The Influence Of A Western Sounding Brand Name On Brand Personality

Choosing a relevant brand name is a cornerstone for product development. Numerous Chinese companies decide to take a foreign name and to implement a Western branding for products that are exclusively sold in China. The goal of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the reasons why those Chinese companies choose such a marketing strategy and decide to present themselves as Western to their consumer market however it is located in China. Furthermore, a comparison between two identical products coming from China, whose names are differing, one being Chinese, the other one being Western connoted, is conducted using the5personality traits model elaborated by Aaker (1997). The aim of this comparison is to measure the influence of a Western sounding brand name on the brand personality perceived in the mind of Chinese consumers and to determine to what extent a Western sounding name affects the consumer behavior and attitude towards the brand. The final point of this study is to determine if the Western branding strategy proves to be relevant.In order to achieve the aim of this thesis one first part is built on research in academic literature. Furthermore, additional information is gathered by interviewing marketing directors or executives of Chinese companies. A second part is based on the analysis of questionnaires submitted to Chinese consumers according to a standardized scheme and using the5brand personality traits scale introduced by Aaker (1997). This scale has been successfully used in numerous studies of consumer behavior. Therefore, Aaker s (1997) scale components have been chosen as the focal brand personality dimensions for this study.