consumer behaviour on audi

8/19/2019 Consumer Behaviour on Audi

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IntroductionIn today’s highly globalized, extremely dynamic and incredibly rapid-moving world, there is an

abundance of diversity of products in virtually all market segments, and the automobile industry

marks an overload of manufacturers and models exploiting every possible market niche in order to

accommodate effectively all the possible needs of potential customers. The time-tested synergy of

technology, mechanics and craftsmanship now offer us inexhaustible variations of products with

remarkable capabilities in different shapes and sizes, ranging from budget prices of approximately

ten thousand euro, all the way up to over one and a half million.

egardless of what country a person lives in, almost everyone has access to a huge amount of

choice when it comes to manufacturer availability, able to easily see, test, purchase, run and service

vehicles of all possible origins, and so it therefore becomes apparent that such a heavy market

saturation is likely to result in a large amount of complication when it comes to manufacturer and

model differentiation. !onetheless, three brands always en"oy the largest amount of interest and

desirability, and stand out above the others # $udi, %&' and &ercedes-%enz.

RationaleThere are a myriad of different opinions and attempts to provide a logical explanation to the absolute

and unshakeable dominance of $udi, %&' and &ercedes-%enz in the premium segment of the

automobile industry, ranging from statements about their mechanical and technical innovation and

superiority to descriptions of their heritage and history. (owever there is reason to believe that while

all these theories are valid, the truth lies elsewhere. $ large number of other brands offer vehicles

with matching, if not superior blends of mechanical durability and technological refinement while also

being able to exhibit rivaling history, however they are still unable to match the stature of the )erman

trio.

The logical assumption is that the reasons for the dominance of $udi, %&' and &ercedes-%enz is

based on the key resources and capabilities they possess that cannot be mimicked, utilized or

implemented by any other manufacturer. *ven though a large number of patents and intellectual

property protection measures are taken to ensure that the technology developed by individual car

companies, it is unlikely that any mechanical or tangible aspect of their vehicles is the

aforementioned resource or competence. +or that reason, this study will follow the supposition that

the three brands’ soft skills, namely their brand images, are in fact the inimitable resource that the

)erman trio possesses and grants them market segment dominance.

This study hypothesizes that they key strength behind the success of $udi, %&' and &ercedes-

%enz lies in their brand images, and that the value of those images is the most influential factor in

swaying the customer’s buying behavior in favor of the three marues.


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Research Questions

. 'hat are the key elements that form the brand images of $udi, %&' and &ercedes-%enz

/. 'hat effect does brand image have on the customer’s buying behavior

Literature ReviewBrand Image%rand image is one of the most important concepts in this literature review, as it is one of the focal

points of this dissertation. In essence, the term 0brand image1 is a representation of the views and

opinions that customers have about a certain brand 2)lynn, 'oodside, /334, p./567. 'hile it has no

concrete structure, brand image is often the combination of all of the possible facts and perceptions

that surround a certain brand and have an effect on the formation of the customer’s perception of it.

It is of crucial importance to highlight the fact that a brand image does not pertain only to the visual

and physical characteristics that a brand exhibits, but also all of the emotional and non-tangible

reactions it provokes in the consciousness of the potential customer 2+ranzen 8 &oriarty, /334,

p.47. 9bviously, the symbols and trademarks, products and services, core values and key

competences of the brand all play a significant role in the formation of the brand image, due to the

fact that they are physical pro"ections of what a brand stands for, hence provide the standpoint for

the creation of the client’s perception. (owever, while the brand image might draw upon certain

tangible aspects, the reality is that they only serve to allow customers to make certain assumptions

and "udgments about the brand in uestion, assumptions and "udgments that sometimes are not

based on actual facts and figures, hence revealing the highly pre"udicial and sub"ective nature of

brand image 2'ilson 8 %lumenthal, /33:, p.;:-;47.

'hile companies themselves are capable of affecting their brand image, often the influence they can

exert is marginal. :7, as it is arguably

the most influential factor when it comes to differentiation from the competition # often an invaluableasset, especially in highly competitive markets 2such as the automobile industry7. ?espite this, brand

image is still based on personal or social customer perception and opinion, therefore significantly

diminishing the ability of the brands to be able to alter already established brand images through

various demonstrations.


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%rand image is essentially the reputation of a brand, and is a representation of the attributes, appeal,

heritage, values and benefits of a certain brand, in the eyes of the customer. $s such, it is something

developed and strengthened over time and applied almost without exception to all of the products

and services offered by the brand. @rominent examples of this in the automobile industry include the

perception of &ercedes-%enz for impeccable engineering, uality and class,


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influences 2?e &ooi", /3, p.//7. Therefore, while the analysis and understanding of consumer

behavior is extremely important to many companies, their ability to be able to construct a framework

for predicting how their potential customers would react would be heavily deprived or certainty and

thorough behavioral understanding and insight.

'hile the importance of knowing how the potential customer thinks, what he feels and which factors

bear the most influence in finalizing the buying decision would be an invaluable knowledge to a

company, but the inherent lack of rationalizations, commonly illogical assessments, seemingly

irrational presumptions and sometimes contradictory decisions often deprive investigations

attempting to pin-point buyers’ behavior from the possibility to thoroughly and accurately identify and

determine scientifically proven trends with facts and figures. It can therefore be commented that

while consumer behavior may at times exhibit certain patterns, there is no guarantee that these

tendencies would continue, and furthermore, no viable way to signal unexpected variations to these

trends, and as such makes it a very complicated, highly sub"ective and inaccurate concept to study

and analyze 2Dhan, /335, p./7. $n additional issue is the strong influence that external factors may

have on the client’s buying decision. @ersonal or impersonal advice from non-credible sources, peer

pressure, social opinions and dogma’s and the interests of other people are only a small portion of

the stimuli that could drastically alter or sway the buying decision of a customer, either directly in

favor of a previously unconsidered product, or against one that was viewed as a potential favorite

2Dumar, /334, p.6;7.

?ifferent manufacturers in the automobile industry have employed two main methods for combatting

the volatility and uncertainty of consumer behavior when it comes to deciding against their products

or attracting them towards a certain model. They strongly focus and constantly manifest their brand

identity, which - if in-line with their brand image - could potentially serve as a reaffirmation of the

attractiveness and value of that car maker in the eyes of the customer and hopefully could positively

affect the buying decision. 9n the other hand, they have resorted to constantly expanding their

portfolio of complementary services, mainly oriented towards providing a better post-purchase

experience and establishing a loyal customer base in an attempt to significantly diminish the number

of factors that a client takes into account prior to buying a vehicle and channel that person’s attention

solely towards all the positive experiences, emotions and capabilities he or she has en"oyed with the

brand and its’ products.

Effect of Brand Image on Consumer Behavior

Through a large variety of different communication channels, we are literally showered with

hundreds of different products from different brands, where numerous products and items from

different manufacturers all attempt to obtain the same customer base. There are many ways that a


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customer could potentially begin to differentiate one product from its competition, although it would

often reuire an in-depth examination of the product specifics, as well as a good comparison and

contrast to the potential substitutes in order to weigh the advantages of one offer against the others

2Trehan, Trehan, /335, p.457. ?epending on the complexity of the product, this could be a very

lengthy and time-consuming process, sometimes impossible for a customer to perform due to a lackof detailed competences about the intricacies of certain products. 'e now understand that the

customer’s perception of brand is a combination of both the traits and characteristics brand products

all exhibit as well as that customer’s relationship and experience with the offerings of that brand.

(ence, the effect of brand image on consumer behavior becomes apparent. If the perception and

opinion of a potential customer regarding a given brand is positive, then that customer is highly likely

to be influenced by the factors that have contributed in the formation of that image, and give them

the largest amount of consideration prior to the purchase of a product, usually resulting in buying a

product offered by the brand with which the client already shares an en"oyable experience 2%lythe,

/3>, p.//7.

+urthermore, brand image is something that is highly communicable through word of mouth, and can

therefore spread like wildfire, both in a positive and negative aspect. )iven the necessary amount of

time, brand image can take over the entire perception and attitude of a community or society

towards a certain brand, hence either allowing the attraction of new clients based on the

recommendations of previously satisfied ones, or alienating entire groups of people due to the

unpleasant experiences of a number of people with a given product 2*ast, 'right, ,

p.;/7. 'hen a customer does not have any background information or the past experiences of

others to draw upon, his buying decision may incorporate a much longer and detailed analysis of a

certain product, however if there are number of reviews and recommendations concerning a certain

brand, one is likely to base their purchase decision on the experience of others 2(oyer, @ieters,

&aCinnis, /3/, p.37.

MethodologyThe sample will be limited to owners of vehicles that are part of the premium market segment

2manufactured by $udi, $ston &artin, %entley, %&', +errari, Infiniti, Aaguar, Bamborghini, Bexus,&aserati, &ercedes-%enz, @orsche, and olls-oyce7. 'hile certain vehicle manufacturers such as

%ugatti, @agani, Doenigsegg and &cBaren are also considered to be part of the premium segment,

due to their exceptional rarity and lack of mass-market presence, their owners will not be considered

as part of the survey population. The sole limitation in terms of potential respondents’ age shall be

the minimum reuirement of : and will not feature any upper limit.


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The research of this dissertation will be carried out according to a non-random sampling method that

allows for the utilization of personal selection of the targets for the distribution of the uestionnaire-

type survey 2%lack, /3/, p./>/7. Through the application of selective sampling 2$rmstrong,

Cummins, /33:, p.E>7, the uestionnaire will be directed specifically towards individuals who have

had first-hand experience in owning, driving, purchasing and using a vehicle from $udi, %&' and&ercedes-%enz, hence allowing the collection of research that is based on actual first-hand

experience with one of the main sub"ects of this dissertation.

Findings

The figure above is a graphic representation of respondent’s preferences regarding the three brands

this dissertation focuses on. 'e can see from the results that %&' and &ercedes-%enz are more

preferred than $udi, where they share E3F preference each, as opposed to /3F.


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The graph above displays the traits and characteristics the respondents value most in a vehicle. It

becomes evident that luxury and refinement have been given the highest value at over E3F,

followed by comfort and performance at roughly /3F.

+igure > is a table that demonstrates a summary of three traits most often associated with each of

the three brands. 'hile there have been substantial variations in the responses of the different

uestionnaires, an interesting tendency is that over two thirds of the replies denoted 0uality1 as a

trait that applies to all three of the brands.


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The table above displays the prevailing traits ascribed to the stereotypical drivers of $udi, %&' and

&ercedes-%enz. ?ue to the different brand images, there is no similarity between the traits that each

driver supposedly exhibits, however more than 63F of the respondents have indicated the traits

above.

This diagram represents the respondents’ opinions regarding the influence of a car on the perception

society has on its owner, if they perception of society regarding them has been affected by their cars,

and if society’s perception of a given brand has influenced their perception of that brand. Clearly,

there is high number of positive responses towards all three of the statements.


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This figure shows the percentage division in terms of the opinion of the respondents whether they

consider that the brand image of their vehicle can considered to be an adeuate representation of

themselves and their character. The combined 43F affirmation is a categorical declaration that

almost all the respondents believe this is the case.


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The figure above shows in percentages the answers of the respondents regarding the inuiry about

the importance of brand value. $s the graph indicates, approximately nine out of ten respondents

believe that brand image is an important factor to consider prior to vehicle purchase.

$s demonstrated by the chart above, when the respondents were asked if they would purchase a

vehicle that answers all of their reuirements, but has a brand image they don’t sympathize with,

there were no drastic differences between the ; categories, although the results indicate most of the

respondents 2;;F7 would not make the purchase.


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+igure 4 manifests the most common reasons that respondents have for choosing $udi, %&' and

&ercedes-%enz, where a superior combination of traits 2at E3F7 and the offering of style, luxury and

class 2at >3.;F7 were deemed to be the most influential reasons.

The diagram above indicates what percentages of the respondents belong to which age group. The

ma"ority are identified at :-/; and /6->3 2>;F and >3F respectively7.

+igure indicates the gender division of the respondents, showing that 6;F were male, and >;F

were female.


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The graph above depicts the division of respondents according to their occupational field, indicating

than nearly 53F are in the business and finance sector, with minimal percentages for the other ;

categories.

This diagram exhibits how many vehicles the survey respondents own or have owned, where nearly

E3F have had two or three vehicles, followed by one car 2or none7 at >3./F.


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This final figure indicates the main source of income for the respondents, where a categorical

ma"ority of :3F have answered their primary earnings come from salaries and wages, followed by

roughly eual yet minimal in contrast, other four categories.

Analysis

'e can see that the traits that recur most often in regard to $udi are reliability, uality and tranuility.

The ma"ority of respondents view %&' as a company that stands for performance, uality and

excitement, where &ercedes-%enz is mostly categorized as a brand of comfort, luxury and uality.

These results are indications that all three of the companies are well aware of their customersG

perception due to the almost direct correlation between the identified brand images by the

respondents, and the pro"ected brand identities. Clearly the existing images of the brands are highly

influenced by the different core values that each of the companies have constantly demonstrated

throughout the years. $n interesting observation can be made that a large part of the respondents

have identified 0uality1 as being one of the key traits of all three of brands, which in itself serves to

demonstrate the strength of the established brand images.

The results have categorically demonstrated that vehicles, and by extension the brand of the

manufacturer do affect society’s perception of a certain person. There are a large number of

stereotypes that prevail in defining what exactly the ownership of a given vehicle says about the

driver, but regardless of the actual pro"ection, the existence of an influence remains unaltered 2see


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+ig. E7. This statement can further be reinforced by the commonly identified statement that the way a

person’s community perceives him has been affected by the ownership of a certain vehicle. $n

interesting observation regarding brand images has been exhibited by an overwhelming indication

that the individual perception of a car manufacturer in the eyes of certain person has been strongly

affected by society’s perception and opinion of the same company 2see +ig. ;7. This supports thetheoretical supposition regarding the inherent sub"ectivity of brand image, and the large number of

exterior influences that may affect its formation.

@erhaps the two most important conclusions are the very categorical and clearly visible indications

of the importance of brand image prior to the purchase of a new vehicle 2see +ig. 57. The research

directly shows that almost all of the respondents believe that the brand image of car is a factor of

exceptional importance to be taken under consideration before purchasing a vehicle. 'hile there is a

slight variation in terms of the intensity of this importance, the almost 33 percent valuation of brand

image significance is undisputable. Therefore the brand value that the products of different

manufacturers carry could theoretically be the factor which exhibits the final and most influential

factor in forming the buying decision.

$ large number of the respondents have further testified to the validity of the previous statement by

firmly claiming that while considering their options prior to the purchase of a given vehicle, they

would not decide to buy a car that fulfills all of their reuirements and accommodates all of their

needs if the brand image of the manufacturer is not one that they like and are attracted by 2see +ig.

:7. This is arguably one of the most important pieces of information obtained from the study as it

provides the clearest collected verification that brand image could 0make or break1 the decision to

purchase, hence serving as supporting evidence of the aforementioned declaration that the influence

of brand image could be considered as the factor that carries the largest weight and importance

during the formation of the buying decision in the mind of the potential client.

The final significant logical assumption that can be made as a result of the obtained results is the

outcome to a direct inuiry regarding the main reasons why they have chosen to purchase a vehicle

manufactured by $udi, %&' or &ercedes-%enz, rather than another company, especially

considering the huge availability, highly competitive prices and generally similar running and

maintenance terms and costs offered by other premium segment manufacturers. Taking under

consideration the observed responses it becomes immediately clear that there is no single reason,

but rather the combination of different tangible and non-tangible such as class, style and

luxuriousness, as well as a number of physical vehicle characteristics 2see +ig. 47. $fter "uxtaposing

these results with the initial definitions of the theoretical concepts expressed in this dissertation, we

can understand that in fact the brand image of $udi, %&' and &ercedes-%enz is what has

persuaded the respondents into purchasing vehicles manufactured by these three companies.


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Taking into account all of the above into account, we could deduce that while all three companies are

prospering and performing admirably, %&' and &ercedes-%enz appear to have a higher preference

percentage in the eyes of the respondents 2see +ig. 7, and within the demographic scope of the

study 2see +ig’s. 3-E7, have a 0stronger1 brand image than $udi.

ConclusionAnswer to 1st Research Question

There are a large number of factors that go into the formation of the brand images of $udi, %&' and

&ercedes-%enz, however there has been an indication that one general theme is the main

reoccurring factor which bear the greatest influence in the creation of their brand images # uality

2see +ig. >7. There are many possible expressions of uality when it comes to the automobile

industry, including engineering excellence, highly advanced technology, construction refinement and

many others, however one could theorize that the perceived uality in the eyes of potential

customers is not an assessment of the tangible aspects of the manufacturer’s vehicles, but rather a

stereotypical term utilized to describe the combination of all the characteristics and capabilities the

)erman trio’s vehicles exhibit. $udi have transferred their brand identity of constant technological

advancement and development to the customers, %&' have thoroughly maintained their image of

dynamic prowess and exhilarating performance, and &ercedes have consistently exhibited their

standards of comfort, luxury and class. 'hile the disseminated uestionnaire has allowed us to

testify the extent to which brand image and brand identity correspond while taking under

consideration the specifics of each manufacturer, more importantly, we have been able to identify the

crucial factor underlying all three of them # the customer’s perception of their vehicles as the

benchmark for automobile uality in all possible vehicle and company aspects, hence strengthening

their brand images to an extent that allows their successful exploitation for customer retention,

attraction, sales increase and profit augmentation 2see +ig. 47.

Answer to nd Research Question

The conduction of the research has also allowed us to clearly identify and determine the extent and

shape of the effect of brand image on the customer behavior, and namely their buying behavior in

the premium segment of the automobile industry in %ulgaria. $fter the analysis of the study and a

thorough examination of the obtained results, we are able to conclude that specifically in this

market, the influence that brand image exerts on the formation of customers buying decision is

substantial, almost to the extent where it exists as the most significant factor. The respondents of the

survey have profoundly identified that brand image plays and essential role in making up their minds


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2see +ig. :7, and hence we can palpably deduce if and what the effects of brand image are on

consumer behavior. Clearly, the exerted influence is substantial in all cases 2see +ig’s. 6 8 57, at

least in the premium automobile sector, however its effect is solely dependent on the brand image

itself, in the sense that the strength of the brand image is not as important as the attitude towards

the brand. If the customers perceive a company of being incapable of offering decent products, or amanufacturer who is not likely to produce satisfactory vehicles, the customer would decide not to

purchase a vehicle by that make, even if the car itself will answer all the clients need. Congruently, if

the customer’s perception of a given brand is that all of their products are the physical

representations of the highest possible levels of uality 2such as the common ground for the brand

images of $udi, %&' and &ercedes-%enz7, a potential customer could expected to purchase a car

from on these three manufacturers, even if there are certain aspects of the vehicle specifics which

are not exactly to the exact client’s liking.

consumer behaviour on audi

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