The Factor Structure Of The Car Brand Image Research

Chinese sedan market has entered brand competition era, and this market has become the stage where foreign brands and self-owned brands compete among one another. Under such kind of background, it is of high significance, for brand management in sedan enterprises, especially for self-owned brands construction, as well as for consumers' decision making, to implement a research on the factors structure of sedan brand image based on Chinese sedan market.Brand image is the core component of brand equity. For Chinese sedan companies, the brand competitiveness is the very core competence. However, regarding the factors structure for sedan brand image, the perception differences among different population characters, and the gap between the brand image of foreign sedan brands and that of self-owned sedan brands, there is no systematical research by any scholar in the world.Based on the above-mentioned issues, this research takes the Biel model (Alexander L. Biel) as reference model and makes an inaugurator explore on factors structure of sedan brand image and the classification, the perception differences among different population characters, and the comparison between the brand image of the foreign brands and that of the self-owned brands in Chinese sedan market.This research is an empirical research. Through the interviews on scholars and experts and explorative testing, the research questionnaire is developed. And then it is revised through an explorative investigation and the related analysis by statistical software. Using the final questionnaire, an investigation was made, resulting in 560 effective samples. The statistical software SPSS 11.5 and LISREL 8.30 were used to make the explorative analysis and validating analysis on factors structure of sedan brand image, resulting in the discovery of the factors structure of sedan brand image, the factors structure of sedan corporate image, the factors structure of sedan product image and that of sedan user image, as well as the discovery of the factors structure models of sedan brand image, sedan corporate image, sedan product image and sedan user image. Meanwhile, based on these effective samples, the perception differences of different population characters were analyzed using statistical software SPSS 11.5 and the related differences were discovered on the perceptions of different polulation characters on sedan corporate image, on sedan product image and on sedan user image. In addition, another questionnaire for the comparison research between the brand image of foreign sedan brand and that of self-owned sedan brand was developed based on the prior formal questionnaire and another investigation was implemented, resulting in 364 effective samples. The statistical software SPSS 11.5 was used to analyze these samples and the related gap between the brand image of foreign brand and that of self-owned brand was discovered.The above results suggest that:1. Sedan brand image consists of sedan corporate image, sedan product image and sedan user image, while sedan corporate image consists of ten major factors, i.e., interpersonal comments, sales network, market share, societal responsibility, PR comments, ads recognition, parent company' image, development history, communication media, and export performance; sedan product image consists of ten major factors, i.e., service quality, price, safety, technical level, styling, comfort, durability, advanced equipments, emission standard, and consumption; sedan user image consists of ten major factors, i.e., yearly income, location, characteristics, occupation, consumption habit, education background, age, hobby, marital status, and gender.2. Regarding the perception differences of different population characters, the characters with significant perception differences on sedan corporate image are yearly income and location, those with significant perception differences on sedan product image are length of service and location, and those with significant perception differences on sedan user image are education background and length of service. However, the characters without significant perception differences on sedan corporate image are gender, marital status, age, education background, and length of service. The characters without significant perception differences on sedan product image are gender, marital status, age, education background and yearly income. The characters without significant perception differences on sedan user image are gender, marital status, age, yearly income and location.3. Among the comparison between the brand image of foreign sedan brands and that of self-owned sedan brand, sedan corporate image and sedan product image of self-owned brand are inferior to those of foreign brand. However, there exist no significant perception differences between sedan user image of self-owned brand and foreign brand. While building self-owned sedan brand, the strategic positioning should be among the middle or high-class segment, in order to enhance its brand image.As an inaugurator research, the discovered factors structure and related models, the perception differences of different population characters, and the comparison results between the brand image of foreign sedan brands and that of self-owned sedan brands, have filled up the theoretical vacancy and richened the brand image theory. Practically, they can offer strategical instruction for sedan brand construction and maintenance, and a substantial reference and guide especially for Chinese self-owned brands buliding.The limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.