Relationship between Brand Awareness and Competitive Advantage of Independent Petroleum Dealers in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya (Published)
Consumers’ value for a brand is known as “brand equity,” and it is expressed in characteristics such as brand recognition, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and other exclusive brand assets. The study’s goal was to ascertain the connection between independent petroleum dealers’ brand equity and competitive advantage in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. This paper examines the relationship between brand awareness and competitive advantage of independent petroleum dealers in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The brand equity theory grounded the study. The research design was correlational. A stratified and simple random sampling procedure was used to choose 26 independent petroleum dealers from the target population, consisting of 28 independent petroleum dealers, and a sample size of 338 employees. The questionnaire was chosen as the method for gathering data. The collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The analysis and presentation of descriptive statistics took the form of frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation. With the use of multiple regression analysis, the hypotheses were tested. From the study findings, majority of workers concurred, according to the study’s findings, that branding had improved the gas station’s visibility and raised its competitive edge. Additionally, majority of workers believed that strong branding had affected customers’ buying decisions. Similarly, most of the customers found the petroleum brands easy to memorize. They also agreed that branding petroleum dealers would increase brand recognition of the gas station. The study found a significant and positive correlation between independent petroleum dealers’ competitive advantage and brand awareness (p = 0.000). The study recommends that brand endorsement be given more weight in order to strengthen the competitive advantage of independent gasoline dealers in Uasin Gishu County.
Keywords: Brand awareness, Competitive Advantage, independent petroleum dealers
Strategic Marketing, Innovation Culture and Competitive Advantage of Selected Petroleum Products Marketing Companies: Evidence from Nigeria (Published)
This paper investigated the effect of strategic marketing (SM) on innovation culture (IC) and competitive advantage (CA) of selected petroleum products marketing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. It further examined relative moderating role of resource capabilities (RC). A cross-sectional survey research design was used in the study. Target population comprised 1568 managerial staff of the selected companies. Cochran’s formula was used to determine a sample size. Stratified random sampling and proportionate sampling techniques were used to group the sample to definite categories of directors, senior managers, marketing managers and supervisors and for adequate representation. A validated questionnaire was administered and a total of 497 retrieved for analysis. The data collected were analysed using multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that strategic marketing had a positive and significant effect on innovation culture (Adj.R2= 0.390, F (1, 491) = 80.180, p < 0.05) and competitive advantage (Adj.R2 = 0.627, F (4, 491) = 208.685, p < 0.05). The study recommended that the management of petroleum products marketing companies should be committed to adopting strategic marketing towards building innovation culture and achieving competitive advantage.
Keywords: Competitive Advantage, Competitive Environment, Innovation culture, Strategic Marketing
Consumer Purchase Behavior: Potential Markets in Argentina for Brazilian E-Book Retailers (Published)
Traditional teaching materials, especially books and academic texts, fail to keep up with the increasing demands of the newly hyperconnected students in Latin America. It could represent an opportunity for retailers and publishers, in order to reposition their brands, through innovative strategic offers of digital products and services. This research considered the Argentinian macro-environment and characteristics of the sub-section of academic publishers. The structural factors of the proposed product in the subsegment supply chain, as well as the proposed positioning and potential competitive advantages in the microenvironment. Corresponding aspects to the adoption potential and usage continuity of the product (e-Book or e-Textbook) for the proposed subsegment. Primary data was gathered from a survey conducted with undergraduate and graduate students. This work provides a knowledge framework, so that companies – based on the proposed study, might develop action plans destined to position their brands in the identified subsegment in Argentina, solidifying the positioning next to the academic consumer. Discussion, research limitations, and future research compile this work.
Keywords: Competitive Advantage, E-Books, consumer purchase behavior
Competitiveness of Lebanon in Tourism: Comparison with Jordan, Egypt and Turkey (Published)
The purpose of this research is to determine Lebanese tourism industry’s competitiveness compared to its major rivals, i.e. Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. First of all, Lebanese tourism industry was evaluated through obtained information from secondary sources (i.e. bank reports, Ministry of Tourism reports). Then, the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report (2015) is used to compare the global rankings of Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. And finally, questionnaire analysis was carried out to understand people’s perception towards these countries. Findings revealed that the tourists’ inflow to Lebanon has witnessed a constant decrease since the emergence of the Arab Spring while it demonstrated its second annual upturn in 2015. However, overall ranking in the globalised world showed that Lebanon is in the last position compared to its rivals. Findings also indicated that despite having worse results compared to its rivals in factors like business environment, human resources, labour market and ICT readiness, Lebanon confirmed a better standing in health and hygiene and performed better than Egypt in safety and security matters. It was also proven by this study that Lebanon is performing either similarly or better in factors like mild climate, image, leisure attractions, educational and multilingual workforce, regional competition and environment protection. However, conversely, it demonstrated either bad or worse performance in factors like eco-tourism, world class hotels and airports, natural environment, cost of accommodation and natural heritage. Moreover, the results of the research showed that the competitive position of Lebanese tourism is not the same in different international markets.
Keywords: Competitive Advantage, Lebanon, Tourism Competitiveness
The Relationship between Premium Beer Brand Attributes and Brand Loyalty – An Exploratory South African Study (Published)
This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study conducted among a convenience sample of 300 premium beer consumers selected from two major cities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. South African Breweries (SAB), the largest brewery in South Africa has been struggling to compete in the premium beer market as a result of more brands competing in the premium beer market which is the most attractive segment of the beer market. This paper aimed at exploring the factors that attract consumers to premium beer brands. It was ascertained that the crispiness of the beer, superior, unique taste and, the price of the beer brand ate important factors.The implications of the above for the SAB, is that premium beer market is a highly competitive market hence, marketing strategies should take into consideration the factors which attract the consumers to a brand. For the SAB to gain a competitive advantage, it needs to design marketing strategies that will differentiate its premium beer brands on the basis of the important factors that attract consumers, namely price, beer quality, crispiness and taste.
Keywords: Branding, Competitive Advantage, Consumer Behaviour, Premium Beers, South African Breweries.
GREEN MARKETING AND ITS IMPACT (Published)
Green marketing, also known as Environmental marketing or Ecological marketing, includes all the marketing activities of the firm, starting from conceiving the product idea to the actual sale of the product, which are designed with the objective to either create a positive impact or reduce the negative impact of its products on the environment. This is done in order to cash in on growing customers’ concern about environmental degradation. Simply stated, green marketing sells the idea of relatively superior environmental characteristics of a company’s product and service offerings.
Keywords: Competitive Advantage, Green Marketing, Social Responsibility
THE ROLE OF ELECTRONIC CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT PILLARS IN ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR BANKING SECTOR IN JORDAN (Published)
This research aimed at investigating the role of electronic customer relationship management pillars in achieving competitive advantage for banking sector in Jordan. Through monitoring the reality of the role of these pillars(E-Customer, E-Relationship, and E-Management)to achieve competitive advantage in the banks of Jordan. This study has identified the most important factors pursuing the implementation of electronic customer relationship management in commercial banks of Jordan. This research paper has used a quantitative technique to collect data from participants, afterwards, SPSS statistical techniques were used to obtain the findings of this research. The results showed that most commercial banks in Jordan use electronic customer relationship management through interacting with all business activities that require direct contact or indirect communications with clients to achieve maximum competition. In light of the results of this research the researcher has introduced a set of recommendations that promote the use of electronic customer relationships management as well as enhance the competitive advantage of commercial banks in Jordan.
Keywords: Banking Sector, CRM, Competitive Advantage, E-CRM, Jordan