Context Of Fast Moving Consumer Goods Research Articles

Brand Loyalty and Its Impact on Repeat Purchase Behaviour of Customers: A Cross-Sectional Study in the FMCG Context

Brand loyalty is a fundamental concept in marketing, particularly in the "fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)” industry, where competition is intense and consumer choices abound. Understanding the impact of "brand loyalty” on repeat purchase behavior is crucial for businesses striving to build enduring customer relationships and achieve sustainable growth. Brand loyalty plays an important role in shaping the success of companies as it influences customer retention and sustains long-term profitability. By understanding the underlying mechanisms that drive repeat purchases, companies can develop effective strategies to cultivate brand loyalty and enhance customer satisfaction. The results suggest that various factors, including brand reputation, product quality, price, and promotional activities, significantly affect brand loyalty, leading to increased repeat purchase behavior. Furthermore, "customer satisfaction” and "trust"  emerge as critical mediating factors in the relationship between brand loyalty and repeat purchase behavior. The results will enable FMCG companies to comprehend the factors influencing brand loyalty and identify strategies to foster customer loyalty. Additionally, this study can serve as a foundation for future research exploring the dynamics of brand loyalty in different industries or cultural contexts. The study survey was conducted among 220 consumers to know the role of brand loyalty and its impact on repeat purchase behavior of customers in the FMCG context. The study concludes that there is significant impact of brand loyalty on repeat purchase behavior of customers in the FMCG context.

Exploring supply chain agility in the FMCG industry

The aim of this paper is to identify the core attributes of supply chain agility within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Despite operating in the type of environment characterised by high levels of complexity, dynamism and uncertainty that agility is purported to help companies address, the FMCG industry has not received specific attention by agility researchers. Moreover, this study contributes to the literature by responding to the calls for refinements to our understanding of supply chain agility unconstrained by prior assumptions about manufacturing or organisational agility that qualitative approaches can provide, and for the use of dyadic data. Accordingly, a case study of a multinational FMCG company operating in the Middle East was undertaken with data primarily collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings confirm the salience of agility in the FMCG context and the attributes that underpin its effective deployment are identified. The paper also contributes to the literature by examining supply chain agility for the first time in the Middle East context.

Environmental initiatives: A study of dyadic buyer and supplier relationships in the South African Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry

Background: In the current fast-paced markets, customer demands are changing and environmental considerations have placed organisations under pressure to integrate and implement environmental initiatives in their business and supply chain functions. This pressure forces organisations to respond better to the changing global trends and customer demands. Objectives: The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore environmental initiatives within the context of a dyadic buyer–supplier relationship in the South African fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants. These interviews were conducted with six organisations who were engaged in a dyadic buyer–supplier relationship. Results: The findings indicate that organisations implementing environmental initiatives experienced improved collaboration between supply chain partners. Improved collaboration leads to enhanced product quality, cost savings in the long-term and transparency between organisations. The drawbacks from environmental initiatives included increases in planning time and high capital investment. Implementing environmental initiatives revolve around buyer–supplier relationships that are strategic in nature and should not be underestimated by organisations. To improve buyer–supplier relationships, organisations are recommended to devote more capital and resources to environmental initiatives. Conclusion: This study determined the predominant environmental initiatives within the South African FMCG context and showed how environmental initiatives influence buyer–supplier relationships.

Managing the Global front end of NPD: Lessons Learned from the FMCG Industry

New product development (NPD) performance is particularly poor in the global fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. An important opportunity for improvement lies in the activities that take place at its front end. Studies looking at the front end of NPD in the global FMCG industry are, however, strikingly difficult to find, thereby failing to provide adequate guidance to practicing managers faced with the complexity of the front end. To address this deficit, a four months insider action research project was undertaken to study the process, the management roles, the barriers encountered, and the lessons learned in the management of the global front end within the FMCG context. The findings are particularly insightful and expand the understanding of the uncharted global front end process. Therefore, the study has significant academic and managerial implications; firstly, by adding a new stage to the global front end process, namely the rejected concepts resuscitation stage, secondly, by adding a new management role, the central stage role of the subsidiaries; thirdly, by demonstrating the necessity of introducing formality and detailed guidelines to the global front end process; and finally, by indicating the usefulness of direct modes of communication, in the form of global workshops.

Design of supply networks with optimized safety stock levels

In this paper, we address two main issues. First, we determine, through a simulation model, the optimal size and distribution of the safety stocks in a supply network. The “optimal” size of safety stocks results from the minimization of the total logistics cost of the supply network, as a function of the safety stock coefficient (k). In particular, we define the “optimal” size of the safety stocks as the k value which minimizes the total logistics cost of the network. Second, the optimized values of k are used to run the same simulation model under different operating conditions of the network, which are obtained by introducing demand stochasticity, demand seasonality and lead time stochasticity. More precisely, once the optimal size of safety stocks has been set, we carry out further simulations, according to the design of experiments (DOE) procedure, and perform statistical analyses of the resulting outputs, to provide some insights about the design of the supply network under optimal safety stock level. The study is supported by a discrete-event simulation model, developed ad hoc and reproducing 4 different configurations of a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) network. To run the model, real data related to the FMCG context were used. Results of this study can be useful to supply chain managers, to identify the optimal service level the network should deliver to customers, as well as to understand the behavior of supply networks under optimal safety stock level. Keywords : safety stock; supply network design; simulation model; design of experiments; optimization.