Nike and Brand Loyalty

Nike is a great company which does worldwide marketing of high quality footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products. It is the largest seller of athletic footwear and athletic apparel in the world.

Nike has been successful in building a brand image with its performance.

From the early days, Nike has learnt the consumers’ need by listening to the need of athletes, sharing their true passion for running.

When it comes to the brand loyalty, which is the consumer preference to buy a certain brand. According to (Tuominen, 1992) brand loyalty is nothing but the regular purchase of the same brand over time. According to the research 55% of the respondents stated that they were purchasing the same brand for the past 15 years. Consumers trust the brand and become loyal to the particular brand. This shows the brand loyalty of the consumers towards Nike.

The survey results exemplify the loyalty of the brand. Most of the respondents are loyal with the specific branded products. Since years of time they have been buying the same brand because that specific brand has satisfied the consumers’ needs and has gained the credence in the brand name. The study also annotates the consumer preferences to buy the particular branded products over years. Some of the respondents stated that they have been purchasing Nike because the standards of quality are very high and comfort levels are very high.

The elementary reason which the respondents say for buying the same brands for a long time is the perceived quality (Kalra & Murthi, 2008). Perceived product quality is perhaps one of the most important constructs in marketing (Cronin & Taylor, 1992).

Undoubtedly, the belief that if the perceived quality is high it leads to frequent purchases which is the substratum of any business.

It can be analysed from the research that when the respondents were asked to rank the characteristics from 1 to 8 as 1 being the lowest and 8 being the highest, which led them to choose Nike instead of any other brand, 25% of the respondents have ranked 8 for the characteristic quality. And the some of the comments made by the respondents are like ‘Even though Nike is very expensive it has good quality and variety’, ‘the best quality I have ever seen is Nike’. ‘Nike has a very good quality in every of its products which cannot be seen in other brands which makes me to buy them’. ‘I buy the Nike products because of the quality. Quality is very good when compared with other brands’. 38% of the respondents stated that Nike delivers the best quality when compared to other brands. This shows how consumers are associated with Nike in terms of quality.

The brand association creates a positive attitude and feeling that makes a connection of the customer with the brand, especially when it comes to decision making. Marketers try to position their brands so that they are perceived by consumer to fit a distinctive niche in the marketplace – a niche occupied by no other product (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1994).

Brand association is anything which is deep seated in customer’s mind about the brand. Brand associations are the attributes of brand which come into consumers mind when the brand is talked about. One of the respondent said that ‘Nike has some uniqueness in it which makes me to purchase the products’. Many of the consumers are associated with the Nike brand because of its variety, quality and its success. Even though brand association is formed on basis of the price at which the products (Aaker, 1991) are sold 3 to 4 respondents stated that even though Nike products are very expensive we purchase them for the quality and variety it has.

Brand name plays an important role in the product sales and affects the consumer’s choice in selecting the products. The consumer is ready to pay excessive price if the brand name is paramount because they believe in the brand name (Marjit et al, 2007). During the survey 58% of the respondents replied that they consider the brand name when they go for shopping or when purchasing a product. The main reason for considering the brand name is that it provides the confidence and consumers feel more comfortable when they purchase the branded products in which they trust.

Some brands are created in order to give consumers more experience than other brands. The most effective brand steals the consumer’s attention (Daryi, 2000). The results from the research illustrate the experience of the customer in buying the Nike brand. Generally consumers think of their past experience before purchasing the products. If they are satisfied with the product they will prefer to continue the purchase of same branded products. 55% of the respondents stated that they are purchasing the Nike brand for the past 15 years which shows their experience in purchasing the brand and 58% of the people are extremely satisfied with the quality of the Nike brand. If a consumers has a positive experience with the brand, it will help in developing the consumer’s trust in the company brand and will also have them as a loyal consumer’s. The results describe that the Nike brand have a strong space in consumers mind in terms of quality and uniqueness. It also shows that the consumers experience shows high consequence in their choice and buying decision.

Brand awareness plays a vital role in consumer’s decision making process. Hoyer & Brown (1990) say that people normally think to buy the brands they are familiar with and the brands on which they have confidence. 58% of the respondents stated that they choose the branded products because they are well associated with it and have good opinion on the particular branded products they buy.

A brand to become successful, pricing strategy plays a vital role. Generally consumers compare one brand with the other with respect to price and quality. Daryi, 2000 says that if the price of product of their choice is more than the other branded product, consumers normally prefer the product which has lower price in the market. 6% of the respondents said that price is the factor which led them to choose Nike instead of any other brands. Due to the cost factor sometimes consumers may switch to other brands which replace the product which they need. Two of the respondents stated that even though the prices of Nike are very high when compared to other brands we purchase products of Nike because of the quality and varieties they offer. Further the results from the research shows that if the prices of the Nike products are little reduced there will be an increase in sales. This shows that the pricing strategy is very important for a company to survive in the market.

By studying the customer behaviour, firms and organizations can be benefited by understanding some points like how consumers think, feel and decide to purchase which product to buy between lots of alternatives like brand and products available in the market, the factors which influence their buying decision. Consumer behaviour involves how the customers use the product as well as how they purchase the product. The overall study tells that the consumer behaviour is based on many factors like their buying behaviour, knowledge about the brand and some environmental factors like family, culture etc.

During the research many things were observed regarding the consumer behaviour like frequency of purchase, their favourite brand, whether they consider brand into consideration when they purchase any product and how satisfied they are with the Nike product. It was observed that 29% of the respondents go for shopping once in a month and 28% of the respondents go twice in a month for shopping which depends upon their needs and their individual lifestyle. There was none of the respondents who said we never go for shopping and 10% of the consumers shop once in a year. Different consumers have different kinds of buying behaviour according to their needs and lifestyles.

Only 13% of the respondents said that they don’t buy the Nike products at all and 83% of the respondents stated that they purchase the Nike branded products. And the people who own the Nike items don’t buy them frequently. Some of them buy once in a year and some of them once in a month. Some of them consider the quality, some of them design and some of them consider price which depends upon the mind-set of the individual. If marketers’ analyse the factors like price, quality, variety and brand name; they can influence purchase behaviour of a consumer.