Critically Appraised Topic Paper

XXXXXXXX April 19, 2018

Step 1: Background

As a marketing consultant, I sell various services to companies across industries. Often times, the toughest sell is the “brand strategy” which from my position is crucial for any organization. Many clients view brand strategy as the “fluffy” stuff that doesn’t move the needle in a measurable way. I’d like to know how brand strategy affects company performance.

Step 2: CAT Question

What is known in the scientific literature about how brand strategy affects company performance? Do companies with brand strategies perform better?

Step 3: Criteria

Inclusion criteria 1. Date:​ published in the period 1985 to 2018 for meta-analyses and the period 2000 to

2018 for primary studies 2. Language:​ articles in English 3. Type of studies:​ quantitative, empirical studies 4. Study design:​ meta-analyses or controlled studies 5. Measurement:​ a.) studies in which organizational performance was measured or b.)

studies in which the effect of moderators and/or mediators on the outcome of goal setting was measured.

6. Outcome:​ organizational performance 7. Context:​ studies related to brand strategy

Exclusion criteria 1. Studies examining other factors affecting organizational performance

Step 4: Search Strategy

The following databases were used to identify studies: ABI/INFORM and PyschINFO. The following generic search filters were applied to all databases during the search:

1. Scholarly journals, peer-reviewed 2. Published in the period 1985 to 2018 for meta-analyses and the period 2000 to 2018 for

primary studies 3. Articles in English

A search was conducted using the combinations of different search terms, such as ‘brand strategy’, ‘branding’, ‘organizational performance’, ‘corporate performance’.

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ABI/Inform, PsychINFO, Google Scholar Peer reviewed, scholarly journals, April 2018

Search terms ABI PSY

S1: ti(“brand strategy”) OR ab(“brand strategy”) 207 77

S2: ti(“organization performance”) OR ab(“organization performance”)

151 130

S3: ti(“branding”) OR ab(“branding”) 3292 110

S4: ti(“corporate performance”) OR ab(“corporate performance”) 151 1224

S5: S1 OR S2 OR S3 OR S4 4187 1470

Step 5: Study Selection The titles and abstracts of 57 studies identified were screened for their relevance to this CAT. In case of doubt, the study was included. This yielded 4 controlled studies and one meta-analyses.

Step 6: Data Extraction

Author & year Sector/ Population

Design + sample size

Main findings Effect size

Limitations Level

Morgan & Rego (2009)

Fortune 500 companies

N = 72 This study examined scope, position, competition and other brand strategy factors to analyze the relationship between strategy characteristics and the firm’s performance. The brand strategy characteristics account for significant variance in the firm’s marketing and financial performance. t

Med Limited to large, publicly traded companies

A

Anees-ur-Rehm an, Wong, Sultan & Merrilees (2018)

Small & Medium sized enterprises

N = 250 This study found that branding has a positive impact on brand credibility, and brand credibility has a positive impact on financial performance, highlighting the importance of both brand performance components for financial performance.

Med Limited to small & medium sized companies, B2B

A

Leonidoua, Katsikeasb & Samieec,*(2002)

Large enterprise companies

N = 32 This is a meta-analysis examined the studies on the marketing strategy – performance relationship.This revealed that many marketing strategy variables demonstrate positive effects on overall performance, the relationship is not always significant and of the performance measures examined in various studies, stronger effects are in relation to proportion of sales.

Small As with meta-analyses there is always a risk of unintentionally excluding pertinent studies.

AA

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Tolba & Hassan (2009)

Automotive companies

N = 5598

Attitudinal loyalty and satisfaction were found the strongest predictors of brand preference and intention to purchase. At the aggregate brand level, correlation analyses supported the hypothesis that customer-based brand equity constructs are correlated with brand market performance.

Medium Limited to the automotive industry

A

Chauduri & Holbrook (2001)

Fortune 500 companies

N = 146 The results indicate that when the product- and brand-level variables are controlled for, brand trust and brand affect combine to determine purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty. Purchase loyalty, in turn, leads to greater market share, and attitudinal loyalty leads to a higher relative price for the brand.

Medium The authors note that additional antecedents should be explored.

A

Step 7: Critical Appraisal

The overall quality of the studies included was high. The meta-analysis was rated as a AA and the remaining were randomized and/or non-randomized control studies and were therefore qualified as level A.

Step 8: Results

Definition of X A brand strategy is defined as the detailed long term plan that will support the brand. This plan should include target market, understanding of their preferences and expectations from the brand. A brand is defined as a name, term, design, symbol, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from competitors (Morgan & Rego 2009).

Causal Mechanism As Morgan & Rego (2009) outline, the presumed causal mechanism behind brand strategy works as follows:

● A brand helps differentiates a product or company from its competitors ● Differentiation leads to interest by consumers ● Interest potentially leads to brand loyalty and trust ● Brand loyalty and trust increase overall performance of that product or company

Main Findings

Overall, brand strategy has a moderate positive effect on performance.

A plan dedicated to advancing and supporting a brand helps to increase interest and differentiation and thereby sales of a product or service. But there are other factors at play such as the quality of the product or service, customer’s needs, supply and demand to name a few.

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Step 9: Conclusion Scientific research supports my assumption that having a thoughtful brand strategy will increase performance of a company, given the moderate positive effects observed. Although the effects are mostly small to medium, the pattern is that there is indeed a positive effect.

Step 10: Limitations

Concessions were made in relation to the breadth and depth of the search process. As a consequence some relevant studies may have been missed. Also, this CAT did not conduct a comprehensive review of the tests, scales and instruments used. Given these limitations, care must be taken not to present the findings in this CAT as completely conclusive.

Step 11: Implications and Recommendations

A brand strategy is a viable way to help boost the performance of an organization. This focus and attention on cultivating and supporting the brand has been shown to positively impact sales and thereby performance. Putting together a brand strategy can be costly and time-consuming so care should be given when deciding to put forth this effort. But if the right product or service is in place, a brand strategy has been shown to be an effective method for going to market.

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