Page 130 - MARSIUM'21 COMP OF PAPER

CHAI JING MIN (2022)
Brand Association
All of the data nodes associated to brands within the customer brand knowledge system are referred to as brand association. It includes
customers' cognition and comprehension of certain brand meanings. The most immediate customer association with a brand may be a logo,
a product, a business, or an individual, a functional, symbol, or experiential value of the products, or the general attitude and assessment of
customers towards the brand. Customers can assess every brand association using three variables: strength, identification, and distinctiveness. The
brand image is the total of brand association and all these three variables. According to Emari et al. (2012), a brand connection might be either
favourable or unfavourable information within a client's mind about a brand. There is a close link between revenue and brand recognition. In
order to produce a long-lasting impression within the minds of customers and cement the brand's marketplace advantages, when developing a
brand image, it is essential to formulate and amass favourable brand connections for the brand via differen t marketing channels.
As per Keller (1993), the brand association may also be classified into three categories: qualities, benefits, plus attitudes. Therefore, attribute
association refers to descriptive features of goods or services. There are two types of attribute association: "product-related" plus "non-
product-related." The defining of product attributes is a required aspect for the service or product to accomplish its role. External elements
associated to the acquisition or consumption of a service or product is referred to as non-product attributes. Besides, non-product-related
features are separated into four categories: price information, package or products appearance details, user image (for instance, what sort of
individuals will utilize this service or product) and the use of visuals (where plus under what situations will this service or product be utilized.)
Pricing remains a particularly essential characteristic association among consumers, because customers frequently have a solid belief in
prices and brand value, as well as they will arrange their products category information in their thoughts about the cost multitude of distinct
brands. Secondly, benefits are the individual value that customers place on the features of the service or product, and they are what customers
perceive the service or product can accomplish for them. Besides, benefits associations are further classified into three types: The term
"functional benefits" refers to the inherent benefits of the service or product, including those connected to safety
and physiological requirements. Experience advantages are associated with the sensation of utilizing services or products, which are typically
associated with product features. For instance, sensual pleasure, variety, plus cognitive stimulation. Besides, symbolic benefits are the
external benefits of a service or product that are not tied to product features but rather to the demands of social identities, personal performance,
plus self-esteem. The final association remains the attitudes association, which states that the brand attitude remains the total judgment of the
brand by customers, which serves as the foundation for forming customer behaviour. Brand attitude also is related to product-related
perceptions, irrelevant qualities, functional interest, empirical interests, as well as symbolic interests.

Furthermore, O'Cass and Grace (2003) revealed that customer attitude and buying behaviour have a significant impact on the brand
association. As a result, the hypothesis is as follows:
H2: The Brand association has a positive impact on customers’ purchase intention to healthy snacks.

Perceived quality
Perceived Quality alludes to a brand's overall perception of its product's quality, as well as the level of awareness of its product's and service's
quality. It reflects the consumer's assessment of the product's functions, qualities, and believability. It gives consumers motives to purchase
and serves as the foundation for product differentiated positioning. According to Bhuian (1997), consumer judgment on additional values
towards a product is dependent on perceived quality.
Moreover, Aaker (1991) stated that perceived quality is more than just brand association. However, it is strongly tied towards the brand's
standing, making it another element to gauge brand equity. Besides, perceived quality is critical to brand loyalty and awareness, and great
brand items must be of excellent quality. The perceived quality is made up of the service's or product's function, attributes, dependability,
durability, level of service, and higher-quality looks. In today's market competitiveness, products are becoming increasingly homogeneous. As
a result, while technology considerations are crucial in a product, the function of service as well as brand culture contents is becoming
increasingly important.

The importance of perceived quality is that it first and foremost offers consumers with a compelling incentive to purchase. When buyers are
faced with a large number of identical products to choose from, quality is frequently a deciding factor. Second, it serves as the foundation for
the higher cost of brand-name goods. "Good Products are not affordable," as the adage goes, and this is absolutely correct. Third, it serves as
the foundation for differentiating oneself from the competition. People are more interested in differentiated as well as individualized items in
today's culture. The importance of quality in this differentiation and personalisation process is not to be underestimated. Fourth, it is simple
to be welcome by the channels that not only has the potential to significantly boost the brand image, but also has the potential to significantly
increase the image of a channel itself. Fifthly, brand extension remains more effective for brands with higher quality impressions since
customers will transfer the initial quality impression towards the new products line, which will be of great assistance towards the new products
line. Adding to this evidence, Yoo et al. (2000) observed that in order to increase brand equity, a favorable perceived quality must be present,
which can also enhance the brand's market competitive advantage.

Based on the above discussion, the third hypothesis can be derived as below:
H3: The perceived quality has a positive impact on customers’ purchase intentions towards the healthy snacks.

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