The impact of branding on consumer choice: the case of new domestic sugar brands

Abstract

Branding is the terminal phase of a process that involves a company's resources and all of its functions, focusing them on one strategic intent - creating a difference in order to set itself a part from its competitors. A brand distinguishes the goods or services of sellers and differentiates those goods or services from those of competitors. A brand thus signals to a customer the source of a product and protects both the customer and the producer from competitors who would attempt to provide goods that appear to be identical (Aaker 1991). A commodity is a product presumably so basic that it cannot be physically differentiated in' the minds of consumers (Keller 1999). Commodity brands oiler no advantages over any other brand. On commodity markets, consumers only buy products and do not care about services and surrounding benefits and all products in the category are the same. Commodity markets are price markets and no consumer is willingto pay a cent more to one seller than to another. The study was carried to determine the impact of branding commodities on consumer choice of sugar. In 1998, Kenyan sugar companies started packaging their sugar in 2- kg packets. Now we have Vi kg, 1 kg, 2kg and 5 kg packets in the market. Branding is one of the strategies companies put in place to fight the competition that came with the Government withdrawal of its participation in marketing sugar and price control as well as liberalization of the Kenyan ma-ket and emergence of trade blocks like COMESA. The study had two objectives: - • To determine the extent to which branding of sugar (a commodity) enhances Brand Equity of sugar. To determine whether consumers prefer branded to unbranded sugar. The study was carried out in Nairobi using structured questionnaires. The target population was the consumer in various Society classes subdivided into five sub

• It is imperative that companies package their sugar for easy identification by consumers. It communicates a lot about the company and brand • Companies are advised to look for means of improving perceived quality of their sugar, as this is the major determinant of the purchase decision of most consumers. That sugar be distributed widely so that it is available to those seeking to purchase it. This is because there is very little store loyalty as long as it is the prefered brand. • I recommend that all companies brand their sugar as a basic requirement in order to compete. This is because consumers generally prefer branded to unbranded sugar.