MKTG2204: Consumer Behaviour Assignment 1
Topic 1: How the Knowledge and Associations of a Brand Influences Decision-Making

Introduction
The competition in today’s car environment is becoming increasingly intense, as car manufacturers search for any edge over competitors for securing a larger market share.
Car manufacturers are beginning to realise the importance of marketplace awareness of their brand within the minds of consumers, and how this recognition affects the decision making process. This paper will attempt to discuss how consumers research and purchase new cars, the importance of the purchase itself and how the knowledge and associations of a brand influence consumer decision-making. Lastly, it is then possible to offer response solutions for manufacturers in the marketplace, in order to adequately meet the weight of these consumer perceptions. The brand that will be examined for this purpose is the Czech automobile manufacturer Škoda Auto.
Škoda Auto
First looking at the SKODA car brand itself, we will examine the current brand strategy as well as the target market for the brand as a whole. The SKODA brand is known for its value, while still maintaining quality, safety and reliability. Its current positioning strategy is of an attractive, emotional automotive brand for the entire family. Brands like SKODA are more of a volume brand, priced near the market average and are not purchased for their status or exclusivity but for reasons such as value for money (Understanding brand-dealer retention article).
Further research from Australia wide car dealerships found SKODA buyers to be highly educated who are intensive in their information search, extremely well informed and place a very high importance on price. They are also less fashion conscious and seek only the best practical product for its value, prioritising features and car quality over image and tags.
The Škoda Fabia
The Škoda Fabia is a supermini produced by Czech automobile manufacturer Škoda Auto. The Fabia was available in hatchback, estate (Fabia Combi) and saloon (Fabia Sedan) body styles. The Fabia RS is a sporty, high performance car based off the rally car. The Fabia is marketed as a fun and light car, targeted to young, “up and coming” professionals. With the fun car image, Škoda aspires to widen its usual buyer market by appealing to the younger crowd.
Target Market
According to Škoda, the target market for the Fabia RS is young people of age 18 to 35 who are into gadgets, consider having own individual style apart from trends, socially conscious, risk adverse, enjoy sporty performance and looking for value for money.
Current Awareness & Marketing Challenges
Based on our interview results, it is clear that there is definitely insufficient consumer awareness about the car model. There is moderate awareness of the brand Škoda but few were able to provide any extensive information about the brand. The Fabia RS is a relatively new model but compared to its counterparts from other brands such as the Suzuki Swift Sport, Audi A1 Sportback, Mini Cooper S and Volkswagen Polo GTI, it is overshadowed in the eyes of those we interviewed. Inferring from our interview responses, it is clear that the knowledge and associations of a brand do influence a consumer’s decision making. Most of the interviewees responded that they would not buy the Škoda Fabia as they are not familiar with the brand Škoda, or because they are loyal to other brands such as Honda and SAAB. This illustrates strong brand loyalty when it comes to car purchase and thus, it is important that Škoda emphasises more on marketing its brand and cars. One of the biggest marketing challenges for Škoda is that there is low awareness for its brand and products, and its inability to appear attractive to its target consumers. For example, many people thought that the Fabia was marketed towards older people.
Journal Articles
Comparable with its industry rivals before mentioned, the Skoda Fabia RS’s performance according to review is comparable if not better in certain aspects. If performance is comparable across brand, consumers will tend to weight price heavily (Consumer Decision Making article), an area where Skoda fares well in. This is provided of course the brand and car itself are within the buyer’s awareness set.
Studies also found that brand recognition and popular well known models influence demand. A number of factors, such as advertising, marketing and consumer perception influence new and popular models. These factors tend to pull demand within the industry (Car retailing industry article).
Surveys of current Skoda customer’s show 98% would recommend it to their friends and family. It appears as though once Skoda manages to overcome the marketing challenges of raising brand awareness and increasing its market share, for not only the Fabia RS but other models, the satisfaction with vehicle quality will have a strong relation to future brand loyalty (Value relevance of customer satisfaction article).

Conclusion
Based on the literature review of the various journal articles on consumer purchase behaviour, and verified by the interviews that were conducted in addition, it can be concluded that the knowledge and association of a brand influences decision making, especially for high involvement purchases. Many of the interviewees indicated that they would not purchase a car made by an unfamiliar automobile company. It was also found that there is high brand loyalty when making car purchases. The awareness set of car buyers must begin to include Škoda to achieve the result of greater sales volumes.
Škoda needs to put in more budget and effort to market its brand and products as it is clear that for the automobile industry, high involvement purchases are made, and thus knowledge of a brand greatly influences a consumer’s purchase decision. For example, Škoda may advertise via product placement in movies and television shows which are targeted to Škoda Fabia’s target audience. This will increase awareness and change consumers’ perspectives on the car and brand greatly, especially if the car is well portrayed in the movie or television show. Our survey results reflect an inconsistent image with SKODA’s desired position and they image in the eyes of the consumer, so more information through specific advertising is required.

http://search.proquest.com/docview/232359472?accountid=14681 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c8b1b945-a78e-4d7e-9854-79a9e86b7800%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=14 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knfq_Olt8dg&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HBr4RmmBR0&feature=relmfu