A. Competition of brands
With the change of social custom and lifestyle, people are satisfied with their
daily needs and start to pursue what they want. This causes a new consumption
behavior, which is named as symbolic consumption1; that is, many products on the
market intentionally produce their own symbolic characters to meet customers’
expectations.
When consumers choose a brand, they have different preferences. First,
consumers choose a brand they are familiar with. They are not likely to change their
attitudes toward familiar brands, even if there is a constant exposure to familiar
brands, either positive or negative. It is not likely to produce significant changes in
consumers' preexisting brand evaluations. On the contrary, less familiar brands did not
make themselves known to the public, so that consumers have insufficient knowledge
of the brands. Thus, they are more susceptible to changeover in their brand
evaluations if exposed to new brand-related communications.
Second, what are the brands known for? Are they known for price, style, quality,
or good service? Do consumers have some objections for the brands? All the
questions are closely linked with consumers’ purchase motive and Post-purchase2.
Consumers would become patrons of the brands if those factors meet customers’
1
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2
expectations.
As for another aspect, symbolic consumption is a general phenomenon in
business. Customers’ satisfaction comes from an emblem of a brand, not efficacy. For
example, they wear clothes not for warmth but for beauty. Not do they wear expensive
watch for accuracy. In view of market competition, combination of multi-design
factors and special colors can make the products more appealing to the consumer. The
multi-design factors include foreign elements or custom. In the symbolic
characteristic, “design” is the first image that impresses the consumers; however, the
brand is the primary factor to affect a consumer's decision. It shows the importance of
the "brand" on marketing.
Additionally, the main force of symbolic consumption is the young people.
Because of the acceleration of market competition, and convenience of the Internet,
the average age of consumers is lowering. Hence marketing can focus on web blogs
and search engines to increase the interaction with potential consumers.
A brand is an emblem of quality and characteristic of a product. Some brands
once became fashionable for a time, but then are replaced by some more competitive
products since consumers by nature like different styles. This is the reason why some
brands are in a predicament. To solve this problem, the brands should emphasize their
characteristics to attract consumers.