University of Cumbria: Research on MTN Brand Awareness Impact

This research proposal investigates the impact of brand awareness on MTN customers, focusing on customer loyalty and brand image. It addresses the increasing competition in the telecommunications market and the importance of branding for maintaining a strong market presence. The study aims to evaluate the impact of brand value on customer loyalty, identify factors affecting the brand image, and recommend ways to improve it. The proposal includes a literature review discussing brand awareness models and theories, a detailed methodology outlining the research philosophy, design, data collection, sampling, and ethical considerations, and proposed timeline for the study. The research questions explore the relationship between brand value and customer loyalty, the factors influencing brand image, and strategies for brand improvement. Desklib offers a wealth of similar assignments and study tools to aid students in their academic pursuits.

IMPACT OF BRAND AWARENESS ON THE CUSTOMERS OF MTN
Student ID: 1550758
University of Cumbria
Research proposal – revised from previouslysubmitted research proposal- Information
technology, to Marketing and Branding.

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Abstract
The aim of the study is to discuss the importance of brand awareness among existing and
potential new customers to maintain demand in ahighly contested market place. The
importance of brand awareness is to create and maintain a need for the product in the market.
The study will hi-light how the need for brand awareness affects the market name of the
brand. The study will discuss the need of the brand awareness of the company MTN. The
increase in competition across all spheres as well as new entrants into the market necessitates
the branding of every product. A detailed research methodology has been done that has
helped to carry out the research in the correct order.

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Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
2. Literature review....................................................................................................................6
3. Methodology:.........................................................................................................................9
3.1 Research philosophy:.......................................................................................................9
3.2 Research design:...............................................................................................................9
3.3Data collection method:....................................................................................................9
3.4Sampling method and sampling size:..............................................................................10
3.5Data analysis techniques:................................................................................................10
3.6Research ethical consideration:.......................................................................................10
3.7Limitation of the study:...................................................................................................11
3.8 Proposed timeline of the study:......................................................................................11
References:...............................................................................................................................13

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Introduction:
1.1 Background to the study:
The need for marketing management is required in every business organization. It is very
important to determine the relationship between advertising and brand loyalty by reaching
consumers via advertising while runninganysuccessful business. The brand awareness can
positively hi-light the brand loyalty. A positive service or emotional experience affects
the brand image positively(Armstrong et al 2015). Customer loyalty depends on how the
information about the product and service reaches the customer and how it is retained in
the society. Thus, there has been a lot of research that show how important marketing
information is. The most important role of brand awareness is to create a name of the
brand in the market. Present studies state that branding has become a vital topic in
business management and it must be enhanced in every field to increase the scope of the
business in the market(Aronczyk 2013). The companies that are competing to lead the
market are using various new branding strategies to reach their customer and attract them.
1.2 Statement of the problem:
The importance of brand awareness has increased in present days. The companies are
competing for creating their own market and becoming the leading brand. The study
details the brand awareness and its effect on the customer of MTN(Knott and Jones
2015). MTN is a mobile telecommunication company that is operating in over 20
countries. The company has seen a tough time due to lack of branding and thus, serious
focus on branding was required. Presently the company is ranked among the top brands in
South Africa, however, if the brand name must be retained in the company then they have
to make sure that the branding and advertising is continued in the market(Beck 2013).
Thus, branding is important to keep up the good name of the company and maintain a
good reputation among their customers.

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1.3 Rationale of the research:
The importance of branding and advertising has become an important step in business
organizations. The aim of branding is to create a name in the market and make the
customers aware of the available products in the market. The customers are well aware
and used to the reputed brands only because they have done regular advertising of their
brands(Chinomona2013). MTN’s market share and profitability hadtaken a serious blow
due to the lack of branding and advertising(Death 2014). Focusing on branding and
advertising over a few yearsenabled MTN to reach their target market and presently they
are ranked among the top brands in South Africa. However, if the company does not
follow the same strategy of advertising and marketing, they might face problems in the
future.
The reason for branding is to re-establish and enhance the company name among the
clients and to prevent loss of leadership in the market. Brand awareness affects the
customer behaviour directly. The more branding and advertisement is done the more
customersare attracted to the product or brand(Dinnie2015). However, apart from
branding there are few other aspects that affect the customer behaviour like quality and
service. Branding plays a vital role as it reaches the customer of the company and
determines how and what idea the customers get about the product. Once a product has
become famous after branding then the fame and popularity that it gains automatically
uplifts the brand name in the market(Keller 2017).
The MTN Company offers various product and services that are yet to be expanded. They
provide good offers to their customer and users;however, this has to be aligned with the
branding and enhance the customer experience. This is only possible if the company is
doing proper branding and advertisement that will reach the target
market(Cornelissen2017). Unless the information reaches the customers, they will not be

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able to reach the top position and desired brand recognition. MTN has already done very
good branding for their products, however, they should also maintain this. MTN has
reached the top echelons of South African brands, but they must ensure to keep the rank
in the future also.
1.4 Research aims and objective:
The aim of this study is to understand the need and impact of branding among the
customer of the MTN. The need for branding and brand awareness has an impact in the
market and it highly influences the popularity of the brand.
The research objectives are:
1. To evaluate the impact of brand value on customer loyalty of MTN
2. To identify the factors affecting the brand image of the company.
3. To recommend ways in which the brand image of the company can be improved
1.5 Research questions:
1. What is the impact of the brand value on customer loyalty of MTN?
2. What are the factors affecting the brand image of the company?
3. How can the brand image of the company be improved?
2. Literature review
Brand can be considered as the name associated with one or more of the items in the product
line that is most probably used to recognize the characteristics of the brand. Brand is a term,
name or a sign that is used to identify the goods and services of one seller or organization to
differentiate them from theirpeers. The literature review on this topic is significantly
researched as it contributes to the concept of brand relationships as it predicts the consumer
behaviour. Higher awareness in the brand can create high demand for the product among the
consumers. Existing research has also found that the absence of brand awareness can lead to
low quality of the brand andchallenging differential awareness conditions (Sasmita and

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MohdSuki 2015). The role of brand awareness is significant as it affects the choices of the
consumer and directly impacts theirdecision-making process. Hence, it can be stated that
brand awareness differentials have a powerful influence over the brand choice making of the
customers, and moreover, affects long term loyalty to the brand.
According to brand management literature, the study conceptualizes that consumer brand
relationship can be characterized by personality and charisma (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014). It
can also be integrated with the positive and negative aspects of interpersonal characteristics.
High brand awareness can mitigate negative consumer perceptions of price related changes.
Brand awareness can be considered as one of the variables that positively contributes to the
perceptions of the charged price by comparing the product price with the price of the
competitors. Thus, a brand with an image of high product quality is likely to be inflated more
intentionally and chosen by the consumers (Jamil, Ali and Iqbal 2017). Similarly, consumers
are less likely to buy the products that are not familiar in the market or with other brands
(Lambert-Pandraud, Laurent, Mullet and Yoon 2017). This is likely because the consumers
incur psychological benefits from using the popular brand.
The Aaker model is one of the important models that is used by businesses to evaluate the
brand awareness of the organization in the market. It was developed by Professor David
Aaker. As stated by David Aaker, brand equity is a combination of brand awareness, brand
loyalty and brand associations that combine with each other to offer the value provided by the
product or service. The model of Aaker consists of four elements namely, brand as product,
brand as organization, brand as person and brand as symbol. Thus, the overall motive of the
Aaker model is to build the strategy of brand by mixing the right proportion of its
components to make it a brand that stands apart from its rivals. Brand awareness always
brings a competitive advantage to the organization.

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Another theory that helps in building brand of an organization is 3 stages of branding. The
three stages of branding is mainly comprised of design, value proposition and positioning
statement. The creation of heuristic criteria is summed up of logos, colors, slogans, catch-
phrases and many such factors that help in distinguishing the brand, but it is not branding
(Wheeler 2017). The second stage is value proposition, which states that the product or
service that is being offered by the company is the value that is being added as brand to
develop brand awareness among the consumers. The last stage of branding is considered as
the positioning statement where it considers how the product or service is being presented to
the consumers and being perceived by the consumers (Payne, Frow and Eggert 2017).
The brand image of the company can be improved by using latest technology and social
media to reach the customers . The technology has made sure that the company that are using
it are easily reaching their clients in time and spreading the brand awareness with full
information. The brand awareness can also be improved by using banners and posters, this is
specially for the customers who are not readily active in social media and thus they will not
be able to get the information that the company will be trying to reach the customers.
There are several arguments stating that market share of an organization can also lead to
interpret the brand awareness as an aggregate level of consumer brand perceptions.
The customer loyalty works accordingly with the needs of the customers. The customer’s
interest in maintaining a loyal relationship is related to the ability to execute on the promise
ofproviding a high standard in their product offering. Customer potential is one of the
powerful weapons that is used by the organization to gain strategic advantage in the
competitive environment (Arora and Kumar 2018). Customer retention and brand awareness
are closely related to each other.

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There are various factors that contribute towards influencing brand awareness of a company.
In accordance, it also affects the intention of the customers to purchase a product. Consumers
play a vital role in the economic system by the payments of the goods and services produced.
Brand awareness affects the decision making of a consumer about a product or service. The
present market is over-supplied with variety of product brands. The other factors that drive
brand awareness are primarily the commitment and affection showed by the customers for the
brand. It is also recognized that the stronger the brand awareness the higher the resistance to
try competitor products or services.
There are two dimensions toa brand, in the form of physiological and psychological
dimensions. These two dimensions affect the consumers mind such that it links the brand
image, brand performance, brand usage, brand loyalty and brand judgment of the product. It
helps the companies to sustain the existing customers and with new strategies or products
theyhelp to attract new customer and turn them into loyal customers.

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3. Methodology:
3.1 Research philosophy:
The research philosophy is considered to scrutinize and create a detailing of the study. There
are three basic types of research philosophy: interpretivism, realism and positivism. Among
these positivism helps to develop a depth analysis of the study and conclude it with justifiable
results. Interpretivism is related to managing activities and functions. Realism is a combined
approach of the research philosophy of realism and positivism. However, in this case
interpretivism is required which will include managing the activities and functions. The
activities that include advertisement and branding is related to this situation and a thorough
managing of the situation is required in this case. The philosophy will not be well suited in
this case.
3.2 Research design:
Generally, research design is of three types. Descriptive, explanatory and exploratory.
Descriptive helps to understand the situation and evaluate the study, exploratory is used to
understand the concept in the beginning phase and explanatory is used to develop a
relationship between the variables. This study will require an explanatory research design that
will help the organization and the related factors in it to understand the need for branding and
how it affects the customer section in general. The thorough need for marketing and branding
is becoming a mandatory exercise in the present time. The detailed understanding and
explanation for the impact is required in this study. Thus, an explanatory research design is
needed in this case.
3.3Data collection method:
The data collection method includes two methods: primary and secondary data collection. In
this study the data collection method will include both the methods. The direct interview or

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review from the customers and company managers and official heads are required to
understanding what impressions they have about branding. The customers and the company
workers statements and reviews will b e taken. It will give a clear idea about the result. The
data that will be collected here requires the direct information from these sources, at the same
time, secondary data in the form of journals and books can also be used. The use of journal
and books will include the experience of the reputed entrepreneurs who have faced the high
and low situations in business and has faced the result of proper advertisement and branding
in the market(Okonkwo 2016). The existing written documents will give pre-existing data
and how they had an impact, but a direct interview will help to understand the impact in a
better way. Thus the data collected will include primary and secondary data collection form
the mentioned people which will give a clear idea about the result.
3.4Sampling method and sampling size:
The sampling techniques includes probability and non-probability sampling technique. It will
also include sampling by selecting random customers and business organizations who have
explored brandingand the consequences they experienced in branding. It will include 10
business people who have faced the consequences of branding in their work life. It will also
include the result of a survey that includes a collection of 500 people. The survey will be
conducted in the general market which will make it easier to reach the customers.
3.5Data analysis techniques:
The data analysis includes two different forms and they are qualitative and quantitative. The
quantitative data analysis will include the large sum information that is required to analysis
the data and make a conclusion. The qualitative data includes the standardised data which
might not be huge in number but will cover the entire decision. This case will require
quantitative data,as the result from various sources is important in this case(Ottman 2017). A

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single recommendation or preference cannot determine the outcome here. In this case both
the data analysis method will be used for confirming the data analysis.
3.6Research ethical consideration:
The research will strictly maintain its privacy and provide complete security to the entire
group that will be included in the research. The research will make sure that no one is
disturbed or bothered by this process. It will take care that the person who is taking part in the
interview is content with their answer and no interpretation is done to their answers. The
decision will entirely depend on the answers received from the consumers and business
people or organization. Permission and authorisation will be obtained where required. There
will not be violation of rules of any companies. The authorisation letter detailing the scope
and purpose of the research will be presented to all participants.
3.7Limitation of the study:
The study will give an accurate idea about the impact of branding for the company MTN.
However, there will be a few gaps that will be kept for future scope. The need to protect
against negative brand awareness will not be discussed in the study. The study will deal only
with the impact of the branding among the consumer. In general, if the impact is positive the
result will be positive as well. However, if a negative branding or fame is spread in the
society then there will be high chances that the fame of the company will go down, harming
the brand. Thus, it is important to maintain the brand image among the consumer with a
positive attitude. The research will cover the impact, but it will not cover the strategies to
meet the impact of the advertisement in the market. The impact can be positive or negative, it
is the business organization responsibility to maintain a positive image in the market. MTN
has kept a good image in the market and have reached the top brands in South Africa.
However, if they do not maintain this level of branding in the market then there is a good