THE FACTORS AFFECTING BRAND CHOICE; IN THE CASE OF BEER BRANDS IN ADDIS ABABA

Abstract

The research has been focused on assessing the factors affecting consumers brand choice in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa was used as a case for the study. Literature has reviewed on: choice of Beer Brand, Factors affecting Beer Brand choice and Effects of Marketing Mix’s on Consumer Choice. Quantitative and quantitative research approach has been used to realize the study objective. The data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources of data. The main research instrument used a Likert 5 scale questionnaire to collect primary data. From total Target population 355 respondents were sampled for data collection; Reliability and Validity of instrument has been used for test by carrying out a pilot study. The collected data has been processed with the help of computer software package (SPSS version 20.00). The collected data has been analyzed through different statistical techniques: descriptive statistics, inter correlation t-test, ANOVA and multiple regressions. According to the findings of the study most of the respondents feel that internal factors greatly influence the consumer choice. Factors such as cost of beer, availability of cheaper alternatives, increase income, lifestyle and personality significantly affect their choice of beer. The findings revealed that income had a negative, but significant relationship with consumer choice of beer brand, and every increase in income results in a decrease in consumer choice due to the inverse relationship. The study also revealed a significant relationship between marketing factors and choice of beer brand therefore factors such as price, product features, and promotion and distribution impact heavily in consumer choice of beer brand. The findings revealed the product features had a positive significant relationship with consumer choice of beer brand, and every increase in product results in an increase in consumer choice. The study recommends that Beer Factories should allocate appropriate influencers for their marketing campaigns as this affects greatly the perception of the beer brand and therefore choice. The age, gender and lifestyle factors should be considered while considering the appropriate influencer. It is also recommended that Factories should focus on packaging aspects for its beers for different target markets. Notably, the findings from this study form the basis of further study on the same field in other cities.