Keyword

Brand Image, Price, Perceived Quality, Perceived Value; Trust, Purchase Intention, Advertising; Country of Origin

Abstract

This comparative study between the UK and Poland set out to ascertain the key differences in the Skoda motor car brand across a range of brand characteristics, including brand image, price, perceived quality, trust, perceived value, purchase intentions, advertising and the country of origin effect. An online survey was used to collect data across both countries. A sample of 113 respondents was generated, with 58 respondents from the United Kingdom and 55 from Poland. The study found that, in general, the brand image of Skoda in both Poland and the UK was positive. However, it was statistically more positive in Poland. Most brand characteristics were found to be favourable to Skoda, although no further statistical differences were found between the country scores. Although no difference in the country of origin effect was detected statistically, the empirical evidence would suggest some affinity between Poland and Czech Republic, Skoda’s home, due to geographic and historical ties between the countries. Polish respondents were more knowledgeable about Skoda’s roots, which may account for its higher level of popularity in sales terms within that country. Whilst Skoda’s advertising was generally well received, there may be opportunity to embrace a change in tone (e.g. more humorous content) to make the brand more visible and appealing going forward


Full Text : PDF

References
  1. Aaker, D. (1991) Managing brand equity: Capitalizing on the value of brand name. New York: The Free Press.
  2. Aghekyan-Simonian, M., Forsythe, S., Kwon, W.S. & Chattaraman, V. (2012) The role of product brand image and online store image on perceived risks and online purchase intentions for apparel. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 19, (3), p.325-331.
  3. American Marketing Association [online]. Available:
  4.  https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B [Sept 19th 2016]. 
  5. Anwar, A., Gulzar, A., Sohail, F.B. & Akram, S.N. (2011) Impact of brand image, trust, and effect on consumer brand extension attitude: the mediating role of brand loyalty. International Journal of Economics and Management Sciences, 1, (5), p.73-79.
  6. Ataman, B. & Ulengin, B., (2003) A note on the effect of brand image on sales. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 12, (4), p.237-250.
  7. Bajpai, P. (2015) The World’s Top 10 Economies [online]. Available: 
  8. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/worlds-top-10-economies.asp [Sept 19th 2016]. 
  9. Balestrini, P. & Gamble, P. (2006) Country-of-origin effects on Chinese wine consumers. British Food Journal, 108, (5), p.396-412.
  10. Belal, H. M., Shirahada, K. & Kosaka, M. (2013) Value co-creation with customer through recursive approach based on Japanese Omotenashi service. International Journal of Business Administration, 4, (1), p.28–38.
  11. Blumberg, B., Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S. (2005) Business Research Methods. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
  12. Bravo, R., Fraj, E. & Martinez, E. (2007) Family as a source of consumer-based brand equity. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 16, (3), p.188–199.
  13. Broniatowski, M. (2015) What does Poland Need to Keep Its Economy On the Move? [online]. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinternational/2015/10/07/what-does-poland-need-to-keep-its-economy-on-the-move/#72f3d91e2c81 [Sept 16th 2016]. 
  14. Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2015) Business Research Methods [4th Edition]. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
  15. Caruana, A., Money, A.H., & Berthon, P.R. (2000) Service quality and satisfaction: The moderating role of value. European Journal of Marketing, 34, (11/12), p.1338–1352.
  16. Charters, S. & Pettigrew, S. (2006) Product involvement and the evaluation of wine quality. Qualitative Market Research, 9, (2), p.181–193.
  17. Choi, E. J. & Kim, S.-H. (2013) The Study of the Impact of Perceived Quality and Value of Social Enterprises on Customer Satisfaction and Re-Purchase Intention. International Journal of Smart Home, 7, (1), p.239–252.
  18. Chu, C.W. & Lu, H.P. (2007) Factors influencing online music purchase intention in Taiwan. Internet Research, 17, (2), p.139–155.
  19. Clark, S.D. (2009) The determinants of car ownership in England and Wales from anonymous 2001 census data. Transportation Research Part C, 17, p.526–540.
  20. Collis, J. & Hullis, R. (2003) Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students [2nd Edition]. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. 
  21. Cronin, J. & Taylor, S. (2002) Measuring service quality: a re-examination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56, p.55–58.
  22. Dargay, J.M. (2002) Determinants of car ownership in rural and urban areas: a pseudo-panel analysis. Transportation Research Part E, 38, p.351–366.
  23. Delgado, E., Munuera, J.L. & Yague, M.J. (2003) Development and validation of a brand trust scale. International Journal of Market Research, 45, (1), p.35-54.
  24. Dodds, W.B., Monroe, K.B. & Grewal, D. (2001) Effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers' product evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28, (3), p.307-319.
  25. Eagly, A.H. & Chaiken, S. (1993) The Psychology of Attitude. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
  26. English, A. (2011) Skoda celebrates 20 years of success under VW [online]. Available: 
  27. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/skoda/8458395/Skoda-celebrates-20-years-of-success-under-VW.html [Sept 19th 2016]. 
  28. Field, A. (2014) Discovering Statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics [4th Edition]. London: SAGE Publications.
  29. Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, I. (1980) Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  30. Ganesan, S. (1994) Determinants of long-term orientation in buyer seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 58, (2), p.1–19.
  31. Goldberg, M.E., Gorn, G. & Pollay, R.W. (1990) Advances in Consumer Research. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research. 
  32. Guercini, S. & Ranfagni, S. (2013) Integrating country-of-origin image and brand image in corporate rebranding: the case of China. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 31, (5), p.508-521.
  33. Hui, K.M. & Zhou, L. (2003) Country of manufacture effects for known brands. European Journal of Marketing, 37, (1/2), p.133-153.
  34. Jacoby, J. & Olson, J. (1995) Perceived Quality. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
  35. Jacoby, J., Syzbillo, G. & Busato-Sehach, J. (1997) Information Acquisition Behaviour in Brand Choice Situations. Journal of Marketing Research, 11, p.63-69.
  36. Jansson, J., Marell, A. & Nordlund, A. (2010) Green consumer behaviour: determinants of curtailment and eco-innovation adoption. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 27, p.358–370.
  37. Johnson, B. & Christensen, L. (2012) Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches [4th Edition]. London: Sage Publications.
  38. Juster, N. P., Maxfield, J., Dew, P.M. & Taylor, S. (2001) Predicting Product Aesthetic Quality Using Virtual Environments. Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, 1, (2), p.105–112.
  39. Kahn, M.E. (2007) Do greens drive Hummers or hybrids? Environmental ideology as a determinant of consumer choice. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 54, p.129–145.
  40. Keller, K.L. (1993) Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57, (1), p.1-22.
  41. Keller, K.L. (2013) Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity [4th Edition]. London: Pearson. 
  42. Keller, K.L., & Lehmann, D.R. (2006) Brands and branding: Research findings and future priorities. Marketing Science, 25, (6), p.740–759.
  43. Kim, H.B. & Kim, W.G. (2005) The relationship between brand equity and firms’ performance in luxury hotels and chain restaurants. Tourism Management, 26, p.549-560.
  44. Kim, H.W., Xu, Y. & Gupta, S. (2012) Which is more important in Internet shopping, perceived price or trust? Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 11, (3), p.241-252.
  45. Kim, S.J., Choi, Y.K., Kim, K.H. & Liu, H. (2015) Country of origin and brand image influences on perceptions of online game quality. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14, (6), p.389-398.
  46. Kirmani, A., & Rao, A.R. (2000) No pain, no gain: A critical review of the literature on signalling unobservable product quality. Journal of Marketing, 64, p.66–79.
  47. Knapmann, C. (2013) Skoda: from laughing stock to top dog [online]. Available: 
  48. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/skoda/10018605/Skoda-from-laughing-stock-to-top-dog.html [Sept 19th, 2016]. 
  49. Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2011) Marketing: An Introduction [11th Edition]. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
  50. Kotler, P. (2000) Marketing management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  51. Koubaa, Y. (2006) COO: who uses it, when and how it is used. Taiwan: Global Business and Technologies Association. 
  52. Kozlowski, P. (2016) Najczesciej kupowane samochody w 2015 r. w Polsce [online]. Available: 
  53. http://moto.pl/MotoPL/56,88389,19436611,najczesciej-kupowane-samochody-w-2015-r-w-polsce.html [Sept 19th, 2016].
  54. Landers, R. N. (2013) A step by step introduction to statistics for business. London: SAGE Publications. 
  55. Laroche, M., Papadopoulos, N., Heslop, L.A. & Mourali, M. (2005) The influence of country image structure on consumer evaluations of foreign products. International Marketing Review, 22, (1), p.96-115.
  56. Law, G.S. & Lamb, C.W. (2000) The measurement and dimensionality of brand associations. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 9, (6), p.350-368.
  57. Lee, E.J. & Overby, J.W. (2004) Creating value for online shoppers: implications for satisfaction and loyalty. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behaviour, 17, p.54-67.
  58. Left-lane [online]. Available: http://left-lane.com/european-car-sales-data/skoda/ [Sept 19th, 2016].
  59. Leone, R.P., Rao, V.R., McAlister, I. & Srivastava, R. (2006) Linking brand equity to customer equity. Journal of Service Research, 9, (2), p.125-138.
  60. Lichtenstein, D.R., Ridgway, N.M. & Netemeyer, R.G. (1993) Price perceptions and consumer shopping behavior: a field study. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, (2), p.234–245.
  61. Lin, C.H. & Tsai, C.C. (2006) Comparisons and advertising: The route from comparisons to effective advertising. Journal of Business and Psychology, 21, (1), p.23–44.
  62. Llusar, J.C.B., Zornoza, C.C. & Tena, A.B.E. (2001) Measuring the relationship between firm perceived quality and customer satisfaction and its influence on purchase intentions. Total Quality Management, 12, p.719– 734.
  63. McKnight, D.H. & Chervany, N.L. (2002) What trust means in E-commerce customer relationships: an interdisciplinary conceptual typology. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 6, (2), p.35–59.
  64. McKnight, D.H., Choudhury, V. & Kacmar, C. (2002) Developing and validating trust measures for e-commerce: an integrative typology. Information Systems Research, 13, (3), p.334–359.
  65. McNamee, M.J. (2007) Research Ethics in Exercise, Health and Sport Sciences. London: Routledge.
  66. Meenaghan, T. (1995) The role of advertising in brand image development. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 4, (4), p.23-34.
  67. Morwitz, V.G. & Schmittlein, D. (1992) Using segmentation to improve sales forecasts based on purchase intent: which intenders actually buy? Journal of Marketing Research, 29, p.391–405.
  68. Morwitz, V.G., Steckel, J. & Gupta, A. (1996) When Do Purchase Intentions Predict Sales? New York: Stern School of Business. 
  69. Oakshott, L. (2006) Essential Quantitative Methods: for business, management and finance [3rd Edition]. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.  
  70. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. & Berry, L. (2006) The behavioural consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60, p.31–46.
  71. Patton, M.Q. (2015) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods [4th Edition]. London: Sage Publications.
  72. Petrick, J.F. (2002) Development of a multi-dimensional scale for measuring the perceived value of a service. Journal of Leisure Research, 34 (2), p.119-134.
  73. Pharr, J.M. (2005) Synthesizing Country-of-Origin Research from the Last Decade: Is the Concept Still Salient in the Era of Global Brands? Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 13, (4), p.34–45.
  74. Piatkowski, M. (2013) Poland’s New Golden Age: Shifting from Europe’s periphery to Its Center. Policy Research Working Paper, 6639, p.1-34.
  75. Piatkowski, M. (2015) How Poland Became Europe’s Growth Champion: Insights from the Successful Post-Socialist Transition [online]. Available: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/future-development/posts/2015/02/11-poland-post-socialist-transition-piatkowski [Sept 19th, 2016]. 
  76. Rao, A.R. & Monroe, K.B. (1999) The effect of price, brand name, and store name on buyers’ perceptions of product quality: an integrative review. Journal of Marketing Research, 26, p.351–357.
  77. Roig, J.C.F., Garcia, J.S., Tena, M.A.M. & Monzonis, J.L. (2006) Customer perceived value in banking services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24, (5), p.266-283.
  78. Roselius, T. (1991) Consumer Ranking of Risk Reduction Methods. Journal of Marketing, 35, p.56-61.
  79. Roth, M.S. & Romeo, J.B. (1992) Matching product category and country image perceptions: a framework for managing country of origin effects. Journal of International Business studies, 23, (3), p.477-497.
  80. Rust, R.T. & Oliver, R.L. (2004) Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  81. Ryu, K., Han, H. & Kim, T.H. (2008) The relationships among overall quick-causal restaurant image, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 27, (3), p.459-469.
  82. Saarinen, M. (2016) Best-selling cars 2015: record year for the UK car sales [online]. Available: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars/90327/best-selling-cars-2015-record-year-for-uk-car-sales [Sept 19th, 2016]. 
  83. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2007) Research Methods for Business Students [4th Edition]. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
  84. Singh, J. & Sirdeshmukh, D. (2000) Agency and trust mechanisms in consumer satisfaction and loyalty judgments. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28, (1), p.150–167.
  85. Skoda PL [online]. Available: http://www.skoda-auto.pl/ [Sept 19th, 2016]. 
  86. Skoda UK [online]. Available:
  87.  https://media.skoda-auto.com/en/_layouts/Skoda.PRPortal/pressrelease.aspx?ID=963 [Sept 19th, 2016]. 
  88. Söderberg, R., Wickman, C. & Lindkvist, L. (2006) Improving Decision Making by Simulating and Visualizing Geometrical Variation in Non-Rigid Assemblies. CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology, 57, (1), p. 175–178.
  89. Srikatanyoo, N. & Gnoth, J. (2002) Country image and international tertiary education. Journal of Brand Management, 10, (2), p.139-148.
  90. Tam, J. L. M. (2004). Customer satisfaction, service quality and perceived value: An integrative model. Journal of Marketing Management, 20, (7–8), p.897–917.
  91. Verlegh, P.W.J. & Steenkamp, J.B. (1999) A Review and Meta-Analysis of Country-of-Origin Research. Journal of Economic Psychology, 20, (5), p.521–46.
  92. Wang, J.H. & Holden, J. (2000) Craftsmanship Evaluation in Automotive Products. International Journal of Industrial Engineering, 7, (4), p.286–290.
  93. Whelan, G. (2007) Modelling car ownership in Great Britain. Transportation Research Part A, 41, p.205–219.
  94. Which [online]. Available: http://www.which.co.uk/cars/skoda/ [Sept 19th, 2016]. 
  95. Wilson, R. & Crouch, E.A. (1987) Risk assessment and comparisons: an introduction. Science, 236, (4799), p.267-270.
  96. Xie, Y., Batra, R. & Peng, S. (2015) An extended model of preference formation between global and local brands: The roles of identity expressiveness, trust, and affect. Journal of International Marketing, 23, (1), p.50-71.
  97. Yoon, S., Oh, S., Song, S., Kim, K. K. & Kim, Y. (2014) Higher quality or lower price? How value-increasing promotions affect retailer reputation via perceived value. Journal of Business Research, 67, (10), p.2088-2096.
  98. Zeithaml, V.A. (1988) Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52, (3), p.2-22.