TITLE:
Predicting Brand Perception for Fast Food Market Entry
AUTHORS:
Torsten Teichert, Tobias Effertz, Marina Tsoi, Vladislav Shchekoldin
KEYWORDS:
Brand, Brand Perception, Brand Cognitions, Attitude towards the Brand, Attitude towards the Ad, Analytic Hierarchy Process, Causal Effects Modelling
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.5 No.6,
December
4,
2015
ABSTRACT: We present a combined and integrative market research approach to address
common, but potentially neglected problems resulting from consumers’
perceptions towards food brands. Our findings provide improved response
measures and guidance for market entry strategies of established and novel food
brands. Two knowledge sources and methods are combined to derive a model of
brand perception: experts’ opinions are elicited using the Analytic Hierarchy
Process (AHP) to generate an overall causal effects framework for food brands.
Complementary hereto, a survey of potential consumers retrieves consumers’ perceptions
regarding market entry scenarios of different food brands. A remote
metropolitan area (Novosibirsk) was chosen as quasi-laboratory setting to
simulate the market introduction of alternative fast food brands. Insights are
gained about the interdependence of branding and advertisement effects. As
expected, consumers’ attitudes towards the brand and towards the ad are the key
success factors for any type of brand. Different responses depend on consumers’
expectations towards novel or established brands. Otherwise, the paper provides
a proof of concept to integrate AHP and experts’ assessments with consumer
surveys. Findings indicate a large potential to join external and internal
perspectives for obtaining more valid market assessments before the real market
entry. Managers might need to enhance their model of assessed consumer
perceptions with expert opinion before entering a market in order to align
their advertising accordingly. Global and local brands face distinctively
different market entry barriers. Novel global brands constitute a promising
alternative for a food company wishing to enter a new market. Managers need to
decide whether a combined specific approach is necessary and eventually
incorporate it in case of new foods brands. A novel method is introduced to
assess market perceptions of food brands before the latter actually enter the
market. A combined approach incorporates expert opinions to enhance incomplete
consumer information. Findings indicate strong interaction effects between
brand and advertisement related factors which in turn strongly influence
consumers’ perceptions.