Research On Factors Influencing Brand Image Of Chinese Smart Phone In European Market

As the domestic cellphone market has already been saturated,a great number of Chinese cellphone vendors are pushing forward the strategies aiming to develop overseas market.Under the condition of trade war between the United States of America and China,European market has already been the “Commanding Height” of the overseas cellphone market.In this context,this thesis is going to explore which factors would affect brand images of Chinese smart phone vendors in European market.The line of thought for this research is,first of all,sorting out previous research and theories related to brand image as well as brands of smart phone.This research picks out Biel Model as the theoretical base after comparing three kinds of typical models that are used to illustrate brand image.This research puts forward hypothesis,builds a three-phrase influencing model based on Brand Cluster Theory,Involvement Theory,Image of Original Country and Familiarity Theory etc.,forms questionnaire according to scales that have been tested,adjusts questionnaire by conducting a preliminary survey,spreads questionnaire and collects data in Germany.This paper processes data with validity analysis,reliability analysis,factor analysis,relevant analysis and several rounds of regressive analysis to test hypothesis of this research,and comes up with conclusion as well as managerial suggestions at the end.By hypothesis-testing,conclusions are as following:(1)“Product and Services”,“Communication Way” and “Celebrity Endorsement” has positive effect on brand image of Chinese smart phone in European market.(2)The willingness to know about cellphones is able to promote the positive effect influenced by services,distribution channels and celebrities.(3)The “Stereotype of The Origins” has negative moderation effect on the mechanism influenced by “Product & Services” and “Communication Way”.(4)The effect on brand image that is worked by “Celebrity Endorsement” is not influenced by “Stereotype of The Origins”.(5)The moderation effect works depending on whether consumers have former experience on using Chinese smart phone.Those findings enrich theoretical research on brand image.The managerial and marketing suggestions based on the conclusions of this paper merit attentions from decision makers of companies for making suitable brand strategies in reality.There are mainly two innovative points in this paper.(1)This research supplements the Biel Model with Five Element Theory of Communications.This paper takes not only the direct effect that influences brand image into consideration,but also the moderation effect including “Stereotype of The Origins” as well as “Product Involvement”.What's more,this paper also adds the dual moderation effect,which is “Whether Use Chinese Cellphone Before” into the model of this research.(2)The research area of this paper is focused on the European market,which is comparatively rare for the research on brand image of Chinses cellphone.