The role of brand image in cosmetics industry

Abstract

As the current economic environment becomes more competitive and introducing new brands becomes increasingly costly, companies must find new strategies to increase their capacity and competitiveness. In order to win the leader position in the marketplace marketing specialists work out different kind of strategies to achieve long lasting success. One of the most significant among these strategies is customer loyalty toward the brand. To achieve customer loyalty marketers should focus on brand image attributes and benefits in their efforts. By maintaining and strengthening the brand image and values, it will position the brand positively in the minds of consumers. Brand image comprises a consumer’s knowledge and beliefs about the brand’s diverse products and its non-product attribute. Brand image represents the personal symbolism that consumers associate with the brand, which comprises of all the descriptive and evaluative brand-related information. When consumers have a favorable brand image, the brand’s messages have a stronger influence in comparison to competitor brand messages. Therefore, brand image is an important determinant of a buyer’s behavior. Based on the brand image and the principle that identity is the source of brand positioning that can be used to attack a market with a view to growing market share at the expense of the competition. It is very important for any business organization to evaluate their consumer’s perception towards the image of their brand or services offered. Measuring brand image based on consumer’s perceptions helps a company to identify the strengths and/or diagnose the weaknesses of their company image, company’s product or brand image and its position in the market. It is also important to understand that a brand has many images which are generally in the form of brand attributes and/or brand benefits. The primary purpose of this article is to illustrate the role of brand image in cosmetics industry, to summarize information from different studies and to describe the role of brand image in cosmetics industry. To analyse consumer’s perceptions of these image attributes and benefits as it’s a strategic way to identify the strength of a brand’s quality and the meaning that consumers associate with the brand.