Brand Loyalty & Product Design in Consumer Purchasing Preferences

Brand loyalty, in marketing, consists of a consumer's commitment to repurchase or otherwise continue using the brand and can be demonstrated by repeated buying of a product or service, or other positive behaviours such as word of mouth advocacy(Dick and Basu, 1994). In this day and age, it would be almost impossible to find a consumer who does not own a single branded product. Brand loyalty could potentially be the most important factor influencing purchasing decisions; however the aim was to discover if product design development is also involved. Product loyalty is where consumers purchase the product, only because of the product design and functionality. The study set out to find out if consumers purchasing decisions were based on the product design and functionality (product loyalty) or influenced by brand loyalty. 40 Loughborough students participated in an online questionnaire-based survey. The survey asked them their opinions on branded products and their experiences with them. During the survey they were also asked if they would like to be involved for a follow-up interview which extracted further information from the participants, of which 18 agreed.