品牌定位市场营销外文文献翻译2014年译文3000多字(3)

In support of this conceptualization, indicating that not only are a market orientation and a brand orientation not mutually exclusive, but that a brand orientation positively impacts the effectiveness of the marketing strategy (Wong &Merrilees, 2008), Urde (1999, p.18) provides the following quote from Olle Tegstam, Senior Vice President at Nestle:

An organization can never only be brand-oriented. There have to be products that are demanded and that work together with your brand. To be brand-oriented is market orientation "plus".

FACTORS AFFECTING A BRAND ORIENTATION

Nowadays most companies understand that brand orientation is crucial to developing strong brands and are convinced that strong brands can provide sustainable competitive advantages (Gromark &Melin, 2011). In fact, "brands have become the focal point of many a company's marketing efforts and are seen as a source of market power, competitive leverage and higher returns" (Dawar, 2004, p.31). But what factors affect a company's brand orientation?

By reviewing the existing marketing and business literature it is possible to identify a number of potential antecedents to a brand orientation. In this study, eight factors are identified as factors potentially influencing a brand orientation. The conceptual model showing the potential antecedents of a brand orientation is presented in Figure 3. Potential antecedents include: the size of the company, brand barriers, services component, exploration of brand identity, brand research, years of planning and investment, expansion growth intention, and brand management assessment. In the following sections, we introduce each of the potential antecedents and set forth a research proposition with regard to its expected effect on a brand orientation.

Size of Company

The first factor identified as a potential antecedent of a brand orientation is the size of the company. Several researchers (Baumgarth, 2010, Krake, 2005, Wong &Merrilees, 2005) report that smaller companies are less likely to be brand oriented than larger companies. For example, in a study of business-to-business companies, Baumgarth (2010) divided sample companies into "successful" and "unsuccessful" groups on the basis of a market performance index, and found that while all companies in the sample reported low levels of brand orientation, smaller companies