Abstract:
The research was aimed at examining the effect of branding on the buyers’ purchase decision
taking paint markets in Addis Ababa. To this end, six locations which are the major market area
for paint products in Addis Ababa are selected. The study used data collected from 363
customers with the help of structured questionnaires. Additionally, data were collected from 30
traders with similar but not identical questionnaires to substantiate the result from customers’
questionnaires’. Analytical results of bivariate correlation of each independent variables brand
awareness, brand loyalty, brand equity, and dependent variable purchase decision confirmed
that there is a positive significant association between each independent variable and dependent
variable. The correlation coefficients showed there is significant positive correlation between
brand awareness and purchase decision, between brand loyalty and purchase decision, between
brand equity and purchase decision. There is a significant association between each of the
independent variables brand awareness, brand loyalty, and brand equity with purchase decision
of buyers’. The result has shown branding affects buyers’ purchase decisions. Additionally, the
top brand preferred by the majority of customers found to be the brand indicated by the majority
of customers that makes effective branding. The regression analysis also has shown that brand
loyalty and brand awareness variables could predict the buyers’ purchase decision which is
indicated by the model derived from the analysis. This further confirms the effect of branding on
the buyers’ purchase decision. The data analysis from traders’ questionnaires ascertain
similarly the claim that there is an effect of branding on consumers' purchase decisions in most
cases except due to the small sample size, correlation coefficients were small. The research
concluded that consumers’ look for brands when making a purchase decision in the Addis Ababa
paint market. Consumers decide on a brand they purchase based on information they get from
their previous experience, other people's recommendations, or from advertisements. It is also
concluded suppliers' branding effort has a strong effect on buyers' purchase preference of the
paint brand. Therefore, paint companies, investors, and marketers are recommended to devise
an effective branding strategy, build a good brand image, and increase brand loyalty.
Companies should create a good customer relationship and increase brand awareness.
