Essay: How Apple Inc's brand iPhone image impacts the buying behaviour of its consumers.

In this study, the researcher would investigate how the brand image for Apple Inc’s brand iPhone impacts the buying behaviour of its consumers. The study has been motivated by the role of brand image for shaping the consumer perceptions and increasing the sales have been a hot marketing research area for past few decades. All the advertising efforts made by the companies are essentially for the purpose of developing a positive brand image of their products. Moreover, increasing fame of Apple and particularly its brand iPhone over the period of past decade has been the reason for selecting this company for study.
To achieve the research objectives and answer the research questions, the researcher will conduct the secondary research and would develop the hypothesis based on positivist research philosophy. The analysis of the customers’ buying behaviour for the survey
Area of Inquiry
Brand image refers to the overall view the customers have about a brand. This brand image can include products’ appeal, functionality, fame, ease of use, and overall value. Hence, when consumers purchase a product, they also purchase its image. A product is able to deliver a positive brand image when it exceeds the customers’ expectations. Positive brand image helps in enhancing the brand value and goodwill of an organization. Moreover, brand image is a very influential factor in increasing the long-term cash flow and profits of a company. This is how the brand image is directly related to business success. It also affects the customers buying decisions, and also the company’s ability for maintaining competitiveness (Farshid et al., 2015, p.2).
From the customers’ perspective, brand image is the guarantor of quality and reliability in consumer products. When customers decide on which products to buy, their preferences have been developed in conformity with their perceptions in relation to the brand. If company has done successful branding and has a positive brand image then this could make the customers aware of their presence and also increase the chance of customers buying their products and services (Wang et al., 2014, p.1577).
Organizational Context
Apple is one the technological giant companies today which is headquartered in California, America. The company design, develop and sells the most innovative consumer electronic products and is best known for launching the media player iPod, smart phone series iPhone, MAC computers, and the iPad tablets. This study deals with the brand image and customers’ buying behaviour for the Apple’s smart phone iPhone.
iPhone by Apple Inc. is now the yearning of any modern man and so the number of its users is increasing day by day. These days, iPhone has become the most popular Smartphone all over the world. iPhone sales increased to more than 37 million in 2012 in the global market. iPhone has become without a doubt the most common Smartphone in the world today. It has been proved that independent variables like innovation, features, and quality are positively and significantly related to the brand image of iPhone and this brand image is the leading force which compels people towards its purchase (Ling, et al., 2014, p.491).