Examining the influence of brand positioning on brand attachment and brand performance: A study of consumers' perception in the context of a hospitality setting in Nigeria
Creators: name: Olutimehin, Modupe
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: The study was focused on extending the current knowledge of brand positioning within the discipline of marketing by generating a comprehensive conceptual framework of its influence on brand attachment and brand performance. By investigating the conceptual framework, this study challenges the claims that brand positioning, as the consumers’ perception of a brand, results in brand attachment and brand performance (Iyer et al., 2019; Koch & Gyrd-Jones, 2019; Hu & Trivedi, 2020).This research adopted a mixed-methods approach - a broadly quantitative method backed by insights from an exploratory stage that incorporates interviews. The conceptual framework that guided the process of this research was created based on existing literature and the outcome of qualitative analysis.Based on the statistical outcome and the qualitative study (the related literature, in-depth interviews), the present study showed that there is a favourable relationship between brand positioning, brand local iconness, and brand authenticity. In other words, authenticity and local iconness are favourable antecedents of brand positioning. The research further discovered that asides from brand trust, events, and customer online engagement, the other brand success multipliers tested (online review, brand relationship, and CSR) have a significantly favourable relationship with brand positioning. Nevertheless, online engagement and event (other brand success multipliers) were not significantly favourable as antecedents of brand positioning. In addition, the relationship between brand positioning and the consequences was examined; the hypotheses testing outcomes indicate that brand attachments (specifically cognitive and conative), as well as brand performance (loyalty, attitude, equity, satisfaction, reputation), are consequences of brand positioning. Furthermore, the moderating effect of brand identity, brand warmth, brand awareness, and brand competence on brand positioning towards performance and attachment were investigated.Findings revealed that brand identity does not moderate a favourable relationship between authenticity and brand positioning; brand awareness moderates the relationship between positioning and attachment, and between brand performance and positioning; brand competence is not significantly moderating the relationship between attachment, brand competence, and positioning; brand warmth moderates a favourable relationship between brand positioning and brand attachment, and moderates a favourable relationship between brand positioning and brand performance.

This thesis posed a comprehensive study that operationalised and conceptualised the idea of brand positioning, as well as its antecedents, its consequences, and the moderators of those relationships. This research proved usefulness in the expansion of generally held knowledge by providing a theoretical contribution to the existing body of work in the form of a theory extension, theory testing and generalisation, the standard of conceptualisation, and measurement. In addition, this research provided a significant managerial contribution to advertising executives, decision-makers, and marketing chiefs about the entire relationship between a favorable brand positioning, its antecedents, and its main consequences, as well as a practical implication to marketing and business management practitioners. This is because it is important for these individuals to be able to understand the antecedents of a favorable brand positioning in order to make informed decisions. It is important for managers and decision-makers to develop a comprehensive understanding of the concepts of brand positioning and its influence on brand attachment and brand performance. This would help them in developing marketing strategies that influence brand positioning. They need to understand the relevance of brand authenticity and brand local iconnes as key strategies to improving brand positioning in the competitive market. These strategies have a higher probability of enhancing a favorable brand attachment and brand performance. In conclusion,this study provided a deeper exploration of the concept of brand positioning, as well as its primary antecedents, consequences, and moderators, and developed framework that substantiate the findings to the body of knowledge.