Customer Cognitive Factors On Brand Trust: A Comparative Study Of China And Pakistan In The Household Appliances Industry

Existing research literature in observing customer satisfaction, cognitive dissonance and its effects on brand trust in the household appliances industry in China and Pakistan has identified the existence of a positive relationship between the said variables. However, the underlying mechanism affecting this relationship is not yet clear. The existing studies are also more western oriented leaving plenty of research scope in the literature. This study is an attempt to fill this gap, and had significance in a way that it contributes to the literature by making a systematic comparison of the relationship between Cognitive Dissonance, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Trust in the home appliances industry in both China and Pakistan, countries with diverse socio-cultural and organizational environments. No such previous study has been conducted to investigate the proposed linkages in this perspective. This study established the extent to which various social, market and structural factors create pre-purchase dissonance in customer’s mind and its effects on customer purchase process, customer satisfaction and finally customer trust towards a brand in the household appliance industry in both countries. Further, this study also looks for the moderating role of cognitive dissonance, customer satisfaction and brand trust which along with the other aspects of the current study also adds a new perspective to the existing literature with the help of the given settings.In order to achieve all the above stated significance, the present study followed a certain pattern, which consists of seven chapters,Chapter 1 Introduction:it gave an overview regarding the background of the study followed by the explanation of the statement of the problem; the objectives of the study and the significance of the study were also explained in the later part.Chapter 2 Literature Review:it followed the literature reviewed for the current study and sums up that there is a significant effect of Cognitive Dissonance on Customer Purchase Process, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Trust of a customer towards a particular brand. However, there is still a lot of room for research in customer satisfaction and brand trust.Chapter 3 Home Appliances Industry in China and Pakistan:An Overview:it presented an overview of the Home Appliances Industry in China and Pakistan. With an emphasis on (i) overview of the Home Appliances Industry in China and Pakistan, (ii) classification of home appliances industry in China and Pakistan, and (iii) Marketing and Research in home appliances industry of China and Pakistan.Chapter 4 Theoretical Model and Hypotheses:it dealt with the theoretical model and hypotheses to focus on the relationships between (i) Social, Market and Structural Factors with Cognitive Dissonance, (ii) Cognitive Dissonance and Customer Satisfaction, (iii) Mediating role of customer satisfaction between the cognitive dissonance and brand trust, (iv) Customer satisfaction and brand trust, and (v) Affect of Pre-purchase dissonance on Customer purchase process, customer satisfaction and brand trust.Chapter 5 Research Methodologies:it provided the snapshot of the research methodologies used in the present study. A sample of 450 respondents each, based on questionnaire survey from the customers involved in purchasing home appliances of China and Pakistan was used. Correlations, multiple regression and hierarchical liner model were used to explore the relationship between different sets of variables including pre-purchase dissonance, customer satisfaction and brand trust.Chapter 6 Results and Findings:it gave an overview of the results and findings of the current study with an emphasis on the variables included and their (i) relationship between Social, Market and Structural Factors and pre-purchase dissonance, (ii) effect of cognitive dissonance on customer purchase process, (iii) mediating effect of cognitive dissonance in the relationship between customer satisfaction and brand trust, and (iv) moderating role of customer satisfaction between the cognitive dissonance, customer purchase process and brand trust relationship. The discussions regarding the findings have also been given at the end.Chapter 7 Conclusions and Implications:it described the conclusions, implications and limitations of this study and future research directions.The findings of this study, based on social exchange theory, resource based view and contingency perspective provided support for the variables (brand popularity, word of mouth, customer experience, after-sale services, price fluctuation, technology advancements, law, customer attitudes, religion and political economy) in their relationship with customer satisfaction, and brand trust and are confirmed by the results of the previous studies. The findings of the current study provide support for the role of marketing research in the home appliances sector of China and Pakistan.On the basis of these findings, some managerial implications were also put forward for the management of the home appliances industries in China and Pakistan. First, pre-purchase dissonance effects customer purchase process and is different in different customers with respect to their age, income, gender, occupation and education level. Hence, providing customers with a better products and marketing strategies will be highly beneficial to attract and improve the commitment level of the existing customers in the home appliances industry of China and Pakistan. Moreover, customer trust towards a brand has increased to more prominence as the findings of the present study also confirm the mediating role of customer satisfaction. This aspect requires home appliances manufacturers in China and Pakistan to be more careful in dealing with the customers. This will not only help them maintain good customer relationship but also create a positive word of mouth for their brand that will definitely affect their sales.The current study will also have implications in terms of effective marketing strategies in the household appliances industry. The effective adoption and implementation will help household appliances industry align their products in the market as per their Marketing strategies. This will enable the Marketing professionals to play more active role in the performance of the industry and also in improving their commitment level in both the countries. Finally, this study will also allow management of the home appliances manufacturer companies in both the countries to have a comparative perspective and to analyze whether they can use the same practices used globally or not.