performances.

Similarly, Myers (2003) concluded that brand equity may be more

influenced by attribute knowledge more than consumer preference.
For low-involvement products, consumers have more objective view of the nature
of the attrinutes (eg. food, cosmetics) because they are constantly being advert
ised and
promoted.Similarly Rioo, Vasquez and Iglesias (2001) sugggeated that consumer
evaluation of a product can be broken down into evaluation related to product (t
angible or
physical attributes) and brand name (intangible attributes, or images added to t
he product
due to its brand names). In his study on the relationship between human values a
nd
consumer purchases, Allen (2001) found there was a significant association betwe
en
human values (eg. hedonistic, achievement, self-direction, conformity, security
etc.),
product preference and tangible attribute importance with how consumers perceive
the
product (i.e tangible attributes) and how they evaluate the product (i.e symboli
c
meaning,tangible/intangible attribute importance). Human values influence the
importance of the product s tangible attribute importances that are already import
ant to
consumers.
However perception of product performance on the salient attributes are more
important than actual performance (Mason & Bequette, 1998).Mowen and Minor (1998
)
suggested that marketing managers should know the attributes that consumers expe
ct in a
product and how positively or negatively they rate these attributes to help deve
lop and
promote a successful product.Retailers need to be knowledgeable of the product a
ttributes
perceived as the most important by each individual consumer group in order to bu
ild and
maintain market share (Warrington & Shim, 2000). It is the consumer who determin
es
which attributes matter to them. Different consumer groups place different impor
tance on
different attributes (Warrington & Shim,2000).It was found that consumers catego
riez as LP/SB (low product involvement/strong brand commitment) placed greater i
mportance on product attributes and product orientataions than LP/WB (weak brand
commitment) consumers, which placed the most importance on price.
Markerters should consider using advertisement, which may play a role in making
attributee important to consumers that might not have been considered before (Gw
in &
Gwin, 2003),Romariuk & Sharp (2003) suggested two objectives of short-term and l
ong-
term brand building. In the short term, managers need to identify a specific att
ributes to
be communicated to the market,based on which message gave the best execution.The
key
aim is to develop likeable advertisement.In the long-run,managers need to build
up a
bank of consumer perception about the brand to make it the one most often thought
of
and make it difficult for competitors to have access to the minds of consumers (
Romariuk
& Sharp, 2003).
The brand name of the product itself is an important attribute. Brands have both
functional (product-related) and symbolic dimensions (del Rio,Vasquez & Iglesiaz
,
2001), On the product related benefit side, consumer evaluate product performanc
e based
on its capabilities, usage effectiveness, value for money and reliability. The p
urchase and
consumption of products is increasing regarded by consumers as an indirect way o
f
communication to improve their self image and deliver certain impressions to oth
er
people in their environment (del Rio,Vasquez & Iglesiaz, 2001), Therefore the br
and
name benefits perceived by consumers is highly interrelated to the product-based
benefits. Big brand means a better image and a better product (del Rio,Vasquez &
Iglesiaz, 2001), Howevwer, as mention earlier, Mason and Bequette (1998) suggest
ed that
perceived product performance is more important than actual attribute performanc
e.
Similarly Myers (2003) concluded that brand equity might be influenced by attrib
ute
knowledge more than consumer preference. This may be due to consumer biasness an
d
prejudice, Consumers product evaluations are influenced by memory. The biasness c
an
be reduced by having current information, experience and knowledge (Mason and
Bequette ,1998). Therefore, it s not surprising that brands that consumers believe
offer
superior value are most preferred brands chosen often (Myers, 2003). Brands with
higher
equity resulted in greater preferences and high market shares.
Price is another form of attribute used by consumers to evaluate a product.Price
can
sometimes be an indicator of quality; with a higher price indicating higher qual
ity
(Mowen & Minor, 1998; Siu & Wong, 2002). Consumers perceive that a higher price
can
be attributed to the higher cost of quality control (Siu & Wong, 2002). Some con
sumers
are highly price sensitive (elastic demand),whereby a high prices may shift cons
umers to
competitive brands (Mowen & Minor, 1998). Therefore price can have a positive or
negative influence on customers.