(Luận văn thạc sĩ) brand loyalty of office women toward cosmetic products in vietnam

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HOCHIMINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

Hoang Thi Le Thuy

BRAND LOYALTY OF OFFICE WOMEN
TOWARD COSMETIC PRODUCTS IN VIETNAM

STUDENT ID: 22120140

MASTER OF BUSINESS BY HONOUR
SUPERVISOR: Dr. DINH CONG KHAI

Ho Chi Minh City - 2015


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would not have been able to complete my thesis without the advice, assistance,
understanding and encouragement of a number of people. I would like to gratefully and
sincerely acknowledge their assistance and support.
First of all, the most important person I would like to thank is my supervisor, Dr.
Dinh Cong Khai. Thanks to his valuable advice and generous guidance throughout the
journey of this reseach, I can finish my thesis.
Secondly, I would like to thank all of the staff at International School of Business –
University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City who are always enthusiastic and give me a lot
of administrative support, assistance and understanding.
Furthermore, I would like to express my grateful thanks to my friends and all the
respondents who participated in filling the questionnaires and provided the valuable
information for this study.
Finally, I would like to give my gratefulness to all classmates who have been sharing

with me all their knowledge and experience as well as happiness and difficulties during
MBA course. I would not complete my thesis without their encouragement and support.
Personally, I wish to express my deep gratitude to my parents and my brother for
their spiritual support and encouragement during the time of study.
In brief, it has been a long journey and I have grown in so many ways. I would like to
say “thank you” again for the involvement of everyone who has helped me to complete this
thesis.
June 6, 2015
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam,
Hoang, Thi Le Thuy


Abstract
For cosmetic industry, it is essential for businesses to understand the critical factors that
influence brand loyalty of office women toward cosmetic products. These issues are critical
to the long term business success of any industry. Based on the literature reviews in the
thesis, this study empirically examines the roles of the factors: brand awareness, perceived
quality, brand image and brand trust on brand loyalty of office women toward cosmetic
products in Vietnam.
The test processes in a sample of 138 cosmetic users who are office women working in
office buildings Ho Chi Minh City. Using a five-point Likert- scale to measure data together
with some methods of data analysis (Cronbach‟s Alpha test, Exploratory factor analysis and
Multiple regression analysis), the findings confirm that brand awareness, perceived quality,
brand image and brand trust has the positive effect on brand loyalty.
Extracted from the findings of this research, in order to receive the loyalty of women toward
cosmetic products, cosmetic brand must set up effective strategies marketing to keep
improving and maintaining the brand image, brand awareness, brand trust as well as
perceived quality. The results of this research are important for cosmetic businesses to
enhance and improve their competitiveness, in other words, to become successful and have
more loyal customers, which will ultimately result in more profitability.

Key words: customer retention, brand loyalty.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1
1.1. Research Background ......................................................................................................1
1.2. Research Problem ............................................................................................................2
1.3. Research Objectives ........................................................................................................4
1.4. Scope and Research Methodology of Study ...................................................................4
1.5. Significance of the Study ................................................................................................5
1.6. Research Structure ...........................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEWAND RESEARCH MODEL ..........................7
2.1. Brand ...............................................................................................................................7
2.1.1. From the traditional viewpoint of brand. .....................................................................7
2.1.2. From the synthetic viewpoint of brand. .......................................................................7
2.2. The Customer-based Perspective of Brand Equity .........................................................8
2.2.1. Brand equity .................................................................................................................8
2.2.2. The customer-based perspective ..................................................................................9
2.3. Brand Loyalty ................................................................................................................11
2.4. Brand Awareness ...........................................................................................................11
2.5. Perceived Quality ..........................................................................................................12
2.6. Brand Image ..................................................................................................................13
2.7. Brand Trust ....................................................................................................................15
2.8. Conceptual Model .........................................................................................................16
2.9. Hypothesis .....................................................................................................................16
2.10. Summary .....................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................18
3.1. Research Design ............................................................................................................18
3.2. Research Process ...........................................................................................................18
3.3. Measurement scale ........................................................................................................21

3.3.1. Brand loyalty ..............................................................................................................21
3.3.2. Brand awareness .........................................................................................................21


3.3.3. Perceived quality. .......................................................................................................22
3.3.4. Brand image ...............................................................................................................22
3.3.5. Brand trust ..................................................................................................................23
3.4. Question Design ............................................................................................................23
3.4.1. Questionnaire structure ..............................................................................................23
3.4.2. Qualitative research ....................................................................................................24
3.4.3. Quantitative research ..................................................................................................26
3.5. Data Collection Method ................................................................................................26
3.6. Sampling Design ...........................................................................................................26
3.6.1. Population ...................................................................................................................26
3.6.2 Sample size ..................................................................................................................27
3.7. Data Analysis Method ...................................................................................................28
3.7.1 Data code .....................................................................................................................29
3.7.2 Cronbach‟s alpha. ........................................................................................................29
3.7.3 Exploratory factor analysis (EFA). .............................................................................29
3.7.4 Multiple regression analysis ........................................................................................30
3.8. Summary .......................................................................................................................31
CHAPTER 4. DATA ANALYSIS .....................................................................................32
4.1. Preliminarily Data Analysis ..........................................................................................32
4.1.1. Cleaning and screening data. ......................................................................................32
4.1.2. Profile of respondents.................................................................................................33
4.2. Evaluating the Measuring Scales ..................................................................................34
4.2.1 Cronbach‟s alpha Reliability analysis. ........................................................................34
4.2.2. Exploratory Factor analysis. .......................................................................................37
4.2.2.1. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for independent factors ....................................37
4.2.2.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) for dependent factor. .......................................39

4.2.2.3 Summary of Exploratory factor analysis (EFA). .....................................................41
4.3 Hypothesis Testing .........................................................................................................41
4.3.1. Correlation analysis. ...................................................................................................42


4.3.2. Test of assumptions. ...................................................................................................43
4.3.3. Regression analysis. ...................................................................................................44
4.3.4. Explanation for the finding results of the hypotheses ................................................47
4.4. Summary .......................................................................................................................48
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ..............................................49
5.1. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................49
5.2. Managerial Implications ................................................................................................49
5.2.1. Brand awareness. ........................................................................................................50
5.2.2. Perceived quality. .......................................................................................................50
5.2.3. Brand image. ..............................................................................................................51
5.2.4. Brand trust ..................................................................................................................52
5.3. Limitations and Future Research...................................................................................52


LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Measurement scale of brand loyalty ....................................................................21
Table 3.2 Measurement scale of brand awareness ...............................................................22
Table 3.3 Measurement scale of perceived quality ..............................................................22
Table 3.4 Measurement scale of brand image ......................................................................23
Table 3.5 Measurement scale of brand trust ........................................................................23
Table 3.6 Measurement scale of the research after doing qualitative research ....................25
Table 3.7 The result of collecting questionnaires ............................................................... 28
Table 4.1 Descriptive Statistics of Sample...........................................................................34
Table 4.2 Cronbach‟s alpha result ........................................................................................36
Table 4.3 KMO and Bartlett's Test ......................................................................................37

Table 4.4 Total Variance Explained .....................................................................................38
Table 4.5 First EFA analysis results for the independent factors ........................................39
Table 4.6 KMO and Bartlett's Test ......................................................................................40
Table 4.7 Total Variance Explained .....................................................................................40
Table 4.8 Component Matrixa ..............................................................................................40
Table 4.9 Description of the correlation among variables ...................................................42
Table 4.10 Model Summary .................................................................................................44
Table 4.11 Anova ................................................................................................................45
Table4. 12 Coefficients .......................................................................................................45
Table 4.13 Summary of hypotheses testing result ...............................................................47

LIST OF FIGURES
Figures 2.1 Conceptual model ..............................................................................................16
Figures 3.1 Research Process ...............................................................................................20


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Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1. Research Background
The history of cosmetic industry spans at least 6,000 years along with the
development of human history. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined
cosmetics as something that intends to be applied on the human body for cleansing,
beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the
body's structure or functions, (Lewis, 2000). Cosmetic is generally considered to be makeup products. However, they indeed present in different forms, varying from powders, body
makeup, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste (Kumar, Massie, & Dumonceaux, 2006).
Cosmetic industry is considered to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the
business arena. The research of Kumar (2005) has showed that cosmetic products account
for approximately 18% of the entire global market for cosmetic, toilet, and fragrance. The
dramatic growth of the market not only exists in the Western hemisphere, due to the trend of

globalization, the markets of cosmetic products gradually develop in the regions such as
Asia, Eastern Europe and South America which represent a progressive consumption in the
cosmetic markets (Kumar, 2005). In addition, with the growth of global economics, the
cosmetic and fragrance industry show a successful performance with an average of 5%
growth rate among the industries every year (Kumar, 2005).
In the traditional agricultural society like Vietnam, cosmetic seemed to be luxury
products to Vietnamese people in the past. However, due to the improvement of living
standard, people have generated more and more demands toward cosmetic. In some cases,
cosmetic becomes one of daily necessities to some people. People are even willing to pay a
big amount of money for the sake of taking care of the beauty of face and skin by buying
trusted cosmetic. For example, through a survey, Q&Me (2015) studies the routine of using
cosmetic of Vietnamese women. This survey states that Vietnamese women often makeup.
Specially, the survey showed that 24% women makeup daily and 44% women makeup at
least once a week. That means about 68% women often use cosmetic to makeup excluding


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cosmetic for skin care. Also, Nguyen (2012) notes that cosmetic market in Vietnam very
potential.
In addition, Nielsen (2013) indicates that only 34% of Vietnamese customers seemed
to be loyalty. Based on this result, it shows that office women seemed to be not much
loyalty to cosmetic brand. Nevertheless, office women more and more have high demand
for using cosmetic products. In addition to, high brand loyalty could generate more profits
and lower many aspects of cost spent by the organization. Thus, measuring customers‟
perception for cosmetic brand equity in Vietnam becomes very important and necessary.
That will be the basis for improving the brand equity for cosmetic industry. It is essential to
reveal the factors that influence the brand loyalty by examining determinants of brand
loyalty. Then, research results will support the brand loyalty theory through understanding
the meaning of the factors that affect office women‟s loyalty toward the cosmetic brands.

Thereby, the results also provide marketing managers with insights of establishing a more
comprehensive business strategy to keep customers loyal to the cosmetic brand.
1.2. Research Problem
The cosmetic market is regarded as one of the most competitive market with an
enormous potential in business and innovative brands which are developed rapidly every
day in order to enter this lucrative market. It is stated that cosmetic industry is a “very
lucrative, innovative fast paced industry” (Kumar et al., 2006, p.286). Namely, innovation is
significant and considered to be the key to success. In addition, the extent of
competitiveness in the cosmetic market becomes more and more fierce. Owing to the
volatility of the cosmetic market which is included by a variety of brands and products, the
role of establishing, consolidating and maintaining competitive advantages becomes more
and more important.
In order to achieve competitive advantage and efficiency, businesses have to seek
profitable ways to differentiate themselves. The necessary thing to survive and maintain
customer revisits is to understand customers‟ needs and their expectations. Numerous of


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researches have indicated the importance of brand loyalty. The aim of studying brand
loyalty is to unveil the factors that give rise brand loyalty and provide insights for managers
to sustain a competitive brand. So, brands create higher customer loyalty, the higher profit
the company receives, which means that this brand has high value (Aggarwal, 2004).
Several previous studies have investigated about the brand loyalty and consuming
cosmetic products with many different components from many other aspects. Such as the
impact of factors of brand loyalty on cosmetic purchase intention of Iranian female
consumers (Kambiz and Leila, 2012), investigation about how the respondents are
influenced by factors of brand loyalty towards cosmetics brands (Khraim, 2011), the effects
of using internet in consuming cosmetics (Lee, Wu, Lin & Lee, 2014) and the effects of
emotional aspects and functional ones on customers‟ decision-making towards cosmetics

(News Rx Health & Science (2011).
These above reaches evaluate the effect of brand loyalty toward cosmetic brand by
using different components and aspects. In Vietnam, there are also many researches about
cosmetic products and the relationship between determinants of brand loyalty toward
cosmetic industry. Besides, the target customers of cosmetic companies are principally
female consumers. Along with the development of cosmetic‟s history, it has become more
and more familiar to women. Especially, cosmetic have even become one of daily
necessities to most of office women. Office women in this research are considered as
women working in office businesses, school or institute. Office woman is one of biggest
segments of cosmetic market for women. They also account for big amount of women
residents who are consuming cosmetic products in Ho Chi Minh City. Most of them have
high demand of cosmetic products for their daily activities and supporting their job demand.
Moreover, they mostly have jobs and stable income to maintain their need toward trusted
cosmetic. Therefore, they are expected to contribute significantly to the consumption of
cosmetic. As a result, the market segment of office women is potential for cosmetic industry
to conquer. However, it does not find out a specific research about components influencing


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on brand loyalty of office women toward cosmetic products in Vietnam by measuring
factors of brand equity.
Therefore, in order to fulfill the gap of relationship between components of brand
equity in the cosmetic industry, the author would investigate some components to explore
the key factors influencing on brand loyalty of office women in Vietnam toward cosmetic
products. That is the research problem which the author intends to investigate through this
thesis.
1.3. Research Objectives
Based on the research background and research gap, the overall objective of this
study is to examine the relationship between some key factors which are supposed to affect

brand loyalty toward cosmetic products in Vietnam of office women such as brand
awareness, perceived quality, brand image and brand trust.
Thank to examining the impact of those key factors on brand loyalty of office women
toward cosmetic products, the author would suggest some implications to enhance brand
loyalty of office women toward cosmetic products.
1.4. Scope and Research Methodology of Study
Thank to evaluating some key factors: brand awareness, perceived quality, brand
image and brand trust, the author measures and draw the relationship between them and
brand loyalty toward cosmetic products in Vietnam.
This study focuses mainly on the customer-based perspective of brand equity. The
financial perspectives of the brand equity are beyond our scope of study.
The respondents of the survey of this research are office women who are mostly
using cosmetic products. The research is narrowed down to Ho Chi Minh City because
HCMC is one of the most significant markets of cosmetic industry. It is one of some biggest
and most modern cities in Vietnam. It centralizes all trading activities and gathers people


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from different provinces and social level in our country. Also, in this city, cosmetic industry
develops strongly with enormous number of cosmetic brands.
The study has been carried out in HCMC May, 2015 because of convenience for the
researcher in terms of accessibility and limitations of research materials, time and resources.
Examining the relationship between some independent variables and brand loyalty,
the author uses the scale of some previous researches to generate a structured questionnaire
to collect data from women working in some office buildings in Ho Chi Minh City
(HCMC). A five-point Likert-type scale is used to measure the established scales. The
author applies data analysis tool (Microsoft Excel and SPSS) to handle the collected data
and to perform the research. Then, using SPSS to test the scale reliability (Cronbach‟ s
Alpha), Factor analysis is used to determine which of a fairly large set of items are answered

most similarly by the respondents, Multiple Regression is used to check the relationship
between independent variables and dependent variables.
1.5. Significance of the Study
After this study, it is hopeful that its finding will contribute in cosmetic industry‟s
knowledge about brand loyalty of office women as well as some factors‟ effect on it. From
understanding which thing is significant to create brand loyalty of customers in purchasing
cosmetic, the manager of cosmetic company knows the way to hold the loyalty of their
customers
1.6. Research Structure
This thesis consists of five chapters.
Chapter 1 – Introduction – introduces the research background of the study, research
problem, research objectives, research methodology and its scopes, the significance of the
study and the structure of the study.
Chapter 2 - Literature review and hypotheses – presents the fundamental theories and
definition of each concept in the study are explained based on quoting or paraphrasing the


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same concepts in some previous research by the author. From that, the research model and
hypotheses of this study are also presented by the author in this part.
Chapter 3 - Research Methodology - discusses about the research design, measures of
the constructs together with the measurement scales of this study. Research process is also
mentioned in this chapter. The method of data analysis with Cronbach‟s alpha, Exploratory
factor analysis (EFA) and Multiple regression analysis is introduced.
Chapter 4 - Data analysis and data results - presents the characteristics of the
collected samples as well as the result of the research after analyzing the samples with data
analysis method mentioned in chapter 3. From that result, the author draws the conclusions
for the proposed-hypotheses in chapter 2.
Chapter 5 - Conclusions, implications and limitations - confirms the supported

hypotheses based on the results of the research in the chapter 4. Based on those supported
hypotheses, the author suggests the contribution of the study in management theory and
practice and draws the limitation of the study for future research.


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Chapter 2. Literature Review and Research Model
Chapter 2 provides the relevant literature and theoretical framework for this study.
The first section begins with a discussion of brand concepts from both the traditional and
synthetic viewpoints. The second section discusses the customer-based perspective of brand
equity. In the third section, literature review on brand loyalty is conducted. The next section
explores logical linkages among brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image, brand
trust with brand loyalty. Based on the previous literatures, a research model and four
hypotheses are presented
2.1. Brand
Brand has become one of the main areas of study in marketing literature. According
to Padberg, Walker, & Kepner (1974), brand is able to strengthen product recognition and
provide information for customers with a view to avoiding the risks in buying unfamiliar
brands. A brand not only provides customers a way of differentiating itself from other
brands, but also reinforces the image in customers‟ mindset and provides information for
purchasing.
The term “brand” has multiple meanings and different perspectives. In general, there
are two main viewpoints about brand, namely traditional view and synthetic view.
2.1.1. From the traditional viewpoint of brand. The American Marketing
Association (AMA) defines brand as “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Lin, Wu, & Wang, 2000, p.
278). In essence, brand is understood as one component of products and the main function
of brand is used to differentiate a product from others and provides it with its own identity.

2.1.2. From the synthetic viewpoint of brand. As cited in Lin et al., (2000), Aaker
(1995) indicates that a brand has different levels. He points out that a brand is not solely
about the physical product, but it combines brand attributes, symbols, brand-consumer


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relationships, benefits of self-expression, customer profiles, associated with the culture of
the country of origin, and corporate identity. In other words, a brand stands for not only
product‟s physical design or term, but it also means the experiences from customers, the
spirit and culture created by the brand itself.
The aforementioned literature has outlined the definition of a brand and the value it
stands for. More importantly, it illustrates how a brand is related to the customers‟
perspectives. In the following section, the customer-based perspective of brand equity will
be discussed.
2.2. The Customer-based Perspective of Brand Equity
2.2.1. Brand equity. Brand equity has been considered in many contexts as the
added value endowed by the brand name (Farquhar, 1989). The concept of brand equity is
defined from different perspectives by many authors around the world. In the general sense,
Aaker (1991) defines brand equity as a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand,
its name and symbol. This set is added to or subtracted from the value provided by a product
or service to a firm and/or to that firm‟s customers. In the other word, brand equity is the
incremental value of a product due to the brand name (Srivastava and Shocker, 1991).
According to some leading authors in brand management, brand equity can be
studied from different viewpoints as the customer-based perspective (Keller, 1993; Aaker,
1996), the financial perspective (Srivastava and Shocker, 1991; Kim, Kim, & An, 2003), the
combined perspective (Dyson, Farr, & Hollis, 1996; Motameni and Shajroki, 1998).
Brand equity which is measured in financial perspective is based on the incremental
discounted cash flows. However, in this research, the author is going to exam the
relationship between cosmetic consumers (office women) and brand equity. Then,

customer-based perspective of brand equity should be used in this research. Many
researches which are specially related to the consumer-based brand equity have been
grounded in Aaker‟s (1991) brand equity theory and Keller‟s (1993) consumer-based brand
equity theory. Both scholars suggest the strength of a brand (i.e., brand equity) can be


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measured by examining consumers‟ associations with a brand, and their positive responses
to the brand.
2.2.2. The customer-based perspective. Keller (1993) has noted that the consumerbased brand equity is the differential marketing effect of brand knowledge that has on
consumer responses to the marketing activities for the brand, and it arises from a brand
which is familiar to customers and is associated in their memories. He also explains the
importance of understanding brand equity from customer‟s point of view as positive brand
equity can lead to a greater revenue, lower costs, and higher profit. It has direct implications
for the firm‟s ability to command higher prices, customer‟s willingness to seek out new
distribution channels, the effectiveness of marketing communications, and the success of
brand extensions and licensing opportunities.
Aaker (1991) suggests four main components for Customer-based brand equity
including brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and other proprietary assets. .
Otherwise, Srivastava and Shocker (1991) propose six components including brand image,
brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived value, distribution coverage, and utility. In
addition, Lassar, Mittal, & Sharma (1995) have stated that, a strong brand may help firms
enhance company-based brand equity, which is the incremental market strength of a brand.
In other word, brand equity is the enhancement in the perceived utility and desirability that a
brand name confers on a product. Lassar et al., (1995) also suggested five components of
brand equity including perceived quality, perceived value, brand awareness, brand
trustworthiness and brand commitment,
Furthermore, some scholars have also examined brand awareness, brand association,
and perceived quality as determinants of brand loyalty (Pappu, Quester, & Cooksey, 2005;

Pappu & Quester, 2006; Tong & Hawley, 2009a, 2009b; Yoo & Donthu, 2001, 2002; Yoo,
Donthu, & Lee, 2000). Unlike others, few studies have empirically tested the effect of brand
image on brand loyalty (Keller 1993, 2001; Kim et al., 2003) and brand trust on brand
loyalty (Atilgan, Akinci, Aksoy, & Kaynak, 2009).


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With different viewpoints on the brand equity described above, it can be seen that
brand equity is a complicated concept which consists of many components and possibly
these components could include various sub-components. Many authors have the same
approach to the brand equity components: most of them admit the presence of brand
awareness and perceived quality in brand equity. However, there are still some different
viewpoints among the authors, for example Lassar believes perceived value, brand
trustworthiness and brand commitment are other dimensions in brand equity concept, but for
Aaker, brand loyalty and brand image are the other components.
The components of brand equity are different from one industry to other Industry. In
the scope of this research for the cosmetic industry, the author would investigate two of
some components mentioned in the brand equity concept suggested by Aaker (1991). They
are brand awareness and perceived quality. His components have been broadly accepted and
employed by many other authors, such as Keller (1993); Low and Lamb (2000); and Yoo
and Donthu (2001). However, the author would argue for the presence of two more
components in this research. The first component is brand image which is suggested by
Keller (1993). This factor is also measured by Chen and Myagmarsuren (2001); and Kim et
al., (2003). The result shows that it plays an important role when consumers evaluate service
and product and it is a driving force leading customer to brand loyalty. The second one is
brand trust, which is suggested as a component of brand equity by Atilgan et al., (2009). He
has found that brand trust is significantly correlated with measures of satisfaction and brand
loyalty and further emphasized that it is the essence of the value that a strong brand provides
for customers.

Therefore, the author suggests that needed components to exam cosmetic consumers‟
responses to a brand are brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image,
and brand trust. Among of that, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image, and brand
trust are considered as determinants of brand loyalty.


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2.3. Brand Loyalty
The concept of brand loyalty has appeared and has been studied for a long time by
many other researchers and there are diverse definitions of this concept. Oliver (1997)
argues brand loyalty as “a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred
product/ service consistently in the future, causing a repetitive same brand or same brand-set
purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause
switching behavior.” (p.131). Loyalty makes consumers purchase a brand routinely and
resists customers switching to another brand. Brand loyalty is examined mainly from two
broad aspects, which are behavioral (or purchase) perspective and attitudinal perspective
(Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001; Huang and Yu, 1999)
Brand loyalty plays a significant role in brand extensions as well as brand equity. In
past studies, most scholars agree that brand loyalty can create firm benefits such as reduced
marketing costs (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001), positive word of mouth (Sutikno, 2011),
business profitability (Kabiraj and Shanmugan, 2011), increased market share (Gounaris
and Stathakopoulos, 2004) and a competitive advantage in the market (Iglesias, Singh, &
Batista-Foguet, 2011). These benefits clearly reveal the positive impacts brand loyalty can
have on a firm.
In varieties of previous researches, there have been many other factors affecting
brand loyalty. Among them, this research will focus on four factors which are considered to
contribute more to brand loyalty in cosmetic of office women. They are: Brand awareness,
Perceived quality, Brand image and Brand trust.
2.4. Brand Awareness

Aaker (1991) supposes brand awareness as one component of brand equity and also
defines brand awareness as “the ability for a buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a
member of a certain product category” (p. 61), while Keller (1993) emphasizes brand
awareness as the brand node or trace in memory which is reflected by consumers‟ ability to


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identify the brand under different conditions. Thus, brand awareness consists of both brand
recognition and recall.
The studies regarding brand awareness mostly focus on its effect on brand choice.
The ability of being aware of a certain brand reflects the capability of realizing and
distinguishing characteristics of that brand among a set of various brands in the market
(Nguyen and Nguyen, 2002). Aaker (1991) notes that brand awareness can affect
perceptions and loyalty. There are some previous researches, which have empirically tested
the relationship between brand awareness and brand loyalty.
By empirically testing, Aaker„s (1991) theory and Yoo‟s researches (Yoo and
Donthu, 2001, 2002; Yoo et al., 2000) demonstrate that brand awareness and positive
associations have effect on brand loyalty. Likewise, Pappu‟s studies (Pappu and Quester,
2006; Pappu et al., 2005) demonstrate the positive effect of brand awareness on loyalty. To
Aaker (1991), loyalty begins when the customers become aware of the product. High level
of brand awareness should increase the probability of selecting brand, as well as creating
greater customers‟ loyalty and decreasing vulnerability to competitive marketing actions,
augmenting brand loyalty (Keller, 1993). In cosmetic market, when consumers can
recognize and distinguish a company‟s cosmetic products with the others, customers could
have good impression on its products and easily tend to select this brand.
In support of the findings from those existing researches above, this study examines
the relationship between brand awareness and brand loyalty. Thus, this study proposes
Hypothesis 1: Brand awareness has a positive effect on brand loyalty.
2.5. Perceived Quality

Perceived quality is considered a primary dimension in the customer-based brand
equity frameworks (Aaker, 1996 and Keller, 1993). The main reason for that is it has a
strategic effect on brand equity, by reducing the perceived risk (Aaker, 1991 and Keller,


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1993), it also creates a basis for brand differentiation and extension (Aaker, 1991), and
offers a price premium advantage for firms (Keller, 1993).
Perception of perceived brand quality is determined by individual customers (Cole
and Flynn, 2009). According to studies that are made by Maynes (1976) and Zeithaml
(1988), there is no general agreement on standards for the skewed term “quality”; a
consumer‟s judgment about a product‟s excellence and superiority is an intangible aspect of
a brand. As a result, objective quality is moot, and all quality evaluations are considered to
be subjective. This argument supports the premise that quality is determined by customers‟
perceptions, based on customers‟ subjective evaluations of product quality. This component
plays an important role in measuring brand equity. It is created when customers know and
have associations with the brand. Besides, customers mostly have strict requirement about
quality of cosmetic products because this kind of product can be directly affect their health
and appearance. Then, customers only choose cosmetic products which are subjectively
evaluated to be safe and have good quality.
Cole and Flynn (2009) stated that “Perceived quality can affect a willingness to buy,
and the price that customers will pay” (p.68). According to Gurbuz (2008), Brand loyalty
expected to occur when perceived quality has been judged favorably. Also, when the
customers perceived the brand has high quality, they will develop brand loyalty. He also
stated that perceived quality is the main driver of brand loyalty and a positive quality
evaluation as a construct that maintains behavioral intentions. In a study, Boulding, Kalra,
Staelin, & Zeithaml (1993) have found the positive relationship between perceived quality
and repurchasing intention and willing to recommend. Thus, this study proposes
Hypothesis 2: Perceived quality has a positive effect on brand loyalty

2.6. Brand Image
Brand image consists of the attributes and benefits associated with a brand that make
the brand distinctive and thereby, it gets the firm‟s offer differentiate from other
competitions and thus, providing a comparative advantage (Webster and Keller, 2004).


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According to Keller (1993), the image of a brand is customers‟ perceptions of the brand as
reflected by the brand associations held in consumers‟ memory. Brand image should be the
factor that can attract the consumers at first and show the identity of the product by making
the unique and memorable brand name (Keller, 2003).
Among many studies, Souiden, Kassim, & Hong (2006) describes corporate image as
the overall impression in minds of the public about a firm. Brand image is an important
factor that can positively or negatively affect marketing activities of a firm and is considered
to influence customers‟ minds because it is combined from effect of physical evidence,
word of mouth and customers‟ actual experiences with the goods and services (Andreassen
and Lindestad, 1998). Specifying in cosmetic industry, image of a brand appears in public
can decide which market segment the company wants to conquer. Also, having good image,
company can sufficiently attract new consumers to its products and maintaining its position
in cosmetic products.
Brand image plays an important role when consumers evaluate service and product
and it is a driving force leading customer to brand loyalty (Chen and Myagmarsuren, 2001).
According to them, brand image influence attitudinal and behavioral response of customers
toward brand, company and services. Also, Wood (2000) argues that brand image is always
tailored to the needs and wants of a target market so as to facilitate brand loyalty. Hsieh and
Li (2008) show that consumers‟ perception of an organization‟s public relations practice is
an antecedent of loyalty. They further found that the impact of public relations perception
on brand loyalty is stronger and more significant when the brand image is favorable.
Nevertheless, numerous empirical findings have indicated that perceived image of a firm

positively influences loyalty (Kim, Jean, & Hyun, 2012; Ryu, Lee, & Kim, 2012), thus, this
study proposes
Hypothesis 3: Brand image has a positive effect on brand loyalty


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2.7. Brand Trust
Trust in marketing is regarded as one of the key ingredients or lubricants required to
encourage smooth business relationships (Nguyen, 2002). Morgan and Hunt (1994)
conceptualize “trust” as something existing when one party has confidence in an exchange
partner‟s reliability and integrity. The concept of brand trust is defined as “the willingness
of the average consumer to reply on the ability of the brand to perform its stated function”
(Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001, p.82).
Brand trust influences on relationship commitment (Morgan and Hunt, 1994),
product consideration and purchase (Erdem, Swait, & Valenzuela, 2006) as well as
satisfaction and loyalty (Lau and Lee, 1999). It is stated that brand trust is an important
mediator factor on the customer behaviors before and after the purchase of the product; and
it causes long term loyalty and strengthens the relation between two parties (Liu, Guo, &
Le, 2011). In addition, Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) suggested that brand trust leads to
brand loyalty or commitment, because trust creates an exchange relationship that is highly
involved. In other words, the positive feeling of customers towards a brand leads to the
intention to keep doing long-term business with the brand‟s manufacturer. In cosmetic
industry, brand trust is also one of significant components that firstly lead customers to a
cosmetic brand‟s products. By creating strong brand trust toward customers, company can
get long term loyalty and strong relationship with its consumers .Brand trust is proposed to
have a positive relationship with brand loyalty, which leads to
Hypothesis 4: Brand trust has a positive effect on brand loyalty.

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2.8. Conceptual Model
Based on the literature reviews, this research will develop theoretical framework of
the model as follow
Figures 2.1 Conceptual model

Brand
Awareness
H1
Perceived

H2

Quality
Brand Loyalty
H3

Brand
Image
H4

Brand
Trust

2.9. Hypothesis
H1. Brand awareness has a positive effect on brand loyalty.
H2. Perceived quality has a positive effect on brand loyalty.
H3. Brand image has a positive effect on brand loyalty.
H4 Brand trust has a positive effect on brand loyalty.

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2.10. Summary
In this chapter, the author introduces the concept of brand, customer-based
perspective of brand equity as well as some its components: brand loyalty, brand awareness,
perceived quality, brand image, and brand trust. These concepts are more understand by its
definitions that quoted in previous researches. Besides, the author introduces the
relationship of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image, and brand trust with brand
loyalty. From these relationships, the author presents four hypotheses extracted from them.
The following chapters will present how researcher develops measurement scales for each
constructs in the research model.


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Chapter 3. Research Methodology
This chapter shows more detail about the research process and operationalization of
measurement scales of this research. In addition, this chapter also provides information of
sample such as: sample size, sample approach method in main survey. Beside of those, this
chapter also provides information about questionnaires design. In the end, this chapter also
mention about the methodology for data analysis for this research
3.1. Research Design
In order to dress a design for research, researchers considered the kind of model and
measures that are suitable to the subject of the research. The focus of this research was
examining the factors affecting brand loyalty toward cosmetic products which included
brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image and brand trust of cosmetic products. An
operation model was presented in Figure 2.1. This research used primary data that collected
from office women in Ho Chi Minh City. Thus, a questionnaire survey design was used as

the data collecting method.
3.2. Research Process
Determining the research problem was the important step of this research. After that,
by reviewing the literature, relevant concepts related to determinants of brand loyalty would
be found out. These concepts were the foundation for proposing the research model and the
hypotheses in the next step. In this study the main purpose was evaluating the factors
affecting brand loyalty in cosmetic products consist of brand awareness, perceived quality,
brand image and brand trust. An operation model was presented in Figure 2.1. The research
design was applied to identify data resources, methods of collecting data, measurement
scale used in this study, sampling design, and data analysis methods.
Relying on the measurement scale borrowed from previous studies, the
questionnaire‟s draft was designed and translated into Vietnamese. The draft of
questionnaire was revised by researcher‟s supervisor to correct mistakes before making
qualitative research.