Consumers Brand Loyalty

Abstract

            This is a research paper that analyzes a consumers brand loyalty, reasons for building brand loyalty and a case study with Mark who is a loyal customer of Motorola cell phone, he has used it for eight years and has his tenth handset yet is still into it. The paper also analyzes the history of Motorola and the contribution of Marketing in the development, building and maintaining genuine Brand loyalty among customers.

Introductions
            Brand loyalty can be defined as an act of repeated positive brand experience that fosters a relationship of trust and concern between the customers and the brand. This results in building an inbuilt understanding and liking for the product which makes the customers to be very reluctant to switch from the buying and consuming the product.
            Brand loyalty can as well be considered as the consumers commitment to the repeated purchase of the   brand, brand loyalty is not only determined by the continuous purchase but by also other factors as word of mouth advocacy. Continuous purchase of a brand by a customer can be as a result of situation constrains, lack of viable alternatives and just because of convenience at a particular time and place. This is called spurious brand loyalty.
            True brand loyalty implies that a customer is willing to purchase a brand even if there are some other better alternatives, this is well demonstrated by the customers buying behaviors as the customers are willing to pay high for the products, they are also willing to bring other customers to purchase the brand with them and can go to the extent of forfeit the purchase of other products for such a brand a customer is loyal to.
            There are many reasons to explain brand loyalty and these reasons differ from an individual to another. The loyalty to a brand is an individual’s personal perspective and mostly is dictated by factors such as Age, Gender, Marital Status, family background, height, profession, color and mostly by the marketing strategy employed by the company of a brand.
            In this paper am going to analyze marketing student Called Mark who is 24 years of age and is single.  The student has a brown complexion, is 5”8 feet tall and has been loyal to Motorola cell phone since he purchased his first phone. Mark comes from a very rich background and his first handset was his 16th   birthday present from his elder brother who was his favorite and a marketer too in a well reputed company. Even though Mark had since then purchased more than ten handsets his loyalty still holds to his first brand- Motorola. Why?
            Motorola is a cell phone brand that has been in existence for over 35 years, it is the leading mobile phone manufactures and providers. They deal with the provision of handsets. Motorola Company demands leadership in global communication and bringing leadership in the cutting Edge technology. It is a global company powered by and driving a seamless mobility with over three thousand different Phone styles       (http://www.motorola.com/ )
            Mark as a loyal consumer too has reasons why he has been loyal to his first brand; these reasons are also supported by several studies and earlier analysis is different.  One of the major reasons that usually make brand loyalty is a history of the product, its behaviors, personality, interaction and experience and the family myths that are attached to it. (Oliver,1999) Mark is attached to the product since he believed that since his favorite brother is a marketer and that is what he aspire to be ,then he attributes his marketing talent and skills to this gadget , he believes that his talents and his brother’s lie  within this product and not in himself. This has been family propelled.
            It is also clear in Mark’s case that his loyalty is attributed to  the attractive advertisement that is allover the media, in this advert the company advocates for their good quality products, improved technology and great innovativeness. (http://www.motorola.com/ )

            Motorola is a liking for Mark since as Dick and Kunal  puts it, It has partnered with other technological companies as AT& T corporations, Microsoft and Google to ensure continues entertainment and communication around the globe. This puts Mark on the spot since he can continuously communicate with his pals and watch live TV shows and programs wherever he is.
            Since Mark first impression with a Motorola cell phone was a good one, he has reached a level where he known how Motorola phone operates and depends on it, he can eve n predict what response he can receive from the phone when he gives some commands.
            His Brand loyalty has instilled into him an idea that many close brands are just but clones and have cheated many customers. For him he never wants to pay a price for that, he always want to be with the best, a brand where he can select through a variety of styles and always finds one that will meet his purpose age social status, gender and profession. Mark believes that always Motorola is the best in the market and will try to convince people to buy it ( Jones and Others, 2002)
            The strong conviction in Mark has been instilled into him constant work of marketing. This helps in the creation of Brand loyalty. The marketing of this brand has been advocating for its prestigious and aspiration purchase, convenience and its decency makes that they claim is the best choice of Natural selection. ((http://www.motorola.com/ )

            In conclusion it is suggested that marketing always builds a great brand loyalty. This is through its innovative and continuous fulfilling of the customers promise. If the quality promised in the advert is delivered and fulfilled, then a loyalty starts to develop.

References
Dick Alan and Kunal Basu (1994), “Customer Loyalty: Toward an Integrated Conceptual Framework,”
          Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22 (2), 99-113.
Oliver Richard L. (1999), “Whence Customer Loyalty?” Journal of Marketing, 63 (3), 33-44.
Jones Michael, Mothersbaugh David, and   Beatty Sharon (2002), “Why Customers Stay: Measuring the
         Underlying Dimensions of Services Switching Costs and Managing Their Differential Strategic
        Outcomes,” Journal of Business Research, 55, 441-50.
Reichheld Frederick. (1993), “Loyalty-Based Management,” Harvard Business Review, 71 (2), 64-73.

The editor , Motorola phone company ,(http://www.motorola.com/ ), Retrieved on 27th June 2008.