Brand Knowledge : An exploratory study on whether demographic factors affect consumer brand knowledge of a company which practices a standardized targeting strategy

Sammanfattning: Globalization is here to stay, and with an increasing number of brands deciding to test their fortune abroad, the importance of branding increases alike. The choice of globalizing a brand comes with potential financial benefits but it is not done without considerable effort. According to Kotler and Keller, the choice regarding differentiation to competitors is one of the main factors a brand must consider when expanding abroad (2009). One key factor that determines the level of success of international companies is the amount of brand knowledge (Guedes & da Costa Soares, 2005). Consumer brand knowledge and its importance for financial success has been extensively studied by researchers (Fill & Turnbull, 2016) and it has been found that solid brands continuously outperform their markets (Pirrie, 2006). The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether demographic factors such as age, gender and nationality significantly affect consumer brand knowledge. The chosen brand for the study was Razer that practices a standardized global targeting strategy. Razer is a company that produces gaming equipment for gamers. Gamers constituted the desired sample of the study due to their belonging within the brands target segment. A survey based on and constructed using the “Dimensions of Brand Knowledge” by Keller (1993) was issued online in Sweden and Lithuania on social media within groups that share the common interest of gaming. 540 responses were collected, and 8 hypotheses were tested using SPSS linear regression tests. Findings showed that brand recognition differed in regard to demographic factors of the respondents, supporting H2.  However, the remaining aspects of brand knowledge did not differ regarding the combined demographic factors, therefore, the remaining hypotheses were rejected. These results may aid marketers and scholars in the comprehension of factors that may affect their global marketing efforts within the gaming industry and contribute to the current research done within the field of gaming equipment, which is quite understudied given its economic potential.