Concretizing and

legitimizing brand equity

as a strategic investment

A qualitative study in the Swedish retail industry

Axel Eklund, Emil Arljung

Department of Business Administration

Civilekonomprogrammet

Degree Project, 30 Credits, Spring 2020

Supervisor: Galina Biedenbach

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Abstract

The retail industry has seen an immense increase in competition. Brands are becoming more

similar, which makes it essential for firms to differentiate themselves against their

competitors. The brand is considered the company's biggest intangible asset, possessing an

array of different values for the company. Even though research continuously manifest the

importance of establishing and managing a strong brand, companies are becoming

increasingly less prone to invest in intangible assets such as the brand. The nature of profit

maximizing companies has seen investments being directed at measurable and concrete

areas, where the return on investment is readily established. One efficient way to work with

brand assets is through brand equity, a concept with the main objective of understanding the

customer. Brand equity is an approach that enables the firm to deliver value to the customer

and being able to receive the benefits of increased margins and profitability from satisfied

customers.

Previous research has stressed the importance and need for future scholars to investigate

brand equity and provide practical examples of how to manage and develop brand equity in

different industries. Brand equity investments further need to be connected to financial

indicators in order to legitimize and manifest the financial importance and benefits of brand

equity. In other words, concretization and legitimization are needed in order for brand equity

investments to be regarded as strategically viable and efficient. Previous research is largely

quantitative and focus on statistically reliable relationships. Meaning that there is an evident

need for qualitative research explaining “how”, and not “if”. The purpose of this degree

project is to develop a deeper understanding of how companies manage and develop their

brand equity and how brand equity influences shareholder value in the Swedish retail

industry.

Our degree project answers to the following research question: How do firms manage and

develop their brand equity in order to generate shareholder value in the Swedish retail

industry?". In order for us to successfully answer our research question and achieve the

purpose of this degree project, we have therefore conducted a qualitative study. This study

was carried out through six in-depth interviews with managers, working with brand related

questions and responsibilities at established firms in the Swedish retail industry. The

findings provide instrumental practical insights about actions and activities of how to

manage and develop the four dimensions of brand equity; brand awareness, brand

associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty. Furthermore, the findings also provide a

deeper understanding as to how each dimension contribute to cash flows of shareholder

value, short-term and long-term. Our findings manifest the relevance of each brand equity

dimension and acknowledge how accurate and relevant the dimensions are in the retail

industry currently.

The findings in our study are presented through a conceptual model, adopted in order to

concretize and legitimize brand equity investments. The conceptual model encapsulates

and visualizes concrete actions and activities for each dimension, as well as how each

dimension is connected to the drivers of shareholder value. This degree project also provides

other important insights regarding brand equity, presenting the main functions of brand

equity in accordance to the literature and the empirical findings. Lastly, this degree project

provides managerial implications of how to manage and develop brand equity from a

holistic point of view, to successfully generate shareholder value.

Acknowledgements

First of all, we would like to extend our sincerest appreciation by thanking our supervisor

Dr. Galina Biedenbach. Her consistent support and guidance have been of uttermost

importance, especially during these testing times. Through consistent feedback and frequent

communication, we have been able to produce the best possible degree project from several

different quality aspects. We would also like to thank the different opponents we had during

the writing process for contributing great insights and thoughts.

Lastly, we would like to express our gratitude to our amazing interview participants; Lena

Rodin at Löfbergs, Brand Manager A at Large Snacks Company, Annika Sund at Leksands

Knäckebröd, Helene Moland Daly at Marabou (Mondelez International), Jenny Odéhn

Hejdenberg at Santa Maria and Pelle Lundquist at A Day´s March, for contributing their

knowledge and taking the time to help us with this degree project.

Umeå

May 20, 2020

Axel Eklund Emil Arljung

Table of Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Choice of subject .................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Problem Background .............................................................................................................................. 2

1.3 Research gap .......................................................................................................................................... 5

1.4 Research question .................................................................................................................................. 7

1.5 Purpose .................................................................................................................................................. 7

2. Scientific method ................................................................................................................................... 8

2.1 Ontology ................................................................................................................................................. 8

2.2 Epistemology .......................................................................................................................................... 9

2.3 Research approach ............................................................................................................................... 10

2.4 Research design ................................................................................................................................... 11

2.5 Preunderstandings ............................................................................................................................... 12

2.6 Literature search .................................................................................................................................. 12

3. Theoretical framework ....................................................................................................................... 14

3.1 Definitions of brand equity ................................................................................................................... 14

3.2 Customer-based brand equity (CBBE) .................................................................................................. 15

3.3 Dimensions of brand equity ................................................................................................................. 16

3.4 Shareholder value ................................................................................................................................ 23

3.5 Brand equity in the retail industry ....................................................................................................... 26

3.6 Conceptual model ................................................................................................................................ 27

4. Practical Method ................................................................................................................................. 31

4.1 Data collection method ........................................................................................................................ 31

4.2 Interview guide .................................................................................................................................... 33

4.3 Qualitative sampling technique and access ......................................................................................... 34

4.4 Conducting the interviews .................................................................................................................... 36

4.5 Transcribing ......................................................................................................................................... 37

4.6 Analysis method ................................................................................................................................... 38

4.7 Ethical considerations .......................................................................................................................... 39

5. Empirical Findings ............................................................................................................................. 40

5.1 Presentation of participants ................................................................................................................. 40

5.2 The participants’ general perceptions of brand equity ........................................................................ 41

5.3 Brand Awareness ................................................................................................................................. 43

5.4 Brand Associations ............................................................................................................................... 46

5.5 Perceived Quality ................................................................................................................................. 48

5.6 Brand Loyalty ....................................................................................................................................... 53

5.7 The participants concluding thoughts on Brand Equity ....................................................................... 57

6. Thematic analysis and discussion ....................................................................................................... 60

6.1 The main functions of brand equity ..................................................................................................... 60

6.2 Brand awareness .................................................................................................................................. 62

6.3 Brand Associations ............................................................................................................................... 67

6.4 Perceived Quality ................................................................................................................................. 71

6.5 Brand Loyalty ....................................................................................................................................... 75

6.6. The revised conceptual model and final remarks ................................................................................ 80

7. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 84

7.1 General conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 84

7.2 Theoretical contributions ..................................................................................................................... 86

7.3 Managerial implications ...................................................................................................................... 87

7.4 Societal implications ............................................................................................................................ 88

7.5 Limitations and future research ........................................................................................................... 89

7.6 Truth criteria ........................................................................................................................................ 90

References ............................................................................................................................................... 93

Appendix 1: Interview guide ................................................................................................................ 103

Appendix 2: Interview guide (Swedish version) ................................................................................... 105

Appendix 3: Interview questions with corresponding theory .............................................................. 107

Appendix 4: Overview of conducted interviews ................................................................................... 110

Appendix 5: Overview of participating companies .............................................................................. 111

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1. Introduction

This chapter will be dedicated to firstly discuss our choice of subject and provide a thorough

understanding for the current problem background. Based on the problem background, we

will present relevant research gaps, which will constitute the foundation for the research

question and the purpose of this degree project.

1.1 Choice of subject

During the process of our university education, we have experienced a wide variety of

courses stimulating different areas and topics within the roam of business administration.

We both share a common interest for the discipline of marketing as well as finance. This

led to a tough decision when we had to decide between the respective disciplines during the

choice of master courses for year four. In the end, we chose finance and marketing

respectively. We both chose our specializations at university based on genuine and a driven

interest, meaning that there is a potent will and interest to thrive in these fields, primarily in

regard to developing further knowledge and becoming even more enlightened. However,

we both shared the experience of feeling a certain vacancy of either finance or marketing in

our contrasting choice of specialization. Naturally, this degree project constituted a great

opportunity to combat this situation and allowed us to combine both disciplines.

Based on the described background, we ended up in a situation where we have similar

interest in both fields of marketing and finance - but having decided upon different

specializations. Thus, it felt organic to investigate the relationship between marketing and

finance in some capability. We both share a common interest for looking at how intangible

assets generate value, since it is not traditionally an easy task. This problem constitutes one

area creating potent discrepancy between marketing and finance. However, we are both

strong believers that managers can not overlook the importance of intangible assets. We

naturally ended up in wanting to discuss how brand equity, which is a marketing-oriented

term, contributes to shareholder value, which is a finance-oriented term.

We both have a background in the retail industry from previous working experiences, and

we are both aware that brand equity plays an integral role in the retail context. Competition

is becoming intensive, and products more similar, meaning that the brand equity concept is

becoming even more important. Therefore, the retail industry felt natural to look into, in

order to create a delimitation. We believe that this degree project will provide us with a

potential addition to our resumes. Since we both want to work with developing brands to

reach financial success, we believe it is important to truly understand the shareholder value

aspect of brand equity. This project is obviously very important for our future careers as

well. We believe that the knowledge which we acquire during the process of conducting

this project will be extremely valuable for firms, boardrooms and investors since it is still

such a prominent trend of neglecting investments in brands, meaning that firms will

potentially miss the benefits of investing in brand equity such as shareholder value.

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1.2 Problem Background

In today's society, customers are being increasingly exposed to many different brands in a

rapid pace. Meanwhile the market for companies is becoming saturated by an array of

multinational companies (Wang et al., 2007). Derived from the current circumstances,

Dahlen and Lange (2009) express the need for efficient branding strategies and activities as

extremely important in order to be competitive in the market and retain the customers

interest. The brand constitutes one of the most important tools in order to stay present and

relevant in customers minds and creates lasting recognition, according to the swedish

patent- och registreringsverket (2019, n.d.). Landelius and Treffner (1998) discuss how

management at companies previously have opted to look at the stock value of the company

in order to assess the value of the company. However, due to the influence which brands

have on company value, managers must now more precisely understand how different

aspects of a brands contributes to value and increased performance, especially in terms of

understanding the customers (Landelius & Treffner, 1998)

Brands are traditionally considered and reviewed as corporate intangible assets (Doyle,

2001). Brands are also considered to constitute and possess value both economically as well

as they create wealth and value for the company’s shareholders (Aaker, 1996; Kerin &

Sethuraman, 1998). The importance and relevance of managing brands in a business

administration context is indisputable. Aaker (1996) continues to accentuate how the brand

is a strategic asset for long-term performance of the firm, and therefore has to be managed

and developed accordingly. According to Doyle (2001), several big and renowned

companies such as Procter and Gamble have severely simplified how brands contribute

value to the actual performance of a business, and instead chosen to solely focus on the

value proposition for customers. Furthermore, Doyle (2008) suggests that over 75% of the

value of some established companies consists of the brand and other intangible assets from

marketing, making investments in branding activities fundamental for firms. Kerin and

Sethuraman (1998) discuss how there is an established understanding in both the marketing

and finance field that well-known brands indeed do constitute economic value, but the

process of assigning actual financial value is however a completely different challenge. The

need to further facilitate how brands contribute to financial performance is therefore

evident. The assets and liabilities linked to a brand are known as brand equity (Aaker, 1991).

Brand equity is a term which in many ways has borrowed equity from the finance literature,

since brand equity is a concept with an ambition and purpose to encapsulate and capture

the value of brands in relation to firm performance as well as examining dimensions which

contribute to this (Rust et al., 2004). The main objective is to understand the customer in

order for the firm to deliver value to the customer, and in return being able to reap benefits

such as increased margins and profitability stemming from satisfied customers, who give

value back (Aaker, 1991). Brand equity is an approach for marketers to truly facilitate and

manifest the relationship between marketing investments and results (Farquhar, 1989). The

most commonly used model for explaining what constitute brand equity is Aaker’s (1991)

five dimensions of brand equity: brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality,

brand loyalty and other proprietary assets. There are however many different interpretations

and definitions of what brand equity constitutes - and not one specific and widely accepted

definition (Keller, 2008). Washburn and Plank (2002) add to this ambiguity by stating that

there is no defined measurement to be used for brand equity either.

However, the consensus in the research field of brand equity is that brand equity brings

value to products through the customers associations and interpretations regarding a specific

brand - created through different marketing efforts (Keller, 2008).

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The Nobel prize winner Milton Friedman once ferociously argued in a 1970, and now

extremely famous Times article - that operating businesses only has one sole purpose. The

objective with businesses is to generate and maximize profit for shareholders. Friedman

further stated that companies which do not adopt this “responsible” attitude would be faced

with binding constraint and not remain competitive (Forbes, 2013; Green Biz, 2006). This

outlook on operating businesses is heavily reflected in today's society. Managers allocate

scarce resources through the different departments of the firm to create value for the

shareholders, and investment decisions are typically based on concrete assumptions and

calculations with a clear link to creating shareholder value (Srivastava et al., 1998).

Gajland and Treffner (2001) add to this discussion by addressing how many companies are

focused on developing a more cost-efficient organization and have become more resource

aware due to the growing competitiveness of almost every market. This means that every

department of the firm is held accountable for their attribution to the company and what

they bring to the table. According to Aaker and Jacobson (1994), investments directed into

intangible assets are scrutinized and looked down upon since they traditionally are harder

to measure and quantify. Due to investments in intangible assets becoming more overridden,

Stein (1989) states that managers are becoming increasingly more prone to sacrifice these

kinds of investments in order to not diminish and jeopardize current or future term-results.

Gajland and Treffner (2001) regard that already existing capital in companies will be

invested in areas which are easy to derive results from and are to be regarded as risk

balanced.

The reluctance of investing in intangible assets such as brand equity ties into a common

challenge for marketing managers. Rinivasan and Hanssens (2009) mean that the

contribution from marketing is generally not readily visible and concrete. There are several

challenges regarding the process of presenting for example quarterly changes in earnings

and sales based on the impact from marketing actions. Translating marketing into financial

success is heavily centred around interpreting the positive and intangible assets marketing

brings to the firm. Especially soft, intangible assets and metrics such as brand building,

brand equity and market-sensing capability (Rinivasan & Hanssens, 2009). Top

management teams and boards are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that their

companies are investing extensive amounts of money into marketing actions which are not

necessarily based on analytics and knowledge (Hanssens & Pauwels, 2016). The problems

of not being able to derive results from marketing investments present a challenge for

marketing departments to demonstrate their addition as a value-creating asset in financial

terms and has further led to a decrease of marketer’s credibility (Rust et al. 2004). This view

might not be representative of how shareholder value actually is created though, as some

researchers propose that the source of economic value and competitive ability nowadays is

essentially tied to the creation and manipulation of intangible assets (Canibano et al 2000;

Lusch & Harvey, 1994).

The implication of a loss of credibility in the marketing discipline and a loss of power of

marketing managers in boardrooms will therefore inevitably lead to firms missing out of

potential investment opportunities consisting of intangible factors, such as the benefits from

brand equity. There is potent evidence of how brands, and specifically brand equity,

contribute to the shareholder value of firms (Canibano et al 2000; Lusch & Harvey 1994;

Srivastava et al., 1998; Knowles, 2003). Farquhar (1989) mentions how the incremental

cash flow increases when a product is positively associated with a brand, and Pahud De

Mortanges and van Riel (2003) state in their research that the performance of a brand also

leads to a significantly higher financial performance of a firm. The positive relationship

between an increased financial performance as a cause of a well-managed brand therefore

4

has empirical evidence. However, both Srivastava et al. (1998) and Knowles (2003) point

out that the proven positive effects that brand equity has on a firm's competitive advantage

needs to be expressed in terms of shareholder value to gain further credibility and legitimacy

in the corporate strategy of firms. A potent consequence of firms not investing in brand

equity due to lack of understanding how different parts of it contributes to shareholder value,

could therefore lead to firms missing out of potential profit from brand activities.

A basic definition of shareholder value is that the value of a firm increases when managers

make decisions that increase the net present value of future cash flows (Lukas et al., 2005,

p. 415). Shareholder value might therefore serve as a sufficient general measurement of a

firm’s financial performance and is an adequate indicator of value created. Furthermore,

there is no general consensus in the literature about what constitutes financial performance

(Cochran & Wood, 1984), but shareholder value in its definition also contains factors such

as sales, earnings and profitability which are factors that brand equity has a large influence

on, based on previous research. Based on our experience, sales and profitability etc. are key

areas when discussing the success of marketing actions. Brands are as mentioned regarded

as intangible assets (Doyle, 2001). Following the nature of brands, Landelius and Treffner

(1998) argue that understanding how and why brands contribute to shareholder value, and

the process of translating brands to shareholder value is traditionally hard. This means that

there is an evident need for managers to understand how brand creates shareholder value

and how they can adopt different strategies to further this value creation. Landelius and

Treffner (1998) continue to add to this by stating that the company which generates the

highest rate of shareholder value will have the easiest way of attracting money, which can

translate into new investments. In other words, companies which creates shareholder value

through their brands will be able to obtain success both in the short term, as well as create

a foundation for further success.

Kotler and Levy (1969) acknowledge and discuss that different marketing activities and

actions should indeed be applied to all kinds of businesses and industries. Marketing plays

an influential role in the success of the business in the retail industry (Gilbert, 1999). Gilbert

(1999, p. 6) defines retail as “any business that directs its marketing efforts towards

satisfying the final customer based upon the organization of selling goods and services as

means of distribution”. Another aspect which accentuates the role of brand equity in

retailing is the fact that the progress of selling and buying products has become a brand-

dominated activity (Gilbert, 1999). Companies and products are becoming more similar

and this situation has led to an increased focus on establishing and maintaining strong brands

in order to obtain sales, thus the brand is an influential factor in a company's potential

success (Argonova, n.d.). The process of retailing compromises the vast majority of the

activities which conduct marketing as a concept (Gilbert, 1999). It is therefore essential to

discuss the linkage between brand equity activities and shareholder value in the retailing

industry.

Svenska Näringsgrensindelning (SNI) has created several different ramifications for what

types of companies can be fractionated into different industries. According to Allabolag

(n.d.), these are some examples of company-ramifications inside the retail industry; clothing

store, department stores and supermarket shopping, grocery stores, opticians and pharmacy

trade (Allabolag, n.d). According to Woodside and Walser (2007), the concept of brands

refers the retail industry in many ways. Having a strong brand contributes to the relative

power of attracting customers to a certain brand over a competing one (Woodside & Walser,

2007). The retailing industry is an integral part of the economic structure in the society -

and is also responsible for in many ways shaping our way of life.

5

The activity of trading goods has always been a central activity in traditional societies

(Gilbert, 1999). During the year of 2017, the retailing industry in Sweden employed more

than 270 000 people (Handelsradet, 2019). This problem background facilitates the

importance of having strong brand equity and the existing, but not sufficiently investigated,

relationship between brand equity and shareholder value. Traditionally, companies have

recognized that strong brands and extensive brand equity indeed contribute to succeeding

businesses - but not specifically how to actually manage and develop brand equity, thus

leaving the concept seemingly even more intangible. Brands are intangible assets, which in

line with the discipline of marketing means that the contribution is hard to measure and

quantify. This further means that it is of utter importance to develop an extensive

understanding of how to manage and develop intangible assets, in order to compensate for

the lacking possibilities of conducting accurate measurements.

With this degree project, we will conduct in-depth interviews with managers responsible

for brand activities within well-established firms in the Swedish retail industry. Through

these interviews we will collect practical examples of how and why brand equity is created,

as well as develop a deeper understanding of how certain dimensions of brand equity

contribute to shareholder value. We hope to develop practical suggestions for firms which

currently discard brand equity investments due to intangibility, who also miss out on

benefits such as increased shareholder value. Thus, manifesting why they must allocate

money for brand equity investments in the future. This is especially significant in a market

such the retail industry where brands are so influential and can therefore not be overseen.

Furthermore, creating an understanding of the impact brand equity has on shareholder value

could further legitimize marketing investments in general and increase the credibility of

marketing departments in the boardroom.

1.3 Research gap

The importance of brands and the role of brand equity has been discussed from many

perspectives and previous literature (Canibano et al 2000; Lusch & Harvey 1994; Srivastava

et al., 1998; Knowles, 2003). Based on our literature review (Canibano et al 2000; Lusch &

Harvey 1994; Srivastava et al., 1998; Knowles, 2003), we can determine that previous

research recognizes several benefits of working with brands and managing brand equity.

However, plenty of studies discuss how investments in brands are becoming more seldom

due to the problems associated with measuring intangible assets, and companies instead opt

for concrete investments in line with the profit maximizing nature of firms (Stein, 1989;

Gajland and Treffner, 2001) Research has also express the need for further research in the

context of how brand equity contribute to financial performance, and how to manage and

develop brand equity accordingly (Pahud De Mortanges & Van riel, 2003). The problem

background has also established the importance of implementing the impact of shareholder

value in all investments for the current and future success of firms (Landelius and Treffner,

1998; Srivastava et al., 1998; Knowles, 2003). Even though Shareholder value is highly

relevant in the context of brands and brand equity, there is scarce research conducted for

describing, and providing practical examples of the relationship between them. Barker and

Milano (2018) express the need to develop an “evidence-based” framework with the

primary function of explaining and deriving how intangible aspects of marketing

investments such as brand equity contribute to the bottom line of the of the company, with

practical examples. Davcik et al. (2015) state that there is no doubt that brands play an

integral role in marketing and that it has an outspoken relationship with the firm’s created

share. Davcik et al. (2015) specifically highlight in their article the need of investigating the

perspective of shareholder value and financial performance for making a unified and more

6

complete theory of brand equity, and that continued research regarding brand equity is

needed - with approaches primarily targeting the financial-based spectra.

There is no distinct way of defining financial performance. Cochran and Wood (1984) state

that there is no outspoken consensus in the research sphere when defining which financial

indicators should be used when defining financial performance. Based on this

argumentation we believe shareholder value is an adequate alternative to financial

performance to discuss the relationship of brand equity with. This is further supported in

the context of brand equity, Pahud De Mortanges and van Riel (2003) accentuate the

relationship between financial performance and brands, and ultimately shareholder value.

To help fill the research gap regarding brand equity and shareholder value, we aim to obtain

important insights from practical examples which will also enrich the general understanding

for how to manage and develop brand equity, and how successfully managed brand equity,

contribute to the financial performance of the company. Therefore, we find both Davcik et

al. (2015) and Barker and Milano (2018) as important inspirations for future research in this

field, which we hope to contribute to. Another aspect of brand equity which need further

research according to Davcik et al. (2015) is the lack of practical knowledge and solutions

for practitioners working with managing and developing brands at companies. Based on the

background, Davcik et al. (2015) promotes the need for researchers across different

industry contexts to describe and explain how brands actually are managed and developed

in order to create brand equity.

Christodoulides et al. (2015) argue that researchers must establish a nomological network

of the different dimensions of brand equity. Further on, Christodoulides et al. (2015) mean

that researchers and scholars must create a better understanding for the actual composition

and management of brand equity in different context, industries or product categories. This

is further supported by Pahud De Mortanges and Van riel (2003) that emphasize the need

to examine the relationship between brand equity and shareholder value in various industry

sectors. There is some research made in the area of how brand equity affects shareholder

value, and that examines the relationship between them. For instance, Pahud de Mortanges

and Van Riel (2003) provide insight on how brand equity affects shareholder value using

the brand asset valuation model, finding a positive relationship between the instances. Hsu

et al. (2013) conclude that stock performance is highly related to the brand value of

companies, and Madden et al. (2006) found that portfolios of strong brands significantly

outperforms weaker brands in economic performance, creating shareholder value primarily

by yielding returns greater than the relevant market benchmark. The direct and positive

relationship that brand equity and brand building have on shareholder value of companies

is therefore partly established, but there are questions as to how the different dimensions of

brand equity create value. The contribution to the research area from e.g Pahud De

Mortanges and van Riel (2003), Hsu et al. (2013) and Madden et al. (2006), mainly consist

of quantitative studies with statistical verification of the positive relationship between

branding activities and financial performance. However, we find that the previous literature

lack explanations as to how and why underlying dimensions of brand equity affects

shareholder value. Our degree project seeks to, through a qualitative approach, provide a

deeper understanding of how brand equity is managed and developed through efficient

actions and activities, and how the dimensions of brand equity generate shareholder value.

Considering our empirical setting, there is no surprise that there are several articles

discussing brand equity in the context of retail. Pappu et al. (2005) and Swoboda et al.

(2016) have for instance investigated brand equity in the context of retail. However, none

of these articles adopted a qualitative approach, meaning that they do not provide any deeper

explanations, which was a further research approach requested by Davcik et al. (2015).

Finally, the research which examines the relationship between brand equity and shareholder

7

value with a qualitative approach is scarce, meaning our degree project contributes to the

need for deeper explanations of how to manage and develop brand equity, examining brand

equity in a specific industry and connecting brand equity to a financial indicator.

Based on the problem background and the research gap we have established that brands are

highly important for the success of the company - where brand equity constitute a potent

and successful tool for developing and working with the brand, while brand equity is an

outspoken highly important factor for success.

1.4 Research question

Based on the problem background and the research gap - we have established the following

research question:

"How do firms manage and develop their brand equity in order to generate shareholder

value in the Swedish retail industry?"

1.5 Purpose

The purpose of this degree project is to develop a deeper understanding of how companies

manage and develop their brand equity and how brand equity influences shareholder value

in the Swedish retail industry. Through providing concrete examples of actions and

activities of how to manage brand equity, grounded in both theories and empirical data, we

will concretize the workflow for managing and developing brand equity. This has

previoulsy been a large challenge due to the intangibility of brand equity. Furthermore, we

aim to legitimize investments in brand equity through providing examples of how the

dimensions of brand equity contribute to the drivers of shareholder value. It is readily

established that in order for investments to be accepted in a business context, they have to

be clearly connected to financial performance. Through answering our research question,

we will provide a practical and evidence-based framework derived from in-depth

interviews. These in-depth interviews will be held with managers responsible for working

strategically with brand related questions at well established brands in the Swedish retail

industry. With this degree project, we aim to polarize the debate and problematic situation

where companies currently choose to discard and overlook investments into brand equity -

thus missing out of benefits in terms of increased shareholder value.

We recognize that companies are in many ways run with the purpose of being profit

maximizing. Since brand equity investments are regarded as difficult to measure properly,

they do not fit the nature of profit maximizing businesses, where return on investment need

to be readily visible. However, brand equity is, according to our problem background,

clearly a foundation for increased shareholder value and financial well-being. We believe

that managers just need to understand how brand equity is continuously developed and

managed, and how brand equity contribute to shareholder value. In order for brand equity

investments to win legitimacy in boardrooms, there must firstly be a clear workflow of how

to efficiently manage and develop brand equity. Secondly, practical evidence of the

relationship between brand equity and shareholder value is needed. We will develop a

conceptual model, illustrating practical examples of actions and activities for the

management and development of brand equity, as well as presenting how each dimension

of brand equity contribute to drivers of shareholder value.

8

2. Scientific method

In this chapter, the philosophical stances, the research approach and the research design

of this degree project will be presented. Further on, our preunderstandings will be

introduced and explained. To conclude this chapter, we will provide an explanation as to

how the literature search of this degree project was conducted.

2.1 Ontology

Ontology is the knowledge of how the nature of reality is perceived with a central theme

being in what different matters social entities can be viewed as (Saunders et al., 2012).

Social entities can be viewed as objective entities meaning that they exist independently

from social actors, or as subjective entities that gets affected and constructed by the social

actors within them (Bryman & Bell, 2011). These stances are objectivism and

constructionism (also called subjectivism) and are particularly popular and often used

within research of business and management (Saunders et al., 2012). Bryman and Bell

(2011) mean that an objective stance on organizations would imply that management is an

objective entity of which the employees have little influence on, with highly structured

hierarchy and clear job descriptions and duties of the people within the organization. This

view would also claim that all organizations have similar structure and the functionalities

are the same at the essence of the company. A subjective stance on organizations on the

other hand would mean that managers to a larger scale have impact on an individual level

and that their beliefs and meanings are attached to the company (Saunders et al., 2012).

Subjectivism would also suggest that the culture of the organization is not pre-given but

continuously affected and changed by the social actors within them (Bryman & Bell, 2015).

This degree projects aims to investigate how well-established brands within the retail

industry manage and develop their brand equity through actions and activities in order to

create shareholder value. Every brand faces different challenges and operate under different

circumstances and conditions. We believe that the development and management of brand

equity is shaped by the people working at the brand, and that the customers perception of

the brand also is a contributing factor. This degree project therefore mainly adopts a

subjective, or in other words constructivist ontological stance. Since we study how

established brands develop and manage their brand equity actions and initiatives in order to

generate shareholder value, we adopt a subjective ontological stance due to the fact that this

degree project has a qualitative approach. The subjective stance supports our prominent

desire to explore and map how these actions and activities are managed and developed by

managers and other individuals at these brands. We believe that depending on these

managers background, experiences as well as the organizational situation, actions and

activities will be different. If there were no social actors such as managers at the brands, it

would be difficult to provide practical examples and concretize how brand equity is

managed and developed at brands through suitable actions and activities. We believe that

the subjective stance is best suited for our degree project, since an objective perspective

does not approach any types of social entities as something which can be manipulated or

changed by the behaviours and actions of individuals. However, we therefore argue that the

different challenges and conditions at companies alongside different managers responsible

for brand equity, makes a subjective approach most suitable for this degree project.

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2.2 Epistemology

According to Bryman and Bell (2015), the epistemological consideration and stance

primarily concerns what is, or what should be regarded as adequate and acceptable

knowledge within a discipline. One of the most central considerations and issues within the

epistemology stance is the question of whether the social world can or should be viewed or

studied from the same foundational principles, perspectives and procedures as natural

science (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The Epistemological stance deals with knowledge, and

whether knowledge is objective or if researchers can interpret knowledge in their own

subjective way. Two of the main epistemological perspectives are positivism and

interpretivism (Saunders et al., 2012). Positivism is an epistemological perspective, the

doctrine of positivism is in many ways extremely hard and difficult to explain and outline

precisely due to many researchers adopt this perspective in many different ways (Bryman

& Bell, 2015). Saunders et al. (2012) argue that researchers who adopt the philosophy of

positivism are probably implementing the same philosophical stance as the natural scientist.

Focus is on retrieving and collecting data from an observable reality with focus on

regularities and casual relationships (Saunders et al., 2012). Positivism advocates

implementation and application of different methods within the natural science - to the study

and concept of social reality (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Interpretivism is another perspective

which contrasts positivism. Researcher who adopt interpretivism share a common view that

people within social science and their institutions are widely and frankly fundamentally

different from natural science researchers (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Interpretivism was

developed as a result based on the perceived flaws and inadequacy of positivism - in order

to fulfil the needs of social scientists (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Interpretivism put emphasis

and advocates how it is a necessity for researchers to understand and interpret the

differences between humans in our role as so called social actors - and that there is a strong

need to acknowledge these differences when conducting research about people rather than

objects (Saunders et al., 2012). Further on Saunders et al. (2012) mean that researchers

must adopt an empathic stance, understand research objects and understand how they

interpret the world from their point of view. Meaning that researchers adopting the

interpretivist stance must study people and their behaviour (Saunders et al., 2012; Bryman

& Bell, 2015).

This degree project adopts an interpretivist stance, since we aim to gain a better

understanding regarding how well-established brands develop and manage brand equity to

generate shareholder value. Furthermore, we aim to provide concrete examples of how

managers adapt actions and activities at their respective brands. Since social actors, in this

case in terms of marketing and brand managers, cannot be separated from the actions of the

brand regarding brand equity, we believe that the interpretivist approach is best suited for

this degree project. We will analyse and interpret the collected data with the approach and

mindset that the interviewees and highly influence the management of brand equity, and

ultimately how it influences shareholder value. We believe that it is important to study and

approach different companies and brands since every brand consists of individuals which

influence and contribute to a non-standardized meaning. Brands are highly dependent on

perceptions and opinions of both customers and employees, and our study relies on these

subjective opinions, making positivism not suitable for our degree project.

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2.3 Research approach

The main objective of the research approach is to define the relationship between the actual

research and the theory in a study (Bryman & Bell, 2015, p. 28). There are two main

approaches for constructing a research design, deductive research and inductive research.

With a deductive approach a hypothesis is developed from existing theory and research, and

a research design is constructed with the aim to test the hypothesis in the context of reality

(Collis & Hussey, 2014). The deductive approach possesses a wide variety of important

and influential characteristics, whereas one is the search of trying to map and explain the

relationship between concepts and variables (Saunders et al., 2012). Another important

characteristic of deduction which should be acknowledged, is the need for concepts to be

operationalised in a manner which enables researchers to measure facts. Blaikie (2010)

describes six steps which a traditional deductive approach will follow and progress through:

(1) creating a hypothesis or tentative idea to form a theory, (2) using existing literature to

deduce and assume a testable proposition, (3) examine the premises and logic which created

the hypothesis and compare them to existing theories, continue the process if there is an

advance in understanding after comparing, (4) test the premise or hypothesis by collecting

efficient data analyse it, (5) If the test fails, the hypothesis is false and must be either rejected

or modified (6) If the hypothesis is consistent with theory, then the hypothesis is

corroborated.

An alternative approach to the deductive, is the inductive approach. Inductive research can

be seen as the opposite of deductive. It starts with individual observations from which

general patterns and ideas are formed, and research questions may then be used to narrow

the scope of the study (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Theory is in other words developed from

the observation of empirical reality - general inferences can thus be deduced from particular

instances (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The purpose of starting off from individual observations

instead of existing theory is to attain a feeling of the context, to better understand the nature

and origin of a problem or a situation. Following observations and interviews etc, the

researcher might arrive at the same theory as the researcher following the deductive

approach, the theory would however follow data rather than than vice versa in opposite

situation as of with the deductive approach (Saunders et al., 2012). Saunders et al. (2012)

mean that followers of induction would criticize the deductive approach since the approach

advocates the construct of a rigid methodology - which do not allow any alternative

explanations for a situation or context. Except from the two main approaches, deduction

and induction, there is also another approach, abduction, which is a merger between

deduction and induction. Adopting a abduction based approach requires obtaining rich data

enough to allow for exploring a phenomenon through identification of themes and patterns

etc. in order to establish a hypothesis like within the inductive approach (Saunders et al,

2012). The researcher would then proceed to integrate these explanations to an overall

framework, and thereby establishing a theory about the specific phenomenon. This would

later be tested by using evidence found in existing and new data, and then revise if

necessary, a process reminiscing and in accordance with the deductive approach. This

creates a process which can be compared to going back and forth from inductive to

deductive approaches (Saunders et al., 2012).

This degree project is based upon existing and established marketing theories with the goal

to explore different contexts and contribute to this theory. We aim to produce a result that

legitimizes and concretizes existing literature in the specific context of the retail industry,

and the research therefore uses a deductive approach.

An inductive approach would not be suitable since the theoretical framework is built on a

clear foundation of existing theories and previous research makes such a central aspect of

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the purpose and research question of the study. The theoretical framework has furthermore

inspired both the data collection and the analysis of the data, making up the main themes

for the study in the concluding phases of the degree project. There are however parts and

elements of the study that consist of an inductive nature, as we wish to discover new factors

of developing and managing brand equity, as well as exploring the interrelationships

between the dimensions of brand equity and the influence short- and long-term factors of

shareholder value.

2.4 Research design

The research design is the general plan of what strategy and in what approach the research

questions of the thesis will be answered (Saunders et al., 2012). When deciding the direction

of a study, the first methodological choice that has to be made is that of using a qualitative,

quantitative or a mixed method study. This choice will imply a certain set of elements of

which the study is expected to include to keep a consistency throughout the research

(Saunders et al., 2012). Qualitative research emphasizes words rather than numbers in their

presentation of analysis and takes in the perspective of the subjects being studied with a

close distance to understand the reality from their point of view (Bryman & Bell, 2015).

Qualitative research seeks to understand specific behaviour and beliefs of the subject being

studies rather than creating generalizable findings that could be used in different contexts

and is relatively unstructured in its approach (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Furthermore, Saunders

et al (2012) state that qualitative research aims to develop a conceptual framework using a

variation of techniques in both data collection and analysis, and emphasizes the importance

of gaining close access to the participants - and handling the data gained from the access

with sensitivity (Saunders et al., 2012).

Quantitative research generally seeks to find generalizations and common occurrences by

studying large amounts of data and applying that knowledge to different contexts (Bryman

& Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2012). The involvement between the researcher and the

research subjects is very limited and in some cases none at all, meaning that there is no deep

interaction with each subject investigated (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The research is highly

structured and designed to examine the relevant concepts in the focus of the study and

without getting off topic, and the data collected is usually consisting of numbers (Bryman

& Bell, 2015). Quantitative research examines the relationships between the different

variables in focus, typically measured by statistical approaches. Since the researcher is

independent from the subjects being researched due to limited involvement with the

respondents, it is critical that the questions are clearly stated and understood in the same

way. For the same reason it is important that data is collected in the same manner (Saunders

et al., 2012). In other words, a general and easy way to distinguish qualitative methods from

quantitative is in which ways and to what extent numeric and non-numeric data are used in

the research, where numeric data is more associated to quantitative research and non-

numeric data to qualitative research. This distinction is often shown whether the thesis

primarily uses a questionnaire or interviews for their data collection, although combinations

are not unusual especially within business and management research (Saunders et al.,

2012). This degree project adopts a qualitative research design since the purpose is to gain

a deeper understanding for how brand equity is managed and developed at well established

brands and how it generates shareholder value. Through in-depth interviews with suitable

individuals such as brand and marketing managers, we aim to develop a deeper

understanding for our research topic and collect primary data in order to answer our research

question of this degree project. As previously discussed, we have chosen to adopt an

interpretivist stance, which is another argument for choosing the qualitative approach. We

believe that it is of great interest to get close enough to study the meanings and thoughts of

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the interviewees since they will provide vital insights for our research. A qualitative research

design is therefore suitable since it enables us to conduct in-depth interviews. Through the

interviews we gain deeper knowledge of our research topic, enabling us to provide

concretized examples of how brand equity is managed and developed through suitable

actions and activities. Furthermore, practical examples are presented for how actions and

initiatives managing brand equity contribute to shareholder value, and thus enables us to

legitimize brand equity investments by connecting brand equity investments to financial

parameters.

2.5 Preunderstandings

Humans are never able to experience the world, read literature or encounter and react to

situations without the influence of pre-understandings (Gilje et al., 2007). According to

Coghlan (2011), researcher’s pre-understandings can also refer to specific settings, where

pre-understandings allude to the researchers existing insights, knowledge and experiences.

These pre-understandings have been obtained through experiencing their own organization

and therefore now the environment. Thus, meaning that they already know specific

languages, jargons and history - as well as having an established contact network in the

organization. Gilje et al. (2007) mean that our pre-understandings lead individuals to

interpret situations and information differently, and ultimately is necessary for individuals

to make sense of them of their environment. We both have thorough and rigid background

in the field of marketing and with brands, both through education, as well as through

different occupations related to these areas. We also have extensive experience in the retail

industry.

Based upon our background in the retail industry, it was evident how important the brand is

in the retail environment due to the heavily competitive circumstances with more generic

and similar brands. Gilje et al. (2007) accentuate that personal experiences are extremely

influential on an individual's preunderstandings and will affect how and why we interpret

things differently. Even though this degree project is not written on commission for a

specific organization, our multifaceted backgrounds allow us to have good understanding

regarding the importance of brand equity, both from the perceptions of customers and

employees. These pre-understandings have helped us to easily interpret scientific articles

and literature written in this field since we have first-hand experience with large contents of

the research.

We felt a potent need to investigate brand equity, how it is managed and how it contributes

to shareholder value - in line with our problem background. Bryman and Bell (2015) mean

that pre-understandings in many ways also can refer to previous experiences and

information from a specific brand or organization which they aim to investigate. As

previously stated, this degree project is not written on commission, but we believe this

mindset can still be adopted in the sense of industry. We therefore believe that our

experience in the retail industry is integral in order to interpret information and interviews

efficiently and enables us to see things from their perspective.

2.6 Literature search

According to Bryman and Bell (2015), the literature review is a crucial part of

undergraduate essays and the literature search is an important task throughout the research

project and provides the basis of the research. Furthermore, Saunders et al. (2012) add that

the purpose should be to collect and review the most relevant research for the chosen

subject, rather than to summarize everything that has been written about the topic at large.

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The main purpose of the literature search is to assemble a large quantity of relevant literature

and obtain the consisting knowledge of the pre-existing research available (Collis & Hussey,

2014). Rigorously reviewing the existing literature in the research subject helped us grasp

what had been explored by previous researchers and what areas that needed further attention

and context. Using keywords is also a common and effective way to find sources relevant

to the specific research area (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Collis & Hussey, 2014). These

approaches ultimately helped us find the most urgent research gap in the subject. Adding to

this, some researchers specifically point out which areas and contexts in the research subject

that needs further research, which was also taken into consideration.

In this degree project, the theoretical framework is built upon a large amount of previous

research mainly found in books and research articles related to relevant subjects and

keywords of our research question. Some examples of the keywords used in the literature

search of this degree project are; brand equity, customer-based brand equity, brand equity

dimensions, retail brand equity, shareholder value, shareholder value drivers. In our

literature search we have primarily used Google Scholar and databases provided by Umeå

University Library. Bryman & Bell (2015) claim that an effective way of finding

information is to cover the reference lists of previous research. This has been another

fundamental approach to find literature in this degree project. The research topic in general

has been widely covered for decades which has made some researchers, and their references,

extra relevant and has laid a foundation for the purpose of our study. We have continuously

through the research project tried to avoid secondary referencing and find the primary

source of the literature to the greatest extent possible. It has also been our priority to

exclusively use peer reviewed and well cited articles and books relevant to the research

subject.

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3. Theoretical framework

In the third chapter, we will present a theoretical framework. Our main intention is to

provide and generate a general foundation of understanding for crucial concepts in order

facilitate the management of the empirical findings as well as the forthcoming analysis. In

the end of this chapter, we will present a conceptual model with the intent of summarizing

the framework in order to be used for conducting in-depth interviews, as well as provide a

foundation for an overall analysis.

3.1 Definitions of brand equity

As briefly discussed, in the previous research, there is no true consensus regarding how to

define brand equity or how to measure brand equity, and there are several different

definitions frequently used across the literature (Keller, 2008; Washburn & Plank, 2002).

The literature on brand equity is in many ways substantial, but also largely fragmented and

indecisive, or as Berthon et al. (2001, p. 1) describe it “perhaps the only thing that has not

been reached with regard to brand equity is a conclusion”. The brand equity concept is

thought to be introduced somewhere in the early 1980s (Barwise, 1993; Feldwick, 1996).

The majority of the early definitions of brand equity as a term were based or took inspiration

from Farquhar's (1989, p. 24) definition of brand equity as “the value endowed by the brand

to the product”. Keller (2003) describes the value of brand equity as a function for bridging

the activities put into a brand in the past and what the brand will constitute in the future.

This definition ties in very well with Ambler’s (2003) characterization and definition of

brand equity as a retainer for future earnings, profits and cash flows which have resulted

from previous marketing investments. Brand equity has evolved into a key marketing asset

(Ambler, 2003). Understanding and interpreting the different dimensions of brand equity is

essential. The understanding will enable the process of allocating and investing necessary

means in order to grow the intangible asset of brand equity. Growing brand equity as an

asset generates competitive advantage and barriers, as well as create brand wealth (Yoo et

al., 2000). Reynolds and Phillips (2005) describes brand equity as a way to understand the

holistic impact of marketing. Since the definition of brand equity has been inconsistent,

Asamoah (2014) argues that researcher must work with brand equity based on the definition

which is suitable and important for the project.

According to the literature, it is possible look at brand equity from two main perspectives

(Kapferer, 2008), either from the firm's, or the customer’s point of view - which is in line

with Aakers (1991, p. 15) definition of brand equity as “a set of assets and liabilities linked

to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract from the value provided by a

product or service to a firm and/or that firms customers”. According to Pappu et al. (2005)

there is empirical evidence supporting the fact that brand equity indeed is multifaceted and

has several dimensions, of which you can choose to review brand equity from. Based on

this introduction to the term brand equity and Asamoah’s (2014) argumentation, we believe

that it will be beneficial for us to base our theoretical background on the customer based

brand equity (CBBE), which focus on the value based on customers perceptions, feelings,

associations etc about a certain brand. We believe that it is vital to understand the customer-

based brand equity dimension for managers. The customers are vital for increased

shareholder value since they are buying the products, especially in the retail industry where

customers are exposed to several similar brands and products.

15

Having a strong brand and extensive brand equity is therefore extremely important in the

context of customers, and subsequently achieve shareholder value, we argue. Wood (2000)

contributes to this discussion by stating that estimating financial value for the actual brand

of the firm is of value and useful - however, it does not help marketing managers understand

the actual process of creating and building brand equity. Wood (2000) continues by stating

that instead focusing on the more marketing based CBBE, marketing managers will better

understand how their brand is received in the minds of their customers, and thus can be able

to design efficient marketing programs to increase sales. This degree project has a marketing

approach, and according to Motameni and Shahrokhi (1998) the CBBE approach is mainly

a marketing focused assessment to brand equity which focus on creating value for both

customers and the firm.

3.2 Customer-based brand equity (CBBE)

The concept and evolution of customer-based brand equity is heavily influenced by

cognitive psychology, more precisely focusing on memory structure (Aaker, 1991; Keller,

1993). The CBBE-approach is the dominant perspective in the brand equity theory and is

preferred by the majority of practitioners and academics in marketing research. Mainly due

to the fact that if a brand has no meaning or value to the actual customer - it is meaningless

for investors, manufacturers, customers or retailers (Cobb-Wahlgren et al., 1995). In the

research field for CBBE, two of the most influential contributors for concepts are made by

Kevin Lane Keller (1993) and David Aaker (1991). Both Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993)

refer to brand equity as customer-based brand equity in general, hence we believe that the

CBBE approach is the most central approach to use in the context of brand equity as a

whole. Keller and Lehman (2006, p. 14) state that brand equity is based on the customers

attitudes about the appreciated attributes of the brand, and more precisely that brand equity

“is derived from the words and actions of customers”. Keller (1993) further states that the

strength of a brand and its brand equity is based on the knowledge of the brand amongst

customers in relation to the firm's marketing efforts. Keller (1993) continues by explaining

that the obvious goal with the majority of marketing efforts is to increase sales numbers and

ultimately enhance shareholder value. However, in order to succeed with this, the customer

must be aware of the brand and have positive associations. Many firms develop their

marketing strategies with a main goal being to improve their sales, where the ultimate goal

for many firms is to create a brand, which is strong enough to differentiate the firm from

other competitors and act as a sustainable competitive advantage (Jung & Sung, 2008). The

customer-based brand equity perspective is efficient and effective according to Keller

(1993), since the approach acts and functions as a guiding tool within the roam of creating

strategic marketing efforts. Strategic marketing efforts enables for more effective decision-

making for managers (Keller, 1993). Szöcs (2012) adds to this by stating that CBBE is

often talked about in the literature as decision support and a useful tool for managers

regarding diagnosis about the customers thoughts about the brand.

In order to utilize this approach to the best possible extent, Keller (1993) means that the

firm has to create accurate enough marketing activities for the brand in order to translate

how for instance increased brand awareness leads to sales. Secondly, Keller (1993) states

that market managers must realize that long-term success for a brand, is heavily influenced

by the brand awareness currently existing in the minds of customers. Positive brand

associations and positive perceptions towards a firm's brand will most probably generate

increased profits through the firm's ability to command higher prices and sales, as well as

achieving lower costs (Keller, 1993).

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3.3 Dimensions of brand equity

Since our degree project aims to investigate how firms in the Swedish retail industry manage

and develop brand equity, and how brand equity generates shareholder value, we must

firstly find a relevant framework or model, describing and highlighting the different

dimensions which constitute and compose CBBE, or just brand equity as we will refer to it,

since that is what CBBE is. According to Farjam and Hongyi (2015), David Aaker's

conceptual model from 1991 provide the most comprehensive equity model by reviewing

five dimensions which constitute the basis of value creation for CBBE. As stated previously,

Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) are two of the most influential researchers in the field of

brand equity. Our literature review demonstrates that Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) are

frequently mentioned and cited, therefore we believe David Aaker's framework is applicable

and relevant to use. However, we must consider empirical evidence provided by other

researchers and scholars in order to truly support and facilitate the functions of the different

dimensions of brand equity. Aaker (1991) conceptualize his model by stating that the

different intangible assets together constitute the brand equity of the firm. If these intangible

assets are managed carefully and well, then these intangible assets can be turned into value

for the products, the customers as well as the firm, as discussed previously.

The five dimensions of Aaker's (1991) conceptual framework are; brand awareness, brand

associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty and other proprietary brand assets. These five

assets presented in the model is according to Aaker (1991) the foundation for what

constitutes brand equity. As previously mentioned, Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) both

relate to brand equity in terms of customer-based brand equity, therefore we will use the

term brand equity since two of the most influential researchers in the field equates CBBE

and brand equity. The importance of Aaker's (1991) five dimensions in brand equity theory

is undoubtful. Pride and Ferrell (2003, p. 299) even define brand equity as “the marketing

and financial values linked with a brands strength in the market, including actual

proprietary brand assets, brand name awareness, brand loyalty, perceived brand quality

and brand associations”. Further on, Aaker (1991) describes how his framework of

dimensions for brand equity has two primary functions. Firstly, to add value or to subtract

value for the customers. Secondly, through adding value to the customers, the firm also has

potential to obtain value for the firm through generating cash flow which can be done in

many different ways (Aaker, 1991). Even though there are not necessarily any deeper

explanations as to how each dimension of brand equity are connected to shareholder value,

Aaker (1991) have presented a number of ways which the five presented dimensions

together as a cohesive brand equity function, can contribute to enhanced cash flow;

1. Brand equity can contribute to enhanced programs to attract new customers or

recapture old ones easier.

2. Brand equity can contribute to enhanced brand loyalty - leading to increased repeat-

purchase behaviour.

3. Brand equity usually allow for higher margins through enabling price premiums.

4. Brand equity can enable and provide a platform for future growth.

5. Brand equity can provide different types of benefits when leveraging distribution

channels.

6. Brand equity can provide a competitive advantage through developing barriers for

new entrants on the market.

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3.3.1 Brand awareness

Brand awareness can be described as to what degree customers can recognize and identify

a specific brand under certain circumstances (Aaker, 1996). Keller (2008) defines brand

awareness as “related to the strength of the resulting node or trace in memory, as reflected

by customers’ ability to identify the brand under different conditions”. Furthermore, brand

awareness can also relate to the very simple notion of whether the customer know about the

brand or not (Keller, 2008). Hutter et al. (2013) argue that brand awareness concerns the

level of presence a brand has in the minds of customers. Brand awareness is a crucial part

of building brand equity, and quite frankly proceeds the brand equity building process, since

the brand name and awareness of the brand must be created for customers to be able to have

an opinion or perception about it (Aaker, 1991). Hoyer and Brown (1990) relate brand

awareness as having a big influence and effect on the customers decision-making process,

especially in the context of every day product purchases, or so-called low involvement

purchases. High levels of brand awareness are however no guarantee for a higher number

of sales (Aaker, 1991), meaning that brand awareness on its own does not generate

incitement for customers to purchase a company's products. Percy and Rossiter (1992) mean

that customers are actively relying on the awareness and knowledge that customer has of

the brands when they decide between products in stores. Due to this circumstance, Percy

and Rossiter (1992) argue that brands must actively work with developing the product or

package, depending on how it is intended to be shown during advertising or in the store.

Brand awareness can be created and obtained through working with certain marketing mix

elements (Huang & Sarigöllu, 2012). Advertising increases and establishes brand awareness

through exposing customers to the brand (Aaker, 1991; Yoo et al.,2000; Keller, 1993).

Krishnan and Chakravarti (1993) state that through advertising, the brand is more likely to

be included in the customers so called consideration set, meaning that the customer has the

brand top-of-their-mind. This leads to increased sales and thereby enhanced performance

(Krishnan & Chakravarti, 1993). Further on, Chi et al. (2009) argue that brand awareness

has a potent influence and impact on which brands the customers consider during the

decision-making process. Hutter et al. (2013) mean that some brand will end up

accumulating in the consideration set of the customers - and these memory nodes of brands

will also impact the decision-making process. Further on, Chi et al. (2009) means that a

product or a brand which has high levels of awareness, will indeed gain higher preferences

in the minds of the customers - simply because that brand or product has a higher market

share, and evaluated as of better quality.

Keller (2008) means that anything which contributes to explore of the brand for customers

adds to the creation and increase of brand awareness. Customers get repeatedly exposed to

products in stores, and the nature of stores is that products are often categorized. Therefore,

shelf visibility is particularly important for brand awareness in the context of stores

containing several similar products in the same price range, and similar product attributes

(Huang & Sarigöllu, 2012). Smith and Park (1992) accentuate how shelf visibility alone is

one specifically interesting element in creating brand awareness. Lastly in the context of the

marketing mix, Keller (2008) means that price promotion strategies induce the so called

switcher (which will be discussed further in the context of brand loyalty) to test the brand,

which enhances brand awareness since price promotions contribute to more customers

potentially testing the company's products and become aware of it.Aaker (1991) describes

how brand awareness involves a continuum, ranging from a state where the customer has a

uncertain feeling whether he or she recognizes the brand. To the very other end of the spectra

where the customer is certain that this brand is the only brand of choice in this for product

category.

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• Top-of-mind - the brand has a special place in the customers mind and is the natural

choice.

• Brand recall - the customer is aware of the brand without any aids like labels etc.

• Brand recognition - minimal level of brand awareness.

• Unaware of brand - the customer is uncertain about the brands existence.

Aaker (1991) describes four ways of how brand awareness can create value for the firm.

Having brand awareness generally streamlines the majority of processes connected to brand

equity and thus create value, Aaker (1991) precise these values further. Brand awareness is

an anchor to which other associations can be attached, meaning that a brand name works

like a folder for the customer that can further be filled with associations to induce sales of

other products related to the brand. Brand awareness also creates familiarity to the

customers. Increased exposure and recognition lead to liking which in turn will generate

larger amount of sales (Aaker, 1991). Brand awareness is also a signal of

substance/commitment, meaning that the source of presence can lead to an induced

reliability for the brand overall. Lastly, as stated previously, brand awareness integrates a

brand in the consideration set of the customer. This means that the brand will be on the list

with a high probability of choice, that it is a brand to be considered (Aaker, 1991)

Many of the professionals who work with questions regarding brand awareness, do not

however necessarily think that large investments pay off and are often expensive (Homburg,

et al., 2010). Chi et al. (2009) on the other hand argue that companies can enhance their

brand awareness through large-scale investments into advertising. Chi et al. (2009) further

argue that effective and efficient advertising strategies do indeed recruit and attract more

customers, and if these are satisfied, they will continue to create brand awareness for the

brand through word of mouth. Having customers or other type of knowledgeable individuals

to talk well about the firm and its brand is proven to be a good way to get customers

interested and aware of the brand (Chi et al., 2009: Bendixen et al., 2004)

3.3.2 Brand associations

Brand associations includes everything that in the memory of people can be linked to the

brand, meaning everything that is associated to the brand in some way. In other terms, brand

associations are related to brand awareness, since brand awareness if often the dimension

which creates the memory nodes (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1991). Pitta and Katsanis (1995)

explain that there is a close related relationship between these two dimensions, since brand

awareness is created prior to brand association can be truly embedded in the mind and

memory of the customers Brand associations also represents emotional and symbolic value

that customers connect to the brand and can therefore be seen as the underlying value of the

brand (Aaker, 1991). Keller (1998) further defines brand associations as informational

nodes, connecting brand nodes in memory to the meaning of the brands. Martinez and de

Chernatony (2004) argue that different things can change the image of a brand. If the brand

launches a new product, the company has been aware of the fact that there is a possibility

that the current brand associations existing in the minds of customers can be possibly be

changed (Martinez & de Chernatony, 2004). Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000) state that

anything that links and helps build the relationship between a brand and its customers can

be considered as associations. They further state that a big part of managing a brand is

deciding and strategizing upon what associations firms should build and develop with their

products. The importance and usage of brand associations can be seen both for marketers

and customers. Marketers use brand associations to position its brand and its products, to

differentiate itself from other brands and to create positive attitudes towards the brand

19

(Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000). Customers use brand associations as an aid in their

purchasing decisions, since the associations help them organize and process the information

relevant to the products (Low & Lamb, 2000). Brand associations includes for instance

product attributes, product categories, lifestyle/personality and area of usage (Aaker, 1991).

Keller (1993) classifies brand associations into three categories: attributes, benefits and

attitudes. These categories are further explained by underlying factors. Keller (1993)

describes attributes as the features of the product that characterize the product. The product-

related attributes focus on the performance of the product, relating mainly to the physical

attributes (Keller, 1993). The non-product-related attributes are external aspects centred

around the purchase and consumption of the product. This includes factors such as

packaging and product placement, price information, user imagery and usage imagery (i.e.

what type of person uses the product and in what situations) (Keller, 1993).The next

underlying factor are the perceived benefits which consist of what customers expect the

product to do for them and the personal value attached to the product (Keller, 1993).

Benefits can be further subcategorized into functional benefits which represents the product

related attributes, experiential benefits which relates to how the product is perceived during

usage, and symbolic benefits which relates to external benefits that does not relate to the

function of the product (Park et al., 1986).The last underlying factor according to Keller

(1993) is attitudes and is probably the most abstract type of brand associations. Brand

attitudes can be explained as the customers overall assessment of the brand. Although

abstract, brand attitude often works as a basis for customer behaviour and choice of brand

(Keller, 1993). Managers need to wholly grasp the associations that customers have for their

brands to fully utilize their communication strategies as well as positioning their brand

effectively on the market compared to their competitors (Supphellen, 2000). Furthermore,

creating favourable brand associations can be seen as a reflection of successful marketing

(Keller, 1993). It is therefore essential for firms to continuously consider how their brand

and their products are associated by their customers.

3.3.3 Perceived quality

Sanyal and Datta (2011) describe perceived quality as a customer’s psychological

assessment of any types of brands or product based on the customers perceptions. Aaker

(1996) present perceived quality as one of the most influential dimensions on brand equity.

Perceived quality itself is also an essential part when actually evaluating brand equity, and

the strength of the brand equity (Aaker, 1996). Aaker (1991, p. 85-86) defines perceived

quality as “the overall perception of customers about brilliance and quality of products or

services in comparison with the rivalry offering”. Grunert (2005) means that customers

ideally want high quality to a fair price, which traditionally is something which managers

understand and recognize. However, it is very challenging and hard to understand what

value the customers perceive from a brand (Grunert, 2005). Baek and King (2011) state that

credibility is a factor which influence levels of perceived quality. Akram et al. (2011) mean

that one interesting aspect of credibility is that globalized companies can better meet

customers purchase intentions based on perceived quality.

The actual quality of products is however different from the perceived quality, since the

perceived quality of the product is reflected from the subjective appraisal and and thoughts

of the customer (Zeithaml, 1988; Erenkol & Duygun, 2010). Hence, Aaker (1991) states

that perceived quality is hard to fairly measure and determine, since it is highly subjective

and a summary construct. Aaker (1991) continues to distinguish how perceived quality is

due to its intangibility different from other used quality measurements, such as actual or

objective quality, product-based quality and manufacturing quality.

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However, even though the construct of perceived quality might be hard to measure,

Zeithaml (1988) asserts that the dimension of perceived quality functions as a key factor

when it comes to determine and map customers choices, and therefore has an immense

impact on brand equity. This is further solidified and supported by Motameni and

Shahrokhi (1998) and Yoo et al. (2000) who also states that perceived quality is indeed

positively related to the brand equity and is therefore highly important to regard. Zeithaml

(1988) divide and classify the concept of perceived quality into two different groups of

factors. Noteworthy is that Zeithaml (1988) accentuates the importance of realizing that

researchers and scholars over long periods of time have been faced with the problem to

generalize about what actually dictates quality in terms of attributes. Zeithaml (1988) further

explains that specific or concrete attributes are known to differ widely from product

category to product category - hence making it hard to suggest specific attributes which

induce the feeling of quality. Due to this reasoning, the two different types of attributes,

intrinsic and extrinsic can be seen as two overall attributes, which include a vast majority

of other attributes (Zeithaml, 1988; Jacoby & Szybillo, 1974)

First of all, Intrinsic attributes which are the physical aspects of a product, e.g. form, and

appearance (Zeithaml, 1988. The intrinsic attributes involve physical composition of a

product. Zeithaml (1988) says that intrinsic attributes of a specific beverage might be;

flavour, texture sweetness etc. Jacoby and Szybillo (1974) argue that changing or

manipulating the intrinsic attributes of a product, without affecting the core characteristics

of the product, is impossible. Secondly, the extrinsic attributes are also product-related,

however, not part of the physical product, in order to make the distinction easy, it can be

thought of as outside the product (Zeithaml, 1988). Extrinsic attributes can range from; the

price of the product to the brand name of the product. The extrinsic attributes are the

opposite of intrinsic attributes, they are not cues related to the product, the extrinsic cues

are rather related to intangible and not physical aspects such as feelings (Zeithaml, 1988).

There are several different positive aspects of perceived quality. Nguyen et al. (2011) state

for instance that there is a positive relationship between brand loyalty and perceived quality.

Aaker (1991, p. 82) proposes five different ways in which the dimension of perceived

quality can create value for the firm. First of all, Aaker (1991) means that perceived quality

is essential as reasons-to-buy the product. Perceived quality is linked to the purchase

decision, therefore making all the elements in a marketing program more effective. If the

perceived quality is high, then the job for advertising and promotion becomes

easier. Secondly, Aaker (1991) argues that perceived quality can help differentiate and

position the brand. Depending on the perceived quality, the positioning strategy becomes

clearer for marketing managers. Making it easier to determine whether it should be

positioned as a luxury or economy product, says (Aaker, 1991). The third aspect goes along

with the previous aspect, Aaker means that perceived quality can justify a price premium -

perceived quality advantages can mean the opportunity to charge price premiums, meaning

increased profits. The fourth and fifth positive aspect of perceived quality is according

Aaker (1991) focused on providing positive effect on getting the brand and its products out

there, firstly through induced channel member interest. Perceived quality is not only

important in terms of customers, also for retailers and distributors. Channel members are

motivated to carry products which customers want and are well regarded in terms of quality.

And when good distributor coverage and high perceived quality is established, a company

can easily start doing brand extensions according to Aaker (1991). Perceived quality can

also be utilized through presenting new products for a well-received brand. If the brand is

perceived as of high quality, customers tend to believe that new products are as well, means

Aaker (1991).

21

Yoo et al. (2000) mean that there is an evident connection which manifests that progression

and development in terms of enhanced perceived quality, will indeed generate growth in

brand equity as well. Thus, emphasizing the importance of correct management and

development of perceived quality. However, there is no room for smoke and mirrors, you

have to live as you learn. Aaker (2002) means that it can be truly problematic to create

perceptions of quality in the minds of the customers - unless the company is able to back

them up with actual quality. In order for the brand to not face a situation where the actual

quality does not match up with the perceived quality, the company and the brand must

understand the customer groups, as well as their preferences and associations. Bendixen et

al. (2004) further argue that as discussed previously, that perceived quality is the main brand

equity dimension - but add that creating a product of quality is more than often, not enough.

Bendixen et al. (2004) mean that the companies must work extensively to translate the actual

quality into perceived quality as well, since it is about the perceptions of the customers.

3.3.4 Brand Loyalty

Marketers have for long periods of time been interested in the phenomenon of brand loyalty,

which according to Aaker (1991), is due to that brand loyalty can be used as a measurement

of an attachment a customer has to a certain brand. Oliver (1999, p. 34) defines the term

brand loyalty as a “deeply held commitment to buy or patronize a preferred product or

service consistently in the future and thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same-brand-

set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to

cause switching behaviour”. Another popular definition was stated by Chaudhuri and

Holbrook (2001, p. 82) who state that “brand loyalty consists of repeated purchases of the

brand, whereas attitudinal brand loyalty includes a degree of dispositional commitment in

terms of some unique value associated with the brand”. Increasing competition and high

costs associated with attracting new customers have further emphasized the importance of

creating good relationships with customers and creating long lasting bonds with these

(Casalo et al., 2008). Having bonds created of trust and brand affect, will often lead to higher

purchase loyalty among customer towards the brand. Naturally generating an increased

market share through obtaining sales and shielding off competition (Chaudhuri & Holbrook,

2001). The process of maintaining and developing the dimension of brand loyalty has been

seen as a foundational process within the discipline of marketing.

Having a strong brand loyalty has also been regarded as a tool for establishing competitive

advantage against competition (Gommans et al., 2001). Meyer-Waarden (2008) argue that

companies can use different types of loyalty programs to enhance brand loyalty. Meyer-

Waarden (2008) argue that a common approach in loyalty programs is the use of CRM

systems, also known as customer relationship management, which is a highly customer

centred method for monitoring customers purchase pattern. Shugan (2005) further expresses

how brand loyalty has become an extremely important marketing concept. Furthermore,

according to Hyun and Kim (2011), brand loyalty is a strong influencer of positive impact

on a company's profitability, according to empirical studies carried out by brand marketers

and researchers. Aaker (1991) states that brand loyalty of a firm's customer base in many

ways constitutes the core of a firm's brand equity. If the customers continuously buy the

firm's products regardless of how competitors’ product might develop in terms of price and

quality, in line with Oliver’s (1999, p. 34) definition, Aaker means that the brand equity is

strong and potent. In order to clarify different types of brand loyalty levels, Aaker (1991, p.

45) developed a pyramid, showing different hierarchies of brand loyalty, where “the

committed buyer” is at the very top, fulfilling all the prerequisites for Oliver’s (1999)

definition.

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Meanwhile, at the very bottom of the pyramid we find “Switchers” which are price sensitive

and indifferent in their choice of brands, hence, not to be regarded as brand loyal (Aaker,

1991, p. 45). Helgesen (2006) means that the link between profitability and customer loyalty

and satisfaction is evident. Reasons for why long-term, and brand loyal customers are

profitable according to Reichheld and Sasser (1990) are due to the fact that companies can

charge higher prices for their products. Another reason for long-term customer profitability

is the free advertising these customers provide (Reichheld & Sasser, 1990). Loyal customers

provide positive and genuine word-of-mouth and other types of referrals (Reichheld &

Sasser, 1990; Dick & Basu, 1994).

Scholars also mean that brand loyalty actually can be expressed in terms of how frequently

a customer expresses positive thoughts, and recommends the brand to family members,

family and colleagues (Godey et al., 2016; Nisar & Whitehead, 2016). Loyal customers are

also by nature more likely to recommend their brands of liking, thus making loyal customers

a great source of free, reliable marketing (Godey et al., 2016; Nisar & Whitehead, 2016).

Another positive impact of brand loyalty is the fact that brand loyalty leads to a greater

market share - if the same brand is repeatedly bought by loyal customers (Assael,

1998). This is further solidified by Upshaw (1995) who means that loyal customers also

buy more products of choice, mainly due to the identifying with the brand and include it in

their lifestyle. Aaker (1991) means that brand loyalty of the existing customers indeed

represents a strategic asset if it is properly managed and used. In order to make sure that

managers indeed manage and utilize brand loyalty as an asset, Aaker (1991) presented the

following approaches to ensure capturing the true value and benefits mentioned before,

associated with brand loyalty;

• Treat the customer right - treat the person as you would like to be treated, deliver

quality and a genuine experience in a way where the customer feel well received and

happy, either if it is through physical or virtual form

• Stay close to the customer - find ways to establish a close relationship, monitor

shopping preferences etc. Always be present and make sure you are there to remind

the customer without being annoying

• Measure/manage customer satisfaction - understand how customers feel, whether

they are satisfied or dissatisfied is key. This can be done through regular surveys or

other types of forms where the customers can give their opinions

• Create switching costs - provide solutions which involve redefining the business for

a customer. Use different approaches to reward and retain customers. Give no reason

for the customer to be wanting to change to an apparent competitor, over your brand.

• Provide extras - providing a few extra unexpected services is a great way to change

customer behaviour from tolerance to enthusiasm. Make the customers feel special

and like they received something special.

Lee et al. (2011) mean that companies adopt actions and initiatives for working with brand

loyalty for several different reasons - and one of the most readily accepted reason, is the fact

that it is substantially cheaper for companies to retain existing customers compared to

attracting new ones through marketing campaigns etc. This argumentation can be further

facilitated by arguments of Galbreath and Rogers (1999), who mean that it can be between

five to seven times more cost intensive to attract and find new customers - opposed to

retention of the customers already existing for the company. Based on the argumentation of

being more cost efficient through brand loyalty (Lee et al., 2011; Galbreath & Rogers,

1999), Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) mean that marketing and brand managers can indeed

defend and justify investments and expenditures aimed towards building brand loyalty.

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Creating trust and brand affect among customers can be done through many different ways,

but the most important aspect is investing correctly in strategies with the aim of enhancing

brand loyalty (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). Derived from these sections is the fact that

there are many ways to assess and discuss what loyal customers actually are. Thus,

companies must work with their own customer stock and realize how their purchase patterns

might fluctuate before the company stipulates which is the best way for the company to

assess what an actual loyal customer is.

3.3.5 Other proprietary brand assets

According to Aaker (1991) there are different examples of other proprietary brand assets;

patents, trademarks and channel relationships. These are factors that in different ways can

provide a competitive advantage for the firm. Trademarks can stop competitors from using

a similar name or symbol, thus protecting the brand of the firm. Patents are a strong tool for

preventing direct competition since it hinders similar firms to copy a product and having

strong relations in channels such as distribution helps cost efficiency and stability (Aaker,

1991). However, Mohan and Sequeira (2013) argue that this dimension is not focused on

customers, and therefore should be excluded when assessing the CBBE perspective, thus

we will not discuss this dimension further in this research project, since we have chosen to

adopt the CBBE perspective in this research project.

3.4 Shareholder value

In the literature of brand equity, there are some different definitions on how to evaluate the

value of the brand. Davis (1995, p. 68) defines the brands value as “The potential strategic

contributions and benefits that a brand can make to a company” while Kapferer (2008, p.

14) emphasizes the financial value of the brand by defining brand value as “the ability of

brands to deliver profits”. Evaluating the brands value should be focused on the financial

and firm perspective of the brand. This is further supported by Wood (2000), who adds that

creating brand value aims to represent future earnings of a brand.

The value of the brand of a firm may vary based on managers ability to leverage the use of

the firm's brand equity - with brand value being one of the largest assets for some firms, it

is therefore essential for managers to capture the potential of the firm's brand (Raggio &

Leone, 2009). Brand value is affected by brand equity in the sense that brand equity adds to

the positive financial outcomes for the firm (Raggio & Leone, 2007). Raggio and Leone

(2007) introduce two different levels of brand value, current and appropriable, where the

appropriable value is what the brand value could be if the firm were to fully leverage the its

brand equity. The goal for firms should therefore be to reach its appropriable value, fully

utilizing the strength of the brand. The financial perspective of brand equity tends to focus

on how aspects of brand equity leads to brand value (Wood, 2000), and therefore also

shareholder value for the firm (Raggio & Leone, 2007). It starts with associations and

perceptions of a company and ends up being utilized as a tool for the company to create

value for the shareholder (Raggio & Leone, 2007). Prior research highlights, shareholder

value is created when managers make decisions that increases the NPV of future cash flows

(Lukas et al., 2005, p. 415). Another perspective of how shareholder value is created is by

raising the market value of a firm's shares, making it greater than the book value of the firm

(Lukas et al., 2005). Srivastava et al. (1999) states that one of the main purposes of

marketing is to carry out activities to create and manage different market-based asset in the

company, with the ultimate goal to deliver shareholder value. In general, the goal is

therefore to create and maximize discounted cash flows over time and make strategic

decisions and investments that will further increase the cash flow of the firm both short-

24

term and long-term. Evaluating shareholder value by cash flow models is further supported

by Doyle (2001), who states that investment managers increasingly have shifted to using

cash flow models for estimating the share values of firms. Doyle (2001) further explains

that cash flow models are the most insightful models of marketing but are just recently being

used more widely for marketing strategies. Evaluating the cash flow from market-based

assets, which brand equity is, and determining what it brings to the firm is challenging and

is easier explained by further fractionating the different components of cash flow. Srivastava

et al (1998) dissect the influence on shareholder value in a well-cited and widely used article

with different drivers of cash flow, including: acceleration of cash flow, enhancement of

cash flow and retention of cash flow

3.4.1 Acceleration of cash flow

Acceleration of cash flow basically implies that the sooner cash flow is generated, the

greater value is created for the shareholder (Srivastava et al, 1998). Keller (1993) argues

that a strong brand will lead customers to reacting faster and more effective towards their

marketing efforts, given that their attitude to the brand is positive. Zandan (1992) also comes

to the conclusion in their study that stronger brands can expect their customers to adapt to

their new products faster than weaker brands, as well as an increased will to recommend

these brands to others. Customers who rely on referrals from others in their decision-making

also make simpler and faster decisions (Stahl et al., 2003), leading to a potential faster

market penetration for the firm since customers will adopt to new products faster. The vast

majority of companies recognize the importance of time-to-market - due to time value of

money, as well as the uncertainties which comes along product life cycles (Srivastava et al.,

1999). Previous research demonstrates, several of these companies fail to allocate enough

time and attention to market barriers which can slow down market acceptance and diffusion

for the products, and thus missed out cash flow (Srivastava et al., 1999). In other words, not

spending time and money on the brand and the customers to ensure fast diffusion can be a

big challenge for accelerated cash flow. Robertson (1993) adds to why this can be an

expensive mistake due to the fact that many products have indeed failed to recognize their

potential since they did not succeed with understanding the customers preferences, and thus

slowing down the market diffusion time, which enables for other entrants to gain market

shares. Creating a well-functioning balance between resource allocation in for instance

brand equity, and time-to-market will lead to faster time-to-money, or in other words cash

acceleration (House & Price, 1991).

Stahl et al. (2003) state three main factors for accelerating cash flow: faster product

development, potentiation of the firm's supply chain and a quicker spread and distribution

of new products. In the retail industry, factors within the supply chain that optimizes

logistics such as automatic warehouse orderings are a way of accelerating the cash flow.

Furthermore, firms can increase short-term earnings by targeting customer segments who

are highly responsive to the firm's marketing efforts. Srivastava et al. (1999) mean that it

is integral to inculcate and implement the marketing discipline in terms of the brand into the

minds and thought processes of the individuals who lead and participate in all the different

core business processes, in order for the company to decide more quickly to do the right

things and to do them faster and better. Having a strong brand and investing in brand-

building will therefore clearly lead to earlier purchases, earlier trials of new products, faster

acceptance in the market and more referrals from customers (Srivastava et al., 1998) - all

factors leading to an acceleration of cash flow.

25

3.4.2 Enhancement of cash flow

Enhancement of cash flow states in general how the cash flow is increased by factors such

as pricing of products and the amount of goods sold (Srivastava, 1998). One way to enhance

cash flow is by using price premium, which is when a customer is willing to pay more for a

product than for similar products, mainly because of the brand. This means that firms with

a strong brand are able to charge higher prices (Farquhar, 1989; Srivastava et al. 1998;

Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). Doyle (2008) further argues that a product superior enough

to command a price premium is a differential advantage in a market that is heavily

competitive and might even be necessary in receiving decent returns. The enhancement of

cash flow is also as stated heavily dependent on volumes sold (Srivastava et al., 1998).

Keller (2003) explain how a strong brand name not only commands a price premium, but

also a larger market share, which of course leads to larger volumes sold. Strong brands are

able to sell larger volumes than competitors with weaker brands (Ailawadi et al., 2003),

which one would think intuitively. Volume growth can however also improve the operating

margin since costs generally does not increase proportional to volume, making the operation

more effective (Doyle, 2008). Furthermore, strong brands pay lower fees to get to be listed

in markets and get more space (Farquhar, 1989), which leads to a wider distribution and

earlier acceptance of new products. Kaufman et al. (2006) also argues that a strong brand

equity is an advantage when introducing new products, as it has a stronger acceptance with

the customers.

When there already is an established relationship between the firm and the customer, cross-

buying of multiple of products is a wanted result as this can enhance the cash flow

considerably (Stahl et al., 2003). Srivastava et al. (1999) mention product data management

(PDM), which is the usage and management of the information of products, as an important

aspect of enhancing cash flow. PDM offers solution platforms that helps develop product

design tailored to specific customers. PDM also reduces cost in product design, making

production more cost-effective and therefore enhancing the cash flow (Srivastava et al.,

1999). It is clear that well-known brands gain a lot of competitive advantages on the market

that enhances cash flow and therefore generates shareholder value.

3.4.3 Sustainment of cash flow

Srivastava et al. (1998) mention two drivers of shareholder value separately, namely

“vulnerability and volatility of cash flows” and “residual value of cash flows”. We choose

to look at these drivers as sustainment of cash flows, as it basically is an attempt of

explaining how firms aim to maintain future cash flows and is the driver that puts the most

emphasis on the long-term aspects of shareholder value. Earnings that are stable and

predictable are less risky, and consequently create more value for the shareholders (Doyle,

2008; Srivastava, 1998). A major part of making future cash flows less vulnerable is with

creating brand loyalty, as these customers are less likely to choose similar products from

direct competitors (Srivastava et al., 1998; Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). Brand loyalty

therefore serves as a kind of barrier protecting the firm from competitors trying to enter the

market, and fits in properly with the well-known fact in marketing that retaining customers

is cheaper than acquiring new. Apart from strong customer relations firms also gain stable

long-term cash flows by creating strong relationships in their production channels through

activities that helps coordinate activities and sharing of information, which includes

activities such as automatic ordering and refilling the shelfs of products (Srivastava, 1998).

26

Reducing risk in general is important for long-term growth and having a stable base of

customers who are happy with the products and loyal to the brand is an effective way to

decrease the vulnerability of future cash flow since this lowers the risk of losing the

customer to a competitor. If possible, firms should also spread their range of products to

diversify against cyclical demand, keeping a portion of their products relevant at all times

(Stahl et al., 2003). A certain amount of risk is however needed to generate new customers

and create growth on the market, and apart from growing the customer base, firms must also

refine it and eliminate products and customers who are less profitable to the firm (Srivastava

et al., 1998). Enhancing cash flow can therefore be viewed as having one defensive

perspective, which focuses on maintaining customers and lowering risk of future cash flows,

and one offensive perspective which aims to create growth and new channels of cash flow.

These drivers of shareholder value can in our opinion also be thought of as aggressive

factors that increase earnings for firms short-term and factors that strengthens the brand

long-term by investing in for example brand loyalty. This degree project does not aim to

measure or quantify the amount of impact. Rather we focus on understanding why certain

drivers are essential to the retail industry. Furthermore, factors of brand equity do not affect

one specific driver but can affect multiple drivers simultaneously with both positive and

negative impacts. Thus, we aim to investigate if and under what circumstances these effects

are realized and worked with in practice.

3.5 Brand equity in the retail industry

The importance of working strategically and obtaining strong brands in the retail industry

has been manifested by many researchers (Jara & Cliquet, 2012; Jinfeng & Zhilong, 2009;

Pappu et al., 2005). Keller (1993) states that one crucial constituent of strategic branding is

understanding and evaluating brand equity. Managing brand equity is extremely important

for retailers since the dimensions of brand equity is associated and interconnected with

instrumental processes such as purchase behaviour, purchase-decisions and financial

performance (Aaker, 1991; Keller & Lehman, 2003; Srivastava et al., 1998). The need for

managing brand equity in the retail industry is further solidified due to the immense

competition, proving the need for working with brand equity strategically, both in terms of

retail performance and retail management (Swoboda et al., 2016). The focus of brand equity

research has predominantly been on customer research, this is supported by the fact that

Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) both have chosen to equal brand equity with

CBBE. Meaning that they research brand equity in the context of customers from the very

beginning (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). The focus has more closely been aimed at

understanding the perceptions of customers, how value is created for the customer and firm

based on the customers beliefs (Yoo et al., 2000; Keller & Lehmann, 2006; Keller, 1993).

Baldauf et al. (2009 p. 439) describe how brand equity has been more regarded to as retail

brand equity in the retail industry, and defines retail brand equity as “a set of brand assets

and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add or subtract from the value

provided by a service or product”. Retail brand equity can be viewed as the qualities that

customers associate to a retail chain. Customer-based retail brand equity represents the

information that customers have in their minds that can be associated to a retail firm

(Hartman & Spiro, 2005). Retail brand equity is a growing term that is affected by

marketing-mix elements and in so affects the behaviour and loyalty of the customers

(Swoboda et al., 2016). Retailers are increasingly focusing on brand building since the

power of a strong brand is getting recognized, and it is essential for firms in the retail

industry to be differentiated from competitors (Jinfeng & Zhilong, 2009).

27

One source to a successful brand in the retail industry is perceived quality, since it leads to

loyalty and differentiation of stores (Jara and Cliquet, 2012). Retailers also increasingly

focus on how their chain is positioned in the mind of the customer, with a growing

awareness of the importance to be perceived as strong and unique brands (Ailawadi and

Keller, 2004). Furthermore, Retail firms are increasingly seeking new strategies to utilize

their brand equity and having a strong brand in the retail industry is of utter importance

(Swoboda et al., 2016).

Jara and Cliquet (2012) comes to the conclusion that retail brands can build a stronger brand

image with the help of symbolic associations. This can in turn be turned into a positional

advantage on the market and create value for the customers. Low customer switching costs

and an increasing competitiveness in the retail industry in general has made customer

loyalty a crucial factor for firms (Wallace et al., 2004). Ailawadi and Keller (2004) argue

that successful retail branding can be very influential in customers choice of store as well

as keeping existing customers loyal. Effects and predictors are likely to vary in different

sectors within retailing. Due to what the firm is actually selling, factors such as purchasing

frequency and shopping motivations are of the customers are different (Swoboda et al.,

2016). This thesis does however aim to examine firms with similar conditions and that

operates in similar sectors to the greatest extent possible.

3.6 Conceptual model

Our main purpose with the theoretical framework is to create a better understanding for

what brand equity and shareholder constitute, in order to to answer our research question;

"How do firms manage and develop their brand equity in order to generate shareholder

value in the Swedish retail industry?". During the course of establishing our theoretical

framework, we have identified several different aspects and theories of brand equity,

shareholder value and the retail industry, which we believe are vital to include in our

interviews with marketing managers and other managers responsible for managing the

brand. Initially, in order to understand the first part of the research question "How do firms

manage and develop their brand equity?” we have created a theoretical basis of how brand

equity is created. We discussed how brand equity has emerged as a discipline, where a

common theme is the lack of a widely accepted definition of the term brand equity.

However, through rigorous literature review, we can point out that Aaker (1991) and Keller

(1993) are two of the most influential and cited researchers in the field. Based on their work,

we found Aaker's (1991) five dimensions of brand equity as perhaps the most used

framework to describe the different drivers for brand equity. Thus, it felt justified to

incorporate these dimensions in our theoretical framework. Another important insight

gathered from reviewing Aaker's (1991) and Keller's (1993) work is the fact that they both

equal brand equity with the customer-based brand equity perspective (CBBE). Hence, we

have chosen to focus on the CBBE perspective since it follows the guidelines for the

classical definitions for brand equity. We also used several other studies by scholars and

researchers in order to facilitate end emphasis the different dimensions, thus providing a

more nuanced interpretation of the model. The five dimensions of brand equity are (Aaker,

1991);

• Brand awareness

• Brand associations

• Perceived quality

• Brand Loyalty

• Other proprietary brand assets

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These dimensions provided vital insights as of what constitutes brand equity and how brand

equity contribute to value. After reviewing and presenting the five dimensions of brand

equity (Aaker, 1991). Further we, also presented some insights into the relationship between

the retailing industry and brand equity. The main outcomes from our review of retail brand

equity is that the research is scarce, confirming our research gap and the interest of

examining brand equity in specific industries. We also believe that there is an argument to

be made that investing in brand equity is of extra importance in the retail industry, since

these firms need to differentiate themselves from direct competitors. The importance of

having a strong brand in the retailing industry and utilizing it to gain competitive advantages

is also emphasized (Jara & Cliquet, 2012; Jinfeng & Zhilong, 2009; Pappu et al., 2005).

Based on this, we truly believe that the retail industry is very important to look at since

brand equity fills such an important function. Finally, in order to answer the second part of

the research question how does brand equity generate shareholder value?”, we established

a section describing first and foremost what shareholder value is, and how shareholder value

is created. Our main takeaway from this section was that shareholder value firstly focus on

providing value to the owners of the firm. This is mainly dependent on how cash flow is

created in short-term and long-term. More precisely, Srivastava et al. (1998) presented the

following three drivers for shareholder value;

• Acceleration of cash flow

• Enhancement of cash flow

• Sustainment of cash flow.

These three drivers effectively describe the cash generation process over two periods of

time, short-term and long-term, in our conceptual model. We have decided to bundle

acceleration and enhancement of cash flow into one, more precisely “Cash flow generation:

Short term”. Meanwhile, we have decided to have the driver of sustainment of cash flow as

“Cash flow generation: Long term”. We believe that by categorizing the drivers into two

main time-perspectives will make it possible for us to generate better insights about these

research areas We know according to Aaker (1991) that brand equity contributes to cash

flow through different benefits such as repeated purchase, price premiums and attracting

new customers. Brand equity is in other words clearly related to shareholder value through

creating cash flows. However, we do not know precisely how each dimension of brand

equity lead to the different drivers of shareholder value. These insights combined with

inspiration from the brand equity model has helped us in creating the following conceptual

model. We have now motivated why we have chosen to establish our theoretical framework

based on our research question. All theories are carefully chosen to contribute to a deeper

knowledge or act as inspiration for this project. After concluding the theoretical framework-

we now know the following key insights:

1. How brand equity is developed and managed according to theoretical basis.

2. Brand equity is documented as important in the retail industry in general.

3. There are connections between brand equity and shareholder value.

In our degree project we aim to concretize how brand equity is managed and developed

through practical examples of actions and activities and how brand equity contributes to

drivers of shareholder value. By connecting each dimension to the drivers of shareholder

value based on answers we receive in the interviews we will be able to see how each

dimension impact the drivers of shareholder value either on the long term or short term

perspective, and thus prove and legitimize that brand equity should be invested in and

regarded as an important strategic tool for managers to use. Figure 1. presents our

conceptual model.

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Figure 1. Conceptual model

The model is constructed in a manner, where the left side of the question mark is developed

in order to concretize the actions and activities brands conduct in order to respond to the

questions which are formulated under each dimension. These interview questions all have

a basis in the theoretical framework of this degree project. In order for us to apply this

conceptual model we firstly want to ask managers in the Swedish retail industry how they

manage and develop each dimension efficiently. For example, we know that according to

the brand awareness dimension, one potent goal is to stay top of mind of customers (Aaker,

1991). Through asking these questions, we will be able to derive practical actions and

initiatives conducted by brands and thus be able to provide concretized and practical

suggestions. The right part of the question mark is dedicated to legitimizing brand equity

investments through connecting how brand equity contribute to the shareholder value.

However, we know from the literature, that brand equity as a whole contribute to

shareholder value as can be seen by the arrows connecting the four dimensions with the

shareholder value. However, there are few practical examples of how each dimension

contribute to the drivers of shareholder, or in other words cash flows on short, respectively

long term.

After first establishing concretized action and initiatives for how a brand can stay top of

mind, we can then proceed to ask why staying top of mind is important and more precisely

how staying top of mind affects the cash flow, or in other terms, the drivers of cash flow.

The conceptual model highlights some central key questions for each dimension which will

be discussed during our interviews. As we explained earlier in the theoretical background,

we have chosen to exclude the dimension of other proprietary brand assets since it is not

central in the value creation in the CBBE perspective. During chapter five, we want to use

this model to summarize each dimension through the collected data. Except from

developing a deeper understanding for how firms in the Swedish retail industry create brand

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equity through these dimensions, we also aim to potentially identify more contemporary

dimensions which are important for brand equity in today’s business context. Granted that

Aaker’s (1991) model is almost 30 years old, suggest that we might be able to find other

dimensions which have emerged during the last 25-30 years. Through presenting concrete

and practical examples, we can show how some companies in the Swedish retail industry

manage and develop brand equity, thus we have the opportunity to contribute to two

different research gaps. Firstly, the research gap which emphasizes the need for more

practical and concretized examples, which will be filled through our interviews and the

examples which we will be able to obtain through interviews.

Secondly, the research gap of how brand equity is created in specific industries, in our case,

we will be interviewing firms in the Swedish the retail industry. In other terms, through the

first section of the model, we will be able to answer the first part of our research question:

"How do firms manage and develop their brand equity. Further on, we know in accordance

with Aaker (1991) that brand equity indeed can contribute to cash flow, which is manifested

in model. However, the literature does not explain how the respective dimensions which

constitute brand equity relate to the drivers of shareholder value. Through interviews, we

will be able to provide examples of how the different dimensions relate to the drivers. We

have chosen to focus on acceleration and retention of cash flow since these drivers focus on

the short and long terms perspectives. Enhancement of cash flow touches base with most of

the constituents of acceleration of cash flow. Thus, we believe that managers will more

easily see the distinction between acceleration and retention. Through connecting

shareholder value and brand equity, we will be able to legitimize brand equity investments

as a strategic tool, showing the financial importance of brand equity investments. This

degree project will enable us to contribute to the research gap of connecting brand equity

and financial results, as well as answer the second part of our research question “how does

brand equity generate shareholder value?”.

This conceptual model is developed considering our problem background and purpose. Our

goal is to diminish the prominent reasons as to why many firms do not invest in brand equity,

predominantly due to the intangibility and the lack of measurability. Further on, this has led

to brand equity has failed to become a well-used strategic tool for investors and boards due

to the inability to connect any financial outcomes. We believe that our model has

encapsulated and acknowledge these challenges. We will be able to use this model as a

visualisation of how firms in the Swedish retail industry create brand equity and how it

contributes to shareholder value.

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4. Practical Method

This chapter will be dedicated to providing explanations as of how our data collection

method and sampling technique were developed. Furthermore, this chapter will also explain

how we have chosen to design and create our interview guide, as well as how the in-depth

interviews were carried out with relevant respondents for our project. Finally, this chapter

will also address the process of transcribing and analysing the collected empirical data.

4.1 Data collection method

According to Saunders et al. (2012), the process of conducting research studies can be based

on collecting either primary or secondary data, or alternatively a combination of both. Patel

and Davidson (2011) explain the distinction between primary data and secondary by how

the information and data is collected. Patel and Davidson (2011) continue to explain that

research which contains first-hand data and information, is to be regarded as primary data.

Meanwhile, the rest of the data not collected first-hand is to be regarded as secondary data

(Petel & Davidson, 2011; Bryman & Bell, 2011). Collis and Hussey (2014) provide further

explanations for the distinction between primary data and secondary data by describing

them as following. Primary data is collected from an original source, such as your own

conducted experiments, surveys or in our case in depth interviews (Collis & Hussey, 2014).

Secondary data on the other hand is research data retrieved or collected from an or several

existing sources such as publications, internal records or databases (Collis & Hussey, 2014;

Patel & Davidson, 2011; Bryman & Bell, 2011).

Saunders et al. (2012) present one advantageous aspect of secondary data as being

substantially more resource efficient to collect compared to collecting primary data. Both

in terms of being a cheaper process as well as not equally time consuming. However,

Bryman and Bell (2011) present one prominent disadvantage and flaw with secondary data,

which is the fact that secondary data is seldom collected with the specific research question

or objective in mind. Secondary data is more often than not collected to support a specific

research question or purpose for the previous researchers; thus, it can sometimes be hard to

translate the data for the research project (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Saunders et al., 2012).

Saunders et al. (2012) accentuate the need for evaluating all different data collection

methods before coming to a final decision as to which method is best suited and therefore

should be chosen for the research project. Even though the literature presents well

established arguments for using secondary data, such as the resource efficiency aspect, we

have concluded that collecting primary data is the focal point of our data collection method.

We believe that in order to answer our research question, we have to collect primary data to

be able to find new insights and achieve a deeper understanding for how companies actually

work to manage and develop their brand equity, and how brand equity generates shareholder

value. Based on our research during this degree project, we believe that there is not

sufficient secondary data to answer our research question and thus we need to collect in

depth data from the firms in the Swedish retail industry for our qualitative degree project.

There are a number of different ways of collecting primary data. Collis and Hussey (2014)

mention the following primary data collection methods: experiments, questionnaire service,

interviews and focus groups. We came to the conclusion that conducting in depth interviews

was the most logical method to answer our research question.

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Bryman and Bell (2011) express that interviews are one of the most commonly used

methods to collect empirical data within the context of qualitative studies. Tracy (2013)

means that qualitative interviews offer multiple different opportunities for researchers to

obtain deeper and nuanced understandings about the volunteering interviewees subjective

perceptions, experiences and perspectives. According to Tracy (2013), the results and

takeaways from conducted interviews is not created in advance in the minds of the

interviewer or the interviewees. Tracy (2013) argues instead that the meaning and answers

obtained are created through the mutual interaction between the interviewer and the

interviewee. Brinkmann and Kvale (2005) add to this further by describing the nature of a

social interaction of two parties and define interviews as a process or interchange of

thoughts, experiences and themes between an interviewer and an interviewee with common

and mutual interests.

Interviews can be conducted in many ways. However, one common denominator for

different types of interviews is the need for connecting some of the main methodology

constituents of the research project to the research strategy and research design of the study

(Saunders et al., 2012). Interviews can be more or less structured, free flowing or strict,

depending on the nature of the interview (Saunders et al., 2012). Structured or unstructured

interviews are two of the main ways of conducting interviews. The structured interview, or

the standardized interview which it also can be called, is characterized by that it entails the

administration of an interview guide created by the interviewers (Saunders et al, 2012). The

aim is to give all the interviewees the exact same context of interviewing with no deviation

(Bryman & Bell, 2011). The goal when standardizing the interview in this manner is to

easily be able to compare large quantities of data (Tracy, 2013).

Unstructured interviews are more flexible and more similar to a regular conversation, with

a few themes and questions at mind in order to have a flowing dialogue (Bryman & Bell,

2011). In the context of unstructured interviews, the interview guide acts predominantly as

a foundation for the conversation and also help to stimulate discussions and thought

processes (Tracy, 2013). In unstructured interviews, the researchers use a so called “aide-

memoire” where the questions should prompt ideas and not be followed rigorously (Bryman

& Bell, 2011). Another approach to unstructured interviews is semi-structured interviews.

When conducting semi-structured interviews, the researchers have a interview guide or a

list of fairly specific questions derived from fairly specific topics (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

Bryman and Bell (2011) further say that the mission with semi-structured interviews is to

have a clear and specific workflow, but also provide opportunity for the interviewees to be

able to answer in a way suitable for their background and experience. Further on, even

though the interview guide is developed quite specifically, other questions which are

sparked during the interview should be included as well (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Both of

the unstructured and the semi-structured interviews are flexible in their nature, however, the

major difference is the fact that semi-structured interviews follow a interview-guide or a

certain set of questions (Saunders et al., 2012; Bryman & Bell, 2011). Choosing in semi-

structured interviews for our degree project feels organic and natural since we aim to

develop a deeper understanding for how companies manage and develop their brand equity,

and in turn how it contributes to shareholder value. In order for us to facilitate the best

answers possible, we decided to have the in-depth interviews in a semi-structured manner.

During this degree project, we have spent large quantities of time on establishing a

theoretical framework since we wanted to encapsulate the interviews as an opportunity to

further explore these theories in a practical context. Thus, we have used our theoretical

framework as a basis for constructing an interview guide with the aim to provide primary

data. This further enabled the development of the conceptual model which helped us to

answer our research question efficiently.

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We have established that previous research has emphasized the need for future research to

establishing practical examples how firms in specific industries develop and manage their

brand equity, as well as connecting it to a financial indicator, which in our case is

shareholder value. In order to answer these research gaps, we wanted to conduct our in

depth, semi-structured interviews with brand managers and marketing managers involved

with established brands in the Swedish retail industry. The interviews enabled us to facilitate

themes and vital insights, and the flexibility of the semi-structured interviews also enabled

us to have relaxed and fun conversations with the interviewees.

4.2 Interview guide

When conducting semi-structured interviews, Bryman and Bell (2011) mean that more often

than not an interview guide is being used. We opted for semi-structured interviews since it

provided us as interviewers with the possibility to ask different types of follow up questions.

According to Barriball and While (1994), this means that the researchers will have the

possibility to investigate deeper thoughts and catch up on themes and thoughts not being

discussed in the project previously and follow interesting thought paths. Another argument

Barriball and While (1994) present for using a semi-structured interview guide is due to a

more individual based aspect. Individuals and in this case also interview subjects have

different histories, experiences and backgrounds - meaning that highly standardized

questions should be precluded in our type of degree project based on our purpose and

research question. Bryman and Bell (2011) mean that an interview guide traditionally

consists of questions formulated with the intention of answering the purpose and research

question, thus the questions have to be rooted in the theoretical framework. The interview

guide should fill the function of a manual, easy enough for the interviewers to follow in

order to retain structure and formality to the interview (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

In semi-structured interviews such as our, there is often a developed manner where the

questions are carefully thought through in order to generate sufficient information to cover

the research question and purpose (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In order for us to have successful

interviews, we chose to create questions with the aim to reflect the theoretical framework.

However, we also gave the interviewees opportunities to have their say and allow them to

provide vital insights. The questions and the interview guide, as presented in appendix 1

and 2, were coded in a manner (see appendix 3) to create a functional overview for our

theoretical framework and our conceptual model (see Figure 3.). We also decided to have a

chronological overview where the interviewee got the possibility to tell a little bit about

their position, as well as their history at the company. Then the questions proceeded in a

manner where we thought it would feel natural and easy for the interviewee to see natural

transitions from one question to another, and thus feel like there was stringency to the

interviews. As mentioned in the section above, we decided to incorporate introductory

questions about the interviewees in terms of position, how long they have worked at this

specific company and regarding how long they have worked with questions somehow

related to brand equity. Bryman and Bell (2011) argue that the researchers should indeed

consider including these types of questions regarding general information, since it could

potentially fill a function for the project. Another aspect why we have chosen to include

introductory questions is due to the fact that brand equity is a topic with no binary definition.

Thus, we felt it was natural to let the interviewees answer with their own interpretation, and

we would be able to map whether there are any themes in background which could influence

different interpretations of brand equity. Saunders et al. (2012) suggest the use of either

open or closed specific question depending on what the researcher finds most suitable in

terms of their research project. The use of open questions will enable the interviewer to

obtain a more deep and extensive understanding for a specific event, situation or experience

34

(Bryman & Bell, 2011). Open questions also have a tendency to inspire the interviewees to

open up more and thus show and manifest their attitudes and feelings towards the research

topic (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Collis & Hussey, 2014). We used open questions since we

focused on how and what to a great extent, which enabled us to gain deeper knowledge of

how the interviewees manage and develop brand equity through actions and activities. It

further enabled us to understand why and how different dimensions of brand equity

contribute to drivers of shareholder value, short- and long-term. During the process of

formulating the interview guide, we always kept in mind to not formulate questions with

the intent of leading the interviewees to a specific answer, in accordance with Saunders et

al. (2012) who emphasize the importance of avoiding biased results.

4.3 Qualitative sampling technique and access

When conducting qualitative studies, Lapan et al. (2012) argue that the studies more often

than not have multiple study populations. Lapan et al. (2012) describe a study population as

the group of individuals or professionals which the research project is targeting and focusing

on. The study population can be constituting several different parts of the society, or

professional status. One prerequisite is however that the study population should be clearly

grounded in the research question (Lapan et al., 2102; Saunders et al., 2012; Bryman & Bell,

2011). Having a strategy to gain access for interviews is something which is readily

accepted to make the process of acquiring interviews easier, and more straight forward

(Bryman & Bell, 2011; Saunders et al., 2012). Saunders et al. (2012) suggest that previous

contacts to gain access is often more than necessary.

This degree project is based around our interest of how brands can generate financial

benefits. We have previous experience in the Swedish retail industry as well as working

with marketing and finance. We did not approach this degree project with the mindset of

having the right professional network to aid our process, rather this degree project is based

on our passion for this specific research subject. Based on our research question: "How do

firms manage and develop their brand equity in order to generate shareholder value in the

Swedish retail industry?", we came to the conclusion that we wanted to approach brand

managers and marketing managers in the Swedish retail industry. Brand managers are

overall responsible for adapting strategies regarding the brand. This might include brand

guidelines, brand vision, managing promotion and communication as well as monitoring

customer and competitor insights (Robert Walters, n.d.). However, we also felt it was

natural to include marketing managers since during our literature review, we became aware

of how central branding is in the marketing discipline. According to Betterteam (2019), a

marketing manager oversees the promotion of a business or a brand. More technical

assignments might include; developing price strategies, identifying new customers,

supporting sales departments with the goal of helping to generate sales through promotion,

understanding and monitoring profit and loss statements for the impact of the campaigns

(Betterteam, 2019). Based on the job descriptions of both marketing and brand managers,

we felt that professionals in these roles are suitable to answer our interviews. However,

sometimes it is hard or even impossible to cover large parts of the research population due

to factors such as time, costs or not extensive network in a specific industry (Saunders et

al., 2012). Another challenge is poised by the fact that managers overall face extensive

number of requests for meetings, events etc. This means that potential respondents must be

met with a great deal of care, and a flexible scheduling in order for the interviews to be able

to take place and not fall on scheduling issues etc (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Another aspect

which makes approaching professionals in managing positions challenging is according to

Bryman and Bell (2011) due to time constraints, but more so for the researcher this time

around. Reaching out to managers can be challenging in the first place when acquiring for

35

mail addresses etc. Thus, a lot of time will be spent by the researchers gaining access

(Bryman & Bell, 2011). With this in mind, we could have approached this degree project

with a feasibility mindset, meaning we could have chosen a research topic in an industry

where we are well connected. However, we came to the conclusion that the end justifies the

means, and thus we still wanted to pursue this research topic. We early acknowledge the

need to approach marketing managers and brand managers at big and well-established

brands in order to receive the best possible answers for our interviews. We did not have any

contacts within this depth of professional positions which obviously prompted some initial

challenges for us of mapping, tracking and contacting brand managers and marketing

manager in the Swedish retail industry. Sampling is according to Saunders et al. (2012) a

great way of decreasing the amount of empirical data, in comparison to interviewing the

entirety of the research population.

Ghauri and Grönhaug (2010) mean that there are two main categories of sampling,

probability and non-probability samples. When there is an equal chance for every part of

your research population to be chosen for participation in a specific research project, then it

is to be considered a probability sample (Saunder et al., 2012).The result of a probability

sample is advantageous in the sense that the result of the research is to be regarded as

representative of the research population (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Since probability

sampling is used to generalize findings to entire populations (Bryman & Bell, 2011), it is

not relevant for this degree project. Our purpose is rather to develop a deeper understanding

regarding management and development of brand equity. In non-probability sampling,

researchers choose the participants of the study based on factors such as accessibility and

own personal judgements (Saunders et al., 2012). In comparison to the probability sampling

a non-probability sampling approach is easier to carry out in the context of this degree

project due to limited resources and the nature of this thesis. However, the apparent downfall

of the non-probability sampling is, in contrast to probability sampling, the fact that the

results from a non-probability sample cannot be generalized for the entire research

population, since the researcher cannot guarantee that the sample can represent the entire

research population (Connaway & Powell, 2010).

However, the goal with our degree project is not to draw conclusions from an entire

industry. We believe that a non-probability sample can be used in this project without any

apparent problems. Emphasis was directed at finding strong brands which can provide good

answers, and our sampling developed pretty naturally. We compiled an Excel spreadsheet

over companies which are listed, as well as established with one or several famous brands.

Even though our sampling technique is foremost a non-probability sample, we also kept in

mind a purposive and convenience sampling approach. Tracy (2013) describes purposive

sampling as choosing data to fit the research question as well as the purpose of the study.

Thus, we compiled the list carefully with the intent of compiling companies which we are

genuinely interested in and thought would fit our purpose. The purposive sampling

technique is known to be suitable for qualitative studies, as well as fitting for interviews

(Tracy, 2013; Bryman & Bell, 2011), hence we took this approach into consideration when

compiling our list of potential companies to interview. Due to some of the restraints such as

time and money, the convenience sampling was also relevant to look at. Bryman and Bell

(2011) describe convenience sampling as a sample consisting of units that are selected due

to their accessibility. Although convenience sampling was relevant to our degree project,

we realized that we lacked contacts at desired companies and continued to focus on

purposive sampling primarily. We argue that this gave us the best conditions to compile a

list of prospects suitable to answer our research question and purpose through

interviews. We then proceeded to find different brand managers, marketing managers and

other executives at each company. Through also contacting more general executives, we

36

hoped to be redirected to other professionals at the company which were suitable for our

interviews, if the brand manager or marketing manager were not available. This turned out

to be a successful approach as well. Through email and LinkedIn, we sent over 60 requests

to companies which were able to find relevant contacts at, in the form of an introduction

message. During the process of sending out these emails through LinkedIn and regular

email, the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic emerged quickly. This came to leave an

apparent trace in terms of not having any possibilities for physical interviews, as well as

several answers came back with rejection to do interviews due to not having the right

resources at the precarious times. From a grand total of 60 sent emails, we received 12

answers, 9 from regular emails and 3 from LinkedIn. We then proceeded through email

correspondence to talk about the premises for the interviews and then we booked a specific

time as well as decided upon which platform to use.

4.4 Conducting the interviews

When collecting qualitative data, contextualization is important. It is therefore important to

collect background information related to the respondent and the organization before the

interview (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Before each interview in this degree project, basic

research of each firm was conducted to give us pre-existing knowledge about the condition

and operations of the firms. Time management is another essential part to consider related

to the interviews, not only running the interview but also preparation and transcribing, and

underestimation of the time required to conduct the interviews are common (Saunders et al.,

2012; Greener, 2008). There can be a lot of variation in the total length of the interviews in

qualitative research (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In our interviews however the estimated length

was one hour which was also communicated to and agreed upon with each respondent

during initial contact, and most of the interviews fell into this time span.

When interviewing, questions need to be asked in a neutral tone and clearly phrased as to

not cause misunderstandings. Furthermore, it is important that the questions are relevant to

the research question (Bryman & Bell, 2011). A general rule is to keep questions simple,

however if the respondents are experienced in the research topic, questions can be more

complex and further investigate certain areas (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Since some

questions and concepts in our interview guide are based on literature that may not be as

familiar to the interviewees as they are to us, each interview began with a brief explanation

of the concept and we let it be known to the interviewee that we offer further explanation

of the questions if needed. The majority of the interviewees in this degree project are

however experienced in regard to questions regarding brands and have worked with brands

strategically for an extensive period. They are therefore assumed to be knowledgeable in

the topics discussed. According to Saunders et al. (2012) the first minutes of conversation

between the interviewer and the interviewee has a large impact on the end product of the

interview and should start with a briefing of the research to gain credibility. It might be

fitting to ask the interviewee about his/her role in the firm to show interest (Saunders et al.,

2012), which is also our opening question in the interview guide. In this degree project, all

interviews were conducted online with the help of video conference programs or with

telephone. Although we initially wished to conduct interviews face-to-face and to meet the

respondents, precautions and regulations related to the covid-19 virus made us unable to do

this. Conducting interviews with the help of telephones or online does offers both

advantages and disadvantages to the interviewers. It is a cheaper alternative in the sense

that travel expenses will be lower (Saunders et al., 2012; Bryman & Bell, 2011). Not being

able to observe the interviewee as the researcher would in a face-to-face interview may

however lead to information loss (Saunders et al., 2012; Bryman & Bell, 2011), this was

solved to a great extent by the use of web camera in the majority of our interviews, with the

37

consent of the respondents. Each interview involved two interviewers and one respondent.

According to Bryman & Bell (2011) having multiple interviewers raises the interviewer

variability and therefore the risk of asking questions differently to the interviewees. This

issue was however present in our minds during the interviews, and the interview guide was

followed similarly for each interview. Following the nature of semi-structured interviews,

follow-up questions varied across the interviews. We consider it an advantage to have two

interviewers since we have different experiences in the retail industries and different

relations to the brands involved in the study, making it easier to state relevant follow-up

questions and to get more information from each interview.

Bryman & Bell (2011) argue that ongoing analysis of interviews can proceed before all of

the interviews are finished, limiting stress and procrastination for the authors. There is also

lessons learned from each interview to carry on to the next. In our research, we found

knowledge and inspiration as to which themes and topics to emphasize making it effective

for both us as interviewers but also for the interviewees along the way. A total of six

interviews were made in this degree project, all recorded during March and April 2020. To

give insight to the respondents participating in the study we have provided a table with a

description and general information of each company and their brand in Appendix 5. In-

depth information about the participants will be provided in beginning of chapter 5. As

mentioned earlier, our original goal was to do face-to-face interviews, but Covid-19 made

this impossible. Our new ambition was to use video conference interviews, in the spirit to

imitate a face-to-face environment. We have however let each interviewee choose platform

and whether to use camera themselves, and regarding the setting each interviewee has been

very generous in answering our questions to their best ability. To be as transparent as

possible we also display how each interview was made in terms of platform, the duration of

the interview and the date that the interview took place. Complete information of the

interviews is displayed in Appendix 4.

4.5 Transcribing

Before recording an interview, there needs to be an agreement of consent from the

interviewee (Saunders et al., 2012), an agreement was therefore made in the beginning of

each interview. Each respondent was also offered confidentiality to the presenting of their

brand. Firms who have chosen to not want their names to be included, have been given a

made-up name related to their industry, in order to ensure confidentiality. When transcribing

interviews, it is important that words are written down exactly like they were said (Bryman

& Bell, 2011). Greener (2008) argues that the transcription should be made as soon as

possible after the interview is finished, to make sure the context of the answers is fresh in

the memory of the authors. This was the main priority in our approach, rather than taking

notes which also has certain advantages such as helping the authors stay focused and to

formulate relevant follow-up questions (Saunders et al., 2012; Bryman & Bell, 2011). In

our research, and in qualitative research in general, the focus is not only in what is said, but

how and in what way it is said (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Each transcription should also be

checked and corrected to make sure important information and details are not overlooked

(Saunders et al., 2012). Our interviews were both conducted and transcribed in Swedish and

was later translated to English. We were unable to translate some expressions used by

interviewees word for word but have avoided paraphrasing to greatest extent possible.

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4.6 Analysis method

Some challenges with analysing qualitative data is that it rapidly creates a large amount of

documents, in this case interview transcripts, and there are fewer widely accepted rules as

to the approach compared to analysing quantitative data (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Collis &

Hussey, 2014). Analysing qualitative data generally consist of three steps: Reducing the

data, displaying the data and lastly drawing conclusions (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Reducing

the data means simplifying and transforming the data (Attride-Stirling, 2001). In this degree

project coding have been used to find relevant data, and data have been restructured in

relation to our theoretical framework which provided categories and topics to which the data

can be fitted. Saunders et al. (2012) states that the quality of qualitative research heavily

relies on the interaction between the collection of data and how the data is handled with

analysis. Furthermore, Greener (2008) mentions some key operations, and the order to

perform them, when analysing qualitative data which we have followed, namely

transcribing, developing themes, coding and comparing.

When analysing qualitative data, there are many different approaches and techniques.

Searching for themes in the data is however expected to be included in most of the

approaches (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Thematic analysis is one of the most commonly used

approaches and is also used method in this degree project. In this approach the researcher

search for themes in the data that can be related to the research topic and theory (Green et

al., 2007). Attride-Stirling (2001) argues that thematic analysis aims to explore and to form

a deeper understanding of an idea, and to aid the researcher in the structuring and illustration

of the themes. Thematic analysis can be used in both an inductive and deductive approach,

but before thematic analysis can be made, there needs to be transcripts of the interviews

(Saunders et al., 2012). Attride-Stirling (2001) provides a guide of how thematic analysis

can be made, which this study has gained inspiration from in the data analysis. This

approach first uses three steps regarding how to reduce and break down the text by coding,

identifying themes and lastly constructing thematic networks (Attride-Stirling, 2001). Fter

this this part is finished, the researcher can further explore the thematic networks and lastly

summarize them and try to interpret the patterns the data contains (Attride-Stirling,

2001). When thematic analysis is based upon a deductive approach the themes are

connected to the theory, while an inductive approach would suggest that the themes evolve

throughout the analysis of data (Saunders et al., 2012). In this degree project, thematic

analysis is used with a deductive approach. The theory is largely based on existing literature,

mainly Aaker's (1991) dimensions of brand equity, and the themes are therefore

predetermined. This method was chosen before designing the interview guide and has

consequently affected the layout and content of the interview questions to help us find

common themes and ultimately answer our research question. Saunders et al. (2012) add

that when using a deductive approach, researchers can indeed use the theoretical framework

as an aid to the data analysis, in factors such as organizing and directing it. Qualitative data

can be very complex and interpretative since it focuses on meaning of words rather than

numbers and is very contextual (Greener, 2008), there might therefore emerge a large

number of themes depending on the data (Attride-Stirling, 2001). As stated previously, the

themes in this study are mainly predetermined from previous literature. We have however

still kept an open mind as to finding new themes and patterns emerging from the collected

data.

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4.7 Ethical considerations

Conducting research must be based on respecting and following ethical aspects and

guidelines (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The term ethics alludes to principles or moral values

which together constitute and form the basis for code of conduct (Collis & Hussey, 2014).

Ethical considerations and concerns emerge naturally when conducting a research. Ethics

in the context of research refers to the standards and principles of the researcher’s

behaviours in regard to the participants which become part of the work, or in any type or

form become associated with, or affected by it (Saunders et al., 2012). We have considered

ethical questions from the start of the project. Developing a mutual compass of ethical

perspective has provided a common vision as for what is to be deemed as morally and

ethically correct. Similar experiences both in regard to education and work life has been

essential in order to establish vision since we have many mutual denominators. Collis and

Hussey (2014) mentions that the participants in a research must always be informed

regarding the purpose of the research or interview. In our introductory emails, we presented

our purpose, and during the interview’s initial part, we shortly introduced us and our project

to the interviewee. We also compiled a small list of key terms to be used in the interview,

thus we could quickly provide a short explanation for the interviewee if there were any

uncertainty regarding any term. Voluntary participation must always be the case and the

participant must be able to withdraw any time and be able to decide whether they want to

be anonymous/confidential or not (Bryman & Bell, 2011). We had two interviewees who

we booked time and platform with for the interviews, however both of these interviews got

cancelled due to unforeseen side effects of the covid-19 epidemic. However, of course we

had full understanding for this situation and were happy for their intention of originally

participating

Diener and Crandall (1978) further investigate the ethical problems in research by breaking

down and dissecting the major issues revolving discussion about ethical principles in

business research into four main areas: the potential of harm for participants, lack of

informed consent between the researcher and the participant, if there could be an invasion

of privacy and whether deception is involved. These guidelines were integral for us, and as

discussed above, we took great measure to assert that the interviewees understood the

purpose of the study. During the initial parts of the interviews, we also asked for permission

for whether we were allowed to record and if we were allowed to use their name and the

name of the company, or if they would like to exclude their and the company's name for

confidentiality reasons. In terms of guaranteeing no physical harm, we were rather held

back, there was nothing we could do since the interviews were held virtually. However,

there are also other types of harm. According to Saunders et al. (2012), harm can entail

many shapes and forms such as charm to the participants self-esteem and harm to career

possibilities. Through carefully thought out ethical considerations and guidelines, we have

done our very best to minimize the possibility of harm. One specific harm we focused on

eliminating was any hurt created by deception. Saunders et al. (2012) mean that deception

occurs when the researcher is actually researching something else than what the researcher

has told the participants about. In order to combat deception, the principle referred to as “the

information principle” is mentioned. Patel and Davidson (2011) describe the information

principle as a principle of always explaining the purpose of the study and what is being

researched, and as discussed previously, providing sufficient information to the

interviewees was something we were careful about. By doing so, we felt like we could avoid

the vast majority of possibilities for harm to our participants.

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5. Empirical Findings

In this chapter we present the empirical findings obtained and collected throughout the

conducted in-depth interviews. In essence, the main objective with this chapter is to

generate new knowledge and insights in terms of primary data retrieved from the in-depth

interviews. The structure and organization of which the empirical findings are displayed is

inspired by the themes presented in the conceptual model and which has further been

established with thematic analysis.

5.1 Presentation of participants

During the initial parts of our interviews, we asked the interviewees if we were allowed to

incorporate their name, job title as well as the company name. This was in line with our

ethical considerations which we had set out in the previous chapter. The one individual who

wanted to their name to be excluded; we have provided an alias for in order to ensure

confidentiality. We came up with a mutual description and name for the company and the

individual, while disregarding the real name of the individual and the real name of the

company, in order to assure confidentiality. This section will be focused on providing

general information about the interviewees task assignments, relevant experience and other

background factors which we believe will facilitate the readers understanding for their

answers provided in primarily the empirical findings.

Participant 1 - Lena Rodin, Löfbergs. Lena Rodin is in charge of the marketing of Löfbergs

in the regions of Sweden and Finland, with the official title being Brand Experience

Manager. Lena has 25 years of experience working strategically with brands and sales, and

19 years of working at Löfbergs. Her overall task assignments are focused on managing the

brand as well as supporting the sales department tactically as well as supporting long-term

sales goals.

Participant 2 - Brand Manager A, Large Snacks Company. We have chosen to give this

person the alias “Brand Manager A” in order to ensure confidentiality. As the alias reveals,

this individual works as brand manager at a large snacks company. Brand Manger A is

specifically responsible for product development in regard to customer preferences, as well

as innovation for new products and communication about their current product portfolio.

Brand Manager A has worked with brands for approximately four to five years, and at the

Large Snacks Company since late 2019.

Participant 3 - Annika Sund, Leksands Knäckebröd. Annika has been marketing director at

Leksands Knäckebröd since 2001, where she previously was production manager. Annika

has worked at Leksands Knäckebröd for 25 years. Regarding task assignments, Annika

describes that she fills a lot of roles, spanning from developing marketing plans to working

with creating material for commercial purposes. Previously in her career, Annika worked

as an accountant, but decided that marketing was more future driven, and thus more fun to

work with.

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Participant 4 - Helene Moland Daly, Marabou (Mondelez International). Helene works as

Nordic media manager for Mondelez International, a multinational group which Marabou

is part of. The interview focused specifically on Marabou, thus Helene answered with

Marabou in mind. Helene’s task assignments include managing and being responsible for

media and in some way’s communication for all the brands which Mondelez International

sells in the Nordics. Her work is heavily centred around achieving ROI, or in other terms

net revenue on the investments which are made into media. Helene has worked with media

and brands strategically for 20 years, whereas she has worked with Marabou for

approximately two years.

Participant 5 - Pelle Lundquist, A Day's March. Pelle is one of the co-founders of A Days

March. Pelle currently holds the title of creative director at A Days March, which he has

held since 2014 when the brand launched. Including the years at A Days March, Pelle has

worked with brands for 23 years. Pelle’s work assignments include working with the design

department. Together they work with developing new collections, new initiatives etc. Other

work assignments include addressing how well the products are selling, which products do

not sell very well etc. Pelle also has a part in addressing questions regarding the production

in terms of both social and climate sustainability. Pelle has a long career working with

communication, which he also does at A Days March, where he works with establishing the

brand in terms of their communication on their homepage, Instagram and other relevant

platforms for the brand.

Participant 6 - Jenny Odéhn Heidenberg, Santa Maria. Jenny is the Head of Brands and

Portfolio World Foods at Paulig Group, the group which Santa Maria belongs to, making

her overall responsible for the “world foods” part of the brand Santa Maria. This practically

means that she is responsible for what Santa Maria concretely offers to their customers,

making sure they are relevant both today and in the future. Her tasks consist of development

of concepts and products, revamping of products, product design and communication. She

also ensures that the goals and visions of the firm are shared internally by all parts of the

firm. Jenny has worked in this area her whole career which began in the 1990s and have had

her current job within Santa Maria for six years.

5.2 The participants’ general perceptions of brand equity

During the initial part of the theoretical framework, we discussed how there is no consensus

regarding the definition for brand equity (Keller, 2008; Washburn & Plank, 2002). With

Berthon et al. (2001, p. 1) quote “Perhaps the only thing that has not been reached with

regard to brand equity is a conclusion” in mind, we thought that the interviews could

constitute an interesting outlet for us to obtain definitions derived from experience and

actual practice. Thus, as can be seen in our interview guide (see appendix 1) we started the

interviews by asking a general question about how the interviewees interpret brand equity

based on their background and perceptions. The general consensus derived from our

interviews is that brand equity is about establishing and managing a brand which is well

known and well received by both current as well as potential customers. Lena adds to this

further by saying that “Having a strong brand with a strong brand equity is an asset.

Löfbergs is more than 110 years old and well known, thus you have to use it for your

advantage strategically”. Another aspect of being known is that you obviously have to be

widely recognized and known, as well as being liked and appreciated. There is a potent

discrepancy of being a known brand, and a well sought-after brand. In order for companies

to capitalize on the brand equity sufficiently and as a strategic tool, they have to make sure

that the customers also have the right preferences and associations to their brand. Helene

argues that

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“Having brand equity is about being well known, but also to have strong preferences as

well as associations”. Meaning that a company needs to establish strong preferences and

associations alongside just being well known.

Brand Manager A continues this discussion by saying “Sometimes, defining brand equity

can be quite difficult, however, when we talk about brand equity, we talk about a brand

which is top-of-mind with a high level of preferences”. Brand Manager A then proceeds to

tell how the Large Snack Company regard brand equity as a funnel, “The funnel starts at

the top with creating awareness, are the customers aware of us? Then it is about becoming

a part of their consideration set, would the customers think about buying our products when

they shop? Lastly, the end of the funnel is constituted by preferences, are we the tastiest and

are we the best?”. Jenny describes brand equity as a type of insurance for the future “My

personal definition is that it is pension insurance for the future. It’s about taking care of the

brand, invest in it and protect it in order to earn profits also in the future”. Pelle adds to

the subject of brand equity in terms of profits, “In terms of money and profitability, brand

equity is a type of enabler for sales. Without brand equity you can only make sales in terms

of price”. Pelle also discusses brand equity as more of an emotional aspect “Attraction and

reliability are factors that are important for sales, but which are hard to directly translate

to money”. He finally adds that brand equity can contain factors that are more related to

common sense, such as the company being modern and sustainable in its actions. Achieving

strong preferences among customers is according to the interviews heavily centred around

having strong brand equity, established and developed over time by genuine and transparent

communication about the brand in question. By having naturally high preferences, Annika

means that the customer should not need any financial incentives to buy the company's

products, “Having a known and established brand among customers makes them buy your

brand without any discounts or promotions. Having strong brand equity of awareness and

knowledge among customers, developed and managed over time means that the customers

buy your products for the positive feelings associated, and the added values built into the

brand”. Brand Manager A states that having brand equity as the backbone in the company

is essential for the business side as well. Brand Manager A arguments that “If you do not

have brand equity backing your brand up, you will not be able to require certain prices for

your products, and neither will you be able to sell certain quantities”. Brand Manager A

then continues to polarize it by saying “Certain industries have certain conditions. We have

a high degree of brand equity according to our funnel. however, since we are in the FMCG

section of the retail industry, we are not able to have a price premium of 10 kronor

compared to competing brands. There is no linear correlation between high prices and high

brand equity, it depends on the industry largely”.

Further on, we were also very interested in whether the respondents thought that their

respective company capitalized on their brand as a strategic tool. This question was

particularly interesting for us since we thought that the answers would provide an early

insight into how the respondents work with their brands. If they say that they work

extensively with their brand strategically, we were pretty convinced at that point of the

interview that they would have good knowledge about the remaining questions and could

provide sufficient answers. Noteworthy is that every respondent answered that they thought

that they indeed do use their brand as a strategic tool. Lena told us the importance of

embracing the history of the brand as a strategic outpost, “As mentioned previously,

Löfbergs is 110 years old and family owned, this is important to communicate for us and

our history”. Further, Helene means that in order to use the brand as a strategic tool, it is

important to be consistent and coherent, “I think Marabou has gone taken great steps in the

way we work with our brand equity and the brand assets. Previously, Marabou has not been

as coherent, whereas today where Marabou’s is coherent and consistent in the way we work

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with our brand”. Annika provides another important insight regarding using the brand as a

strategic tool in terms of being consistent. “Absolutely, we use our brand as a strategic tool,

but you have to take into consideration that the brand is perishable. If you are quite for a

long period of time, it is hard to stay in the minds of the customers. Once you are at point

where you have established your brand, you have to manage it accordingly to be able to

use it as a tool continuously” says Annika regarding using their brand as a strategic tool.

Brand Manager A means that every company which works with their brand in any types of

form has a strategic mindset behind it. “I would say that all companies who commit to brand

building activities have a purpose behind it. Whether it be staying top of mind or achieving

better shelf place in stores. With this in mind, I definitely would say we use the brand to

generate competitive advantages”. The importance of using the brand as a strategic tool is

obviously something which we can derive from the interviews as something important for

brands who are keen on being well known and well perceived. However, building brand

equity and creating a well perceived brand is something which requires a lot of consistent

work and effort. Jenny adds to this subject by saying “We endlessly make sure we have

more capital to invest in our brands”. She adds that they are in it for the long run which

makes it even more important to continuously reinvest in the brands. Pelle agrees that they

do use their brand strategically but nuances the discussion about how and when to use the

brand: “We have, like most companies, a discussion about when and where it is important

to push the brand. In times like these, when sales are very important, the sales department

wants to push on. But we won’t gain anything if we don’t stand by what the brand is as

well”. Pelle further adds “Everything is very measurable today, and yet the primary

foundation of the brand is not, which makes it vulnerable”.

5.3 Brand Awareness

The first dimension of brand equity we investigated was brand awareness. That brand

awareness is important for the firm in some manner is stated across all the interviews. In

order to sell products, brand awareness is essential. Helene explains it clearly as “If the

customers don’t know about the brand, they won’t consider buying the product”, stating the

absolute necessity of brand awareness. The significance of brand awareness does however

depend on a number of factors. Lena states that the importance of brand awareness is

dependent on how mature and established the brand is. Brand manager A states that “It (the

significance of brand awareness) differs from industry to industry”, and further explains

that customers do more research prior to purchase in some industries, while some purchases

are more spontaneous. All interviewees do agree that brand awareness is important for the

brand to even be considered during time of purchase. Some interviewees mention the

importance of the brand being present in the “consideration set” of customers. Meaning that

customers always have a few brands in their mind for certain product categories, which they

consider and choose amongst. Annika states that “When customers are in the bread section

of the store and see our brand, we want them to think that the brand represents good things”,

so that their product is chosen out of the brands in the consideration set, because of added

values related specifically to the brand and not just the product. The importance of being

part of the consideration set is further supported by Jenny who also adds that “Awareness is

the first step before converting into consideration and preference in the end”.

A key concept of the brand awareness dimension is the process of keeping the brand top-

of-mind. Lena states that “Of course it’s important to be top-of-mind and to be in the

awareness of customers, which we are. But we also need to fill that awareness with

something deeper”. Helene says that “Staying top-of-mind is about being continuously

present. To remind people of the brand every day of the year.

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It is of course expensive but that’s our approach”. Helene further argues that this is essential

since they are in a business with products that customers buy on a daily basis, hence the

need for an “always on” strategy. Brand Manager A emphasize campaigns as an important

tool to spread brand awareness and to remain top-of-mind among the customers. Brand

Manager A says, “It doesn’t have to be particularly expensive campaigns, it can also be

smaller campaigns on social media which gets the word spreading”, Brand Manager A

further argues that launching new products is a great way to increase word-of-mouth as well

as keeping large segments of the shelf space in stores, which is particularly important for

the FMCG product category, according to the interviews. Annika also means that the store

as a great tool to stay top-of-mind. She further explains that “Working with influencers with

things such as Facebook-advertising” as a good way to spread awareness apart from

traditional advertising. Pelle also states that “Mostly our focus is on the social channels” in

terms of creating brand awareness, but when it comes to specifically staying top-of-mind he

says “Consciously we haven’t actually (done specific activities to stay top-of-mind)” and

adds that “Being top-of-mind is a dream scenario but it is very expensive”, adding to the

argument of how expensive being present is, but also very rewarding if you make it work.

Jenny agrees that being top-of-mind is essential and mentions a range of measurements they

perform to track this. She does however add that “It is hard to see exactly which actions

that generate which results, it is rather a combination of all our actions”.

5.3.1 Managing and developing Brand Awareness

When it comes to continuously keeping customers aware of the brand, there are a number

of different actions and activities discussed across the interviews. Lena points out different

marketing strategies based on cultural norms when speaking of ways to reach out to

customers in Nordic countries, she states “Denmark is more of a festival country, and

Sweden and Finland are arena countries, which means there are different mechanics

involved when reaching out to large segments”. She further explains that advertising related

to hockey is successful in Sweden and Finland, but since hockey is not as big a sport in

Denmark, they find different ways to spread awareness in Denmark, like putting up coffee

bars in places like Roskilde.

All of the interviewees involved in companies within the FMCG sectors, do some above-

the-line marketing, whether it is radio, TV or just print. Above-the-line-marketing is

frequently used in this sector, since it is as Annika puts it “A good way to make many people

see and hear about you”. It is however a relatively expensive form of advertising, and other

techniques and tools to reach out to customers are exemplified. Lena states that “The last

few years we have actually lowered the amount of traditional media advertising

significantly, both in TV and print, and instead focus on being part of people's experiences.

Whether it be hockey, skiing or other collaborations we are involved in”. Lena emphasizes

the need to build a lasting impression on customers that they will remember, rather than in

the short run selling a few extra cups of coffee. Aside from radio & TV, Billboards and

marketing with signs in general is also a popular tool amongst the interviewees to

continuously remind people of their brand. Annika addresses how the traditional marketing

has changed with the introduction and extensive use of smartphones: “Nowadays people

walk around with their nose in the phone without noticing signs in the same way, 10 years

ago people noticed signs and we saw immediate effect of that marketing”. Annika argues

that radio advertisement is a good way to get around this issue and is a method heavily used

by their brand. Helene describes their strategy as a mix of media channels that delivers the

best. She states “We can’t just do social media or TV. If I had to choose only one channel

though I would choose TV since our target audience consist of more people above 35 years

old of age than of under 35”, stating the importance of TV-commercials to spread brand

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awareness on a daily basis with target segments in mind. Activities that are not related to

mainstream media marketing is referred to as below-the-line marketing and contains a wide

range of activities across the brands. Helene credits sponsorships as one tool for spreading

awareness: “We are involved in a lot of sponsorships relevant to Marabou which drives

Marabou as a brand in the right direction. This also allows us to build associations in the

stores to create stringency”, and also speaks about how this is an effective way of getting

more shelf space in the stores. Annika emphasizes being involved in events to create brand

awareness, specifically student events to reach a younger segment not only to their brand

but to the product category overall. Brand Manager A speaks of the importance of finding

the USP (Unique Selling Point) of the company, as well as keeping the advertising relevant

so that the customers really gets the message. In other words, the message and the added

values attached to the brand not only needs to be delivered, it also needs to stick with the

customers.

Pelle, who is involved in a young brand relatively to the others, states that it is both difficult

and expensive to build brand awareness solely online, which is why their strategy from the

beginning was to open stores and utilize these to spread awareness and create story telling

about their brand. Pelle states that “Stores generates customers which generates word-of-

mouth, creating brand awareness mechanically and organically”.

5.3.2 The influence of Brand Awareness on drivers of shareholder value

When we spoke of the influence that brand awareness has on shareholder value, many

interviewees mention the need to think both short-term and long-term at the same time. Lena

puts it as “You have to consider the short-term and long-term simultaneously and have both

of the concepts in your mind at all time”. Lena states awareness as the first step to gaining

a customer but emphasizes that the awareness needs to lead to loyalty and repurchases,

“Having a loyal customer is obviously cheaper than not, since a non-loyal customer

constantly would need new incentives. But you need to start with the awareness and to be

in-mind, and from there build a loyalty and likeability towards the brand”. On this subject,

Helene claims that “There is no clear distinction whether brand awareness affects cash flow

on short- or long-term, it always needs to be present. It can however be adjusted to new

products etc.” Pelle states that “Brand awareness is crucial, what are you without it?” and

also lists it as a necessity for sales and profit. Jenny adds that it might be difficult to draw

the distinction between spontaneous purchases due to placements etc. in stores, and what is

a result of brand awareness. She further adds that this distinction might be easier to find in

other industries, for instance online, where customers doesn’t make their decisions in the

store.

We did however find some distinctions and differences as to how brand awareness affects

shareholder value short-term or long-term. Brand Manager A states that “On short-term we

communicate and spread awareness of specific products to generate sales right now”.

Brand Manager A further explains that it can be very strategic, and also related to factors

such as holidays. Brand Manager A continues “On Easter for example, we don't invest in

TV-advertising, but rather focus on putting products close to check out in the stores to

increase sales at that point in time”. Annika adds to the discussion of short-term strategy,

“Campaigns are drivers of volume and therefore more short-term oriented.” While

discussing short- and long-term effects Annika also adds “The awareness we build on long-

term is more connected to the brand, while short-term awareness tends to be connected to

products”, a sentiment that is also expressed by Brand Manager A. Helene explains how

their awareness on short-term can create distinct differences in terms of sales:

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“When we invest in media, we notice an extremely clear correlation to sales. If we for

instance reach 75% instead of 60% through a TV-commercial, we notice huge differences

in sales”. When it comes to the long-term aspects, Brand manager A says “In the long-term

it is about being differentiated against your competitors”. This is also mentioned by Annika,

who also adds that long-term brand building also can be supported by products, and that

they sometimes utilize products to help market the brand. Pelle argues that long-term

generally is about maintaining the brand awareness to keep further sales intact. Jenny states

that “It (brand awareness) has impact on the pricing of the products. Both as a functional

aspect but also emotional aspect it affects how much the customers are willing to pay”.

5.4 Brand Associations

The second dimension we investigated was brand associations. When speaking about brand

associations, we started by simply asking the interviewees what they want their brand to be

associated with. Answers vary from purely functional aspects related to products and more

emotional aspects related to the brand. Lena and Annika both emphasize sustainability

through the whole operation, but Lena also adds “To be crasser, coffee as a category is

driven by price a lot, so many people probably just thinks of us as affordable and good

coffee”. Being sustainable and delivering high quality to a fair price is mentioned by Pelle

as well, who also adds more emotional aspects “Scandinavian, timeless and well-thought-

out design”. Brand Manager A also adds some emotional aspects such as “Being the nice

friend who makes people lower their shoulders and smile”, but also emphasizes that in their

product category the most important parameter is taste, and therefore the need to be

associated with good taste. Jenny also speaks about taste: “Great taste is what steep through

us and everything we do, and our brands promise is No More Boring Meals.” Jenny also

adds that they track functional values such as quality in taste as well as emotional values as

for example “Inspire to spend time together”. Helene speaks about how Marabou wants to

be associated generosity, “We have a brand platform about being generous in a spiritual

sense, to be generous and to share”, but also adds the taste of their product as a signum for

their brand.

5.4.1 Managing and developing Brand Associations

When searching for concrete actions and activities which brands implement to build

associations, we attempted to investigate associations based on how the literature suggests

that brand associations can be fractionated in various components. The main components

brand associations can be broken down into are; attributes, benefits and attitudes (Keller,

1993). In terms of looking at brand associations from the standpoint of attributes, Annika,

Helene, Brand Manager A and Lena all highlight taste as an important attribute to be

associated with. Jenny mentions how they separate functional and emotional values in their

measurements of associations. Jenny also states how different markets affect the

significance of these associations: “On our strongest markets, the emotional values are

probably more important, but on markets where we are not as well-known, we also need to

rely on functional values. On markets where we have a less mature product or brand, we

emphasize the functional values a lot.” In terms of attributes, Pelle states “Obviously I want

the customers to think that our products are nice and attractive, that we are cool and good-

looking in our way”. When speaking of associations related to benefits, Brand Manager A

says “Nice taste and good quality are the paramount benefits for the customers. But also,

happiness and positive thoughts, and thoughts of non-pretentiousness”. Annika and Lena

again reiterate their work in sustainability and their belief that this is important for the

customers. Thus, that it has to be communicated efficiently. Lena says

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“We have noticed a large part of young conscious customers that have done their homework

and know what the brand stands for”. Lena continues, “Beneath the surface of a brand you

will find what the brand really stands for”. Annika adds to this subject on how they in their

main store, which customers can come to learn about the firm and taste products, run movie

clips about the firm and show how they make their products. Using the main store is a great

way of creating associations means Annika. She further adds that “Baking with natural raw

materials is important for a lot of customers”. When Pelle was asked about benefits, he

answered “First and foremost I really want the customer to be extremely happy with the

product. To get the sense that you have made a good deal and discovered something that

other people missed.” Pelle explains that this was how he perceived customers experiences

in the early days of their brand, but now when they’ve gotten quite big it is not as clear

anymore.

Discussing what attitudes the interviewees want customers to associated towards the brand,

Helene says “Marabou is for everyone, an including attitude. Marabou doesn’t mock and

wants everyone to feel happy and welcome by our products”. Helene further accentuates the

significance of positive attitudes as market leaders “We are a market leader and need people

to test our products and make sure they deliver, in order to create positive associations for

customers in respect to taste and performance. Otherwise we would fall off as a brand.”

Brand Manager A also speaks of having an including attitude: “We want it to be for everyone

and to feel simple. The attitude should be relaxed and positive”. Pelle states that he wants

the customers to have an attitude “Shaped by the modernity, honesty and looking-ahead of

the brand”. Lena speaks of how the customers attitudes towards the brand may not

harmonize with what they really think of the products “We have done several blind tests

where the customer think they know what they are drinking, but it turns out that the brand

affect them also in their perceived taste”, meaning that the technical quality of the product

may be affected by existing attitudes towards the brand.

5.4.2 The influence of Brand Associations on drivers of shareholder value

The fact that brand associations have an impact on sales and profitability is something that

comes across clear and evident throughout all of the interviews. Pelle states “One hundred

percent, they are essential” and further speaks about how affordable products with good

quality is the main association for A Days March, “We need to continuously develop and

work with associations to maintain sales over time, it can’t be taken for granted”. Annika

defines positive associations as, “Associations to our added values is what makes us have a

good base of sales, without needing campaigns and discounts”, she continues “It makes the

products sell by themselves”. Jenny adds to this subject that “It’s connected to preference,

that customers rather choose us than our competitors” and that “It affects how much you

are willing to pay, and which brand you choose while in the store”.

Helene touches upon the necessity for Marabou to have positive associations with taste for

the cash flows: “It is very important for the cash flow to achieve the desired associations.

We need the target segment to remember us, and to have a preference, that they associate

us with something that makes them choose us over our competitors. And the most important

association is taste, the taste association contributes to our whole brand”. The importance

of taste associations is supported by Brand Manager A who says “If we have a good taste

we will also have good sales numbers - as long as we remain our high quality it will generate

sales in the long-term”. Jenny states that “Brand awareness is not enough, it’s too shallow”

in an argument that the awareness also needs to be converted into associations to the brand.

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The connection between brand associations and cash flow seems clearer in the long term.

Jenny states, “It’s a little more difficult to notice short-term, but definitely long-term” and

Annika claims that it is “Mostly considered as impactful on long-term”. Helene speaks of

the importance of nurturing the associations they have built up over the years: “We have

built associations that we have to preserve, where associations and perceived quality goes

together since we want high quality to be associated to the brand”. Helene further states

that it could be difficult for new companies to get their share of the market now, but if they

were to quit their communication (marketing) they would lose sales since new companies

then would get a better chance to compete. Speaking of long-term aspects, Jenny adds “we

endlessly try to build an emotional bond to the customer, so that they choose our brand

because they like us and not just as an old habit”.

There are however some clear answers as to how associations can affect the cash-flow in

the short-term, both positively and negatively. Some interviewees mean that companies

can’t take any chances with the quality of their products. Brand Manager A states “We can

see that when there has been a bad “batch”, this will clearly be reflected in our sales

numbers short-term” She continues “If the customer gets an item of lower quality, a long

period of time will pass before he/she considers that product again” and concludes that

“You can’t fool the customer when it comes to preference and associations”. Lena and

Annika emphasize the importance of campaigns as a tool to build cash-flow with brand

associations short-term. Lena states that price is an important factor in their product

category: “Price, and campaigns, are the most driving factor in our category. Customers

are therefore loyal to campaigns, where they have perhaps two brands in mind, and

ultimately make their decision based on campaigns”. Annika states that “We also work with

new products as a way to gain visibility for the brand. This creates cash-flow short-term

since it gets people talking and people demand more”. Annika does however add that “it’s

difficult to introduce new products in a category where customers are very loyal to certain

products and their taste”. Annika also argues that their brand also works with influencers

to create word-of-mouth and cash-flow short-term: “you can see the effect in a month, but

hopefully also in a year. It’s important to not disappear in people's’ awareness. Even if you

love a product you could forget to buy it if you don’t get reminded.”

5.5 Perceived Quality

The third dimension which we investigated was perceived quality. In order for us to gain a

deeper understanding of how the interviewees work with managing and developing this

dimension, we first set out to understand why the perceived quality dimension is important.

We also wanted the interviewees to explain for us what level of quality and aspects of

quality that they would like to be associated with their brand. Lena meant that you should

always strive towards having the highest possible perceived quality, but she also explains

how there is a difference between perceived and actual, technical quality. Lena goes on to

say, “Of course we want to have the best perceived quality as possible associated with

Löfbergs. We are very aware that our technical quality is very high regarding production

etc. However, the perceived quality is perhaps not as high as we would like it to be”. In

order to combat this situation, Lena explains that Löfbergs has adopted their approach of

meeting customers at events etc to talk to them first-hand, in order to truly manifest the

quality, “We work with the approach and mechanic we do currently (as discussed under

brand awareness). We want to build a personal relationship with the customer in order to

increase the perceived quality in a way which traditional advertising might not be able to

do”. Brand manager A means like Lena that the goal is always to deliver the best possible

quality, “We work with different types of tools to ensure certain levels of perceived quality,

it is a whole science behind the different processes we do. The end goal is to maintain a

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high level of perceived quality. We also use an external company to map and measure

perceived quality”.

Annika approaches her vision of their perceived quality with a mindset where she means

that their category sometimes can make it hard for them to be regarded as a premium brand

in terms of perceived quality, in the eyes of the customer. But she still means that Leksands

Knäckebröd has very high quality in terms of production etc, “We want to be on a relatively

high level of perceived quality, especially in terms of our products being genuine and well

tasting for real. However, we are still selling crispbread and not chocolate, you have to be

able to have that level of self-awareness. But it is as good as crispbread can be”. Annika

means that even though the product category might not necessarily induce a feeling of

premium, they still strive to deliver the best possible perceived quality as they can, “We

bake the crispbread of the highest level of quality for our customers. We control and test

everything we send out. There are many parameters we discuss when it comes to quality.

This is also a product of the harvest, so it can fluctuate. But taste is the most significant

parameter of perceived quality, you would never eat anything which you do not find well

tasting, no matter how healthy it is”.

Five out of six interviews were held with companies producing products which in some

shape or form are meant to be consumed, taste is hence a very important parameter of

perceived quality according to the interviews. Helene adds to this by stating that taste is

extremely important in terms of perceived quality, “Everyone in our category wants to be

perceived as having the best chocolate taste and the best chocolate mass, we are not selling

a car which has several parameters. Our claim is that we have the best chocolate taste, no

matter how bold it might sound”. Jenny also thinks that taste and quality goes hand in hand,

“We want to have a high quality with good taste and aftertaste. Granted, we must also

deliver upon other categories which the customers desire, such as sustainability”. It is quite

evident that perceived quality is an important dimension which all the interviewees agree

upon. The importance of perceived quality is something which Pelle is truly a believer in,

“Perceived quality is the dimension which we maybe should score the highest in. We are

very keen and aware of that our brand should be received with a high level of quality”.

5.5.1 Managing and developing Perceived Quality

After the interviewees got to establish what level of perceived quality they would like to be

associated with their brand, we then proceeded to let the interviewees discuss how they

manage and develop the perceived quality in terms of actions and activities. As well as how

they work in order to alter the perceived quality through for example changes in intrinsic

and extrinsic factors. Lena tells that Löfbergs has worked with several different strategies

and tests throughout the years to test perceived quality, “We use focus groups to measure

perceived quality, in the same tracking, we also measure what customers think about the

taste of the products”. As Lena discussed earlier, the perceived quality of Löfbergs is maybe

not on par with the technical quality, this is proven by the tests means Lena, “Through blind

testing, we can prove that the perceived quality is different from the actual quality.” When

it comes to working with how to manage their perceived quality in terms of the different

products, Lena says that they work with different segments within their category, “We have

a base coffee which we tend to use in campaigns. we also have coffee with higher and more

advanced certifications, or which is more carefully sourced from a specific region. These

products make up different layers of quality”. But it is not only intrinsic factors such as

character and price which Lena means they work with, they also work with other intrinsic

factors such as the design, “When we develop new designs, we do eye tracking and other

experiments with design. We are aware of that different colours send different signals.

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However, we have a very strong association with the colour purple, which we do not want

to let go off”. Except for colour, Lena also states that sustainability and ecology stamps

should be included in the process of designing the exterior, “All the mechanics which is

done through communication related to sustainability and ecology should be implemented

in the design process as well.”

The importance of implementing communication in the perceived quality dimension is

something which the interviews have established. Brand Manager A expresses that there is

a tight relationship between communication and perceived quality and they should be used

in unison, “Communication and perceived quality belong together, currently, we have a

copy on TV with the purpose of manifesting the enhanced quality, and we have other

commercials which aim to accentuate the quality and that we have the best taste”. Brand

Manager A then proceeds to tell that the position which the Large Snacks Company is

currently, does not require their commercial investments to be aimed at generating brand

awareness, “Our focus in this situation is not to create copies with the intent of gaining

brand awareness, we focus on creating well perceived quality. We have partnerships with

bureaus, and we know what we want to measure and follow up. We have different tests and

customer studies which get collected and compiled monthly”.

Having efficient ways for tracking the perceived quality is something which Jenny and

Santa Maria do extensively as well. Jenny means that it is important to work with brand

tracking in terms of perceived quality since it is subjective. Further on, Santa Maria also

implements a lot of sensorics work with their products, Jenny describes the process as

following; “In our offices in Mölndal, we have a large taste-lab where we several times a

week do different tests. These tests are carried out by both internal personnel, partly an

expert panel which have the right knowledge to find the perfect combinations of sweet and

salty”. Jenny also says that they use other internal personnel without specific knowledge,

instead they can work at basically any department of the organization. The tests are not only

carried out by internal personnel, Santa Maria also includes another panel called Friends of

Santa Maria, a panel of experts which can detect all five of the basic tastes efficiently, “This

panel is compiled by customers who come to us for different testing”. Jenny finally adds

that apart from this they also work with external partners to ensure their quality of taste In

terms of the intrinsic factors, Jenny talks about how Santa Maria works a lot with updating

their packaging and design. “We do not belong to a high-interest category, customers buy

our products based on spinal sense, and decisions happens fast. When we commit to greater

design changes, we measure how it is received in a simulated store online. We do this in

order to maximize opportunity and minimize risk” - shares Jenny. Even though Santa Maria

is working hard with design updates, Jenny accentuates the importance, and the asset the

red colour of their TexMex products. Something which they are adamant about never

changing out. Working close to the products, and constantly measuring and following up

on the perceived quality dimensions is something which in the interviews has been

established as important in order to develop and manage this dimension. This can be done

with external companies as well as with internal functions. Annika explains how Leksand

Knäckebröd has a product development group, compiled of individuals from different

departments of the company. This is an important function since these individuals have a

large span of important thoughts and opinions, believes Annika, “Our personal and bakers

have a really good understanding, and they are good at sharing their thoughts and

opinions”. Annika then proceeds to tell that external opinions must be regarded as well, in

this case external opinions from customers, “We do analyse and listen to what customers

communicate and write to us, but at the end of the day - the ones that know the most about

crispbread are the 175 individuals working here”.

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Taking into consideration that the individuals working at the company knows the best,

sometimes makes it difficult to listen to external voices at all, since they do not understand

the production process which also ultimately generates the quality. This situation is

mentioned by Helene, who explains that Marabou had a competition for individuals to send

in their suggestion of new tastes etc, and sometimes these suggestions are simply not

possible due to the fact that it would interfere with the general production. Helene continues

to say “We work rigorously to map and ensure the taste in our factories in order to

guarantee that the quality of the taste won't change. Therefore, it is hard to replace palm

oil and sugar in the chocolate since it would hurt the taste and the quality immediately. In

the competition, we receive a lot of taste suggestions which is nice, but we are not able to

pursue all of these since they would have to compromise on the taste”. Helene denotes that

there are plenty of challenges with the perceived quality but states that the most integral

aspect is that Marabou delivers consistent quality with their offering. Like the other

interviewees, Helene also says that it is important to follow up on the perceived quality

dimensions, she also tells that sales number is an integral index to look at when reviewing

perceived quality, “The largest indication of perceived quality is in all honesty sales data.

If we can we see that the sales are going down we have to look at whether it is due to micro

or macro circumstances, and we really have to look into how we can solve the problem”.

When assessing intrinsic factors, Helene addresses that design, colour etc. can indeed be

used for inducing quality associations. However, Helene also accentuates the importance of

not changing the packaging too much, “A lot of brands get stuck in a an inside-out

perspective where they think that they are not selling due to their packaging. This leads to

a lot of companies getting stuck in a situation where they forget to remind customers about

the actual product and are instead more focused on the placement of the logo”. Helene

thinks it is fundamental to have an attractive and well thought out design. This allows for

minor updates, while still being consistent with the design.

Pelle and A Day's March, the only respondent not present in the FMCG category, has several

common denominators with the other respondents regarding the importance of

implementing the right actions and activities, However, they are embedded based on slightly

different incentives. Pelle tells that they work a lot on creating perceived quality through

storytelling in different mediums, “We work with storytelling in store, on our webpage and

our other social channels to spread and establish a well perceived quality. Other more

strategic initiatives include moving production from China to Portugal. We choose organic

cotton over regular cotton”. Pelle addresses how sustainability is an integral quality-

indicator in the clothing industry. In terms of mapping the perceived quality, Pelle says that

they have several different ways of doing so, “It is maybe not that structured. We have also

made our first real marketing survey. In our industry, we also make so called season-

closings, where we analyse how well products have sold, return-rates etc”. Pelle

emphasizes that following up on those kinds of statistics is something which they are very

good at, but he also adds that it is important to acknowledge that they work with clothes and

will never be able to guarantee 100% perfect delivery from all parts of production. However,

they are very adamant of keeping the perceived quality high.

5.5.2 The influence of Perceived Quality on drivers of shareholder value

The impact which the perceived quality has on the cash flow is something which was

heavily anchored in the interviews. The interviewees came back to the importance of having

a high level of perceived quality several times. Another aspect which we found interesting

was that the other dimensions were primarily discussed as to how they can have a positive

influence on the cash flow. Meanwhile, the interviewees meant that having a high level of

perceived quality is essential in both accelerating and retaining the company's cash flow but

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can almost be more detrimental for the cash flow if the perceived quality is underwhelming.

Lena explains into more practical terms how she believes that the perceived quality can

actually inhibit the cash flow based on her experience, “As I mentioned earlier, there is a

discrepancy between perceived and actual quality. If you compare us to the biggest brands,

we might not be regarded as having the highest level of quality. However, the actual quality

is at least as good”. Lena then describes that the vast majority of the big coffee

manufacturers in Sweden work in a similar fashion when it comes to establishing quality,

but the main difference maker among the brands is preference in taste. Based on this, Lena

argues that preconceived notions and negative word of mouth which is based solely on

preferences can damage the long-term cash flow retention. In order to combat this situation

Lena yet again come back to the importance of manifesting the great taste in order to

overcome customers preconceived notion about the perceived quality, as well as strictly

held taste preferences. Lena also suggests that blind testing is a great tool for proving the

discrepancy between perceived and actual quality. The intrinsic factors such as design

suggests Lena can be used short-term to accelerate the cash flow through altered perceived

quality, “Short-term, changes in design can open the door for new customers and enhance

the cash flow. For example, we have a new coffee with a white packaging with purple text.

News can be seen as exclusive and make things happen on the coffee shelf”

Annika also discuss that news are important for accelerating sales on short-term, which

according to her also opens up the door for long term sales through repurchases, “You buy

with your eyes initially, and if the product is both perceived as high quality and tastes well,

then the customers will continue to buy the products”. Another aspect to acknowledge

according to Annika is that customers are aware and attentive, this can clearly be reflected

in fluctuations of quality, “If the actual or perceived quality drops for a product, we can see

that sales for that specific product decrease.” Jenny also sees that quality changes get

noticed by customers on markets where they are established and that the customers know

their products well, “They notice relatively fast if we have done a product change which

they do not like. Therefore, we test everything extensively. We have a lot of heavy users who

are used to a certain taste and therefore know exactly how it should taste”. Jenny says that

changes in perceived quality absolutely can be seen in the cashflow, “There can also be a

potential negative effect if we make a change which the customers do not appreciate, since

they are so used to a certain taste. The challenges lie in being relevant in the long-term and

making small improvements along the process”. Taste is obviously extremely subjective,

meaning that changes can be perceived very differently from customer to customer,

depending on what taste they are used to and appreciate. The perceived quality is not better

or worse, rather just perceived subjectively, and it is therefore hard to project how it will

affect the cash flows.

Fluctuation in quality of the production is something which Helene also believes potentially

can affect the cash flows negatively, “Bad batches or products which are not perceived well

naturally affects the cash flows. If we have set out a goal for sales numbers, we expect to

reach that goal. If that is not the case, it is not good for the expected net revenue”. Helene

continues to say that the perceived quality is important for short-term perspective as well,

“if we have a first-time buyer who does not find the quality good, then he or she will not buy

the product again”. Helene believes that the short-term and the-long term perspective of

perceived quality builds on each other and the customer must be satisfied the first time,

which ensures short-term acceleration of cash flow, but the quality must be guaranteed

going forward in order to ensure continuous purchases as well. As discussed previously, the

interviewees in the FMCG sectors have limited possibilities in regard to calibrating and

changing prices since they use resellers for their products. Pelle and A Days March on the

other hand says that perceived quality and value for money spent are two integral factors

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for sales, “When talking about providing high value for a good price, both the price and the

quality play important roles. In order for us to retain sales, other factors of perceived

quality such as having long lasting quality and that the garment is timeless and attractive

are important”.

5.6 Brand Loyalty

The last dimension we wanted to investigate is Brand Loyalty. In order for us to understand

the best suitable actions and activities for creating brand loyal customers, we first had to

identify what the different respondents thought constituted a loyal customer. Defining a

loyal customer can obviously look different depending on which type of product category

the company is involved with, along with other factors. However, based on our interviews,

recurring themes were that loyal customers choose your brand over competitors in a regular

manner. The interviews also presented the need for loyal customers to feel an emotional

bond to the brand. Lena talked about the necessity of loyal customers to feel comfortable

and safe with the brand they buy products from. Lena means that, “A loyal customer feels

comfortable with Löfbergs and what we stand for. Hence, a loyal customer should

preferably also spread positive word of mouth and talk well about the brand to friends and

colleagues”. Lena continues to emphasize that a loyal customer also should feel a degree

of proudness of choosing a specific brand, “The customer should be able to walk around

with our product in their shopping basket in the grocery store and feel happy and proud of

their choice of coffee. A loyal customer should be able to stand up for what brand and which

products they put in their shopping basket”. Another interesting aspect which Lena

highlights is the fact that customers are driven by building their own personal brand through

shopping. “The majority of people are conscious about of how they can build their own

brand through the brands which they shop from, thus it is important for a loyal customer to

feel proud to be associated with Löfbergs”.

Providing positive word of mouth, and talking well about the company's brand, is something

which Annika also believes is an important characteristic of a loyal customer, “A loyal

customer is a customer who buys our products and talks positively about them. In our case,

a loyal customer often has two or three flavours of crisp bread which they revert to and

cycle between”. Brand Manager A talks about how the ideal loyal customer would look like,

but simultaneously highlights the issues concerning brand loyalty in their category of

snacks, “A loyal customer is a recurring customer. In an ideal world, a loyal customer is

an exclusive customer to only our brand. But that's not the reality for us”. Brand Manager

A then continues to state that in their category, customers are loyal to tastes rather than

brands, “We acknowledge that customers are loyal to certain snack flavours rather than

snack brands. However, we still have the mindset that we want to have loyal customers

either way. Loyal customers are cheaper to sustain, compared to continuously finding new

ones”. Brand Manager A then proceeds to highlight another specific challenge for obtaining

loyal customers in their category, “The snacks category has a tendency to be stuck in a

situation where there is a need for always providing limited edition products to stay

relevant. This syndrome is a challenge for the entire snacks category since the customers

are not loyal to brands, only flavours”. In a somewhat paradoxical fashion, Brand Manager

A also says that limited editions can also be the way to obstruct mechanistically switching

brands and attract them back to their brand, “It is possible to influence the customers interest

to go back to your brand again with limited editions since they often catch interest.” Helene

also accentuates the importance of the fact that loyal customer are frequent buyers and place

their brand in front over competing brands. Helene defines a loyal customer as,

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“A customer who buys our products most often, this means that we will never have 100

percentage brand loyalty, since these customers are rather few. But briefly, a loyal customer

is someone who chooses us over competing brands”.

Jenny is another manager who emphasizes that a loyal customer is a customer who is a

frequent buyer and prefers Santa Maria's products over competitors, “It is about how often

a customer consumes our products”. Jenny then continues like Brand Manager A to address

that loyal customers and heavy user are different from product category to product category.

Jenny means that, “Loyal customers and heavy users within the product category of spices

are maybe not the same as for other product categories. We want loyal customers to say

that they buy Santa Maria most often, when we are measuring preferences”. Just like Lena,

Jenny also means that it is important to create emotional bonds with loyal customers, “We

want them to buy us because they like us and not just out of old habit, and thus we have to

establish emotional connections with the customers. These soft values are hard to measure

compared to hard values. We talk a lot with research companies of how to measure brand

love for instance, but no actor measures brand love since it is abstract. We would love to

do make it more concrete and measurable, but it is not possible at this time”. Being instantly

considered as a brand is something which has been recurring as an important factor during

the interviews. Pelle means that a loyal customer thinks about and considers A Days March

when he or she has a need to buy a new garment, “A real loyal customer tries to shop

everything they need clothing wise from us. However, they will naturally not be able to do

so in every instance”. Pelle then goes on to manifest that a loyal customer unsought should

think about their brand if a specific situations comes up, “Let's say it is payday, you are

going on a date and need a new garment, then I would like a loyal customer to think about

us and see whether they will be able to satisfy that need from our selection”

5.6.1 Managing and developing Brand Loyalty

In order for us to establish a better understanding for how the six established brands we

interviewed manage and developed brand loyalty, we then proceeded to ask how the

managers at each firm work in terms of implementing actions and activities referring to the

brand loyalty dimension to gain practical suggestions. In terms of managing and developing,

we focused on actions and activities which are aimed at retaining loyal customers and how

they are able to track these brand loyal customers in order to do so. Brand Manager A states

that they measure several different dimensions and parameters, including brand loyalty,

“When we measure brand loyalty, we often focus on repurchase-behaviour, which goes

hand in hand with in with loyalty”. Brand Manager A then continues to address which

specific dimensions of repurchase behaviour which they can follow up on, “We can see if

you have bought more than one bag of snacks during a specific period, the frequency of

purchases, how many bags of snacks in total - this can be calibrated even further to look at

specific parts of the sortiment, such as taste”. When it comes to maintaining loyal

customers, Brand Manager A emphasizes the importance of delivering upon the other

dimensions to create loyal customers, “We know that the customers want great quality and

great flavour. By following up perceived quality and flavour, we can ensure that we also

deliver upon these parameters, and thus we are able to retain loyal customers”. Brand

manager A argues that by providing the best possible taste and quality, customers will

become naturally loyal since they will have no apparent reasons to switch brands, “By

delivering upon the relevant parameters such as taste and flavour, we give no incentives for

the customers to switch brands since they are satisfied with ours”. Further on, Brand

Manager A mentions that targeted advertising is a great way of letting customers know that

Large Snacks Company acknowledges these parameters,

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“Certain types of targeted advertising are a potent tool for ensuring and manifesting for the

customers, so they are aware that we are keen on delivering and developing these KPI’s”.

Lena believes that the marketing mix is essential to work with in order to ensure loyal

customers. She highlights the importance of working with the four P’s simultaneously in

order to achieve the best effect, “You have to work with the four P’s together. We have an

aware pricing strategy. You must have the right distribution, being present where the

customers meet your product and your brand. We make promotion through activities, like

being present in Åre and meeting customers, or meeting in Löfbergs Arena. Naturally, we

are also active in social channels.” Being present where the products are sold is something

which Annika also emphasizes. Annika means that catching loyal customers at the stores

which sells their products is an important tool, “We work extensively with the store chains

which sell our products, where we provide discounts to previous customers. We are also

able to offer the chains discounts for new products. We have an older target segment which

are widely present on Facebook, thus we use Facebook to reach these individuals as well”.

In other words, it is important to reach the customers which buy the company's products

frequently, whether that be through stores or digital communication. Annika says that they

are provided with information from stores regarding which products are being sold and in

what quantities. They also have reports with relevant information to track brand loyalty,

“We receive information from stores about products being sold and how much of it. Twice

a year, I receive a report where I can track repurchases and thus loyalty”. Being able to

give discounts to previous customers is a recurring tool for rewarding brand loyalty. Jenny

talks about how this can be hard sometimes since discounts are being offered by the

resellers, and not Santa Maria directly, “Together with the resellers, we can offer previous

customers good offerings, however, the loyalty is not directly aimed at us, rather the

resellers. It is difficult when there is a reseller between us and the customer, even though

there are examples of companies which have succeeded in this”.

Helene thinks that it is essential to not solely focus on directing communication and other

types of actions and activities to loyal customers. She instead emphasizes the importance of

communicating in the same manner to all customers, “We don't really do anything specific

for loyal customers, we communicate the same way to all of our customers. If we were to

focus our investments on those who buy our products the most, we would not be able to

grow and not be able to reach our sales goals. Almost 70% of our net revenue is from

customers who buy our products seldom, which can be seen for brands like Coca-Cola and

Pepsi as well”. Helene then talks about how they have different social engagements and

events, where loyal customers naturally are active which they think is amazing, “We open

up for different events and engagements, the customers who often interact with these are

more often than not loyal customers which is great”. Pelle states that working with loyal

customers more is something which they talk about at A Day's March, but not something

which they really commit to, “We talk about it, and look at different activities, but I would

not say that it is something we do”. Pelle then proceeds to say that they work hard with

delivering the best service and that great service is a prerequisite for customer to become

loyal and wanting to come back, “One of our main objectives is to have high service both

in stores and online, it is extremely important”. Pelle means that there are alot of loyalty

programs which just exist without giving any incentives and thus are not working, “There

must be incentives to want to come back to the store, or our online page, and service plays

an important role in this process”.

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5.6.2 The influence of Brand Loyalty on drivers of shareholder value

When discussing the influence of brand loyalty on shareholder value, there were some

consensus as well as some polarizing answers providing different and vital insights as to

how brand loyalty can contribute to the drivers of shareholder value in terms of retaining

and accelerating cash flows. Lena discusses the importance of retaining loyal customers

since it is a more cost efficient alternative to finding new customers and how it can ensure

sales and profitability over time, “Profitability in the case of brand loyalty is derived from

the fact that a loyal customer is much cheaper to retain through managing a good

relationship, rather than finding new ones through marketing etc”. Lena then proceeds to

contrast this by stating the importance of also trying to attract new ones at the same time,

“We must still hold the door open for new customers, and in our case younger customers.

We have to work with both loyal and new ones in balance to achieve profitability”. Brand

Manager A discusses how brand loyalty can generate shareholder value both short-term

through accelerating the sales, and also long-term through having continuous and retained

sales numbers, “Absolutely, brand loyalty affects both short and the long term of cash flows.

If we air on TV, we can see a short-term boost and acceleration when loyal customers which

perhaps have switched brands, come back to our brand”. Building loyalty over time is

according to Brand Manager A extremely important to ensure sustained sales figure over

time, “It is of great importance to establish and build loyalty long-term, which we do

through achieving great consideration and preferences among customers.” Brand Manager

A continues, “If we meet the consideration and preferences of customers, we are also able

to create loyal customers which can provide sales over long periods of time”.

Annika highlights that brand loyalty is foundational for the long-term cash flow, “Brand

loyalty is fundamental for the long-term, if we see a loss in sales, there will be discussion

as of what activities are needed to win those customers back”. In order to make an analogy,

Annika means that a brand can be seen as a barrel, “If we release a lot of discounts, there

will be a hole in the barrel only, instead you should make actions and activities which both

fills the barrel with substance, as well as leek out in terms of sales. You have to build the

barrel from the top long-term with actions which generate long-term sales such as brand

loyalty, meanwhile you should not remove the hole but keep it small, otherwise you will

disappear in the long run”. In order to commit to this idea, Annika says that it is of great

importance to have trust in your brand, “You have to trust your brand and not only have

discount drives, the last couple of years there has been a lot of panic surrounding prices in

the retail industry, which do not drive profitability in the long-term”. Heavy users and

medium users are extremely important says Jenny, stating the importance of loyal customer

for their current and long-term continued sales, “Heavy and medium users constitute the

largest part of our sales if you take all our active markets into consideration. Loyal

customers are important for our sales”. Jenny also states that Santa Maria can capitalize

short-term on the brand awareness which loyal customers already have about the brand,

“When we are about to launch something new, we can naturally capitalize on the brand

awareness we already have accumulated amongst existing and loyal customers, meaning

that in the short-term brand loyalty is extremely important as well”.

After relatively similar answers, Pelle and Helene contributed to a different approach

regarding the influence of loyal customers on the driver of shareholder value. They both

mean that it is of course very beneficial to have loyal customers and that every company

would strive after having loyal customers. As well as they both see a long-term cash flow

retention aspect of having loyal customers. Helene means that brand loyalty however does

not have a significant impact on their cash flow, “I do not think brand loyalty has an

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immediate effect on cash flows necessarily, which I think goes for cars, bags etc as well.

Customers are not loyal; they do not go around and think about brands. Even though you

love Volvo, you are certainly thinking about two other car brands as well, there will always

be triggers for switching”. Helene means that being too focused on loyal customers can lead

to companies missing out on communicating with first time buyers, “Just striving after

brand loyalty might impose the risk of missing out on reaching out to first time buyers. Of

course, there is profitability in loyal customers, we have to nurture our brand and make

sure everyone can identify with our brand, whether you are a new or loyal customer”.

Helene asserts the relevance of having loyal customers, but also emphasizes that Marabou

capitalizes the most on the customers rarely purchasing, “Loyal customers must of course

be identified and brought along to ensure sales over time, but if we trace our cash flow, the

money come from one time customers or customers who buy our products from time to

time”. Another aspect which makes focusing on loyal customers more challenging is

according to Helene the nature of the market, “The council has loyal customers since they

have no other alternatives to choose from, but in a market economy with high degrees of

competition, it is hard to get loyal customers”.

Pelle also argues that having loyal customers is great. Meanwhile, he also highlights that

new customers are instrumental to grow as a smaller company, “Having loyal customers is

amazing, but to be blunt, we could be able to work more with loyal customers. In today's

business environment with start-ups etc, management has higher demands on return, then

it is more important to invest in new customers rather than old ones”. Pelle adds that even

though they might not work extensively with programs for loyal customers, he still thinks

they are great at treating them well, “We are fantastic at taking care of old customers, but

if you have the ambition of becoming big, then new customers are more important than old

ones. Loyal customers are important for profitability on long-term, but for growing, focus

should primarily be on new customers”

5.7 The participants concluding thoughts on Brand Equity

Based on our literature review, we can conclude that David Aaker's (1991) dimensions are

the most accepted dimensions to constitute brand equity. However, these dimensions are

almost 30 years old, meaning that we considered the possibility of these dimensions being

outdated and not contemporary enough. During the presentation of our conceptual model

we stated that we also wanted to investigate whether we could possibly identify new

dimensions through the interviews. Hence, we asked if the respondents felt like these

dimensions were up to date, and if they would like to add any particular ones based on their

experience and knowledge. With this in mind, we also ceased the opportunity to ask the

respondents whether there is one specific dimension they would like to highlight as

incrementally or substantially more important compared to the other ones. The general

consensus we met was that the four dimensions presented by Aaker (1991), all are up to

date and still very useful and acknowledged as important and foundational cornerstones of

brand equity. Brand Manager A presented some alternative sub-dimensions which Brand

Manager A felt were potentially considered to be highlighted within the current brand equity

dimensions, Brand manager A argued that “You could potentially highlight sub-dimensions

such as price and campaign strategies and other strategic aspects as important, however

these strategics all fit under the different dimensions, thus I feel like you have summarized

brand equity well”. Annika adds to this argumentation of talking about that there is not a

need for new dimensions, but rather adapting the existing dimensions into a more current

approach. Annika says that,

“No, I don´t think there is a need for new dimensions, I think they are still rather similar.

However, the exception is more about the new tools we have gotten for working with the

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dimensions such as social media and other digital tools and platforms. It is the tools of the

trade which have changed and been updated rather than the actual dimensions. The basic

way of thinking about the dimensions is still the same in terms of how to get through the

noise, and how to reach out to new target and age groups is still the same”. Pelle agrees

that there is no need for new dimensions, however, like Lena said, Pelle means that the

existing dimensions could need more of an authenticity spectrum, and further need to realize

the importance of investing in the brand, “I have read reports which say that brands don't

care about investing in their brand. Advertising should be 50% tactical and 50% brand

building, but almost no brands commit to this mindset, which I find useless”. Helene felt

like there is no need for further dimensions to be added either. Rather, she states that

companies have a tendency to work with the current dimensions in too much of a

complicated fashion. Instead she argues for scaling down for instance the communication

from the brand and instead concentrate on the core message, “Foundationally, it is all about

staying top of mind and to have high preferences. I believe you have to come closer to the

product. At Marabou, we sell chocolate, so we should focus on manifesting how tasty the

chocolate is. Focus should be directed at investing in the dimensions which creates net

revenue, whether that is creating awareness or changing the design of the packaging. In

the end of the day, investments should be done to activities which yield sales and

profitability”. During these uncertain times, Jenny talks about that these dimensions might

be very useful and accurate today, but also highlight the importance of being able to look

around the corner and understand which dimensions will be important for the future, “You

have to be relevant for how people will set their priorities in the future. In order to be

relevant in the future you have to question today's realities and dimensions, which is

extremely hard, but it is also our task as marketing professionals to be able to look around

the corner and value what will happen next”.

After establishing whether there is an apparent need for new dimensions or not, we then

proceed to investigate whether some of the dimensions are particularly important to manage

and develop. Through this insight, our thought was to potentially provide examples of why

investments should be directed to specific dimensions for maximum resource efficiency.

However, the answers were deviated in unison from focusing on specific

dimensions. Instead focus should be on the entire construct of brand equity, and how it

should be adopted depending on the situation. Lena made an analogy to an orchestra, where

she means that the companies have to bring the entire orchestra in order to make the best

possible musical piece. Lena states that “The entire orchestra must be at disposal at all

times. However, during certain times, some instruments must be louder depending on what

is required. Some periods the company might be focused on increasing the cash flow on

short-term, then the orchestra might need to emphasize the bass. Just by looking at our

world currently manifests the need for working with you brand equity in an agile manner

and picking the right instrument for the right situation. Lena alludes to the current epidemic

and how fast conditions and situations can change due to unforeseen events. Lena continues

to say that the dimensions are also interrelated, “I believe that these dimensions are

dependent on each other, as well as they complement each other. Sure, some dimension can

play solo for a while, but in order to assemble strength, the entire orchestra must play

together. The dimensions tangent each other, which they have to, because situations are

never binary or black or white”. Brand Manager A contributes to the same discussion as

Lena by advocating a mix of all the different dimensions discussed, not solely relying on

some or one of them. Brand Manager A exemplify this by saying, “We are not able to just

air commercials on TV and be happy, we must also follow up the commercials with

necessary work in order to create positive associations to go along with the commercials.

We must also be able to guarantee that the perceived quality fulfils the quality which we

imply in our communication and overall media mix”. Brand Manager A then continuous to

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explain how there is a journey from when customers sees a commercial to when they buy

the product, and Large Snacks Company must follow that entire customer journey, “We

must follow the customer from the point when he or she becomes aware of the product, to

the shelf in the store where the customer buys the product. Then we must be able to catch

the final purchase decision as well as being in their consideration set for future purchases.

Brand equity is a gear which requires every function within a company in order to work

smoothly and in harmony” says Brand Manager A. Having a company or organization in

harmony where the different functions and departments work together is also something

which Lena facilitates. Lena, which talked about the orchestra, means that in order for the

orchestra to play at full potential, all the departments must realize that they contribute to the

brand equity and are ambassadors for the brand, “Some people work directly with the brand,

some with more financial based questions and some with production etc. However, everyone

is equally responsible for being an ambassador of the brand”. Lena then proceed to

accentuate how different departments complement each other in building brand equity as

well as the importance of having fun while doing so and feeling proud of Löfbergs, “I think

the majority of employees at Löfbergs are happy, welcoming and proud of the brand

Löfbergs if you meet them”.

Helene highlights another aspect which dictates how companies should reason when

accentuating a certain dimension of brand equity. Depending on where the company

currently is on the so-called brand journey, they have to figure out which dimension is most

suitable to highlight for that specific part of the brand journey. Based on where Marabou is

currently, she says “The brand journey is an important indicator. Currently at Marabou,

we are at a stage where we have to remind our customers. If we put up our logotype, people

immediately get associations about chocolate or their craving for having a piece of

chocolate now”. Helene then continues to yet again stress the need for staying consistent

and not slacking off “There is already so much developed brand equity from Marabou over

the years. However, long term, it is not enough to just throw out a logotype and expect the

same effect. There will enter new actors, thus we of course have to carefully manage our

associations”. Helene also states that being new on a market and effectively early in the

brand journey, requires rigorous and hard work, “Entering the chocolate market is hard,

which has been seen in multiple cases. Being new on the market requires hard work to

establish the brand, especially in certain categories”.

Annika highlights the importance of always being careful regarding the perceived quality

dimension, “If you are not careful and make mistakes jeopardizing the quality of your

product, things can start to fall apart slowly”. Annika also states like the rest of the

respondents that there has to be a harmony between all the dimensions but explains how the

perceived quality dimensions acts a bit differently, “Meanwhile a mismanaged perceived

quality can make things deteriorate quickly, the other dimensions are more viscous. Of

course, all dimensions must work for the entirety of the brand equity to work, but the chair

falls over if one leg is broken, in brand equity that leg is perceived quality”. Pelle also

believes that perceived quality is extremely important. He further adds the importance of

combining perceived quality with brand awareness as the two most influential dimensions,

“What is a brand without a product with high levels of perceived quality and brand

awareness? You have to begin with these two dimensions, simply put”. Like the rest of

the interviewees, Jenny believes there is a need to work with both emotional and functional

aspects of brand equity, “We want to achieve brand loyalty and high preferences for the

brand, in order to achieve this, we have to deliver both functional and emotional values”.

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6. Thematic analysis and discussion

In this chapter, we will initially discuss the main functions of brand equity, which emerged

from the thematic analysis of our empirical data. We will then proceed to answer our

research question and purpose by assessing how six established companies in the Swedish

retail industry manage and develop their brand equity. We will also answer how brand

equity generates shareholder value. The findings will provide concretized actions and

activities of how to manage and develop each dimension of brand equity, as well as

legitimizing these actions and activities by manifesting how each dimension is connected to

the drivers of shareholder value. Lastly, we will also discuss general prerequisites

necessary for the brand equity as whole concept to work, and in turn be able to ultimately

generate shareholder value.

6.1 The main functions of brand equity

Before we start presenting the findings focusing on each dimension of brand equity and

discussing practical actions and activities for how to manage and develop each dimension -

as well as explaining how each dimension contribute to shareholder value. We want to

compare what constitutes brand equity according to previous research and our conceptual

model, in contrast to our in-depth interviews. We argue that it is essential to contribute to

the discussion of what brand equity is and the functions of it, is since it it is known to not

have a coherent definition (Keller, 2008; Washburn & Plank, 2002; Berthon et al., 2001).

We also believe that it is important to contribute to this discussion, since if brand equity is

to become a truly legitimate and established as strategic tool, it is of great importance to

solidify that brand equity has a number of distinct functions, and a more or less functional

definition, readily accepted. According to Pappu et al. (2005) there is empirical support

which accentuates that brand equity is multifaceted and carries a broad number of functions.

Another important aspect of highlighting specific functions are due to the intangibility of

brand equity. Top management are becoming more aware of not investing in intangible

assets due to the difficulty of seeing return on investment and to measure results of the

invested money in intangible assets such as brand equity (Rinivasan & Hanssens, 2009;

Hanssens & Pauwels, 2016; Aaker & Jacobson, 1994; Gajland and Treffner, 2001; Stein,

1989). Thus, by providing well supported and tangible functions, top management might be

enticed and look further into how and when to work with each dimension more practically,

and how brand equity actually can contribute to shareholder value. Later during this analysis

and discussion, we will go into greater detail in terms of these actions and activities for each

dimension as well as how each dimension contributes to the drivers of shareholder value.

We believe that highlighting functions of brand equity, will make it substantially easier to

describe brand equity rather than trying to allude to a broad an imprecise definition. The

goal of this section is to capture a number of themes and functions of brand equity which

are clearly grounded in both the literature and our empirical findings. Since creating a clear

definition for brand equity is known as a challenging task, we instead want to focus on

which definitive functions of brand equity we have identified during the interviews, which

corresponds with the theoretical findings. When comparing our theoretical framework and

our empirical findings, it is evident that brand equity is a well-established research area due

to how many similarities there are between the practical and theoretical findings, supporting

the reliability of the theoretical data in the framework of this degree project. No interviewee

was faced by feelings of uncertainty when hearing about the different dimensions during

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our interviews. All of the interviewees said that they work with their brand as a strategic

tool and leverage the benefits from having a strong brand. The vast majority of the

interviewees also told us that they even work with some of the, or all of the specific

dimensions which we have discussed in this degree project, meaning that they are still

extremely present and important to investigate for both current as well as future researchers.

The general consensus regarding the primary functions derived from our empirical findings

is that brand equity is heavily centred around establishing and managing a brand to be well

known and well received by both existing as well as potential customers. Keller (1993) early

encapsulated this definition when he argued for that the strength of a brand and the brands

equity, lies in the customers knowledge of the brand. Keller (1993) also puts emphasis on

that the customer must be aware of the brand, but also have positive feeling and associations.

This was also even more evidently highlighted in the interviews where the discrepancy

between just “being known” and ”being known and well liked” was stated, and how the latter

one is an enabler for sales, whereas being well known but without preferences and

associations do not necessarily yield any sales, or financial successes. Using brand equity

as a tool for being well perceived by customers has been readily accepted in the interviews

and the presented theory. Also understanding how a company can work with the customers

perceptions in order to provide value for them, which in turn brings value to the company

and the brand through sales, is extremely important according to both interviews and the

theory as well.

Wood (2000) argues that customer-based brand equity will enable companies to understand

and map how their brand is actually perceived by the customers. This enables companies to

be more cost efficient since their marketing actions will be more accurately directed, as well

as help the brand being considered by customers, thus generating sales (Wood, 2000;

Motameni & Shahrokhi, 1998). Another important aspect of being considered and having

strong preferences is according to our interviews for the brand to stay differentiated. Since

the retail industry is under such competition from more generic brands, the interviews mean

that brand equity helps a brand to stand out and be differentiated, thus enabling more

customers to consider the brand in a business environment where brands are becoming

increasingly more similar. Research by Jung and Sung (2008) support this argument by

arguing that strong brands are naturally used to improve marketing strategies, with the

primary purpose being to improve sales. But an ultimate goal is always to create a strong,

and differentiated brand to other competitors, while achieving sales.

The importance of being considered by the customers is another key factor of brand equity

also grounded in both theory and practice. Staying top-of-mind, achieving high preferences,

being differentiated and being present in the consideration set are four instrumental effects

of managing and developing brand equity derived from the empirical data, which is also

supported by previous researchers (Aaker, 1991; Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000; Jinfeng

and Zhilong, 2009; Hutter et al., 2013). Another recurring aspect of brand equity is

according to our empirical findings that having strong brand equity is an insurance for not

only current, but also future sales and growth. Ambler (2003) captured this function when

he stated that having strong brand equity, act as a retainer for future earnings, profits and

cash flows.

This was heavily supported by the interviews where several interviewees meant that having

a strong brand equity act as an insurance for future sales, since it often means continuous

work with ensuring that the brand is well perceived, with high levels of awareness and

strong associations. As discussed in the section above, having high preferences and being

considered is obviously also important for the sales currently. In the interviews, preferences,

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consideration, associations and perceived quality were all described as enablers for current

sales - and thus accentuating the importance of being consistent with the work of managing

and developing the brand equity. The interviewees all said that they leveraged their brand

as a strategic tool for creating sustainable competitive advantage. When asked how, the

answers were coherent with actions directed to managing and developing brand equity.

Using brand equity directed actions as a tool for leveraging the benefits of the brand, is also

according to the literature an appropriate way of doing so. Keller (1993) means that brand

equity is an effective tool since it can function as a guiding tool within the roam of creating

brand oriented, strategic marketing efforts. This is further supported by Szöcs (2012) who

means that brand equity is often discussed as a tool for decision support and for diagnosis

about the customers thought and perceptions of the brand.

Based on the analysis above, we have been able to identify four general functions of brand

equity emerged from our findings. We are however aware that brand equity is extremely

multifaceted as discussed earlier. Thus, there are several other important functions, which

we are not able to find evidence for, due to limited time for collecting empirical data. We

do however believe that these four functions are spanning over and including several

different other functions as well. As discussed, instead of trying to provide a distinct

definition of brand equity, we believe that alluding to these four functions of brand equity

might be a more efficient way of manifesting tangibility rather than a definition. The four

main functions of brand equity according to our analysis are:

• Enabling a brand to be well known, differentiated, and well perceived by customers.

• Creating strong preferences and associations among customers.

• Enabler for current sales and being an insurance for future sales.

• Being a strategic and guiding tool for leveraging the brand as a competitive

advantage

6.2 Brand awareness

Brand awareness proceeds the whole process of building brand equity. For the customer to

have an opinion and perception of the brand, awareness must be created and established

over time (Aaker, 1991; Hutter et al., 2013). This is also the consensus of our findings.

Many respondents describe brand awareness as the first step of building brand equity, and

as a crucial factor in need of investment in order to further develop the other dimensions of

brand equity. Aaker (1991) also describes brand awareness as an anchor to which other

dimensions of brand equity such as brand associations can be attached, which is mentioned

and confirmed across most interviews. The need of creating a deeper bond with the customer

based on added values from the brand, and the wish that customer chooses that brand based

on likeability, is stated in some manner by all respondents. According to our findings, the

significance of brand awareness and how much companies invest in it, does however vary

depending on a number of factors. The difference between both industry sectors and even

product categories within industries seem to affect the impact and what types of activities

that are chosen to build brand awareness.

Hoyer and Brown (1990) argue that brand awareness has a significant impact on the

decision-making of customers, especially in the FMCG industry, which our findings

support. Further on, Chi et al. (2009) argue that brand awareness has clear influence and

impact on which brands the customers select during the decision-making process. Hutter et

al. (2013) mean brand awareness helps brand end up in the consideration set of the

customers - and these memory nodes of brands will naturally also impact the decision-

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making process of the customers. We further found that the difference between industries

can be partly explained by the fact that customers do more research prior to some purchases,

while some purchases happen spontaneous without much consideration. One important

aspect of our findings is however that it is hard to push brand awareness to the point that

where the brand is the sole definitive choice of the customer. But rather that the work should

be considered enough for the brand, to become part of the consideration set which the

customers choose from. A good share of voice is needed in other terms. Companies need

to do enough advertising that a customer is aware of the brand, and that the brand is part of

the consideration set while the customer makes his or hers decision at time of purchase

(Aaker, 1991; Yoo et al., 2000; Keller, 1993; Krishnan & Chakravarti, 1993). It is further

stated in the theoretical framework that brand awareness on its own does not guarantee

larger amount of sales (Aaker, 1991). Our findings confirm this and state the need for

efficiently working with actions and activities to enhance brand awareness and combine the

awareness with other dimensions. Further on, the findings show that maintaining high levels

of brand awareness is a necessity and a foundation for building upon other dimensions of

brand equity.

One significant aspect during the time of purchase, in order for the customer's choice to fall

on a brands product, is the need for the brand to stay top-of-mind in the consideration set of

the customers. The importance of being top-of-mind is heavily emphasized in our

theoretical framework and confirmed by our empirical findings. Aaker (1991) explains that

when a brand if top-of-mind, the brand becomes a natural choice for the customer. Our

findings do however emphasize that staying top-of-mind is a resource intensive and

expensive process. Homburg et al. (2010) argue that these expensive investments do not

always yield effect. However, it is often rewarding, and can provide a brand with several

important benefits. There is a wide range of central actions activities mentioned to create

brand awareness and to stay top-of-mind. Below we have divided the various actions and

activities expressed in our findings into main categories.

6.2.1 Be consistently present

In order for a brand to stay relevant and present, advertising is a common and usually

successful tool to maintain a high rate of exposure and media coverage. Advertising is

known to attract new and existing customers to the brand, and further on establishing the

brand on the market through increased sales and profitability (Aaker, 1991; Yoo et al.,2000;

Keller, 1993). By consistently advertising and being relevant, the brand is also more likely

to be included in the consideration set of the customer, since the customers will have fresh

reminders of the brand (Krishnan and Chakravarti, 1993). All the interviewees involved

within the FMCG industry state that they in some way implement above-the-line advertising

(radio/TV ) to some degree since it is an effective way to reach a large population quickly,

but also state the expense of this and how the success rate heavily affects sales numbers.

This is also supported by Chi et al. (2009) who mean that extensive advertising would

indeed help to recruit and attract more customers, and if these are satisfied, they will

continue to create brand awareness for the brand through word of mouth.

The usage of signs and billboards both in stores and outside of stores is also found to be a

common way of continuously developing brand awareness. It is stated across many

interviews how brand awareness can be very short-lived and how its therefore important to

be present in a consistent manner so that customers do not forget about the brand. Whether

it is above-the-line advertising or other activities made to spread awareness of the brand,

both our findings and the literature emphasize the importance of consistency in advertising.

It is a necessity both for brands trying to get shares of the market as well as for established

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brands to maintain their shares. Huang and Sarigöllu (2012) mean that the marketing mix

is a traditional way of creating brand awareness, where promotion is an important tool.

Based on the theory and empirical findings, we can conclude that in order to develop and

maintain awareness - it is essential to continuously stay present. Prior research emphasises

the need to continuously work with advertising as a central tool (Chi et al., 2009; Aaker,

1991; Yoo et al.,2000; Keller, 1993), however, the interviews also stress the need for doing

any type of actions and activities which can enhance brand awareness generally. Further on,

according to our findings, brand awareness is perishable. If the company stops pursuing

actions and activities aimed at enhancing brand awareness, the brand awareness will

decrease, even if the brand is well established. Thus, it is essential to make sure that the

company and brand stays consistently present, and using advertising is a well proven action

to maintain high levels of awareness.

6.2.2 Utilize shelf visibility

Advertising is one tool previously mentioned to enhance brand awareness. Huang &

Sarigöllu (2012) and Smith and Park (1992) further on express the importance of shelf

visibility and the influence it has on brand awareness. Our interviewees likewise explain the

significance of products being noticeable and to not just blend in with the range of similar

products that are presented in the shelf. Both physical aspects such as choice of colours and

added values of sentiment may indeed be the deciding factor at the time of purchase. Shelf

visibility and placement in stores is especially emphasized as important factors during

holidays and other special events to further spread brand awareness and enhance sales. Some

interviewees explain how during certain times of the year they strategically place products

in the stores so that the heavily invested advertising actually pays off in form of sales.

All the participating interviewees are involved in companies who sell products at stores,

whether it is their own store or a reseller where they compete with other brands, and it is

therefore not a surprise that a lot of emphasis is put on utilizing the store strategically.

Farquhar (1989) states that strong brands pay lower fees to be listed in markets and get

relatively more space than weaker brands. Although this is not specifically mentioned in

our interviews, many interviewees express the need of having good relations with the

retailers and the need of cooperating with retailers to enhance sales. Huang and Sarigöllu

(2012) explain that place as an important part of the marketing mix to spread brand

awareness. Our findings confirm the necessity of place in using the store as a strategic tool

both in terms of shelf visibility and a place to advertise brands and products in general.

Since most of the interviewees are involved with companies selling their products at

resellers, in terms of grocery stores, the shelf is obviously an important strategic place which

must be regarded. However, we find that shelf visibility can be translated to stores as well.

The underlying message is to utilize the strategic place where products are being sold. In

grocery stores, it is however more important since a lot of the products being bought are off

impulse. Percy and Rossiter (1992) explain how customers rely on awareness and basic

knowledge about the brands when they make their decisions in stores, and argue that brands

therefore must continuously work with developing the package of the product and the

product overall so that it is line with how the product is actually shown in the store. Hence,

it is essential to rely on your brand's awareness at that very purchase-decision and having

great shelf visibility is therefore very fundamental. If the brand has established a great level

of brand awareness, visibility will act as a trigger for the customer and with that trigger

several other dimensions of brand equity will kick in, such as associations and perceived

quality.

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6.2.3 Adopt promotion and campaign strategies

Another activity to develop brand awareness which is heavily stated in our interviews is

campaigns and other factors affecting the price of the products. In our theoretical framework

we mention price promotion strategies as a way to enhance brand awareness (Keller, 2008).

In our findings it is highlighted multiple times how campaigns, discounts and other price

promotion strategies is an efficient tool to get customers trying new products, and therefore

develop brand awareness. Price is also stated as a main deciding factor overall when

customers choose brand or product. Some interviewees also explain marketing of new

products as a way to stay fresh and top-of-mind, and as a tool to spread awareness of the

brand overall. What is evident in our findings, which existing theory doesn’t emphasize

enough, is that releasing new products and consistently staying innovative is essential to

stay top-of-mind of customers. Even loyal customers need new products and some

incentives to keep buying products of a specific brand, there needs to be continuous

investments and creativity from the companies to both spread and keep brand awareness.

Considering the importance of price as a marketing mix element (Huang and Sarigöllu,

2012) price as a strategic marketing tool is perhaps not discussed enough in our findings.

Many interviewees mean that they have little to no power in decisions regarding pricing of

their products, but rather that this is the resellers decision. When price is discussed in our

findings it is mostly in terms of campaigns and other price promotion strategies created to

sell larger volumes in the short-term and to develop brand awareness. Keller (2008)

acknowledges thar price is an important factor, but in order for the companies in the FMCG

sector to capitalize on price as a tool, providing campaigns is an alternative way. Value for

money was another central term in our empirical findings. When selling clothes, this might

be important for the specific garment, but this can also be adopted in the FMCG sector. If a

customer gets two products for the price of one, the customers most probably feel like he or

she got value for the money.

6.2.4 Create activities uniquely related to specific brands or products

When discussing activities intended to create brand awareness, it is the activities below-the-

line which vary a lot between the interviews. These activities seem more unique to each

brand, and even specific products, and has no common denominator in the same manner as

we noticed in above-the-line advertising. In prior research, the need of building an

emotional bond with customers is evident (Casalo et al,. 2008), but the means to accomplish

this differs between our respondents. Sponsorships related to the brand and the products is

one way to spread awareness. Being present on certain specific events to either reach new

segments or staying relevant in current segments are also mentioned, where the choice of

these events varies and are based on factors such as cultural norms of which the company

operates in and sporting events popular in the area. Lastly, different actions related to social

media are exemplified in our findings. All the brands interviewed in this study use at least

some social media platforms to spread awareness and to create word-of-mouth among its

customers. The choice of how and which social media platforms are used varies between

the brands based on factors such as product category and specific target segments.

It is evident in our findings that brands do different activities to spread brand awareness

based almost entirely on their specific requisites. Actions and activities vary a lot in both

cost and efficiency, meaning that it is fundamental for firms to choose activities relevant to

their target segments and still within their budget. Our literature review of brand equity in

general and specifically in brand awareness do not express enough how actions and

activities related to advertising the brand may differ depending on industry, product and

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other prerequisite. The majority of our interviewees do however mention at least one

example of developing brand awareness that differentiate them from the other interviewees,

stating how brands are often very creative and progressive at finding activities uniquely

related to their brand and products.

6.2.5 How Brand Awareness affects the drivers of cash flow

Our literature review indicated mainly four main factors in which brand awareness can

generate value, namely anchor to which other associations can be attached, familiarity,

signal of substance/commitment, and that the brand is a brand to be considered (Aaker,

1991). In our findings there are connections to each of these factors. As stated previously,

most interviewees see brand awareness as a starting point, in other words as an anchor to

which other associations can be attached. The need of creating a familiarity that leads to

liking and repurchasing is heavily emphasized, as well as the significance of being a brand

to be considered. Although more vaguely than the other factors, signal of

substance/commitment is also mentioned. Some interviewees talk about reliability in the

form of their work sustainability, that they are sustainable and reliable through the whole

company and their hope of this message getting through to the customers.

Stahl et al. (2003) names targeting of customer segments highly responsive to the firm's

marketing efforts and quick spread and awareness of new products as ways of generating

cash-flow short-term. We found examples confirming both these factors. The concept that

brand awareness helps introducing new products (Srivastava et al., 1998) is well stated in

theory and also present in our findings, but what is perhaps more evident from our findings

is the inverse relationship. Many interviewees mean that releasing new products is an

efficient way of staying relevant to customers and developing brand awareness.

Furthermore, new products can get a brand more shelf space in stores and boost incremental

sales without affecting the basic sales in a negative way. The positive result of cross-buying

products is also stated by Stahl et al. (2003) as an increase of cash-flow and is common

when the customer already has an established relationship with the brand.

Cash-flow is enhanced when larger volumes are sold (Srivastava et al., 1998), which the

interviewees mention as a main goal of brand awareness. Keller (2003) means that a big

brand also commands a larger market share. One of the main functions of brand awareness

according to our findings is to be consistently present, as to both keep existing market shares

and targeting new segments to gain larger shares. The consensus from our findings is

however that brand awareness has a clear effect on cash-flow both short- and long-term.

Brand awareness is a necessity in need of continuous investment in order to reach other

dimensions of brand equity, an anchor to which associations can be attached. It is as relevant

for new firms as it is for established brands to maintain market shares.

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Figure 2. Conceptual model for the brand awareness dimension

6.3 Brand Associations

Aaker & Joachimsthaler (2000) state that an important aspect of managing a brand is

deciding which associations the firm wants its customers to be associated with, and how

this will be done strategically. When talking about brand associations, we started by asking

the interviewees what they want their brand to be associated with in general to get their view

of the subject. Brand associations can be seen as informational nodes that connects

memories in our minds to the meaning of the brands (Keller, 1998). Since these connections

happens quickly in people's minds there might be a difference about what traits customers

associate to a brand if they are given a chance about it, rather if the customers try to answer

the question with one sentence. Pitta and Katsanis (1995) argue that there is a close related

relationship between brand awareness and brand associations, where brand awareness is a

prerequisite for building associations. Thus, brand associations are heavily reliant on

embedding associations based on already existing awareness

When discussing brand associations with the interviewees, the answers we got varied both

in length and in content, including both physical and emotional aspects related to the brand.

One takeaway from the answers was that some of the brands have more outspoken

associations that they work towards through the whole company, often including emotional

aspects, and some of the brands work more with general associations where the most

frequently mentioned ones were sustainability and high value for the money. It is however

evident that the associations should be derived from the core of the brand, meaning that they

should correspond well with what the brand wants to manifest. It could be anything from

being a friend, or the best tasting. This is important since it should also be clear in the

advertising, so the associations are easy to make.

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Low and Lamb (2000) emphasize how marketers should use associations to differentiate

their brands from competitors, to position its products and to create positive attitudes

towards the brand. Following this there might be more opportunities at hand for some of the

brands we examined, to clearly position their brand in the market and to develop more

obvious and outspoken attitudes to their brand. Aaker (1991) further states the importance

of having positive brand associations by defining it as the underlying value of the brand,

since it represents the symbolic value that customers attach to the brand. The need of

working actively with associations and involving it in the strategy of brand management is

therefore evident. Just like brand awareness, brand associations is perishable according to

our findings. Without clear associations, using advertisement is not as impactful since it will

not remind, or trigger any feelings or associations. Therefore, it was clearly stated in our

empirical findings that brand associations must be efficiently managed and developed

Keller (1993) divides brand associations into three specific categories: attributes, benefits

and attitudes. To further investigate how brands work with associations in terms of actions

and activities we asked specifically how marketing professionals work with brand

associations related to these categories since we felt that these three sub-categories include

the majority of brand associations, whether they be more functional or emotional.

6.3.1 Emphasize the functional essence of the product

Attributes are the features of the product that characterize it, and mainly consist of physical

attributes (Keller, 1993). When asked about the attributes of the brand, answers vary

depending on what specific product category the company operates in. Most of the answers

relate to functional aspects of the product. If a company is involved with products designed

to be consumed, there is no question that taste is the underlying factor that is emphasized

across the interviews and good taste is what most of the brands want to be associated with.

Our findings further state that taste and overall quality need to be held at a high standard to

create positive associations towards the brand. A big pattern across the interviews regarding

quality attributes is that brands can’t trick the customers when it comes to quality and that

there are no shortcuts. Attributes can also consist of non-product related attributes, features

that revolves around the purchase of the product (Keller, 1993). The answers regarding these

attributes were however fewer and less concrete. Most interviewees did however, regarding

user and usage imagery, emphasize that their brand is including and made for everyone.

It is important to acknowledge which are the most important functional aspects of the brand

and its products. These functional aspects might adhere to general functional aspects of the

category. However, it is essential that brands create associations built on these functions.

Some product categories might however be able to make their own twists on generic and

general functions. This might a great way of differentiating from other competitors. We

believe that one foundational insight is that customers buy products firstly on the functional

aspect since they have a need to desire, and they choose the product which they believe is

associated with the best ability to satisfy that need. Then, symbolic and emotional

associations of value might be crucial for deciding between similar product.

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6.3.2 Incorporate emotional and symbolic added values

After determining and emphasizing the functional aspects, brands can continue to address

symbolic and emotional added values. Benefits consist of the personal value feel about the

products and what they expect to get from the product (Keller, 1993). It can further be

categorized into functional, experiential and symbolic benefits (Park et al., 1986). Our

findings in this subject mostly consist of emotional aspects and general feelings the

interviewees express that they want customers to feel about the brand. Examples of what

were mentioned are happiness, positive thoughts and general satisfaction about the

purchases made. It is however hard to describe with a few words, and many interviewees

therefore dug deeper into the subject. Being sustainable through the whole operation is

perhaps not the easiest association to solidify to a brand but is stated as important by several

of the respondents. Another aspect of sustainability which was clear to derive from the

interview, is that honesty and transparency are two important associations. In today's

society, trust and authenticity are factors which create associations.

Some argue that customers nowadays really care about how products are made, and that

when looking closer at the brands, it is possible to determine which companies truly work

with these issues wholeheartedly. Finally, we also asked about associations related to

customers attitudes towards their brand. Attitudes is the overall assessment of the brand,

and although a bit abstract, often plays a big role in customer behaviour and which brand is

chosen by the customer in the end (Keller, 1993). Many interviewees again emphasize an

including attitude, that the brand and its products is made for everyone and to create

happiness. We also found examples of how pre-existing attitudes towards a brand can affect

the actual perceived quality by customers, which can be seen by performing blind tests. We

did however find a lack of associations designed to stand out and position the brand on the

market, as is emphasized as a primary objective of brand associations in our theoretical

framework (Supphellen, 2000; Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000). However, we truly believe

that companies must work hard to distinguish which are the most important factors when

creating associations based on emotional and symbolic values. It is important to recognize

that distinguishing these aspects are very important when building long lasting associations,

and these emotional and symbolic values must correspond well with the core value of the

firm.

6.3.3 Implement actions based on the market

Other than creating associations based on functional and emotional aspects related to the

products of the brand, there is also a case to be made that each company and brand have a

unique situation and therefore need to implement different activities based on this. One

interviewee argues that they focus more on emotional associations on markets where they

already have an established brand, and that the functional associations is largely emphasized

on markets where the products are less mature. This line of thinking is supported by Aaker

& Joachimsthaler (2000) argument about deciding which associations to develop and build

upon, and ultimately build a strategy around. Our findings also show how the brands

position in terms of market share affects their approach regarding associations. One

interviewee state that they as market leaders continually need to ensure quality to keep

developing positive associations so that the brand doesn’t fall off in popularity. It is further

expressed how difficult it can be for new companies to gain market shares in a competitive

market where a few actors already have established positive brand associations. As stated

in our theoretical framework, strong brands are able to sell larger volumes than relatively

smaller brands (Ailawadi et al. 2003).

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To fully utilize the brand strategically, managers need to grasp all the associations customers

have related to the brand (Supphellen, 2000), both functional and emotional. Our findings

do however show that some companies might not put enough emphasis on developing

specific associations that differentiate them from competitors, especially if it is sort of given

what associations are wanted within the product category. This could instead be an

opportunity to sell in associations uniquely related to the brand, rather than associations that

the whole product category strives towards.

6.3.4 How Brand Associations affects the drivers of cash flow

Having positive brand associations is essential and an absolute necessity for increased sales

and profitability. Our findings indicate that they are a basis for sales, both in the present and

in the future. Our findings further describe brand associations as what can make a company

sell products without price-promoting actions, a factor that make the products sell by

themselves. Keller (1993) argue how a customer’s positive attitude towards a brand leads

to stronger reception of a company's marketing efforts, which our interviewees seem to

agree with. The stride towards consistently creating positive associations towards the brand

is emphasized across all interviews, and the positive cash-flow derived from it is confirmed.

There are examples of how brand associations affect both short-term and long-term effects

of cash-flow stated in our findings, although the long-term aspect seem more evident across

the interviews. Several of the interviewees state that the effects are easier to notice long-

term, and more specifically how it is more about nurturing the positive associations built up

than to develop new associations. Stahl et al. (2003) state the importance of having a loyal

customer base to be positive towards the brand, as a way of negating risk and losing

customers to competitors long-term. This captures the essence of our findings, the

importance of staying relevant and by that keeping market shares, with help of positive

associations towards the brand. Moreover, we found that most companies do this by long-

term building emotional bonds between the brand and its customers. When the interviewees

talk about increased cash-flow in regard to associations, they mostly explain how brand

associations helps them sells larger volumes of their products. This is likely connected both

to the industry and the product category the interviewed brands operate in. Enhancement of

cash-flow is however heavily dependent on volumes sold (Srivastava et al., 1998), meaning

that there is no surprise that it is mentioned by all of our interviewees.

Short-term effects are in our findings mostly noticed by creating associations in relation to

campaigns and releasing new products. Some interviewees mean that besides all the

activities that are made to develop brand equity, price is still the most deciding factor in

their product category. We discussed in our theoretical framework how large brands often

use a price premium, and how it can even be a necessity for profit (Keller, 2003). Price

premium is not specifically mentioned in our findings, but some interviewees do however

state that decisions regarding price is something they have little power of in their product

category. In some cases, there is a given market price which is not possible to exceed since

it would lead to loss of customers and market shares. Some interviewees explain how the

retailers distributing the products basically decides the price of the products in the end.

It is expressed across all interviews how they in some manner work with social media to

spread awareness, but also to create associations and to increase word-of-mouth for their

products. Zandan (1992) states that strong brands tend to get customers talking and

recommend products to others. Furthermore, customers who are recipient to referrals from

others makes faster decisions (Stahl et al., 2003), which likely is why using social media to

create associations and enhance word-of-mouth is a cost-effective choice of advertising and

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reoccurring in our findings. Furthermore, it is stated in many interviews how customers are

more committed and passionate about the products than many would think, and how

customers themselves are active on platforms discussing and spreading word-of-mouth

about the brand.

Figure 3. Conceptual model for the brand associations dimension

6.4 Perceived Quality

Our findings demonstrate that perceived quality is either the most - or at least an extremely

important dimension to manage and develop carefully, but progressively. Aaker (1996) sees

perceived quality as one of the most influential dimensions of brand equity, providing

substantial evidence for the importance of this dimension. However, several of the

interviewees also highlighted the apparent discrepancy between perceived and actual

quality. Sanyal and Datta (2011) describe perceived quality as the customers psychological

assessment of brands and products based on the customers perceptions. This has been

acknowledged as problematic in the interviews, if not dealt with efficiently, the production

might be of high standard and quality - but if the brand and the products are not perceived

as high quality, then the perceived quality will fall short of the actual quality. Thus, it is

important to work sufficiently with this dimension to truly ensure that the perceived quality

is on par with actual quality.

The subjective appraisal of products makes the work for mapping and measuring perceived

quality a challenging process (Zeithaml, 1988; Erenkol & Duygun, 2010). Based on our

findings this requires rigorous work in order to combat. Companies must find the best

suitable way to determine how to measure the perceived quality. Zeithaml (1988) means

that regardless if it is hard to measure, perceived quality must be recognized and managed,

since it has an immense impact on brand equity. Aaker’s (1991, p. 85-86) definition of

perceived quality as “the overall perception of customers about brilliance and quality of

products or services in comparison with the rivalry offering” is important to understand

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since it highlights the importance of having a brand and products which are perceived better

than the competing brands products.

However, our findings also indicate the importance of being pragmatic with the product

category the brand is present in. Some product categories will never be exclusive or

premium due to the nature of the product category in terms of perceived quality. Even

though the dimension of perceived quality is understood by many as extremely important,

it can still be challenging to get a hold of. Grunert (2005) means that it can be hard to

actually understand what values of a brand are perceived as quality inducing. Based on our

findings, we will now present a number of actions and activities which can be incorporated

in order to manage and develop brand equity.

6.4.1 Be careful changing intrinsic attributes - while still progressive

One efficient way according to Zeithaml (1988) and Jacoby and Szybillo (1974) to work

with perceived quality is through the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of the products.

Intrinsic attributes are the physical aspect of the product, meanwhile the extrinsic are factors

such as the brand name and price which are part of the product but not the actual physical

product itself (Zeithaml, 1988; Jacoby & Szybillo, 1974). According to our findings, it is

important to consistently work with this set of attributes. This is connected to the fact that

brands must constantly reinvent themselves in order to remain attractive to several different

types of customers. Another aspect is that it will be possible to differentiate the brand long-

term, if perhaps competitors are emulating products. Based on our findings, it is fair to say

that most of the work of reinventing these attributes were aimed at the physical attributes,

or in other words the intrinsic attributes. However, changing up the intrinsic attributes can

be tricky. The empirical data means that customers are becoming even more aware of

changes in their favourite brands. Furthermore, the empirical data also suggest that loyal

customers are often very passionate about their favourite brands and are not shy when

delivering thoughts and comments about conducted changes in extrinsic attributes.

Especially when a change might be interpreted as a change for the worse.

If instrumental intrinsic attributes like taste or material is changed to the worse, all of the

interviews manifested that it can hit the sales hard and immediately. This is also suggested

by Jacoby and Szybillo (1974) who mean that it is not possible to change or manipulate the

intrinsic attributes without changing the core characteristics of the product. However, the

also have to stay relevant in terms of design and taste. Several of the interviewees emphasize

the importance of being true to the original product while also pursuing different tracks of

improvements in regard to sustainability and other contemporary factors. Certain intrinsic

attributes such as colour should never be changed if they are very connected to a brand,

meaning that brands should proceed with extreme caution if they are about to change the

design, since it carries so many brand associations, often emotional and symbolic.

This means that a lot of brands and marketing managers end up in standoff where they have

to carry out a large amount of testing in order to ensure the right taste or design, which has

also been suggested by the interviewees. However, even though there might be potential

downsides if certain developments of the perceived quality is not met. It is generally

important to continuously make progressive changes for the better, just not too

overwhelming.

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6.4.2 Determine and measure perceived quality

As discussed in the section above, ensuring the quality attributes for products is met both in

terms of perceived and actual quality is instrumental. Bendixen et al. (2004) emphasizes the

need for companies to translate actual quality in terms of perceived quality as well - since

it is the customer who buy the products. The perceived quality must therefore be taken into

consideration. Zeithaml (1988) emphasize the existing challenges when measuring and

mapping perceived quality, while also adding the importance of it. Hence it was to no

surprise that the interviewees explained how they have a number of different ways of and

tracking mapping the most crucial quality attributes. According to our findings this can be

done in a number of different ways. Firms can focus on the fact that their company knows

the most and best about the products being sold, and thus should they be the ones

determining whether the product is on par in terms of both perceived and actual quality.

Firms can also let the customers be the one who will first-hand express this, or a mixed

version where both methods are included, which is used by some of the participating brands

in this degree project.

Expert panels or production managers can together with other managers internally taste or

test the products regularly. This have been manifested in the interviews where interviewees

have told us about rigorous testing and capitalizing on a trusted and well documented

production alongside competent personnel. Otherwise, blind testing with customers is

another great way of looking at the discrepancy between actual and perceived quality.

Finally, focus groups or panels can be used with both customers and employees to determine

whether the actual and perceived quality line up. Another measurement of perceived quality

which is more financially based is to look at sales numbers. If the sales numbers are running

well consistently, one could assume that the perceived quality and actual quality are aligned

well. But if there are noteworthy drops or inconsistencies in the sales numbers, firms have

to investigate potential flaws in either the perceived quality, or the actual quality. The most

important aspect is that a company must be sure on which quality attributes are the most

important ones for their products, whether they are extrinsic or intrinsic, to then take the

necessary steps to measure and determine the perceived and actual quality.

6.4.3 Understand the product category and quality attributes

As discussed previously, five out of the six interviewees are present in the FMCG sector of

the retail industry. They have limited abilities to set price premiums or work in a manner

where they can be regarded as premium goods. Aaker (1991) presents several different

values which perceived quality can bring to the firms. Factors such as being able to justify

price premiums is not readily possible in the FMCG sectors, according to the vast majority

of the interviewees. However, Aaker (1991) also means that perceived quality can help to

differentiate products. By knowing which the most important quality attributes are

associated with products according to the company's customers, managers can better

understand what will differentiate their brand in a specific product category. Thus, a brand

can still be perceived as a premium in that product category, not from a price premium

perspective, but rather in how they deliver upon the different quality attributes of the

products in comparison to other competing brands in the same product category.

Further on, segmentation can be used. Companies can have base-level products which are

intended to be bought on impulse. While companies can also have products, which are out

to be premium since they have the right licensing and have been carefully manufactured etc.

Communication plays an integral role according to our findings. If firms are not able to

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compete on price and justify price premiums due to retailers or the category, it is important

to communicate the quality of the brand either through packing-based communication or

through media. Even though there are plenty of challenges with achieving price premiums

in the FMCG sector, our respondent outside the FMCG sector also emphasized the

importance of communicating the strong benefits of the brands and the quality aspects, when

the customer then spends the money, he or she should feel like they got a lot for the money,

not only in terms of the product itself, but also in terms of the quality it brings in regard to

added value. Understanding what perceived quality is in general for a specific product

category is a great way of not only meeting it, but to also potentially exceeding it with the

actual quality.

6.4.4 How perceived quality affects the drivers of cash flow

Perceived quality is obviously an extremely important dimension according to our findings.

Yoo et al. (2000) argues that there is an evident relationship between perceived quality and

generated growth in brand equity as well. Aaker (1991) stated that brand equity as a whole

concept has a positive impact on the shareholder value perspective. However, in terms of

examining how perceived quality is connected to drivers of shareholder value, we have

identified a somewhat specific relationship, different form the other dimensions discussed.

In terms of connecting perceived quality to the short-term and long-term perspective, we

can still identify some distinct connections from the empirical data. On a short-term basis,

which we have compiled from the ability to accelerate and enhance cash flow (Srivastava

et al., 1998), the perceived quality dimension can help accelerate the cash flow. From the

empirical data, one pattern is that the perceived quality is important for the purchase

moment, where a lot of customers make their decision based on what is perceived well in

terms of quality. If the product stands out as particularly well perceived, it can generate a

lot of spontaneous purchases. Spontaneous purchases can also be results from positive

referrals, where strong and well perceived brands are bought over less well perceived brands

(Stahl et al., 2003), as mentioned previously. Building on this argumentation, another

finding in our empirical data is that working with intrinsic attributes such as design can also

accelerate and enhance sales, and new designs can interest old customers to switch back.

In terms of retaining sales over time, a lot of the emphasis is directed at not giving the

customer reason to change to competing brands (Srivastava et al., 1998; Chaudhuri and

Holbrook, 2001). Perceived quality is also crucial in this regard. If the customer does not

get satisfied with the product, the company providing that product will lose out on potential

future sales and loyal customers. In terms of not being present in the FMCG sector, brands

must still work with perceived quality in order to retain sales. However, other demands on

quality might be even more present. For example, if a brand is selling garments, then

customers might perceive quality as long lasting and produced in a sustainable manner. If

these attributes are not fulfilled, the company might be scrutinized, meaning that sales on

both short-term and long-term might be hard to achieve and thus potentially affecting cash

flows negatively. However, the most crucial insight we have been able to identify, is the

fact that if the perceived quality is not met, it will have detrimental effects on sales and

ultimately the cash flows. Established brands are expected to have a certain degree of high

actual, and perceived quality. If the perceived, and subsequently actual quality is not met,

the entire brand equity collapses, since so much is built around having a continuously high

quality.

Therefore, we suggest that companies and managers cannot see an immediate contribution

form the perceived quality dimension to the drivers of shareholder value like the other

dimensions. Instead, we find the perceived quality dimension to be a dimension which

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always must be managed and developed properly no matter what. As been presented, there

are connections which can be derived from perceived quality to the short-term and long-

term perspective of cash flow generation. However, we want to accentuate the importance

of keeping this dimension constant, while carefully managing it and ensuring that the

perceived quality is high. The potential negative effects of mismanaging the perceived

quality clearly exceeds the positive impact perceived quality has on the cashflow, since a

high level of perceived quality is necessary for the business to run. We believe that managers

must take the actions and activities into consideration, without the primary goal being to

accelerate, enhance or retain the cash flow. Companies main focus should rather be aimed

at maintaining the perceived quality. There is a relationship to cash flows both short- and

long-term, but ultimately managers must constantly focus on the perceived and actual

quality. We illustrate this by drawing the arrows from perceived quality to the drivers of

shareholder value as double-sided, highlighting a potential setback if customer satisfaction

as well as expectations are not met.

Figure 4. Conceptual model for the perceived quality dimension

6.5 Brand Loyalty

Aaker (1991) means that the concept of brand loyalty has interested marketers for long

periods of time. This was clearly derived from the empirical data as well, since we received

a lot of interesting takes and thoughts of the concept. When investigating what brand loyalty

actually is, Oliver’s (1999, p. 34) definition is easy to grasp. According to Oliver (1999, p.

34), the term brand loyalty means “deeply held commitment to buy or patronize a preferred

product or service consistently in the future and thereby causing repetitive same-brand or

same-brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the

potential to cause switching behaviour”. This definition does indeed, more than twenty

years later still hold up.

According to our empirical findings, a lot of focus when describing a loyal customer is

aimed at the customers relationship to the brand, including emotional connections. In terms

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of emotional connections, many of the interviewees talked about that the customer should

feel happy and proud about choosing their specific brand. In the ideal world, this would then

generate positive word-of-mouth. The word-of-mouth aspect of brand loyalty has been a

topic which has been discussed more frequently in the literature the last couple of years.

Loyal customers are very likely to recommend their brands to friends and family, thus

making loyal customers a great source of free, reliable marketing (Godey et al., 2016; Nisar

& Whitehead, 2016). The interviewees also mention customers who make repeat purchases,

meaning that it can be quite easy to determine whether a customer is loyal or not based on

whether the customer buys a product over and over again. Finally, the perhaps most basic

definition we found is that customers who actively choose a brand over competitors, are in

fact loyal to that brand.

According to Aaker (1991), brand loyalty can be divided into different loyalty levels. At the

top, there is the committed buyer, who buys the products of the brand no matter what. In

the bottom of the hierarchy, there are switchers, who are sensitive in terms of price and

switch brand over the smallest of triggers, beneficial for them personally. Interestingly

enough, a lot of the respondents said that it is hard to retain loyal customers since they are

not by nature loyal. The importance of understanding that there are triggers for brand

switching everywhere is essential for managers to acknowledge, since they must make their

work with retaining loyal customers more efficient. In order to achieve loyal customers,

Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) mean that it can be done through a vast number of different

strategies and ways, but the most important aspect is to invest in actions and activities which

actually enhance the brand loyalty.

Based on the interviews, there are many ways to work with brand loyalty. According to the

literature, CRM programs is a potent way of doing so (Meyer-Waarden, 2008).

Incorporating loyalty programs such as customer relationship-based platforms can be used

to enhance brand loyalty. interestingly enough, not one of our interviewees said that they

work extensively with an outspoken CRM system or program. Instead, they more so focused

on specific ways of thinking and action which they incorporate to make sure that customers

remain loyal to their brand. Since there are many possible ways to go about these actions,

we will now present a number of actions which can be adopted or contemplated by managers

when working with questions surrounding brand loyalty.

6.5.1 Deliver upon all the dimensions

Aaker (1991) presented a list of five ways of creating loyal customers: treat the customers

right, stay close to the customer, measure customer satisfaction, create switching costs,

provide extras. These are five approaches which all sound reasonable, and during our

interviews, more or less all of these approaches were expressed but often in other terms.

The key method to successfully encapsulate all these five approaches into one, is simply put

to deliver upon all the four dimensions which we have now covered. In order to have loyal

customers, a brand must first have aware customers. They need to know about the brand in

order to purchase the products (Aaker, 1991). Then, the customer must develop positive

associations to the brand, and all that the brand constitutes and embodies. Creating memory

nodes and associations is essential for customers to keep that specific brand in their

consideration set (Keller, 1998). After establishing positive associations, companies and

managers have to back these associations up with both perceived and actual quality. The

association should be of high perceived quality - however, if these associations are not met,

there will be no future purchases by the customer, and the company will lose the prospect

of a loyal customer.

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The workflow might seem pretty straight forward, succeed with each dimension and

implement the actions suggested. The truth is however that this will create rigorous work.

Established companies have more functions and departments which are able to ensure that

the necessary actions and activities are implemented. According to our findings however,

brands also have to work consistently with factors such as controlling and measuring, just

to make sure everything is at an appropriate level. Just as Aaker (1991) suggested in his

approaches, managers have to measure satisfaction and make sure the customers feel like

they are treated right. It is essential to continuously make sure that all dimensions are

working and filling their respective function. From our findings, it is easy to understand the

importance of fulfilling the brand equity as a whole - since if the dimensions are stimulated,

brand equity will generate loyal customers with well established relationships who are

satisfied and happy with the company's products and therefore see no reason to switch

brand.

6.5.2 Utilize the marketing mix

Another key action which we have derived from the interviews is using the marketing mix

as a tool for having loyal customers. This is not necessarily something which is outspoken

in the literature, that the marketing mix is an acknowledged tool for brand loyalty. However,

the reasoning behind using the marketing mix still relates to several important theoretical

implications. The marketing mix is established and used when creating associations and

awareness (Keller, 2008). First of all, brands need to have a fair pricing strategy, both in

regard to the product category and in the eyes of the customers. Grunert (2005) further

argues that customers ideally want quality to along with the fair price. Hence it is essential

that the products supplied are of good quality and fairly priced. If they are, customers most

likely will come back since they have no reason for switching brand if they need to buy the

same product in the future. In other words, the two first P:s, price and product seemingly go

together more often than not.

Another approach for enhancing brand loyalty according to Aaker (1991) is staying close

to the customer and provide extra value to the customers. The last two P:s (in the original

marketing mix), promotion and place are two great ways of both delivering extra values and

getting in touch with the customers. In terms of delivering extra values, promotion and

communication is a great way of communicating additional values of the brand. Our

findings exemplify this by mentioning different types of CSR projects and sustainability

work. Promotion can also be used in terms of giving loyal customers discounts and other

benefits. Through events, shops and supermarkets, companies can get even closer to

customers, making sure that customers do not lose their interest and constantly remind them,

as well as activating dormant associations. The place is also very important from a strategic

point of view. As discussed in brand awareness, shelf visibility is essential to catch interest

of customers. Thus, it is a necessity to consistently utilize the place where products are sold.

We also found that if a brand has their own store, it is a great opportunity to talk to the

customer, create storytelling and establish a bond. Our findings indicate that great service

is sometimes crucial to make customers come back since the customers enjoy the full

experience. We have emphasized the importance of fulfilling and working with each

dimension to remain loyal and utilizing the marketing mix might be a more direct and

strategic action to consider in this perspective. Presumingly, every company work in some

shape or form with calibrating and managing their marketing mix, thus it should be a

relatively easy way to include a more brand loyalty-based aspect as well.

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6.5.3 Decide: loyal customers or new customers?

Another interesting action which we believe to be crucial, but not necessarily talked about

enough in prior research - is contrasting whether loyal customers really should be

emphasized and managed as extensively as they currently are. Having loyal customer is

obviously extremely beneficial from a shareholder value and cash perspective, which will

be discussed further in the next section. However, some of the interviewees explain that

loyalty programs and extensive work for gaining loyal customers might cost more than what

it provides in value. One indication of this that we identified was that companies that focus

too much on gaining loyal customers can become myopic. Meaning that they shape their

communication for only existing customers, thus potentially missing out on new customers.

Another insight was that in today's market, smaller companies might often be faced with

boards who expect fast progress and revenue. In these situations, new customers are more

beneficial in terms of growth.

However, none of the interviewees said that having loyal customers is not by itself fantastic,

but rather that this is an important distinction to make. Depending on what part of the brand

journey a company is in, targeting new customers might be a more efficient investment then

extensively investing large amounts of resources into loyalty programs. Concluding this

action, brands should always strive after having loyal customers since it is a testament of

quality and that the customers appreciate the products being produced and sold. However,

it is easy to become myopic and miss out on having a balance between loyal and potential

customers. Some companies might be better off on solely focusing on investments for new

customers, while some companies are living on their loyal customers. Either way, we

believe that this question of balancing customer retention and customer acquiring, is an

important chain of thought that is necessary for challenging sometimes old and widely

accepted strategies. We found that this is some well needed insights in how new market

conditions might also include new strategies, in an area where some ideas and concepts has

been accepted and agreed upon for a long period of time, and which could now gain from

being somewhat reconsidered and repurposed.

6.5.4 How Brand Loyalty affects the drivers of cash flow

There are obvious financial benefits from having long lasting relationships with customers.

First of all, having emotional and functional bonds to a certain brand is documented to lead

to a higher purchase loyalty towards that brand (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001).

Furthermore, increased purchase loyalty means that the company will be able to obtain a

greater market share through sales and profitability (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001; Assael,

1998), two of the main drivers of cash flows and subsequently shareholder value. Hyun and

Kim (2011) add to this further by arguing that brand loyalty has indeed a strong influence

on a company's profitability. To conclude, prior research provides extensive evidence for

how brand loyalty influences the shareholder perspective. Based on our empirical findings,

a common denominator was that it is cheaper to retain loyal customers than attracting new

ones. However, there were some different thoughts on this topic which we discussed

previously. The different opinions were not regarding the profitability aspect of the brand

loyalty, rather was more the question if a brand should work with it continuously in their

strategies, or if focus should be more directed at customer acquisition. All of the

interviewees acknowledged that it is cheaper to retain existing customers, which is also

supported by theory (Lee et al., 2011; Galbreath & Rogers, 1999). When looking at how

brand loyalty affects the long-term and short-term perspective, the majority of the

interviewees stated that brand loyalty is more of an insurance for retention of sales and cash

flow over the long-term. This is supported by the literature as well. In order to ensure and

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create future cash flows, brands have to establish approaches of making cash flow less

vulnerable. Brand loyalty is such an approach which makes cash flow less vulnerable since

customers are less likely to buy products from direct competitors, and thus works as a barrier

protecting the firm's cash flows (Srivastava et al., 1998; Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001).

Even though we see a mainly long-term, retention connection, the findings also

demonstrated how brand loyalty can contribute to acceleration and enhancement of cash

flows short-term as well. Previously loyal customers have an already rather established

awareness and associations of a brand, even if they have switched brands. This means that

if a brand releases exclusive or new products these customers has been seen to be triggered

to switch back and become loyal yet again, meaning that they do not need that much of

marketing incentives in order to be persuaded since they have a pre-existing familiarity with

the brand. Even though there are some examples of short-term acceleration, we still see the

main impact on cash flows in the long term. Brand loyalty mainly creates barriers against

competitors and enables brands to ensure profitability and sales over long periods of time.

Figure 5. Conceptual model for brand loyalty

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6.6. The revised conceptual model and final remarks

Figure 6. The revised Conceptual model

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We have now established first of all the main functions of brand equity which we have

grounded on both theoretical models as well as empirical data. We believe that these

functions will perhaps make the concept of brand equity easier to understand. Instead of

trying to truly find one established definition, it feels more natural to accept that brand

equity is maybe more restrained by having a definition. Instead, we believe that alluding to

grounded functions might be a more potent way of convincing managers who might be

faced by the initial intangibility of brand equity. Thus, more managers will probably be

enticed to invest in brand equity, since the four functions we have derived are very central

for many organizations. To answer our main research question and purpose of this degree

project we have provided practical suggestions of actions and activities that marketing

managers and brand managers can implement for each dimension, meaning we have been

able to answer the left section of our conceptual model. In other words, we have been able

to concretize actions and activities of how to manage and develop brand equity based on

theoretical insights and practical data.

In order to legitimize brand equity as a concept and bring incentives as to why it should be

invested in, we have provided explanations as to how these four dimensions respectively

can generate shareholder value, if managed and developed efficiently. During the

presentation of the conceptual model, we set out to also potentially be able to add any more

contemporary dimensions or factors of brand equity. During the in-depth interviews, we

clearly established that these four dimensions are still the ones which are most frequently

used and adopted by companies when discussing the composition of brand equity. However,

we have collected a number of implications which we believe are instrumental for the brand

equity of a company to work to the best ability. As can be seen in our revised conceptual

model, every dimension is in some manner interrelated to each other - meaning that they

influence each other and subsequently together influence shareholder value (see figure 6).

This implies that companies have to find balance and harmony while working with the

different dimensions. We will now proceed to present three key insights and prerequisites

for generating balance and harmony, established from our empirical findings, that must be

implemented in order for these actions and activities to have the best possible impact in

developing brand equity - and subsequently generate shareholder value for firms.

6.6.1 Same dimensions - new tools and new demands

As discussed previously, even though these dimensions are nearly thirty years old, they are

still very applicable and used according to our interviewees. As time passes, we might

however require new ways of thinking and adopt new tools. Even though these dimensions

remain the same, managers must be open for using new tools and approaches to work with

the actions and activities suggested in this degree project. The thoughts and motivations

behind each dimension are becoming increasingly more strategical, and since each

dimension according to our findings has a clear connection to shareholder value, they must

be managed carefully. Digital platforms and tools have become instrumental when for

instance creating brand awareness, and it has enabled for new ways of creating brand

exposure. Another central realization is that companies have to understand the customers in

today's society, or more precisely their own target segment. Their needs, characteristics,

patterns etc. are all important questions that needs consideration for each dimension.

Different age groups might mean that the brands should use Facebook over influencer

marketing, and sustainability is perhaps even more of a quality attribute than ever before.

These are just two examples from our findings about new factors to consider. The company

should know their target segments the best, and if they are not recognizing their demands

where they are present, competitors most probably will. Firms have to strive to be relevant

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for both the current and forthcoming generations, and this must also be reflected in the way

firms work with brand equity obviously - otherwise they will miss out on additional factors

leading to increased shareholder value. The rapidly changing society requires more specific

adoption of each dimension, meaning that it is essential to find the best possible tools fitting

the situation. Another important aspect derived from the interviews, is to not overcomplicate

how to manage and develop each dimension. Look at the primary function of each

dimension, whether it involves creating long lasting associations or loyal customers - firms

need to focus on achieving that goal by performing actions and activities related to these

dimensions.

6.6.2 Understand the customer and brand journey

Since the construct of brand equity consist of multiple dimensions, a big question is when

to emphasize which dimension, or when to tone down certain dimensions in favour for other.

According to our findings, understanding the customer journey and the brand journey are

two pivotal ways of going about this question. The brand journey is primarily centred

around the maturity of the brand. The maturity of a brand poises several questions such as

revenue, market share, number of employees etc. In regard to brand equity, the brand

journey is more focused around understanding how established a brand is. The companies

represented in our interviews are all established, which was our aim to be able to answer

our research question. Since they are well established, and according to our interviews

leverage their brand as a strategic tool, it is evident that their respective brand equity is

strong. They all have strong awareness, built in associations, a high level of perceived

quality and have a conscious way of working with loyal customers. Based on these

implications, we consider it evident that these brands are very progressed on their brand

journey, meaning that they do not necessarily need to use the brand awareness dimension

to spread awareness of their brand in terms of who they are. Rather, its primary function

might be reminding the customer about the brand. There is already so much built into the

brand equity when a brand is managed and developed successfully for long periods of time

that just reminding the customer might be sufficient to trigger a whole process. The

customer gets reminded of the brand, leading to associations, and then leading to thoughts

about the quality which then might lead to a loyal customer again. This means that highly

saturated markets with established product categories, like the Swedish retail industry, is

difficult to enter for new companies. New companies will have relatively low brand equity

and will therefore need to go through the brand journey. This will require immense work

for the company. Just establishing an awareness, to then create organic associations, high

perceived quality and loyal customers, may seem very difficult. However, if a firm is

entering a new market, all these dimensions must be stimulated in balance and harmony

until the brand has established high levels of brand equity.

Another way of seeing a more evident workflow with the different dimensions, no matter

the brand journey, is according to our findings the importance of understanding the customer

journey. Our empirical data suggests that a firm have to “follow” the customer with different

activities from when the customer gets aware of the product or brand, until the customer

decides to purchase it. In other terms, after investing in a big marketing campaign, the firm

has to create associations in store through signs, the shelf etc. After this the firm has to

deliver the right quality attributes depending on the target group of the brand. If the customer

then decides to buy the product, it is of course immensely important that the quality delivers

in order to create positive associations which in turn hopefully will generate a loyal

customer. This means that managers have to take into account where in this process they

are and can use this line of thinking as an indicator for which dimension and which actions

to emphasize.

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6.6.3 Fine Tune the “orchestra”

The final key insight is perhaps the most important one according to our findings. Based on

our interviews we understood this key takeaway as instrumental for brand equity as a whole

to work, and thus to be able to generate value for the company. During the interviews, we

asked if there was a specific dimension that was more influential than the others, if any

dimension stands out as extra important. The answer was more or less no, and rather that it

is about working with the brand equity as an orchestra, as stated by one interviewee. Each

dimension constitutes an instrument, and they all play an integral role in the symphony. In

order for the musical piece to sound the best as possible, there needs to be a competent

composer in terms of brand manager or marketing manager, who knows when and where to

play certain instruments. Short-term, the term might want to increase sales and would

therefore need to increase the base which might be awareness - but brands are not able to

just invest in awareness and let the other instruments remain silent. This would lead to the

symphony sounding intense in the beginning, and to lack end product, thus needing other

dimensions to catch on.

In the way we have presented the different dimensions, there is a natural hierarchy. Brands

have to work with awareness, associations and perceived quality to get loyal customers.

They are all interrelated. In order for these actions and activities to actually generate

shareholder value in their respective way, companies have to look at brand equity from a

holistic view and recognize the importance of the relationship between the dimensions. This

naturally also posies some directives for the organization. The entire organization must be

part of building the brand equity. Marketing, sales, finance and production are all integral

parts of making the relationship work. They need to support each other to provide the best

possible conditions for the brand equity to thrive. Sometimes, the orchestra might play false.

Perhaps, leading to a realization that that the brand has invested a lot of money into brand

awareness, but there was no end product in terms of increase in sales or loyal customers. It

would then be up to the conductor or composer to realize which instruments that need to

back up the brand awareness to create a beautiful sounding masterpiece. Calibrating and

fine tuning the orchestra is in other words a necessity and frankly a prerequisite for the

suggested actions and activities to work as intended, and to subsequently be able to generate

shareholder value.

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7. Conclusions

In this chapter we will discuss conclusions and answers to our research question and the

purpose presented. The theoretical contributions as well as managerial and societal

implications will also be discussed. Lastly, we will explain the limitations of our degree

project combined with recommendations for future research and evaluate truth criteria to

assess the quality of our degree project.

7.1 General conclusions

The purpose of this degree project was to develop a deeper understanding of how companies

manage and develop their brand equity and how brand equity influences shareholder value

in the Swedish retail industry. Furthermore, we seek to identify connections between brand

equity and shareholder value to legitimize brand equity as a strategic investment. In order

for us to answer our research question “How do firms manage and develop their brand

equity in order to generate shareholder value in the Swedish retail industry?" - we have

conducted a qualitative study, interviewing managers responsible for strategic brand-

decisions at established firms. We have adopted the well-cited and widely known

dimensions of brand equity developed by Aaker (1991) as a basis in this degree project and

investigated how the four dimensions of brand awareness, brand associations, perceived

quality and brand loyalty are managed and developed by established brands in the Swedish

retail industry. During our analysis, we have also been able to provide other necessary

implications for the management and development of brand equity as a whole concept, as

well as contribute different theoretical findings.

We have connected the four foundational dimensions of brand equity (Farjam & Hongyi,

2015; Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1991), to the drivers of cash-flow - inspired by Srivastava

(1998) to get a deeper understanding of how these dimensions, if managed correctly in terms

of and activities, generate shareholder value in short- and/or long-term for companies. In

order to analyse our qualitative data, a thematic analysis has been used with predetermined

themes inspired by Aaker's dimensions. We have however kept an open mind for finding

new emerging themes since we also wanted to investigate the relevance of Aaker’s (1991)

dimensions of brand equity today, and if there are other factors or dimensions of brand

equity to be found. We decided to develop a revised conceptual model (see Figure 6.) which

visualizes and sums up the main actions and activities which we found to be important for

companies to implement in order manage and develop their brand equity. These actions and

activities are based on both empirical and theoretical findings, providing substance and

credibility. Thus, we were able to combat the intangibility aspect of brand equity, which is

a major threat for the existence of brand equity as a concept. For each dimension, we have

listed actions and activities which we believe encapsulate our empirical findings best, and

thus should help to concretize how to manage brand equity, which previously has been a

big threat for the concept, thus researcher have called for this contribution (Christodoulides

et al., 2015;Barker and Milano, 2018; Davcik et al., 2015)

We have also explained and connected how each dimension contribute to a driver of

shareholder value, on short-term, long-term or both. Connecting brand equity to a financial

indicator such as shareholder value was essential to further legitimization of brand equity

as strategic investments. In line with the lack of practical evidence, the lacking ability of

connecting intangible assets to financial success has been potent threat for the concept of

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brand equity and intangible assets in genera (Canibano et al 2000; Lusch & Harvey 1994;

Srivastava et al., 1998; Knowles, 2003; Pahud De Mortanges & van Riel, 2003). We know

from theory that brands, and intangible assets have a positive influence on financial success

Canibano et al 2000; Lusch & Harvey 1994), and that brand equity has a documented

influence as well Aaker, 1991). However, through a qualitative approach we are able to

answer “how”, and not through correlations and statistics, is according to us a gap necessary

to be filled. Furthermore, we fill the research gap surrounding the lack of practical

suggestions of actions and activities (Christodoulides et al., 2015; Barker and Milano, 2018;

Davcik et al., 2015). Through our findings, we can clearly manifest that the different

dimensions of brand equity have a strong influence on enhancing, accelerating, and

retaining cash flows. Table 1 demonstrates a summary of the main findings made in this

degree project.

Table 1. Summarized findings

Dimensions

(Constituents of

brand equity)

Action/activities

(Concretize)

Shareholder value driver

(Legitimize)

Brand

awareness

- Be consistently present

- Utilize visibility

- Adopt price promotion strategies

- Design unique activities related to the

brand

- Short-term & long-

term cash flows

Brand

associations

- Emphasise the functional aspects of the

product

- Incorporate emotional and symbolic added

values

- Implement actions based on market

- Long-term cash

flows

Perceived

quality

- Be careful changing intrinsic attributes -

while still progressive

- Determine and measure perceived quality

- Understand your product category and

quality attributes

- Short-term & long-

term cash flows

Brand Loyalty - Deliver upon all the dimensions

- Utilize the marketing mix

- Decide: loyal customers or new customers

- Long-term cash

flows

Managing and developing brand equity can be done in several different ways, depending on

dimension, industry, product category, target group etc. We have provided general actions

and activities for each dimension which we believe are essential to conduct in order to make

the workflow more tangible and concrete, and we believe that these actions should act as

inspiration for seeing a clear, tangible aspect of brand equity. These actions and activities

are grounded in both empirical and theoretical findings. Our empirical findings are derived

from managers with extensive knowledge of practically and strategically working with

brands, thus manifesting that our findings are applicable based on both first-hand, real

industry experience, and theoretical implications. Furthermore, all interviewees

participating in this study state that they use their brand as a strategic tool to create

competitive advantages. This is strongly concerned with the nature of the retail industry,

where firms have to utilize their brands order to stay competitive (Swoboda et al., 2016),

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and where brand equity constitutes a prominent tool for doing so (Gilbert, 1999). Our

findings manifest that brand equity investments are instrumental for firms in a strategic

point of view. It is evident that without utilizing the brand firms will miss out on

opportunities related to a successfully managed and developed brand equity, especially in

the retail industry. We have also identified and manifested that each dimension of brand

equity indeed has a palpable financial impact on the firm, most evidently through increase

in sales and/or profitability. Thus, we believe that by manifesting and explaining the

relationship between each brand equity dimensions and shareholder value, we have been

able to legitimize investments in brand equity from a financial point of view as well.

7.2 Theoretical contributions

In the beginning of this degree project, we established a research gap consisting generally

of how marketing investments are often intangible and in need of an evidence-based

framework in order to manifest the meaning of these investments (Barker & Milano, 2018).

A company's brand is their largest intangible asset (Doyle, 2008), which makes investing in

brands relevant for managers, since the brand constitutes a large variety of benefits.

Marketers have seen a decrease in credibility due to their inability to measure and manifest

how results derived from marketing investments, contribute to firms in terms of financial

perspectives such as return of investment (Rust e. al., 2004). We further addressed how

managers work with scarce resources and therefore need to legitimize their investments in

terms of profitability, in other words how investments need a clear connection to enhanced

shareholder value (Srivastava et al., 1998). This situation has ultimately led to investments

directed at intangible assets have become scrutinized (Stein, 1989), meaning that more

companies have discarded brand investments, even though there is evident proof of why the

brand is an important asset. Based on this discussion, one important theoretical contribution

we would like to acknowledge is that off providing a more stringent meaning of what brand

equity actually means. Previously, researchers have discussed how there is no accepted

definition of brand equity (Keller, 2008; Washburn & Plank, 2002). We have chosen to

refrain from finding a definition, Instead, we have been able to find four empirically and

theoretically grounded functions of brand equity, namely;

• Enabling a brand to be well known, differentiated, and well perceived by customers.

• Creating strong preferences and associations among customers.

• Enabler for current sales and being an insurance for future sales.

• Being a strategic and guiding tool for leveraging the brand as a competitive

advantage

These functions will imperative since they are distinct and convey very central aspects of a

successful firms. Thus, we believe that refraining from alluding to a definition, and instead

highlighting functions, we can add even more tangibility to the concept of brand equity.

Previous research demonstrates that brand Equity is an approach for managers to show and

facilitate the relationship between investments and results in marketing (Farquhar, 1989).

Srivastava et al. (1998) and Knowles (2003) points out the competitive advantage that brand

equity gives firms but emphasize the need to further legitimize this advantage in terms of

shareholder value. Aside from connecting brand equity to shareholder value there is also a

need of investigating how brand equity is managed and developed in different industry

contexts (Davcik et al., 2015). In this degree project we have chosen to look at brand equity

in the Swedish retail industry with the main arguments being how influential and important

the brand is in the retail industry, and how buying and selling products is a brand-dominated

activity (Gilbert, 1999)

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This degree project has implemented Aaker’s (1991) dimensions of brand equity as a basis

of what brand equity consist of. Brand equity has no clear and widely accepted definition

of what it constitutes (Keller, 2008). This is further shown in our findings where we asked

managers who work with their brand on a daily basis about how they define brand equity

and got many different answers, but also found common themes in their answers. We

believe that by providing practical examples of how managers related to marketing and

brands work with these dimensions in their business strategy, we have concretized how

brand equity is managed and developed. By connecting these dimensions to drivers of cash

flows leading to enhanced shareholder value, we have made a theoretical contribution to

research on brand equity and also further legitimized marketing investments that struggle

with intangibility. Moreover, the dimensions introduced by Aaker are almost 30 years old,

and with this degree project we have also investigated the relevance and usage of these

dimension today. We contributed to research by providing evidence that these dimensions

are still very accurate and valid. Lastly, the qualitative research in brand equity is also to

our literature review, relatively scarce, and there is a lack of examples of how to manage

and develop brand equity in different industries (Christodoulides et al., 2015; Pahud De

Mortanges and Van riel, 2003). Our contribution provides important insights from an

industry where the brand is becoming increasingly more important, and thus should be able

to further solidify the importance of having strong brand equity.

7.3 Managerial implications

We mentioned early in this degree project how marketing departments are somewhat

scrutinized by their inability to measure the financial outcomes of investments made in

intangible assets (Aaker and Jacobson, 1994; Stein, 1989 ), and how companies therefore

tend to invest in other areas easier to derive results from (Gajland and Treffner, 2001). As

previously stated, this degree project was conducted by performing qualitative interviews

with brand managers, marketing managers and other people responsible for strategic brand

decisions in general. The interviewees are also all involved with successful and established

brands with high brand equity. We believe that the gathered insights into how these

companies manage their brand and develop their brand equity has helped us present new

and deeper knowledge regarding brand equity in general. This information can be useful for

managers who work with marketing decisions to choose certain activities fitting their firms’

unique situations. Our revised conceptual model includes relevant and concrete

recommendations about actions that managers can use for successfully managing and

developing brand equity of their brands. Even though we have found many similarities of

how the participating interviewees manage their brand, it is also evident that each brand is

unique and includes different added values.

Our findings show that there is a strong interrelationship between the different dimensions

of brand equity. Dimensions are interdependent on each other to develop brand equity, and

it is important to successfully manage each dimension as an established brand. Which

dimension to emphasize, how and when may differ on a range of factors such as how

established the brand is in terms of market shares, which industry and product category the

firm operates in and what customer segments the firm serves to. Consequently, managers

may find it difficult to know when and where to emphasize certain dimensions. Our findings

highlighted different important implications for manager and companies to take into

consideration when they manage and develop their brand equity. Managers must first of all

use suitable tools for their target segment. Secondly, managers must understand where their

brand is on the brand journey, and that different stages require more work with certain

dimensions. Lastly, managers must embrace the holistic aspect of brand equity. Brand

equity can be seen as an orchestra, where some instruments have to be used and emphasized

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at different times, but in order to make a great musical piece - the overall orchestra must be

fine-tuned and well managed.

We argue both from our empirical findings and our extensive literature review that investing

in brand equity is a necessity for firms involved with selling products in the Swedish retail

industry. Our findings can aid and guide managers as to which dimensions of brand equity

to emphasize and invest is based on their requisites. In this degree project we chose to focus

on the Swedish retail industry with the main arguments that it is an industry that it is

important to have a strong brand to work strategic with (Jara & Cliquet, 2012; Jinfeng and

Zhilong, 2009; Pappu et al., 2005) and because of the strong competition in general

(Swoboda et al., 2016). We do however believe that our findings can be applied to other

industries with similar conditions in terms of buying or selling products or services. We

hope that, through concretizing and legitimizing brand equity investments, more managers

can see the clear benefits of investing in brand equity, both from a strategic and financial

point of view. Further on, we hope that large firms will acknowledge the importance of

intangible assets. Finding efficient tools for how to work with each dimension is of

uttermost importance and relevance, and a necessity in order to successfully manage and

develop brand equity. Thus, making our findings highly relevant for managers who would

like to see their brand prosper and reach success.

7.4 Societal implications

Marketing is a discipline which is supposed to focus on enabling sales. During the last

decade, the retail industry has become a dramatically more competitive industry, and the

progress of selling and buying products has become a brand-dominated activity (Gilbert,

1999). Brands have become intensively more similar, both in terms of products, quality and

communication. This has potentially also lead to a darker side, where in order for companies

to get sales and profitability, they deceive customers with information and an indistinct

brand. Thus, it can be potentially hard for customers to truly make fair assessments of brands

and their offered quality. Customers do not seldom get lured into amazing deals through

marketing on social platforms, in stores etc. and often, these deals are too good be true

leading to customers potentially getting scammed. We believe that during these times, it is

essential for companies to develop their brand equity in order to be ethically correct.

Customers should be able to make easy and fair judgements of brands in order to be

satisfied, while at the same time companies should be able to profit from their business.

From a societal and ethical perspective, we believe that by investing in brand equity actions

and activities, companies will be gaining increased shareholder value through mutual value

creation, providing benefits for both the customer as well as the company. The concept of

brand equity stems from having an ambition and a purpose to capture the actual value which

brands possess. The main objective of brand equity is to understand the customer in order

to deliver the best possible value to the customer, and in return being able to receive such

as increased margins and profitability stemming from satisfied customers (Aaker, 1991,

Rust et al., 2004). Stein (1989) describes how managers and other leading personnel are

becoming increasingly more prone to sacrifice these kinds of investments. In line with

sacrificed investments into the brand, we project a further trend where companies due to the

immense competition will be challenged by even more narrow margins. Also, crisis-

situations such as the pandemic of Covid-19 can make companies even more pressured.

We believe that this can lead to a situation where companies need to work even further with

having to jeopardize quality in favour for increased sales, a problem that we feel goes along

with the discipline of marketing overall. Not being able to derive results from marketing

89

investments poises a big challenge for marketing departments since they typically work with

intangible measurements, further leading to a decrease of marketer’s credibility (Rust et al.,

2004). The recognition of having a strong brand which can generate multiple benefits for

customers as well as for the company, is in danger since companies have a hard time

understanding brand equity. The intangible nature generates problems of understanding how

to work with brand equity as well as understanding and measuring how brand equity can

yield financial benefits. We hope that this degree project can inspire companies and

managers which are not convinced by investing in brand equity due to the intangibility

aspect. The power of having a mutual value creation between customers and brands should

be highly regarded since it will be instrumental in an industry and a society where

companies are more concerned by making money than pleasing customers - when brands

evidently can have both. Furthermore, we believe that this project can manifest the

importance of marketing departments, since they often are the ones responsible for working

with customers in terms of the brand. The entire organization must provide support for each

department, recognizing the importance of each other, even though it might be hard to

translate in forms of digits on a balance sheet.

7.5 Limitations and future research

When starting off this project, we wanted to interview companies spanning through the

entire Swedish retail industry. According to Allabolag (n.d.), some examples of company-

ramifications inside the Swedish retail industry include clothing stores, department stores

and supermarket shopping, grocery stores, opticians and pharmacy trade. However, when

we conclude our project, we interviewed five brands active in the FMCG sector and one

clothing brand. Due to the current pandemic, it was an extremely challenging process to

acquire interviews with managers possessing accurate knowledge, at companies across the

retail sector. We still believe that our analysis is applicable for many parts of the Swedish

retail industry. Although, naturally we would most likely have been able to see more certain

themes and distinctions, if we had managed to get a wider representation of different types

of companies. In the FMCG sector, companies have very limited possibilities to influence

the pricing of their products, which for instance clothing brands have a larger possibility to.

Other potential limitations are derived from the literature. Even though the literature on

brand equity is rather extensive, there has not been that much progression in terms of

establishing new models of brand equity and its dimensions. Our theoretical framework is

heavily based around Aaker’s (1991) model from 1991, since his dimensions are basically

the only readily accepted and used framework for describing the constituents of brand

equity. We therefore had to spend a large amount of time of nuancing each dimension. Even

though we never felt that we had scarce amounts of available literature, it would have been

interesting to see even more contemporary approaches to brand equity. All of our

interviewees did however express that these dimensions are the most accurate and relevant

dimension to discuss, meaning that we have no reason to question the validity of Aaker's

(1991) dimensions since they are still used.

Further research should incorporate our conceptual model to research specific parts of the

retail industry, for instance to focus solely on the FMCG sector or clothing brands. This

could lead to researchers being able to see potential differences, and to nuance how to

manage and develop brand equity. Further, our research has solely focused on customer-

based brand equity which the traditional literature has focused on. It would be interesting to

research brand equity in terms of business to business and see how our findings would

translate in that context. The same argument can be made for the service industry. The term

service marketing has seen a fast development, and since we are moving towards a service

dominated society, it would be very interesting to investigate how companies in the service

90

sector manage and develop their brand equity. The shareholder value aspect is fundamental

here as well since hotels, restaurants etc. are very relying on platforms such as Yelp and

Tripadvisor in order to get bookings. Bad reviews can have a seriously negative impact on

cash flows, meaning that it could be an interesting approach to research specifically how

grading platforms influence the brand equity of hotels and restaurants etc. in terms of

affected shareholder value, we believe that it is possible go into greater detail when looking

at cash flows. If access is no issue, it would be even more impactful to quantify certain

actions directed at enhancing brand equity. For example, firms could see how many percent

their sales increased with the period after the launch of a big campaign. There are plenty of

ways to quantify the connections from each dimension to the cash flows and doing so would

solidify the contribution from brand equity to shareholder value even further and into greater

detail.

7.6 Truth criteria

In order to ensure the quality of our research project, it has to be evaluated in regard to a

number of truth criteria. There are several ways of choosing which truth criteria are most

applicable for the research project, and it often depends on whether a researcher is

conducting a qualitative or quantitative study. According to Bryman and Bell (2011)

trustworthiness is one of the criteria most suitable to be used in qualitative studies and

research. According to Polit and Beck (2009), trustworthiness refers to the degree of

confidence in the data to ensure the quality of a study. Trustworthiness includes several sub-

criteria, or constituents, which we believe all provide substance to the fact that our criteria

for quality, in this project is fulfilled. The sub-criterion of trustworthiness is compiled by

the four following sub-criteria: confirmability, credibility, dependability and transferability

(Bryman & Bell, 2011). We believe that these sub-criteria will be the most appropriate tools

for judging and ensuring the quality of our research project. However, we do also recognize

that authenticity is an important truth criterion in terms of qualitative studies (Bryman &

Bell, 2011). The authenticity criteria is primarily concerned with general questions

regarding the political influence and impact the study has (Bryman & Bell, 2011). We

believe that the authenticity criteria is more applicable for studies written on commission,

or precisely directed at problem or phenomenon within a certain company. Our degree

project is not set out to entice the interviewees to commit changes regarding politics in their

respective company. Instead, our findings are aimed at managers not currently investing

into brand equity due to the intangibility. Therefore, we believe that the authenticity criteria

is not relevant to discuss in the context of our study. Thus, we will use the trustworthiness

criteria as our main quality measurement, since it is highly relevant for qualitative studies.

The first sub-criterion to be discussed is confirmability. Bryman and Bell (2011) mean that

confirmability is focused on ensuring that the researchers conducting the project do not let

personal feelings, or values impeach the results. However, it can indeed be argued that it is

nearly impossible to carry out a qualitative study in a complete objective manner. We were

careful of having open questions. However, all answers we received were important for our

study. There was never any need for trying to angle our questions, since our goal from the

very beginning was to develop a deeper understanding and to find practical examples

derived from an intangible area. In other words, we felt that there are no apparent wrong

answers. However, since we have formulated our questions and descriptions based on our

perceptions of which data is interpreted, our results should of course in some ways be

critically evaluated. We do believe that the encompassed descriptions are readily accepted

by the interviewees as well, thus providing further substance to our confirmability of the

project.

91

Saunders et al. (2012) argues that the second sub-criterion, which is credibility - is closely

related to internal aspect of validity. During our qualitative project, we have experienced,

and allowed for the social influence to be regarded and acknowledged in the report. As

discussed in chapter 2, our methodology chapter, social reality can be interpreted in multiple

ways. Due to this circumstance, we believe that it is essential to be able to ensure high

levels of credibility. Bryman and Bell (2011) further argues that the level of credibility can

and may determine if the findings in the project are to be deemed as acceptable or not, and

if the findings are believable or not. Graneheim and Lundman (2004) describe credibility as

a criterion which is focused on translating how well the collected data, and the used analysis

method match the research question of the project. In our research project, the interviewees

shared how they work with each dimension, based on the main themes for each dimension.

Further on, the interviewees also told us about how these dimensions can influence the

brands cash flow on short and long-term, based on sales and profitability. During these

interviews, both of us were present, which meant that we after the interviews immediately

discussed certain themes in order to truly facilitate that we shared the same understanding.

Then we proceeded to carefully work with the transcribing process, spending plenty of time

ensuring that the transcriptions truly represented the interviews. We further found this

extremely important since any types of threats against credibility has the potential to weaken

the final findings and end product of the research (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). During the

entire project, we kept in mind our methodological stances in order for us to be able to

ensure that we followed the guidelines in order to maintain the best possible level of

credibility.

The third sub-criterion is dependability. Dependability refers to how well the findings can

be applied in other times as well (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In order to be able to judge the

dependability, the authors most provide detailed information about their research process of

establishing those findings (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Further on, in order for the researchers

to ensure dependability and fulfil the necessary requirements, Bryman and Bell (2011) argue

that researchers should embark a so called auditing approach, meaning that the researcher

should clearly formulate the problem, have an approach for choosing participants, carefully

transcribe the conducted interviews and finally decide upon a well-grounded and

appropriate analysis method. In order for us to be able to ensure dependability and fulfil the

requirements, we have firstly carefully presented our research question and purpose in order

for the reader to understand our initial workflow. In our practical method chapter, we have

also reviewed how we collected our empirical data. Furthermore, we have provided

information about our literature search and how we have identified the relevant theories

used in this research project. Our conceptual model also acts as a visual guide to easier grasp

how our research question and purpose relates to our findings.

Lastly, the fourth sub-criterion of trustworthiness is transferability. Credibility is as

discussed closely related to internal validity (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Meanwhile,

transferability is related to the external validity (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Moisander and

Valtonen (2006) mean that transferability is concerned with whether the findings in the

study could be applied by the reader, to other situations, and different contexts. As discussed

in the limitations section, ideally, we would like to have a wider range of companies, not

predominantly consisting of FMCG-based companies. However, we still argue that our

findings are applicable to many companies. We cannot identify any immediate challenges

why our findings would not be applicable to the Swedish retail industry; hence we would

like to state that our transferability is of a high level. We are however still aware of this

limitation. Carson et al. (2001) argue that transferability can indeed in some respects be

enhanced by using various interviewees and respondents. We have thus acknowledged that

92

our project possibly could be under scrutiny for this. However, we believe that we as

researchers have to be pragmatic and realize the limitations which our project has faced.

First of all, there was a limit in terms of time and resources, but also scarce contacts of

people in the positions which we wanted to interview. Naturally, we can't forget to mention

the impact of Covid-19. The pandemic led us to miss out on a number of interviews, which

could have given us a vastly larger variety of different companies in the Swedish retail

industry. Ultimately, it is up to the reader to make a fair and rationally based judgement, as

to whether the results could or could not be transferable to future studies. To conclude, in

our opinion, our degree project meets the expectations of truth criteria and has high quality.

93

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Appendix 1: Interview guide

Opening questions:

• Could you please start with introducing yourself, and to describe your work

activities and responsibilities?

• How long have you worked with with branding and/or marketing in general? How

long have you worked at (brand name)?

• How would you describe brand equity, and what would you say is the main purpose

of having a strong brand equity?

• In your opinion, would you say that your firm utilizes your brand as a strategic tool

to gain sustainable competitive advantages? If yes, How? If not, why?

Brand Awareness:

• Based on your experience, why are actions/activities enhancing brand awareness

important for the firm?

• Which actions/activities do you adopt to make new customers recognize and identify

your brand?

• Which “marketing-mix”actions/activities do you implement (pricing strategies,

promotion strategies, positioning strategies) to spread the awareness of your brand?

• Which actions and activities do you implement in order for your brand to stay “top-

of-mind” among customers?

Brand Awareness and cash flows

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions used for

establishing/strengthening brand awareness influence cash flows of the firm?

• How do brand awareness (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

brand awareness) affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

• How do brand awareness (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

brand awareness) affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Brand Associations:

• What do you want your brand to represent and be associated with?

• What activities/actions do you use to develop and manage brand associations in

regard to;

• Attributes - features of the product that characterize the product/brand.

• Benefits - what customers expect the product/brand to do for them and the personal

value attached to the product/brand.

• Attitudes - the customers overall attitude against your brand.

Brand associations and cash flows

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions used for

establishing/strengthening brand associations influence cash flows of the firm?

• How do brand associations (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

brand associations) affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

• How do brand associations (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

brand associations) affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Perceived Quality:

• What level of perceived quality do you want to be associated with your products?

104

• Which actions/activities are implemented to increase/alter the perceived quality,

both in regard to extrinsic (e.g. brand name and price) and intrinsic (e.g. form and

appearance) factors?

• Which actions/activities are used to measure the perceived quality of your products?

Perceived quality and cash flows

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions used for

establishing/strengthening perceived quality influence cash flows of the firm?

• How does perceived quality (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

perceived quality) affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

• How does perceived quality (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

perceived quality) affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Brand Loyalty:

• From your brand's point of view, how would you describe a loyal customer?

• Which actions/activities do you implement in order to create b and retain brand

loyalty?

• Which actions/activities do you implement in order to create a “committed buyer”?

(how do you make sure customers stay loyal and continue to choose your products

over competitors?)

Brand Loyalty and cash flows

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions used for

establishing/strengthening brand loyalty influence cash flows of the firm?

• How does brand loyalty (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

brand associations) affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

• How does brand loyalty (or activities/actions use for establishing/strengthening

brand associations) affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Concluding Questions:

• In your opinion and based on your experience, is there any specific dimension

discussed that is particularly important in the context of contributing to cash flow

over long-term/Short-term?

• Would you like to add any additional dimensions which you believe constitute brand

equity as well as contribute to cash flows over long-term/Short-term?

105

Appendix 2: Interview guide (Swedish version)

Introducerande frågor:

• Skulle du vänligen kunna börja med att kort introducera dig själv - beskriv din

jobbtitel och vad ditt arbete innefattar i avseende på arbetsuppgifter och

ansvarsområden?

• Hur länge har du arbetat generellt med frågor rörande varumärken och/eller med

marknadsföring? Hur länge har du jobbat hos (varumärke X)?

• Hur skulle du beskriva varumärkeskapital? Vad skulle du säga är det huvudsakliga

syftet med ett starkt varumärkeskapital för ett företag?

• Enligt din åsikt och erfarenhet, anser du att (Varumärke X) kapitaliserar på sitt

varumärke som ett strategiskt verktyg för att skapa konkurrensfördelar?

Varumärkeskännedom:

• Baserat på din erfarenhet, varför är åtgärder/aktiviteter som skapar

varumärkeskännedom viktiga för företaget?

• Vilka åtgärder/aktiviteter använder ni för att få nya kunder att känna igen och

identifiera ert varumärke?

• Vilka åtgärder/aktiviteter kopplade till marknadsmixen (Pris, produkt,

påverkan/reklam,plats) använder ni för att sprida varumärkeskännedom?

• Vilka atgärder/aktiviteter använder ni för att halla ert varumärke “top-of-mind” (det

första varumärket kunden tänker på i en specifik produktkategori) hos kunder?

Varumärkeskännedom och dess påverkan på kassaflöde

• Baserat på din erfarenhet, på vilket sätt skapar aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för

att etablera/stärka varumärkeskännedom företagets kassaflöden?

• Hur påverkar varumärkeskännedom (eller aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för att

etablera/stärka varumärkeskännedom) kassaflöden på kort sikt?

• Hur påverkar varumärkeskännedom (eller aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för att

etablera/stärka varumärkeskännedom) kassaflöden på lång sikt?

Varumärkesassociationer:

• Vad vill du att ert varumärke ska representera och associeras med?

• Vilka aktiviteter/åtgärder implementerar ni för att utveckla och hantera varumärkets

önskade associationer, specifikt i avseende på;

• Egenskaper - egenskaper kunden associerar med produkten (karaktäristik etc)

• Fördelar - fördelar kunder förväntar sig av produkten/varumärket samt det

personliga värdet knutet till produkten/varumärket

• Attityder - kundens allmänna attityd till varumärket och dess produkter

Upplevd kvalitet:

• Vilken nivå av upplevd kvalitet vill du ska vara associerad med ert varumärke och

era produkter?

• Vilka aktiviteter/åtgärder implementerar ni för att mäta/kartlägga den upplevda

kvaliteten rörande ert varumärke och era produkter?

• Vilka aktiviteter/åtgärder implementerar ni för att öka och hantera den upplevda

kvaliteten, främst i avseende på hur ni arbetar med; ej fysiska faktorer (ex. namn och

pris) och fysiska faktorer (ex. formspråk och utseende generellt)

Upplevd kvalitet och dess påverkan på kassaflöde

106

• Baserat på din erfarenhet, på vilket sätt skapar aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för

att etablera/stärka upplevd kvalitet företagets kassaflöden?

• Hur påverkar upplevd kvalitet (eller aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för att

etablera/stärka upplevd kvalitet) kassaflöden på kort sikt?

• Hur påverkar upplevd kvalitet (eller aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för att

etablera/stärka upplevd kvalitet) kassaflöden på lång sikt?

Varumärkeslojalitet:

• Från ditt och (varumärke x) perspektiv, hur skulle du beskriva en lojal kund?

• Vilka aktiviteter/åtgärder implementerar ni för att skapa och bibehålla varumärkes

lojala kunder?

• Vilka aktiviteter/atgärder implementerar ni för att skapa “hängivna kunder” (med

andra ord kunder som fortsatt väljer era produkter över era konkurrenter)?

Varumärkeslojalitet och dess påverkan på kassaflöde

• Baserat på din erfarenhet, på vilket sätt skapar aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för

att etablera/stärka varumärkeslojalitet företagets kassaflöden?

• Hur påverkar varumärkeslojalitet (eller aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för att

etablera/stärka varumärkeslojalitet) kassaflöden på kort sikt?

• Hur påverkar varumärkeslojalitet (eller aktiviteter/åtgärder som används för att

etablera/stärka varumärkeslojalitet kassaflöden på lång sikt?

Avslutande frågor:

• Enligt din åsikt och baserat på din erfarenhet, skulle du påstå att någon specifik

dimension av de vi diskuterat är särskilt viktig eller intressant i avseenden på att

bidra till ökat kassaflöde på kort eller lång sikt?

• Skulle du vilja addera någon eller några ytterligare dimensioner som du utifrån din

erfarenhet anser är viktiga i skapandet av varumärkeskapital, och ökat kassaflöde på

kort och/eller lång sikt?

107

Appendix 3: Interview questions with corresponding theory

Questions Theory

• Could you please start with introducing yourself, and

describe your work activities and responsibilities?

Background/Introduction

• How long have you worked with branding and/or

marketing in general? How long have you worked at

(brand name)?

Background/Introduction

• How would you describe brand equity, and what would

you say is the main purpose of having a strong brand

equity?

Brand Equity/General

implications

• In your opinion, would you say that your firm utilizes

your brand as a strategic tool to gain sustainable

competitive advantages? If yes, How? If not, why?

Shareholder Value & Brand

Equity

• Based on your experience, why are actions/activities

enhancing brand awareness important for the firm?

Brand Awareness (General

implications)

• Which actions/activities do you adopt to make new

customers recognize and identify your brand?

Brand Awareness (Creation)

• Which “marketing-mix” actions/activities do you

implement (pricing strategies, promotion strategies,

positioning strategies) to spread the awareness of your

brand?

Brand Awareness

(Creation/Managing)

• Which actions and activities do you implement in order

for your brand to stay “top-of-mind” among customers?

Brand Awareness

(Managing)

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions

used for establishing/strengthening brand awareness

influence cash flows of the firm?

Brand Awareness &

Shareholder Value

• How do brand awareness (or activities/actions use for Brand Awareness &

Shareholder Value

• How do brand awareness (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening brand awareness)

affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Brand Awareness &

Shareholder Value

• What do you want your brand to represent and be

associated with?

Brand Associations (General

Implications)

• What activities/actions do you use to develop and

manage brand associations in regard to;

• Attributes - features of the product that characterize the

product/brand.

• Benefits - what customers expect the product/brand to

do for them and the personal value attached to the

product/brand.

Brand Associations

(Creation/Managing)

108

• Attitudes - the customers overall attitude against your

brand.

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions

used for establishing/strengthening brand associations

influence cash flows of the firm?

Brand Associations &

Shareholder Value

• How do brand associations (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening brand associations)

affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

Brand Associations &

Shareholder Value

• How do brand associations (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening brand associations)

affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Brand Associations &

Shareholder Value

• What level of perceived quality do you want to be

associated with your products?

Perceived Quality (General

implications)

• Which actions/activities are implemented to

increase/alter the perceived quality, both regarding

extrinsic (e.g. brand name and price) and intrinsic (e.g.

form and appearance) factors?

Perceived Quality

(Creation/Managing)

• Which actions/activities are used to measure the

perceived quality of your products?

Perceived Quality

(Managing)

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions

used for establishing/strengthening perceived quality

influence cash flows of the firm?

Perceived Quality &

Shareholder Value

• How does perceived quality (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening perceived quality)

affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

Perceived Quality &

Shareholder Value

• How does perceived quality (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening perceived quality)

affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Perceived Quality &

Shareholder Value

• From your brand's point of view, how would you

describe a loyal customer?

Brand Loyalty (General

implications)

• Which actions/activities do you implement in order to

create b and retain brand loyalty?

Brand Loyalty (Creation)

• Which actions/activities do you implement in order to

create a “committed buyer”? (how do you make sure

customers stay loyal and continue to choose your

products over competitors?)

Brand Loyalty

(Creation/Managing)

• Based on your experience, how do activities/actions

used for establishing/strengthening brand loyalty

influence cash flows of the firm?

Brand Loyalty &

Shareholder Value

109

• How does brand loyalty (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening brand associations)

affect/impact cash flows in a short term?

Brand Loyalty &

Shareholder Value

• How does brand loyalty (or activities/actions use for

establishing/strengthening brand associations)

affect/impact cash flows in a long term?

Brand Loyalty &

Shareholder Value

• Would you like to add any additional dimensions which

you believe constitute brand equity as well as contribute

to cash flows over long-term/Short-term?

Additional Dimensions &

Shareholder Value

110

Appendix 4: Overview of conducted interviews

Firm and interviewee Title Type of interview Date and

Duration

Löfbergs, Lena Rodin Brand Experience

Manager

Online without

camera, Teams

2020-03-31, 61

minutes

Large snacks company Brand Manager Online with

camera, Teams

2020-4-02 67

minutes

Leksands Knäckebröd,

Annika Sund

Marketing Manager Online with

camera, Teams

2020-04-07, 56

minutes

Marabou, Helen

Moland Daly

Nordic media manager Telephone

interview

2020-04-16, 43

minutes

A Days March, Pelle

Lundquist

Founder and Creative

director

FaceTime

interview

2020-04-23 46

minutes

Santa Maria, Jenny

Oden Heidenberg

Head of Brands and

Portfolio World Foods

Online with

camera, Teams

2020-04-24 56

minutes

111

Appendix 5: Overview of participating companies

Company

name

Short description of the company

Marabou Marabou is part of the Mondelez International group and produces an array

of different kinds of chocolate and are famous for their milk chocolate and

other products such as Aladdin and Noblesse (Marabou, n.d.)

A Days March A Days March is a contemporary and rapidly growing Swedish clothing

company following principles of having timeless pieces without expiry date

(A Days March, n.d.)

Leksands

Knäckebröd

Leksands knäckebröd has been producing crispbread locally in Dalarna

since 1817. Their goal is to produce the best crispbread on the best possible

ingredients, with big respect to the environment (Leksands Knäckebröd,

n.d.)

Löfbergs Löfbergs formerly known as Löfbergs lila has been producing coffee since

1906. A family owned company, famous for being one of the world’s

biggest buyers of ecological and fair-trade coffee. Their coffee can be found

around stores and cafes around the country (Löfbergs, n.d.)

*Large snacks

company

A large snacks company part of a big group, providing multiple kinds of

snacks.

Santa Maria Founded in the early 1900’s, Santa Maria is one of the biggest flavouring

companies in Northern Europe with 900 employees. Santa Maria is a part

of the Paulig group.

Business Administration SE-901 87 Umeå www.usbe.umu.se