IMPORTACIONES Y EXPORTACIONES DEL PRODUCTO A NIVEL NACIONAL

The study rationale rested on the assumption that business brands neither take into cognisance nor place importance to the branding of their products. Hence, B2B brands are regarded as commodities with no attempt at differentiation. Various studies of business brands conducted in the past, most notably those of Leek and Christodoulides (2011) and Seyedghorban et al. (2016), which suggested an increased attempt to fill the literature gap on this topic. Despite the initial assumption that motor oil products are industrial brands, counterintuitively motor oil appears to be a hybrid brand functioning within the business and consumer market. Essentially, this chapter concludes the research journey. Therefore, this chapter has been organised as follows:

 Revisiting the research objectives (6.1)

 Summary of research findings (6.2)

 Evaluating the study (6.3)

 Ethical consideration (6.4)

 Managerial/pragmatic implications (6.5)

 Study limitations (6.6)

 Lessons learnt during the Ph.D. journey (6.7)

 Conclusions (6.8)

6.1 Revisiting the Research Objectives

The results of this thesis emerged from data in the automotive aftermarket by corroborating different data sources. The intention of the study was to understand the nature of branding motor oil products from the manufacturers and their links with connecting areas in the supply chain, in order to influence brand preference and differentiation to the customer. To achieve this, an inductive approach was followed. This allowed exploring meanings and constructs to the phenomenon rather than verifying existing theories. The grounded theory strategy allowed the use of different instruments to assist in making sense of this study, such as participant observations, interviews and documents.

In an effort to venture into what seems to be an understudied phenomenon in the area of motor oil branding, the study took into cognisance the importance of adopting different tools

and techniques in the research design to offer in-depth understanding of the study. Therefore, the following research question was proposed: What is the branding strategy of low involvement products in developed and developing economies? Chapter Six reports how and to what scope the research objectives have been addressed. The chapter also highlights the main findings with their contributions to the theory. To achieve the study aim, the following five research objectives were identified:

RO1. To further the understanding of branding low involvement motor oil products RO2. To identify the key parameters of motor oil branding

RO3. To identify the difference in motor oil branding between Nigeria and the UK RO4. To develop a conceptual framework to explain and model branding of motor oil RO5. To set the agenda for future research

The research objectives are further explained below.

RO1: To further the understanding of branding low involvement motor oil products

Given the dearth of study on industrial branding with almost nothing on branding motor oil products, this study offers further understanding of branding industrial products with a focus on motor oil. The RO1 is broad and overarches all the objectives the study hoped to achieve.

The results addressing it are discussed in Section 6.2.1.

RO2: To identify the key parameters of motor oil branding

The data from the automotive supply chain identified key parameters of motor oil branding by highlighting the various areas that are important and may likely influence the branding of this product category. With so little known about motor oil branding and the exploratory nature of this study, identifying parameters for the brand offering and its image is relevant.

RO3: To identify differences in motor oil branding between Nigeria and the UK

The exploratory nature of this study, coupled with literature dearth on motor oil branding, offers a viable option to uncover and compare branding strategies of motor oil in two contrasting economies: Nigeria and the UK. The results that emerged from this study, from the manufacturer to key players of the supply chain, in Nigeria and the UK, allowed the researcher to identify different branding strategies used by motor oil brand manufacturers. In addition, by comparing and contrasting different branding strategies in Section 5.2.5, where

several results emerged, the study has efficiently addressed the research objective. The main finding addressing it will be presented in Section 6.2.3.

RO4: To develop a conceptual framework to explain and model branding of motor oil

As few empirical studies exist on branding industrial products in the area of motor oil brands, this study sought to understand the branding nature of this product category by developing a conceptual model of the motor oil branding phenomena. The qualitative nature of this study allowed gaining insight from different sources through the use of grounded theory methodology. Previous studies suggest the importance of branding in industrial markets, yet few models of business-to-business branding exist in order to explain empirical findings.

These gaps were addressed by this study and discussed in Section 6.2.4.

RO5: To set the agenda for future research

The academic literature has offered comparatively limited attention to branding in the B2B markets. This is largely due to the myopic view that branding is unimportant to business markets and that industrial buyers are rational with the lack of emotional values to influence brand choice. With the apparent growing interest on branding in the industrial market, the literature indicates the lack of knowledge on low involvement motor oil products. This study attempted to further the understanding of motor oil branding, by gaining knowledge through the automotive supply chain. In doing so, several branding strategies were uncovered to help shed light on B2B branding to fill the apparent literature gap and propose an agenda to push industrial research forward. Consequently, rather than understand branding through the perspective of the buyer, the study focused on the automotive supply chain from the manufacturer to network of players connected to the end user.

6.2 Summary of Research Findings

The previous section focused on how the research objectives were addressed. The next section summarises the study findings and reports the contribution of each objective of this study to previous studies. Section 6.2.1 discussed findings related to understanding branding of low involvement motor oil products. Similarly, Section 6.2.2 discusses the interplay between different brands in the supply chain helps to address the second study objective.

Section 6.2.3 discusses the studies in the two countries (Nigeria and the UK) and answers the third objective of the study. The results from both countries helped to develop a conceptual framework to model the branding of motor oil in Section 6.2.4. Finally, Section 6.2.5

discusses such little known on the branding of this product category, and, therefore, research objective five sets the agenda for future research.

6.2.1 The Branding of Low Involvement Motor Oil Products

As highlighted in Section 1.1.2, industrial products are goods purchased for further processing or for use in conducting other business (Blythe, 2012), whereas low involvement products require low purchase commitment with no significant effect on the lifestyle of the buyer. Therefore, knowing the level of involvement a brand has on consumer purchase decision making is important to brand development and acquisition. Previous studies on industrial branding suggest the use of different branding strategies like corporate branding, brand equity, relationship marketing and purchase behaviour to influence branding (Sheth, 1974; Mudambi, 1997; Brennan et al. 2002). However, there is a lack of study that focuses on hybrid branding in the B2B markets. The results of this study clearly addressed the research objective by offering different branding strategies used by low involvement motor oil brands.

Several strategies to influence the brand awareness and add value to brands were identified in this study:

 Inter-firm relationships (i.e. ingredient branding, adaptation, dyadic adaptation and relationship marketing). Relationships between companies to influence branding of motor oil were identified. The partnership between different brands, such as Castrol and Mobil aim at developinglong-term relationships helps to build brand image and dominate the end channel of the market. These relationships take the form of transactional which are short term, such as the use of account managers and long term that last several years.

 Purchase behaviour. Purchase needs differ between companies. The data for this study indicates different purchase situations of motor oil. Some purchases are done by businesses while others are done by the consumer. This market behaviour leading to different purchase influences the branding strategy of motor oil brands to focus on both the B2B and B2C market.

 Support services. Services that support the brand at various stages in the market help in differentiation and offer benefits to customers. Brand manufacturers offer support services to end users through online information on oil grade or the right oil to use in the engines. Manufacturers, distributors and retail combine to offer support services to customers to increase brand value. The data from the observation suggests not all

motor oil brands offer this support services. Those that do, however, are seen to have a higher value.

 Distribution. This includes characteristics such as ordering and reordering, availability and delivery. In this study, brand distribution was seen as key to the brand success of motor oil products. The literature cites efforts like the ease of ordering, brand reliability and quick response as aspects that add value to brands (Mudambi et al., 1997) The findings of this study confirm this to be same with motor oil products.

In order to have successful brands, distribution performance is evaluated by the buyers prior to the brand choice decision.

Furthermore, the hybrid nature of motor oil allows employing consumer branding strategies in order to generate awareness and influence brand choice among the decision-making unit with factors like:

 Co-branding. Motor oil brands go into partnership with luxury cars to generate awareness and build association. This strategy associates the motor oil brands with leading automotive cars, sportsmen and women and sporting events. Co-branding is a form of passive advertising where the brands are not directly pushed to the consumer but improves brand image, loyalty and recognition. The co-branding strategy encompasses several different types of branding partnerships, like endorsement and sponsorships.

 Endorsement. This is a form of promotion that use celebrities or famous personalities with a high degree of recognition, awareness, trust or respect among the target audience. The data from an archival study of Castrol, the present advert copies and observations indicate manufacturers of motor oil promote their brands through endorsement by famous athletes, car racing drivers and car manufacturers. These brand ambassadors promote motor oil brands through their names or images with the hope that such endorsement will influence brand image, loyalty and buyer behaviour.

An intriguing part of brand endorsement of this product category is the use of different sports personalities in the promotion. For example, data from the advert copies indicate the use of football, cricket and tennis personalities like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lizzie Armitstead and Sashin Tendulkar respectively. These sports personalities have no connection with the automotive or motor oil industry, but are used by Castrol to promote its brand in different sporting events. To explain this

paradox, the hybrid nature of motor oil helps the brand relevance to a different range of consumers from those in the DMU to the end user.

 Sponsorships. The data from advert copies, observation and speed racing indicates the importance brand owners place on building the association through sponsorship.

As a low involvement product, this partnership serves to generate awareness and publicity to motor oil brands. For example, data from the archival study of Castrol, the present advert copies and speed racing indicate car speed racing and sportsmen bear the name of motor oil brands to develop recognition and influence purchase decision making. This strategy builds positive of the brand to the fans of the sports personality or event.

 Packaging. Motor oil brands use packaging to encourage purchase through several appealing communication and graphic designs. Packaging design is used to reflect brand identity and message to assist the customer in oil choice. Data from the observation indicates a systematic attempt to target the consumer by designs that suit the retail environment especially at the point of sale, the filling process (i.e. easy to pour cans) and how they are easily distributed in the supply chain. To influence customer purchase, motor oil is packaged to fit engine size while appealing to the end user through aspects like can design, opening and reclosing, brighter colours, labels, tamper evidence and counterfeit measures (i.e. authentication seals, security printing).

 Functional attributes. Functional attributes of a brand are important in conveying value to customers. Brand preference is emphasised through the functional attributes of the brand as a way of signifying the quality of the brand to the consumer. Adverts pointing to brand durability and strength are impliedly assuring the customer of the brand quality. Consistent with studies on B2B branding, motor oil brands use functional qualities to enhance the value of the brand and influence purchase in the business and consumer markets.

 Brand awareness. Creating brand awareness is important to B2B brands in order to drive value. The ability to generate recognition through the top of mind awareness and brand recall is key to branding strategy of motor oil. The data from the adverts, observation and interviews confirm the hybrid nature of motor oil influences the different awareness strategies into the B2B and B2C markets.

 Merchandising. The hybrid nature of motor oil influences manufacturer to target the end customer through retail. The data from observation indicates the use of different