Varumärkeskapitalet och varumärkets betydelse på smartphonemarknaden : En kvantitativ studie på den svenska marknaden ur ett konsumentperspektiv

Sammanfattning: As there is still limited research on brand equity and brand impact in a high tech industry as the smartphone industry, this study focused on highlighting brand equity and brand relevance in the Swedish smartphone market. The aim was to increase knowledge about the discussion of brand equity from a consumer perspective on the smartphone market by finding out what significance the brand had for the consumers in the purchase of a smartphone and how strong brand equity the brands, Apple, Samsung, HTC, LG and Huawei had in the Swedish smartphone market. To address the research questions, a survey was done as data collection. Questionnaires were distributed to 120 respondents consisting of students in the Stockholm area, from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and Södertörn University. The survey in question was formed almost entirely out of David A. Aaker's concept of brand equity, which consists of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and brand loyalty. The study found two clusters of smartphone manufacturers with different brand strength based of brand equity. The first cluster consisted of the brands Apple and Samsung, both of which had higher brand equity in relation to the remaining brands. The remaining brands HTC, LG and Huawei formed the second cluster, in which Huawei deviated in a bit in strengthfrom the two aforementioned brands. The study also found that the brand was of high significance for consumers when buying a smartphone.