing Association) 57 (1): Retrieved 9 February [14] Blythe, Jim (2008) Consumer Behavior. U.K., Thompson Learning, 2008 [15] Foxall, G.R., (2005) Understanding Consumer Choice USA, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 The results of this study are as same as Bampuri (2011) study results. but not consistent with Ebrahimi (2011), salamati (2010), Sony and Sweet (2008), Cretu and Brady (2007) studies. REFERENCES [1] Friendin C., 2010, The 5 Dimensions of Brand Personality, Fuel your Branding website, January 28th, 2010, [2] Johar, G.; Venkataramani, J. S., and Aaker J. (2005), Two Roads to Updating Brand Personality Impressions: Trait versus Evaluative Inferencing, Journal of Marketing Research, 42 (4), [3] Belk, R. W. (1988), Possessions and the Extended Self, Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (September), [4] Aaker, J. L. (1997), Dimensions of Brand Personality, Journal of Marketing Research, 34 (3), [5] Aaker, J. L., Susan Fournier, and S. Adam Brasel (2004), When Good Brands Do Bad, Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (1), [6] Staplehurst G., Charoenwongse S. 2012, Why Brand Personality Matters: Aligning Your Brand to Cultural Drivers of Success, Millward Brown:Point of View, [7] Handlin A., Media D.,2012, Definition of Product Branding Strategy, Small Business website, [8] Aaker D Building strong brands, New York: The Free Press [9] Engel, James F., Kollat, David T. and Blackwell, Rodger D. (1968) Consumer Behavior, 1st Ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1968 [10] Nicosia, Francesco M. (1966) Consumer Decision Process. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1966 [11] Dewey, J. (2007). How we think. New York: Cosimo.