A Study on Brand Positioning in Dairy Product at Villupuram, Tamil Nadu

Brand positioning is a core concept in marketing. Despite the importance of the concept however, there is limited research in the field of positioning clarifying to what extent various brand positioning alternatives affect consumer perceptions and how positioning effectiveness can be best measured. The present dissertation consists of three complementary empirical studies aimed at shedding light on the latter issues. The first study explores the impact of distinct types of brand positioning strategies on consumer categorization processes. The results of the qualitative study provide evidence that consumers categorize brands based upon their underlying positioning strategies. More specifically, consumers classify brands that share similar types of positioning bases into the same category.The current study is about consumer’s involvement in brand positioning in dairy product categories. To identify the similarities and differences among the consumers’ perceptions of brand positioning, four major of Avin are taken into consideration. These are chosen to examine the relation between consumer involvement and brand positioning with their respective competitors- Thirumala Milk, Hatsun dairy, Arokya Milk, Raaj Milk and GRB dairy in the market.To ascertain the scale’s generalizability and stability, data from several product categories are used for scale development and validation purposes. The third study presented in this dissertation pays attention to the open question whether the use of certain positioning strategies (e,g., feature-based positioning ). For this purpose, a within and between-subjects design study in conducted that investigated the direct impact of brand positioning strategies on positioning effectiveness, measured from a consumer perspective. Specifically, four distinct positioning strategies of real brands are evaluated in terms of positioning effectiveness, while controlling for brand-specific, product class-specific, and socio demographic influences. Consistent with the hypotheses derived from a comprehensive literature review, significant difference in terms of positioning effectiveness between the focal positioning strategies are detected. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the theoretical, methodological, and managerial implication. Furthermore, the limitations associated with the studies outlined in the dissertation are addressed and resulting avenues for future research are presented.