Ray-Ban
vs.
Oakley
Project 1
Katie Duncan
Andrew Pellerin
Tania Lyn
Eddy Kosiec
Hayden Lanham
Zach Perkins
Kristen Lenny
Joey Moore
Belief evaluation
Ray-Ban
Oakley
Price
2
4
4
Style
2
5
4
Quality
2
5
5
Accessibility
1
5
5
Psychosocial
1
5
5
38
36
Overall attitude:
Ray-Ban vs Oakley
Part 1: Attitude Survey
Florida is known as the sunshine state for a reason. With our extra high UV index and the
Floridian tendency to soak up the sun all year round, the market for eyewear is lucrative. Many
residents wear sunglasses to protect their vision from the harmful rays on a daily basis. There are
many brands of glasses for consumers to choose from, each targeting different populations. As
college students, we decided to conduct a survey on the brand preference between Ray-Ban and
Oakley because these are the two primary companies that dominate the market for our age group.
We created a survey to evaluate consumer preference and reached out to 33 of our friends and
fellow classmates that wear sunglasses regularly. We surveyed both males and females, ages 1822.
Our survey measures five different qualities about sunglasses that we believe are the most
important: price of the product, style of the frame, quality of the lense, accessibility to the
public, and social acceptability in society (psychosocial). We started by asking consumers about
their belief evaluation; this measures the importance of specific attributes of the generic product.
Our scale ranged from -3 to 3, -3 being very bad and 3 being very good. This gave us an idea on
what consumers find to be the most important when purchasing sunglasses. After the belief
evaluation, we then asked the students about their belief strength for the two competing brands.
We used the same five attributes: price, style, quality, accessibility, and psychosocial evaluation
to determine how they felt towards Oakley and Ray-Bans specifically. The numbers we used for
the belief strength ranged from 1 to 7, 1 being extremely unlikely and 7 being extremely likely.
Based on the results for belief evaluation, we have concluded that the strongest rated
attribute and top priority for a consumer purchasing sunglasses is the style of the frame with an
overall belief evaluation of 2.15 out of 3. Price followed in second place with an average score of
1.69, which barely beat out quality for the third most important aspect with an average
evaluation of 1.60. The fourth most important quality was accessibility at 0.97 and finally, social
acceptability ranked lowest with a score of 0.94. After we collected these numbers, we then
calculated the average results for college age consumer’s belief strengths for both Ray-Ban and
Oakley.
Consumer’s belief strengths for the two brands were very close in numbers. However,
Ray-Ban ultimately has a stronger overall brand attitude when calculated according to Fishbein’s
Theory of the multiattribute attitude model. On average, Ray-Ban and Oakley managed to tie in
every category except for style. Both brands scored significantly high on quality, accessibility,
and social acceptability with an overall score of 5 on a scale of 1-7. Both brands ranked a 4 on
price and only ranged by 1 point on style (Ray-Ban with a 5 and Oakley averaging at 4). Overall,
both brands demonstrate impressive ratings and reflect strong brand names that are respected by
consumers. Ray-Ban came out on top with a total brand attitude of 38 compared to Oakley
ranking close at 36. According to our study, college students care most about the style of their
sunglasses and on average, prefer Ray-Ban over Oakley.
Part 2: Recommendations
Although consumer attitudes towards Ray-Bans and Oakleys are almost identical,
consumers seem to favor Ray-Bans slightly over Oakleys. Since the results of our survey show
that style is the most important factor when purchasing sunglasses, it is no surprise that this
category ultimately put Ray-Bans ahead of Oakleys.
In order to maintain their advantage in the marketplace, Ray-Ban should look to continue
supplying classic, stylish sunglass options at an affordable price point. It seems that Ray-Bans’
niche in the market lies with the classic style of its frames. Ray-Bans should avoid making any
drastic changes to its style, and refrain from trying to compete with the rest of the market. While
other brands strive to set new trends in fashion, Ray-Ban needs to only make minor changes to
maintain their modern but classic style. Ray-Bans could probably increase their market share if
they can prove that their frames are not just fashionable but of high quality as well. Placing an
emphasis on the quality of the lenses and durability of the frame may help in the long run.
Oakleys, on the other hand, have established a niche in the market as being high in
quality. Consumers’ attitudes about this attribute will not likely change with the implementation
of new frame designs. Therefore, we suggest that Oakley design new lines of sunglasses with an
emphasis on style. Since Oakley’s already have high belief strength in quality, if they can
convince consumers that they are stylish as well, they will have a leg up on the competition.
Part 3: Comments
After concluding a successful research study, one question still remains on the table.
Does the consumer attitude towards brand accurately predict their purchasing behavior? It’s
always hard to fully understand a consumer’s purchasing pattern, but by learning their beliefs
and strengths, we can get a much better idea. Cleary, with looking at our results from the
surveys, we can easily see that attitude influences purchasing behavior. If a customer holds a
strong positive belief towards one brand’s attribute, they will choose that one over the inferior
brand. On the other hand, when certain attitudes towards different brands are relatively the same,
predicting the behavior becomes that much harder. For one of the groups surveyed, 4 out of the 5
people participating were wearing Ray-Bans, yet Oakley rated almost exactly the same on
average. This goes to show how extremely difficult it is to base a customer’s decision just on
their cognizant attitudes towards that specific brand. In our study, style and quality were the most
important strengths and were the leading factors in the customer’s purchasing behavior which
lead to the final decision of choosing Ray-Ban over Oakley.
The next thing that needs to be addressed is the comment that, “Behavioral intention is a
perfect predictor of actual behavior under most circumstances.” As a team, we agree with this
comment to an extent. Consumer behavior in purchasing sunglasses tends to be repetitive and
has a small margin of change in preference. However, certain circumstances like product
promotions and closeout sales can drastically affect the final behavior decision. We are able to
study and observe behavior intentions, but we cannot control the actual purchasing behavior. For
example, Joe is an avid buyer of Oakley, but one day when Joe walks in to the store he sees a
new brand of glasses being advertised. Intrigued by this new design and style with relatively
same price, Joe betrays Oakley to try out the new brand. Joe’s behavioral intentions say that he
will buy Oakley, but because of the circumstance of promotion, the actual behavior deviated
from what we predicted.
Survey
Ray-Ban vs. Oakley
Gender:
Age:
M
F
5 attributes: price, style, quality, accessibility, psychosocial.
Belief Evaluation (ei)
“is it good or bad if…”
1. Price
(Very bad) –3
2. Style
(Very bad) –3
3. Quality
(Very bad) –3
4. Accessibility
(Very bad) –3
5. Psychosocial
–2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 (Very good)
–2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 (Very good)
–2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 (Very good)
–2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 (Very good)
(Very bad) –3 –2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 (Very good)
Belief Strength (bi)
How likely is it that Ray Bans/Oakley have the best price?
(Extremely unlikely) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Extremely likely)
How likely is it that Ray Bans/Oakley are stylish?
(Extremely unlikely) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Extremely likely)
How likely is it that Ray Bans/Oakley have the best quality?
(Extremely unlikely) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Extremely likely)
How likely is it that Ray Bans/ Oakley are accessible in stores?
(Extremely unlikely) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Extremely likely)
How likely is it that Ray Bans/Oakley are socially acceptable?
(Extremely unlikely) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (Extremely likely)
Calculations
33 students surveyed
Belief Evaluation Averages
Price: 56/33=1.69=2
Style: 71/33=2.15=2
Quality: 53/33=1.60=2
Accessibility: 32/33=0.97=1
Psychosocial: 31/33=0.94=1
Belief Strength Averages
Ray-Ban
Price: 128/33=3.88=4
Style: 154/33=4.67=5
Quality: 151/33=4.58=5
Accessibility: 154/33=4.67=5
Psychosocial: 175/33=5.30=5
Oakley
Price: 125/33=3.78=4
Style: 142/33=4.30=4
Quality: 170/33=5.15=5
Accessibility: 158/33=4.79=5
Psychosocial: 158/33=4.79=5
Multiattribute Attitude Model
Ray-Ban
2(4)+2(5)+2(5)+1(5)+1(5)=38
Oakley
2(4)+2(4)+2(5)+1(5)+1(5)=36