CJASR-12-13-134

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012 Available online at http://www.cjasr.com ISSN: 2251-9114, ©2012 CJASR

60

Full Length Research Paper

The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop

industry in Malaysia

Abdolrazagh Madahi1*, Samine Musavi2

1Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development, Collage 15 (KTGB), XA2, Room 701, Universiti Technologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

2Faculty of Management, MMU, Malaysia *Corresponding author: [email protected]; Tel: 0060166914688

Received 2 September 2012; Accepted 14 October 2012

In today’s competitive environment, brand differentiation based on tangible attributes is difficult to achieve. Consumers purchase products/brands not only because of their or quality but more importantly, because of the symbolic meanings contained in products/ brands. To address this issue, the current study tries to explore how attitude towards global advertisement may affect a company brand image in laptop industry. The questionnaires had been distributed to test the model of this study among customers in Malaysia. The findings revealed strong relative explanatory power of attitude towards global advertisement over brand image. Furthermore, a special class of advertisement based perceptual variables such as attitude toward advertisement, attitude toward advertiser, advertisement credibility and advertisement perception is found to have a direct influence on attitude toward brands. Key words: Global Advertising Strategy; Brand Image; Laptop Industry; Malaysia

1. INTRODUCTION In today‟s competitive environment, brand differentiation based on tangible attributes is difficult to achieve. Therefore, concepts like “customer-brand relationship” “brand magic” have become important in brand building literature. The reason for the success of these lies in the emotional and self-expression benefits that brands provide to their ultimate consumers. From the brand building perspective, brand personality is considered as an important input variable in branding strategy models (Keller, 1993). From the customer perspective, the adoption of new brands is a consequence of advertising process (Cobb-Walgren, Ruble and Donthu, 1995; Meenaghan, 2001).

Consumer purchase products/brands not only on the basis of their functions or quality but more importantly, due to the symbolic meanings contained in products/ brands (Creusen, Veryzer and Schoormans, 2010; Veryzer, 1998). Brands offer different values to consumers: these values are basically functional (i.e., the problem-solving capability of a brand), experiential (i.e., benefits related to sensory enjoyment or cognitive arousal) and symbolic brand benefits (i.e., the signal effects shown to others via the brand) (Keller, 1993).

Marconi (2000) asserted that brand personality, which was defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand (Aaker, 1999), is of great consequence in marketing because the building of a public identification of oneself with the brand can lead to strong brand loyalty. Emphasizing key attributes that customers deem important facilitates self-congruity with the brand‟s personality, thus increasing the probability of being chosen by the customer (Aaker, 1999) .

Brand image is the perception of the brands or products by the consumers. In the given definition, we can explore two concepts which are image and identity of the brand. In order to find the relationship between them, we need to explore researches which defined brand identity as “a set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain” (Aaker, 2004).

Associations of brand image related to products are attributes, benefits and attitudes, favorability of brand associations, strength of brand association and uniqueness of brand associations (Keller, 1993).

As a result, the above contents show that advertising makes consumer‟s mind ready to perceive the quality and personality of the brand. On the other hand, advertising strategy forces consumers to make strong relationship with brand

Madahi and Musavi The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop industry in Malaysia

65

of the company which leads to increasing brand image in consumer‟s mind. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. The Globally Oriented Consumer The global consumer is an elusive notion in marketing literature with no clearly accepted definitions. Some business scholars suggest that all cultures are converging onto a single set of similar value systems and behavioral tendencies ( Belk, Russell W. 1996). Others suggest that globalization has resulted in the convergence of macro-level systems, but that consumer behavior is more divergent as increasing incomes allow consumers to express their cultural values (De Mooij, 2000). Still others suggest that there exists a global consumer segment that transcends national boundaries and is unique compared to traditional consumer segments based on national cultural differences (Cleveland and Laroche, 2007; Keillor, D'Amico and Horton, 2001).

Evidence shows some convergence of values and opinions between emerging and developed countries with regards to political and social issues; however, widespread convergence of values has yet to materialize. The globally oriented consumer may be abstract enough concept that the prospects of accepting a single definition are not particularly good. 2.2. Global Brand Attitude Studies showed that there is a positive significant relationship between Global Consumption Orientation and attitude toward global brands (Alden et al., 2006). However, the effect of GCO was partially mediated by consumer ethnocentrism, i.e. consumer belief about the appropriateness and morality of purchasing foreign-made products (Shimp and Sharma, 1987), which had also previously been found to significantly affect global brand attitude (Steenkamp and Gielens, 1998).

According to Alden et al., (2006), high GCO individuals hold positive attitudes towards symbols of globalization, e.g. global brands because they signal affiliation with a global group, a position that implies a basis in identity theory. In addition, attitude research suggests that individuals strive to remain attitudinally consistent and avoid adopting attitudes or behavior that contradicts each other (e.g., Leslie, 1995).

In a modern globalized marketplace, the meaning of country of origin can be ambiguous. Is

country of origin being determined by the location of the corporate headquarters or the location of the manufacturing plant? In the case of complex products, e.g. automobiles or computers, where component parts are manufactured and assembled around the world, the answer becomes even more unclear.

Understandably, researchers have found that the ability of consumers to accurately identify products' country of origin is very poor (Samiee et al., 2005). Nevertheless, regardless of how an individual arrives at determining a country of origin for a given product, it is the salience or relevance, of such information that can affect quality judgments and purchase intentions (Lala et al., 2009; Peterson and Jolibert, 1995).

Individuals who prefer local consumption alternatives by definition prefer products and a lifestyle symbolic of their local community and are more likely to reject those that are symbolic of a global consumer culture. Individuals with a local consumption orientation would prefer domestic products when available. 2.3. Role of Advertising in Creation of Brand Image Advertising can be defined as a form of communication in helping to sell products and services. It communicates, informs, interacts, divulges and disseminates the essential information (name of the product or service, etc.) and conveys benefits of the product among the potential customers. The advertisements often experiment with the recreation and reinvention of the brand image to carry the message forward and accentuate the consumption patterns. For the same effects, advertisements could be imbued with persuasion and information.

Advertising is a promotional activity for marketing goods and services. It is heavily used in the process of personality creation. In the process of personality creation, advertising and marketing communication approaches are largely used to create a brand‟s personality (Kazemi and Esmaeili, 2010). The execution strategies for conveying and imparting the core idea can vary from the informational to emotional. Through television, radio, cinema, magazines, newspapers, video games, carrier bags, billboards, mail or post and Internet, marketing brands reach large numbers of individuals representing a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Also the qualitative factors associated with the content and/or

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012

62

execution of an advertisement has an impact on its eventual effectiveness (Redenbach et al., 1996).

Self-concept and personality have been used interchangeably in the existing marketing and psychology literature. Rosenberg (1979) defined self concept as the “totality of the individual‟s thoughts and feelings having reference to him as an object”. Onkvisit and Shaw (2004) augmented that definition by saying that an individual compares himself to other objects in a frame of reference that is socially determined. In consumer research, it is generally accepted that self concept (also referred to as self-image) has four aspects: actual-self (how a person sees himself/herself), social-self (how others see him/her), ideal-self (how a person would like to see himself/herself), and ideal social-self (how a person would like others to see him/her (Gao et al., 2005) The view of self-image congruence states that consumer preferences are determined by a cognitive harmony between consumer self-image and brand image.

Johar and Sirgy (1991) developed two alternative routes to persuasion: (a) Self-congruity: which is the match between the product‟s value-expressive attributes and the audience‟s self concept; (b) functional congruity: which is the match between the beliefs of product‟s functional attributes and the audience‟s referent attributes (Sirgy et al., 1991; Sirgy et al., 2008). Rossiter and Percy (1987) believed that self congruence is the main route used in “transformational advertising”, in contrast to functional congruity which is very often used in “informational advertising”. Fashion apparel is a category with higher levels of conspicuousness and consumer involvement, implying that self-congruence is the dominant persuasion route. Apparels are a non-verbal form of communication of individual personality and self-image. The symbolic, self-expression and socialization roles of apparel brands (Hahn and Kean, 2009) also enhance the relevance of the study of the influence of self-image congruence upon purchase intentions. 2.4. Customer attitude toward advertisement 2.4.1. Attitude towards advertising Attitude towards advertising is defined as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward advertising in general. Bauer and colleagues (1968), in their classic study Advertising in America: The Consumer View, were the first to examine attitude towards advertising

systematically. They observed a relationship between consumers' attitudes towards advertising and their subsequent ratings of specific advertisement as being annoying, enjoyable, informative, or offensive, categories often used in reaction profile studies. Hence, as discussed in the advertisement perceptions section, attitude towards advertising is seen as exerting an indirect effect on attitude toward advertisement.

However, a direct effect of attitude towards advertising on advertisement through a process of generalization is also likely; that is, a consumer‟s general affective reaction to advertising has a tendency to affect his or her attitude towards any specific advertisement. 2.4.2. Attitude toward the Advertiser Consumers‟ affective reactions to the sponsor of the advertisement stimulus of interest are expected to carry some weight in the formation of advertisement- attitude toward the advertiser is defined as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward the sponsoring organization, consistent with Fishbein and Ajzen's (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) definition of attitude. Likewise, attitude towards the advertiser is seen as representative of an accumulation of both information and experience acquired over time and hence is less transitory. This attitudinal construct is expected to have "spillover" effects on consumers' affective and cognitive reactions to advertising emanating from the advertiser. The process by that attitude towards the advertiser affects attitude toward advertisement is likely to be more or less automatic, with little active cognitive contemplation. 2.4.3. Advertisement credibility Recent research has identified attitude toward the advertisement as an important construct factor that effects on brand attitude and purchase intention. Advertisement credibility is defined as the extent to which the consumer perceives claims made about the brand in the advertisement to be truthful and believable. It is only one of many possible perceptual responses to a commercial stimulus, the remainder of which are treated in the second major class of determinants, ad perceptions (Drumwright and Murphy, 2009).

Underlying ad credibility is the ad credibility subsystem, consisting of three constructs: perceived advertisement claim discrepancy,

Madahi and Musavi The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop industry in Malaysia

65

advertiser credibility and advertising credibility; only the latter two are considered further here. Advertising credibility represents consumers‟ perceptions of the truthfulness and believability of advertising in general, not simply the particular advertisement in question (Chatterjee and Dutta, 2010). As in the case of ad credibility, advertising credibility is merely one of several perceptual dimensions along which consumers may assess advertising as an institution; hence, a solid double line connects advertising credibility and perceptions of advertising, a more general category discussed shortly. The final component of the ad credibility subsystem is advertiser credibility, the perceived truthfulness or honesty of the sponsor of the advertisement (Chang, 2009). Again, as indicated by the double lines between advertiser credibility and perceptions of advertiser, the former is seen as a single dimension of the latter multidimensional construct. 2.4.4. Advertisement perceptions

Advertisement perceptions are defined as a multi-dimensional array of consumer perceptions of the advertising stimulus, including executional factors but excluding perceptions of the advertised brand. The distinction made here is between brand cognitions (i.e., beliefs about the brand) and ad cognitions (Prendergast et al., 2009). In previous versions of the model, the ad perceptions subsystem consisted of reaction profile and execution cognitive responses. Upon further reflection, it became apparent that these two variables are not causal antecedents of advertisement perceptions, but rather are indicants

of ad perceptions. Lutz (1990) reviewed the research in which

these two approaches were used. The underlying determinants of advertisement perceptions are the actual execution characteristics of the ad stimulus and the individual's attitude toward advertising in general and attitude toward the advertiser in particular. The processing and interpretation of executional characteristics is a straightforward perceptual phenomenon that would come under the "central processing" approach to attitude toward advertisement formation.

The two attitudinal determinants of ad perceptions reflect the potential for affective impact on the perceptual process. Fazio and his colleagues (e.g., Fazio et al., 1982; Fazio and Zanna, 1981) have proposed a "process model" of attitude behavior relations, wherein a readily accessible attitude serves to "guide" information

processing in a particular situation. Hence, when an individual holds attitudes toward advertising as an institution and/or a particular advertiser, those attitudes seem likely to have an impact on the individual's perceptions of the particular advertising stimulus in question. This effect also parallels with the findings reported by MacKenzie et al. (1986) that attitude toward advertisement influences brand perceptions resulting from ad exposure. 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This study attempts to address the issue of attitude towards global advertisement and its components such as attitude towards advertisement, advertiser, advertisement credibility and advertisement perception and brand image in laptop industry in Malaysia. 3.1. Theoretical framework This study provides a brief explanation of the main theories underpinning the framework (see Figure 1). As depicted in Figure 1, there is one dependent variable “Brand image in laptop companies” which is hypothesized to have four variables: “Attitude towards advertisement strategy, attitude towards advertiser, advertisement credibility and advertisement perception”. Attitude towards advertisement is definite as a learned tendency to react in a constantly favorable or unfavorable manner towards advertising in general. Bauer and colleagues (1968), in their classic study Advertising in America: The Consumer View,

were the first to examine attitude toward advertising systematically.

Attitude towards the advertiser is definitely viewed as a learned tendency to react in a constantly favorable or unfavorable manner toward the sponsoring organization, consistent with Fishbein and Ajzen's ( Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) definition of attitude.

Advertisement credibility is definite as the extent to which the consumer perceives claims made about the brand in the ad to be honest and convincing. It is only one of many possible perceptual responses to a commercial stimulus, the remainder of which are treated in the second major class of determinants, ad perceptions (Drumwright and Murphy, 2009).

Advertisement perceptions are definite as a multidimensional collection of consumer perceptions of the advertising incentive, including executional factors but apart from perceptions of

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012

62

the advertised brand. The distinction made here is between brand cognitions (i.e., beliefs about the brand) and ad cognitions (i.e., beliefs about the ad per se)(Prendergast et al., 2009). 3.2. Hypotheses of the Study In accordance with the research objective and questions, the subsequent hypothetical statements can be anticipated for the purpose of this research. H0: There is no positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude toward advertisement and a company brand image. H1: There is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude toward advertisement and a company brand image. H0: There is no positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude toward advertiser and a company brand image. H1: There is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude toward advertiser and a company brand image. H0: There is no positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s advertisement credibility and a company brand image. H1: There is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s advertisement credibility and a company brand image. H0: There is no positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s advertisement perception and a company brand image. H1: There is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s advertisement perception and a company brand image. 3.3. Research Design and Sampling A positivist and quantitative research approach was adopted in this study because the primary objective of this study is to test the hypothesized relationships between the dependent variable (brand image) and independents variables (attitude toward advertisement, attitude toward advertiser, advertisement credibility and advertisement perception). Quantitative methods are appropriate when the research goals are to predict, verify or to gain meaningful insights into hypothesized relationships among variables, while qualitative methods are appropriate when the research goals are to explore, discover and identify new ideas (Hair et al., 2003). Consequently, considering the hypothesis testing goal of this study, a quantitative approach is employed rather than a qualitative approach.

The convenience sampling technique has been employed for the purpose of the current research. Convenience sampling is the method that is a non-probability sampling method. Convenient Sampling refers to the procedure of obtaining units or respondents who are most conveniently available (Zikmund and Babin, 2009). The reason for choosing convenience sampling is due to the availability of the respondent and its convenience. Participants have been chosen from different shopping malls in Selangor. 3.4. Data Collection Method and Measurement of the Variable Postal survey was selected as the main method of data collection for the study. The method was selected because it appeared to be the most common and accepted method used in the organizational innovativeness stream of research (Wolfe and Samuel, 1997). The advantages of this method are firstly, that it can draw a sample from a large geographical area and secondly, the respondents can write their answers to the questionnaire at their convenience, in terms of both time and place. The self-administered questionnaire used in the study's survey was divided into six parts. Dependent variable of the study, brand image in laptop companies, is measured in first section. This section has seven questions. These questions have been trying to find out what is the respondents‟ impression on laptop‟s brand image. The second part was designed to acquire information about respondents‟ attitude towards advertisement. This part comprises five questions. The respondents were asked to rate their impression on laptop‟s commercial. The third part was intended to obtain information on attitude towards advertiser. This section contains four questions. These questions generally aim to measure the respondents‟ attitude about the companies‟, that provide advertisement services for laptops, social responsibility, reputation and whether they are the corporate citizen or not. In the fourth section, the five questions have been proxy advertisement credibility. This unobserved variable has been measured by finding respondents‟ attitude towards the reliability and relevancy of information that they received from the advertisements about laptops. Totally, whether this type of information is useful or not, it is entirely based on the respondents‟ mind sets. The consideration of the fifth part of questionnaire was focused on advertisement perception. The

Madahi and Musavi The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop industry in Malaysia

65

concept of advertisement perception is operationalized by four questions. In other words, in this part, some understanding on respondents‟ perception regarding advertisement perception was achieved. The sixth part of the questionnaire was designed to elicit demographic information concerning the respondents‟ (age, gender, and level of education). This section included the use of both open-ended and closed question formats, using a both categorical and continuous scale. The unit of analysis of this study was Malaysian citizens who have laptops in Malaysia and their

associations in three laptop companies which are Dell, Acer and HP. Therefore, this has no restrictions in terms of age, race and religion to select the samples for this study. The self-administered questionnaire had been distributed among 180 of Malaysian people which 146 of them gave the feedback. 57% of respondent were male and 43% of them were female. In case of age frequency, major respondent‟s age were 46-60 years old with 34% of total respondent.

Fig. 1: Research Framework

3.5. Multiple Regression In order to answer the research questions, the testable hypotheses were made available. The statistical tests that have been conducted for different hypotheses were empirically tested by using quantitative statistical methods. The multiple regression analyses have been employed to study whether the hypothesized relationships among the constructs are supported by the data. The multiple regression equation is as follows: Y= α + β1 X1+ β2 X2+ β3 X3+ β4 X4+ ε Where: Y = brand image ; α = intercept ; X1 = attitude toward advertisement ; X2 = attitude toward advertiser; X3 = advertisement credibility; X4 = advertisement perception; β1= attitude toward advertisement‟s slope; β2= attitude toward advertiser„s slope; β3= advertisement credibility‟s

slope; β4= advertisement perception„s slope; ε = error 4. DATA ANALYSIS The collected data was screened before conducting the analysis. To obtain good quality data for hypotheses testing, firstly, the accuracy of data entry has been checked manually. After the first time entry, the data were checked on case-by-case basis. In order to confirm the accuracy of the data, the checking has been carried out twice. The data were analyzed to address the research objectives. Prior to begin data analysis work, the data set has first been assessed for errors that may have been made during data entry. This process, often referred to as „data cleaning‟, ensures that the data set used for the research is suitable for statistical analyses. Questionnaire has been used to analyze the data. The data was pooled in which the

Global Advertisement

Attitude toward Advertisement strategy

st

Brand Image in

Laptop companies

H1

H2

H3

H4

Attitude toward Advertiser

Advertisement Credibility

Advertisement Perception

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012

66

multiple regressions mode was run. The data has been collected from respondents using SPSS. The analyses have used related statistical techniques such as descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis. 4.1. Descriptive Analysis

Demographic

There were 146 participants in the survey, which returned questionnaires. The respondents‟ age has been ranged from 18 and above 60. The average of age is almost four (between 36 to 45 years old). The lowest age range is 18-22 years old and the highest range is 46-60 years old. In addition, respondents who are male are more than respondents who are female. In fact, among 100%, approximately 57% of respondents are male and 43 % of them are female. Also, regarding education level, most respondents which is around 58%, have a University Degree. Respondents with Master‟s degree are about 19% of the whole sample that is slightly bigger than respondents with Diploma (16%). In addition, the respondents who hold PhD qualification or are under diploma constitute the lowest groups with 3% and 4% of total sample together respectively.

Moreover, out of the total 146 respondents, the largest income group is between RM 3001-4500 which sets 42% of total sample with the frequency of 61 respondents. However, the smallest income group belongs to two groups which are above RM 15000 and RM 9001-15000, with each of them stands at 2% and 3%, respectively. In fact, the three groups; RM 1501-3000; RM 3001-4500; RM

4501-6000 are the major groups with the frequency of almost 117 respondents.

In addition, out of 146 respondents, 44 participants are Chinese, 67 persons are Malay, 22 respondents are Indian and the rest belong to other races. The Malays, with approximately 46 % of the sample becomes the biggest groups among all. Other races category constitutes the smallest group in the sample (9%). Generally, approximately 90% of the samples are Malaysians. 4.2. Attitude towards Global Advertisement To measure the attitude of respondents towards global advertisement, the respondents were asked about their attitude towards advertisement (or commercial), attitude towards advertiser, advertisement credibility and advertisement perception. Five levels of expectations were listed in the questionnaire for the respondents according to their attitude towards global advertisement preferences which are (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree (3) neutral, (4) agree and (5) strongly agree; based on the 1 to 5 Likert rating scale. 4.3. Attitude towards advertisement Among all factors, attitude towards advertisement with the mean score of 3.68 has the lowest mean score; suggesting that attitude towards advertisement has a fairer important role compared to other factors. The standard deviation of reliability factor is 0.99 (more information is provided in Table 1).

Table 1:: Attitude toward advertisement

Frequency Percent Valid percent Cumulative percent

Strongly disagree 2 1.4 1.4 1.4 Disagree 17 11.6 11.6 13.0 Neutral 6 4.1 4.1 17.1 Agree 56 38.4 38.4 55.5 Strongly agree 65 44.5 44.5 100.0 Total 146 100.0 100.0 4.4. Attitude towards advertiser Attitude towards advertiser has the mean score of 3.7. The widest standard deviation (1.06) also

belongs to attitude towards advertiser. It ranges from minimum score of one to maximum score of five (more information about attitude towards advertiser is shown in Table 2).

Table 2: Attitude towards advertiser

Frequency Percent Valid percent Cumulative percent

Strongly disagree 3 2.1 2.1 2.1 Disagree 14 9.6 9.6 11.6

Madahi and Musavi The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop industry in Malaysia

67

Neutral 19 13.0 13.0 24.7

Agree 30 20.5 20.5 45.2 Strongly agree 80 54.8 54.8 100.0

Total 146 100.0 100.0

4.5. Advertisement credibility The mean score of advertisement credibility is 3.7. The score of advertisement credibility suggests that the respondents would consider it as an important

factor. Advertisement credibility has the narrowest standard deviation among all factors, 0.83 (more information about advertisement credibility is indicated in Table 3).

Table 3: Advertisement credibility

Frequency Percent Valid percent Cumulative percent Strongly Disagree

Disagree

6

6

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.1

4.1 Neutral 12 8.2 8.2 16.4 Agree 59 40.4 40.4 56.8 Strongly agree 63 43.2 43.2 100.0 total 146 100.0 100.0 4.6. Perception towards advertisement The mean score of perception towards advertisement is 3.89, with the minimum score of one and maximum score of five. As the mean score is very close to four (agree), it can be concluded

that the perception towards advertisement is an important factor for respondents. The standard deviation of perception toward advertisement is 1.40 (more information about advertisement perception is illustrated in Table 4).

Table 4: Perception towards advertisement

Frequency Percent Valid percent Cumulative percent Strongly disagree 3 2.1 2.1 2.1 Disagree 13 8.9 8.9 11.0 Neutral 9 6.2 6.2 17.1 Agree 36 24.7 24.7 41.8 Strongly agree 85 58.2 58.2 100.0 Total 146 100.0 100.0 4.7. Brand image For measuring the brand image, seven items had been selected from literature and were asked from respondents. Five levels were listed in the questionnaire. Respondents would select their expected level and therefore, the level of brand image can be determined.

The level of brand image was divided into 5 levels (1) strongly disagree (2) disagree (3)

Neutral, (4) agree and (5) strongly agree, based on 1 to 5 rating scale. The mean score of brand reputation is 3.42 and its standard deviation is 1.01. Brand image ranges from 1 to 5 (more information is depicted in Table 5). 4.8. Reliability Reliability specifies the consistency of measurement; whether each proxy can consistently measure its concept or not. The test that has been used to test the reliability of the research instrument in this study is Cronbach Alpha. If the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient is 1.0, it shows that the instrument is perfect. However, the instrument with coefficient less than 0.60 is considered a poor instrument and may not measure

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012

68

its concept consistently. The instrument with Cronbach Alpha coefficient between 0.70 and 0.80 is acceptable. The range between 0.80 and 1 indicated that the instrument is a good instrument to measure the construct (Sekaran, 2003). In this

study, all the Cronbach Alpha coefficients have been above 0.70 according to Table 6. The result reflects that the instrument of measurement in this research is reliable.

Table 5: Brand Image

Frequency Percent Valid percent Cumulative percent

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

10

10

6.85

6.85

6.85

6.85

6.85

6.85 Neutral 29 19.9 19.9 33.6 Agree 52 35.6 35.6 69.2 Strongly agree 45 30.8 30.8 100.0 Total 146 100.0 100.0

Table 6: Reliability

Variables Cronbach Alpha Coefficient Brand image 0.83 Attitude toward advertisement 0.84 Attitude toward advertiser 0.85 Advertisement credibility 0.79 Perception toward advertisement 0.87 4.9. Inferential Analysis Model Fit

The result of linear regression model, as summarized in Table 7, shows that the whole

model is fitted, F (1, 146) =25.05, p = 0.000. The R square value for the model is 0.46, indicating that variation in independent variables explained about 0.46 % of the variation in a change in brand image and the rest is explain by error term.

Table 7: Model Fit

R2 F-value P-value Model 0.46 25.05 0.000

H1: There is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude towards advertisement and a company brand image

As reported in Table 8, there is a significant relationship between attitude towards advertisement and brand image (p = 0.001). The beta coefficient of 0.63 shows that a unit increases in the attitude towards advertisement would result in an increase of 0.63 in the brand image. Consumer‟s attitude towards advertisement has the highest t-value (5.3) among all factors which indicate that consumer‟s attitude towards advertisement has the most influential effect on brand image. Given the statistical significance and the positive direction of this relationship, Hypothesis 1 is therefore supported. The result of Table 8 shows that consumer‟s attitude towards advertisement (B=0.63) has positive relationship with brand image in laptop companies. It means

consumer‟s attitude toward advertisement (P=0.00<0.05) was directly contributed in anticipating the brand image in laptop companies.

H2: There is no a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude towards advertiser and a company brand image.

The result from the regression analysis in Table 8 explains no significant relationship was found between consumer‟s attitude toward advertiser and brand image (p= 0.95). Therefore, Hypothesis 2 is not supported. The result of Table 8 illustrates that consumer‟s attitude towards advertiser (B= -0.05) was negatively associated with brand image in laptop companies. It means consumer‟s attitude towards advertiser (p=0.956>0.05) was indirectly contributed in predicting the brand image in laptop companies.

Madahi and Musavi The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop industry in Malaysia

69

H3: There is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s advertisement credibility and a company brand image.

Based on the regression results, as revealed in Table 8, consumer‟s advertisement credibility has a significant relationship with brand image (p = 0.04). Consumer‟s advertisement credibility has the second highest t-value among all factors (2.078). Thus, H3 is supported. Also, the result of Table 8 indicates that consumer‟s advertisement credibility (B=0.177) has positive relationship with brand image in laptop companies. It means consumer‟s advertisement credibility (p=0.04<o.o5) was directly contributed in anticipating the brand image in laptop companies.

H4: There is no a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s advertisement perception and a company brand image

Base on the results of Table 8, there is no significant relationship between consumer‟s advertisement perception and brand image (p= 0.59). Therefore, Hypothesis 4 is not supported. The outcome of Table 8 shows that consumer‟s advertisement perception (B= -0.55) was negatively associated with brand image in laptop companies. It means consumer‟s advertisement perception (p=0.588>0.05) was indirectly contributed in the brand image in laptop companies.

Table 8: Regression Results of Independent variables on Brand Image

Unstandardized Coefficient Beta Std. Error t Sig (Constant) 0.638 0.342 1.865 0.064 Attitude-toward advertisement 0.637 0.119 5.365 0.000 Consumer‟s Attitude toward Advertiser -0.005 0.096 -0.055 0.956 Consumer‟s-advertisement credibility 0.117 0.085 2.078 0.040 Advertisement perception -0.055 0.102 -0.544 0.588 R² = 0.46, F (1, 146) = 25.05, p = 0.000 Totally, the new theoretical framework would be such as Figure 2.

Fig. 2: The independent variables that significantly and positively influence bran image 5. MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION The findings of current study can help marketers and managers of advertisement development companies to identify the best strategy to increase the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns so as to create brand image among the customers for laptop companies among Malaysian customers.

According to these findings, attitude towards the advertisements has positive and linear relationship with image of company in customer mind. Therefore, advertisement agencies should try to create positive attitude towards the advertisements that they want to develop to promote laptops for Malaysian customers. This can

be achieved by selecting more proper channel to such social media.

The result of third hypothesis showed that perception towards the credibility of advertisement might influence the company brand image in customers‟ mind. As a result, companies and advertisement developers should strive to perceive audience that information and the message of advertisements are credible and there is no intention of misleading or manipulation of data. In order to achieve this objective, advertisements for laptops should focus more on functionality and informative than just try to stimulate hedonic attitude of customers.

Global advertisement

Attitude toward advertisement strategy

Advertisement Credibility

Brand Image in

Laptop companies

H1

H3

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012

72

6. LIMITATION AND FUTURE RESEARCH For the purpose of this study, samples were collected based on convenience sampling. This approach was chosen due to budget and time constrains. However, as this method is one of the non-statistical methods of data collection, the sample cannot be truly representative of the whole population of Malaysia.

The data of this study had been collected at a single point of time (cross-sectional) to measure the dependent variable and independent variables. However, consumer‟s attitude towards a particular issue might be changed over the time and in different stages of product life cycle. In addition, data collection of this study was based on the self report of participants which can be the cause of over or under reports by participants in different cases and the study might also suffer from the limitation of the potential prejudice in respondents‟ response whereby the respondents were trying to provide the most acceptable and favorable answers. Lastly, as the focus of current study is on a few cities of Malaysia and with limited sample size therefore, the result cannot be simply generalized to all over the country. These limitations must be taken under consideration for any further implications.

Personal computers‟ market is very competitive and recently, laptop companies develop new substitutes for their products such as smart phones (e.g., iPhone). This study tried to understand the advertisement related factors which might influence the brand image of company among Malaysian customers. However, this study has some limitations that future studies can focus on the following areas to obtain better perspective and results: Further study should go for in depth

investigation of this phenomenon by applying more qualitative methods such as focus group and observation to get broader perspective of this issue.

This study employed cross sectional data collection. Therefore, it seems worthwhile that the future study can apply longitude data collection method to study the different attitudes towards a company‟s brand before and after displaying or broadcasting the new advertisements.

This study focuses on a few areas of Malaysia to collect and analyze data. Then, future studies may cover behavior of customer in different metropolitan cities, small cities and rural area. Henceforth, future study can look

into this phenomenon from broader view by including wider geographical areas to the studied.

7. CONCLUSION This study has investigated the impact of global advertising strategy on brand image in laptop producers in Malaysia. There were four main independent variables that each of them has different effect on brand image, which are briefly concluded in the following sentences.

The first objective of this study was to examine the association between a consumer‟s attitude towards advertisement and a company brand image in laptop companies. Based on the findings, there is a positive and significant relationship between a consumer‟s attitude towards advertisement and a company brand image in laptop companies. It can be indicated that positive attitude towards company‟s advertisement might have higher attention towards the brand of laptop companies.

The second objective of this study tried to find the association between a consumer‟s attitude towards advertiser and a company brand image in laptop companies. The analysis could not find the significant relationships between the customers‟ attitude towards the advertiser company and the influence of advertisements on creating the brand image for laptop companies. This result can be interpreted that maybe for Malaysian customers‟ attitude towards advertisements itself is more influential than the advertiser itself.

The third objective of this study was to discover the association between a consumer‟s advertisement credibility and a company brand image in laptop companies. The results showed that credibility of advertisement from customer point of view can positively influence the attitude of customers towards the brand image in laptop companies.

The fourth objective of this study was to explore the association between a consumer‟s advertisement perception and a company brand image in laptop companies. Result indicated that there is no significant association between a consumer‟s advertisement perception and brand image in laptop companies. REFERENCES Aaker DA (2004). Brand Portfolio Strategy.

Creating Relevance, Differentiation, Energy, Leverage and Clarity. New York, Free Press.

Madahi and Musavi The Effect of Global Advertisement Strategy on Brand Image in Laptop industry in Malaysia

71

Aaker JL (1999). The malleable self: The role of self-expression in persuasion. Journal of Marketing Research, 36(1): 45-57.

Ajzen I (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes. 50: 179–211.

Ajzen I, Driver BL (1991). Prediction of leisure participation from behavioural, normative, and control beliefs: An application of the theory of planned behavior. Leisure Sciences, 13: 185–204.

Ajzen I, Fishbein M (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Alden DL, Steenkamp JBEM, Batra R (2006). Consumer attitudes toward marketplace globalization: Structure, antecedents and consequences. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 23: 227-239.

Belk RW (1996). Hyperreality and Globalization: Culture in the Age of Ronald McDonald. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 8 (3/4): 9-22.

Chang Y (2009). A qualitative study of temporary reentry from significant others‟ perspective. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33(3): 259-263.

Chatterjee K, Dutta B (2012). Word of Mouth Advertising, Credibility and Learning in Networks. Working Paper.

Cleveland M (2007). Globals, Locals, and Creoles: Acculturation to Global Consumer Culture, Ethnic Identity, and Consumptionscapes. Saarbrucken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Muller.

Cleveland M, Michel L (2007). Acculturation to the Global Consumer Culture: Scale Development and Research Paradigm. Journal of Business Research, 60(3): 249-260.

Cobb-Walgren Cathy J, Cynthia AR, Naveen D (1995). Brand Equity, Brand Reference, and Purchase Intent. Journal of Advertising Research, 24: 25-40.

Creusen MEH, Veryzer RW, Schoormans JPL (2010). Product value importance and consumer preference for visual complexity and symmetry. European Journal of Marketing, 44(9/10): 1437-1452.

Darren JSH, Daniel TH, Isabella MC, Peter JH, Simon JT (2004). The shape of red grouse cycles. Journal of Animal Ecology, 73: 767–776.

De Mooij M (2000). The future is predictable for international marketers: Converging

incomes lead to diverging consumer behavior. International Marketing Review, 17(2): 103-113.

Drumwright ME, Murphy PE (2009). The current state of advertising ethics. Journal of Advertising, 38(1): 83-107.

Fazio RH, Chen JM, McDonel EC, Sherman SJ (1982). Attitude accessibility, attitude-behavior consistency, and the strength of the object evaluation association. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 18: 339–357.

Fazio RH, Zanna MP (1981). Direct experience and attitude behavior consistency. Advances in experimental social psychology. Berkowitz L. (ur.). San Diego: CA, Academic Press, 161-202.

Hahn KHY, Kean R (2009). The infl uence of selfconstruals on young Korean consumers‟ decision-making styles. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 13(1): 6-19.

Hair J, Bush R, Ortinau D (2003). Marketing Research. McGraw Hill Education, Sydney.

Keillor BD, D‟Amico MD, Horton V (2001). Global consumer tendencies. Psychology & Marketing, 18 (1): 1-19.

Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1): 1-22.

Lala V, Allred AT, Chakraborty G (2009). A multidimensional scale for measuring country image. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 21: 51-66.

Leslie DA (1995). Global scan: The globalization of advertising agencies, concepts, and Campaigns. Economic Geography, 71(4): 402-426

Lutz C (1990). Engendered emotion: Gender, power, and the rhetoric of emotional control in American discourse. In C.A. Lutz & L. Abu-Lughod (Eds.). Language and the politics of emotion (pp. 69-91). New York: Cambridge University Press.

M-Joseph S, Dhruv G, Tamara M (2000). Retail Environment, Self-Congruity, and Retail Patronage: An Integrative Model and a Research Agenda. Journal of Business Research, 49: 127–138.

MacKenzie SB, Lutz RJ, Belch GE (1986). The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness: A test of competing explanations. Journal of Marketing Research, 23: 130-143.

Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(12), pp. 60-72, 2012

72

Meenaghan T (1983). Commercial Sponsorship. Bradford, England: MCB University Press Limited.

Peterson RA, Jolibert, A (1995). A Meta Analysis of Country-of-Origin Effects. Journal of International Business Studies, 26(4): 883-900.

Prendergast G, Liu P, Poon DTY (2009). A Hong Kong Study of Advertising Credibility. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 26(5): 320-329.

Redenbach M, Kieser HM, Denapaite D, Eichner A, Cullum J, Kinashi H, Hopwood DA (1996). A set of ordered cosmids and a detailed genetic and physical map for the 8 Mb Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) chromosome. Mol. Microbiol., 21: 77-96.

Samiee S, Shimp TA, Sharma S (2005). Brand Origin Recognition Accuracy: Accuracy: Its Antecedents and Consumers‟ Cognitive Limitations. Journal of International Business Studies, 36(4): 379–97.

Sharma S, Shimp TA, Shin J (1995). Consumer ethnocentrism: A test of antecedents and moderators. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(1): 26-37.

Shimp TA, Sharma S (1987). Consumer ethnocentrism: Construction and validation of the CETSCALE. Journal of Marketing Research, 24: 280-289.

Shimp TA, Sharma S (1987). Consumer ethnocentrism: construction and validation of the CETSCALE. J. Mark. Res., 24(3): 280-289.

Steenkamp JBEM, Baumgartner H (1998). Assessing measurement invariance in cross-national consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25: 78-90.

Veryzer RW, Hutchinson JW (1998). The influence of unity and prototypicality on aesthetic responses to new product design. Journal of Consumer Research, 24: 374-394.

Wolfe BL, Samuel Z (1997). „Nonmarket Outcomes of Schooling‟, International Journal of Educational Research, 27(6): 491–502.

Zikmund WG, Babin, BJ, Carr JC, Griffin M (2009). Business Research Methods, 8th edition.