The Role of a Brand in Customer Experience

Abstract

This thesis aimed to define what is the role of a brand in customer experience, and how brand loyalty is linked to customer experience. The study was conducted using a mixed-method. This thesis consists of five sections, the first section is the introduction, which gives a brief overview of the objective. The second section is a theory, which introduces the literature behind the research and defines the main objectives of the thesis. The third section is a methodology, which displays the study and methodology behind the research. The fourth section is findings and analysis, this part illustrates the results of the study, applies them to theory, and presents the recommendations. The fifth and last section is the conclusion, which sums up the thesis. The thesis was research-oriented targeting to outline elements from a customer perspective affecting the brand loyalty with the case company Apple, along with determining if familiarity with Apple’s devices influenced positively participants’ opinions about the brand, which would designate brand loyalty. The study was conducted with a form of qualitative and quantitative methods to determine these factors and the possible positive impact of brand loyalty. A mix of both was used to analyze different types of data. Due to the large scale of data needed, a questionnaire with closed questions was utilized as the survey tool. All the questions except the last one were closed questions with answer options. The options were on a scale from 1 to 5 to make analyzing the collected data more efficient. The last question was open-ended, which was created to gain more insight into brand loyalty. The purpose was to gain an understanding of elements affecting brand loyalty with the case company Apple and to validate the positive impact brand loyalty has. Utilizing this information to define how to improve the level of brand loyalty in an organization. The results of this study can be used in practice to increase brand loyalty among customers of an organization.