Naked consumer's mind under branded dress: Case study of Slovak Republic

Abstract

The reality of the market has shown that traditional brand management theory lacks success. There is a need to provide a revision to this theory with an emphasis on behavioral approach. In contemporary times, the theory has been limited mainly in this criterion and to avoid from the exact identification of specific brand value sources in conditions of particular nations. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify relevant brand value sources which are significant for Slovak socio-cultural profile and to propose an effective innovative model of brand value building and management. The data used in the presented study were obtained by our own survey carried out on the sample of 2000 respondents (citizens of the Slovak Republic older than 15 years). The given data was statistically evaluated by the so-called factor analysis supported by implementation of the KMO Test, Barlett's test of sphericity and calculation of Cronbach's Alpha (for individual brand value sources and their components in general as well as on the example of sportswear brands). The specificities of the national socio-cultural profiles were found to be identical in the priority of the components of the individual, subjectively perceived sources of the brand value. In contrast, the order of importance of brand sources is different and reflects the specificity of the branded product category. Therefore, the specifics of the national socio-cultural profile affect the priority of the components of the individual brand value sources, while the specifics of the product categories affect the priority of the brand value sources itself.