Relationship Between Brand Image and Customer Satisfaction Research

This research report investigates the relationship between brand image and customer satisfaction, focusing on how brand image influences customer loyalty and buying behavior. The study examines brand equity, the impact of brand image on customer satisfaction, and the factors affecting brand loyalty. The report includes a literature review covering the effect of brand image on brand equity, deviations in brand loyalty, brand switching behavior, and gaps in existing literature. It outlines the research methodology, including research design, philosophy, data collection methods, sample size, data analysis, and ethical considerations. The research aims to explore the factors affecting brand image, customer satisfaction, and the relationship between the two. The findings of this research will provide insights into how businesses can maintain and enhance their brand image to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty in a competitive market. The report also addresses the limitations of the study.

Running head: APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Applied Business Research
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

1APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Abstract
The purpose of this current research work is to establish the relationship between customer
satisfaction and the brand image and reputation. This is mainly believed to be one of the
major factors that contribute for the marketing strategies that are being implemented by a
business organisation. Proper research method and data collection procedure will be
implemented in order to draw proper conclusion relevant to the research problem. The sample
size for the research work will be chosen based on the probability methods.

2APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Background.............................................................................................................................3
Research Problem...................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................4
Literature review........................................................................................................................5
Effect of brand image on brand equity...................................................................................5
Deviation and changes in brand loyalty along with brand image..........................................6
Brand Switching and its effects..............................................................................................8
Gaps in Literature...................................................................................................................8
Research methodology...............................................................................................................9
Research Design.....................................................................................................................9
Research Philosophy............................................................................................................10
Data Collection Methods......................................................................................................10
Sample Size and Methods....................................................................................................11
Data analysis.........................................................................................................................12
Ethical considerations...........................................................................................................12
Limitations............................................................................................................................13
Reference..................................................................................................................................14

3APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Introduction
The main purpose of this research is to explore the effect of brand image up on the
level of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Brand image is one of the essential
components of any company, which intends to maintain high level of reputation among target
group of customers. The impression that exist in the mind of the customer is believed to be
one of the essential driving factor in making decisions of brand choice and buying behaviour.
The current research proposal will provide a plan to investigate all types of factors which
decides upon the brand image of a company thereby affecting the level of customer
satisfaction.
Background
The branding is believed to be one of the powerful tools, which is used by all
categories of company to attract the target customer groups. The perceptions that exist within
the mind of the customer, is highly dependent upon the strength of brand image and brand
awareness. It is also relevant to mention that the brand image also plays a significant part in
retaining the customers, thereby increasing the level of customer loyalty. According to
Hapsari et al. (2016), brand image is believed to be one of the effective psychological factors,
which influences upon the decision taken by the customers while choosing any particular
product of a brand. The process of purchasing is believed to be a combination of various
types of mental and physical activity that ends up with the product that every customer
purchases from a particular brand. It is one of the essential areas of Investigation for all
market researchers to depend upon the perception level of the customers to decide upon the
marketing strategies. In fact majority of the marketing strategy and planning are aimed to
increase the level of brand image and awareness among the customers.

4APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
It is relevant to mention in this context that customer satisfaction rate is one of the
important parameter which decides upon the level of business success. With high level of
customer satisfaction, it is possible for all types of companies to maintain high brand image
and reputation. Brand management is an essential part of all types of marketing activities,
which decides upon the level of customer retention capability of a company.
Research Problem
In the context of current days, where the customers are highly aware about the quality
of product and brand reputation, it is essential for all successful companies to maintain the
level of brand image in order to satisfy the needs of the customer. Brand image is also
believed to be one of the essential elements of gaining competitive advantage in the Global
market. The research problem in this context that are encountered by most of the business
organisations is due to the fact that they are and not able to maintain high reputation of the
brand due to the increase level of awareness and changes in consumer market, which are
occurring at a rapid rate. Moreover the high level of challenging competition is also causing
major issue in the matter of brand sustainability.
Research Objectives
Following are the objectives of the current research proposal
 To explore the factors that affect the brand image and reputation of a business
organisation
 To explore the factors, which decides upon the level of customer satisfaction
 To establish a relationship between brand image and brand reputation with that of the
level of customer satisfaction and loyalty

5APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Literature review
Effect of brand image on brand equity
According to Wirtz et al. (2013), brand equity is one of the important parameters,
which decides upon the commercial value of a company that exist within the mind-set and
perception of the target customer groups. The brand name or perception is believed to be the
major identity that is recognised by the customer, while they are making decisions about
purchasing any product. Saeed et al. (2013), have added in this context that brand equity
provides a premium value all the product and services of a company, which is compared to
all other product of equivalent genre. The customer perception plays the most important part
in providing value to a brand and its level of equity. It is essential for the company to provide
valuable knowledge to the customers about the features of the service or product that is been
offered in the market. This knowledge and information that are being provided to the
customer, ultimately creates a negative and positive impression. This perception is believed
to be ultimately responsible for the level of brand image and awareness that exist within the
target group of customer.
As per the research of Zhang (2015), positive impression not only affect the process
of brand choosing, it can also decide upon the level of Expenditure that a customer is willing
to pay for a particular brand of product. For example, a customer may be willing to spend
huge amount for a product of reputed brand compared to that of a lesser known brand. This is
mainly because they have a perception of relying upon the quality provided by the reputed
brands. This perception can help to improve upon the level of trust and reliability that
customers show up on any particular brand.
Brand equity is also one of the important parameter as per the research of Bowen, and
Chen (2015), when a company wants to expand its product line. Positive level of brand

6APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
equity, which is usually gained with the help of positive brand image, can encourage the
company to introduce new product and service in the market, which can easily gain
popularity with the help of high level of brand reputation among target customer. Positive
level of brand equity can also encourage the customer to buy the new products. According to
Ene and Ozkaya (2014), brand equity can also help to measure the level of strength of the
company and its existing performance level in a consumer market. The external business
environment can also contribute largely in influencing the level of brand equity.
Hence it can be said that brand equity is one of the essential component of a
company's asset that has a strong interconnection with brand image and brand name along
with the symbol, which is an essential element of brand recognition. Brand equity is therefore
responsible for providing the value in the mind-set of the customers about any particular
product.
Deviation and changes in brand loyalty along with brand image
One of the very basic elements of marketing research is about the fact that it is
essential to have a positive relationship between brand image and brand usage, which is one
of the oldest concept of marketing. Positive relationship has often been used by the Brands in
their promotional activities, which can improve upon the existing popularity of a company
among target group of customers. This positive relationship between the brand and its target
audience is believed to be the essential component of brand loyalty, which is developed over
the years in order to improve the level of brand awareness (Huang et al. 2014).
It is often believed as per the research work of Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh (2016),
brand with greater market share is most likely to have greater level of brand image, then all
the Rival business firms. Similarly it can be said that companies with lower level of market
share generally is seen to have significantly low level of brand loyalty and thereby do not

7APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
have the ability to retain customers. This term is referred to have double jeopardy pattern,
which was also mentioned in the research paper of Zameer et al. (2015) and have focused
upon its importance upon deciding upon the factors related to customers buying behaviour.
This is also one of the important benchmark in understanding the irregular changes in the
buying behaviour of the customer and their tendency to switch over brands of same genre. It
can also help to decide upon the buying psychology of the customers, who are dependent
upon less reputed brands.
It is important to mention in this context that the sustainability of the brand image is
also one of the essential components, which can help to decide upon the level of customer
loyalty and the capability of a business organisation to retain upon its old customers. From
the data which is obtained from the research work of Chao et al. (2015), it has been seen that
introduction of new brands and new market entrants has significantly affected the level of
brand loyalty of the customers. This is mainly due to the fact that in the current days the
customers are easily attracted towards the brands, which are introducing new offers and
discounts within the market. On the other hand, Saleem and Raja (2014) have argued upon
this fact by mentioning that the level of customer loyalty is irrelevant the factors related to
new entrants in the market mostly due to the fact that a group of customers, do not have high
level of trust about the quality of the materials that are used in the product manufacture.
Nevertheless, it is one of the important areas of marketing research, which determines upon
the level of brand loyalty and its relationship with brand image. It is often one of the major
challenges for marketing researchers to establish a fixed theory to interrelate the matters
related to brand image and brand loyalty. This is mostly due to the fact of irregular change in
behaviour of the customer’s buying behaviour.

8APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Brand Switching and its effects
The tendency of the customers to switch over various brands is one of the major
factors that can help to determine the level of customer satisfaction. It is relevant to mention
that one of the important causes of changing of brands for a customer is due to the fact that
they are either not satisfied with the existing brand product or they are expecting better
quality of product from the new brand. In both the cases, switching over of the brands by
customers can great compromise upon the reputation of an organisation. This can in turn have
serious effect on the brand image. It is essential for every companies to ensure that their
existing customers is having high level of satisfaction, otherwise there is a chance that they
might switch over to some other brands thereby compromising upon the profit margin and
business reputation.
Gaps in Literature
In spite of the fact that wide range of research have been conducted about the factors
related to relationship between customer satisfaction and brand image, existing gap is due to
the fact that the current literature have not focused on the ways, which can help the
companies to determine ways to retain customers and thereby maintain upon their existing
reputation.

9APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Research methodology
It is important for the current research investigation to follow certain methodological
steps in order to execute the purpose of the study in systemic manner. The current section
will highlight upon the research methods which will be used in the current investigation
work. Proper justification will also be provided for each type of Research Design that will be
implemented in the following case. With the help of appropriate research method it is
possible to collect proper and relevant data about the research subject, which will help the
researchers to draw proper conclusion.
Research Design
With the help of accurate Research Design it is possible to integrate different
components of the investigation, thereby making an effective strategy. With the help of
effective Research Design it is possible to address the research problem by properly
collecting relevant information, which can be the blueprint of the overall investigation. Gast
and Ledford (2014), have mentioned above Three Types of Research Design, which can be
implemented by the researchers depending upon the type of Investigation work and also the
type of data that are needed for respective cases. The exploratory type of Research Design is
dependent upon the collected information from previous research works. On the other hand
the descriptive Research Design deals with the detail type of investigation, which is based
upon the current situation of the research subject area. There is also the process of
hypothetical Research Design, where the researchers have to deal with the effective
hypothesis to make the research design.
Current research work will focus upon descriptive Research Design, which will
ensure relevant data about the matters related to the customer perception towards the matter

10APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
of brand name and brand recognition. It can also ensure that the research is done with the
help of all types of proper data that are being collected before the conclusion is drawn.
Research Philosophy
There are two types of research philosophy, which can help in the process of
examining the issue related to the research work. According to Panneerselvam (2014), the
positivism research philosophy is believed to give effective test result in order to properly
identify the research problem that is best according to the relevant collected information. It
can help to draw a logical conclusion and evaluation from the collected data related to the
research issue. On the other hand the interpretivist research philosophy, which will be used in
the current research work, helps to deal with the matter related to the social issues of the
research work. It can help to deal with the human factors, which are associated with the
concept of brand imaging. Hence, it is possible to draw a relationship between the level of
customer satisfaction and image of the brand.
The positivism research philosophy cannot be applied in this context due to the fact
that it is not possible to evaluate the social factor related to research, which is the main
subject area of the current research work.
Data Collection Methods
The data collection procedure is the most important part of the research methodology,
which can ensure that proper data relevant to the research subject area are being collected that
is needed to draw proper conclusion. It is also important to ensure that proper method of
Data Collection are being applied, which will ensure only relevant and genuine data are being
collected from the fixed sample size. Vaioleti (2016), has mentioned that there are two types
of Data Collection method which are generally implemented in all types of research work. In

11APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
primary data collection method, the researchers are dependent upon direct information
collecting from the sample size. This can be done with the help of interview and survey of the
selected sample size. Proper survey questionnaire and interview questions are designed in
order to collect relevant information related to the research topic. On the other hand,
secondary data relies upon information that is being collected from the previously conducted
research work of the same subject area.
For the given research work, the investigators will depend upon both primary and
secondary types of data, which will ensure all types of relevant information related to the
relationship between customer satisfaction and brand image are being properly analysed
before drawing the conclusion. From the secondary sources it is possible to compare the
current data with that of the previous research work, which focused upon various factors
related to level of customer satisfaction and brand recognition. With the help of both forms of
primary and secondary data it is possible for the researcher to compare the changes, which
are occurring in the consumer market.
Sample Size and Methods
There are two types of sampling method, which can be used by the researcher to
decide upon the sample size to collect relevant information. The random sampling method is
used to select the sample size, which are not predetermined at the initial stage. In this case the
sample size is determined by probable method. There is also the method of non-probability
Sampling size, where the researcher collects relevant data from the given group of sample,
which have been determined initially before the start of the research (Silverman 2016).
In the given case the researchers will collect data from random probable sample size.
The approx. sample size that are predetermined are 10-20 business organisations of Australia,
where the researchers will collect data related to their brand image and also conduct interview