Theory And Practice On The Building Of Agricultural Product Brands In China

Agricultural products are not only the main commodities for human life but also the commodities with strong concealment of quality. Traditional brand theory believes that quality features of commodities with strong concealment of quality should be collectively expressed and protected through brands. However, in reality, the brand building of agricultural products seriously lag behind that of industrial products and service products. Therefore, further research on the features of the the brand building of agricultural products, discussion on the theories of the brand building of agricultural products and summarizing their practical conducts are of thoretical and practical importance in guiding the transformation of our country from a major agricultural producer to an angricultural power. This dissertation aims at a profound and systematic study on the theories relating to the essential factors, procedures, the principal parts, etc., that exist in the brand building of agricultural products, as well as on the current research status, problems and solutions in the brand building of agricultural products in China, through various research methodologies from microeconomics, agri-economics, brand science and managerial economics. These methodologies include documentary methodology, investigation methodology, major factor analysis, overall analysis and case analysis.Main contents and conclusions (perspectives) are as follows:1. General analysis on the brand building of agricultural products. In my opinion, the term of"brand"bears different meanings in the western culture and the Chinese culture. (1) Chinese brands shall be the combination of western brand and quality. (2)Agricultural products have both general meaning and narrowed meaning. An Agricultural product brand in general meaning consists of quality mark, germ plasm mark, collective mark and narrowed brand (brands of products applied for registration by agricultural enterprises). (3) Main characteristics of agricultural product brands: diversified manifestations, externalities of brand effect and vulnerability of brand image (4) What agricultural product brands benefit consumers is that it reduces the cost of information collecting and selecting, and eliminates the phenomenon of adverse selection; agricultural product brands benefit agricultural enterprises in the way it reduces the cost of promoting; agricultural products brands benefit farmers in the way it increases their income and enhance their continued viability; agricultural product brands also benefit the government in the way it reduces the management cost, accelerates the realization of management goals and enhances the international level of Chinese agricultural products.2. On essential factors in the brand building of agricultural products. Four essential factors include degree of quality satisfaction, degree of affordable prices, degree of the brand credit association, degree of brand popularity, etc., with 13 indicators involved: 4 indicators to quality mark, collective mark, the exterior image and taste regarding degree of quality satisfaction, 2 indicators to the moderate degree of pricing and the moderate degree of price adjustment regarding the degree of affordable prices, 4 indicators to the degree of credit, the degree of association, corporate responsibility, the image of entrepreneurs regarding the degree of brand credit association, and 3 indicators to mentioned popularity, non-mentioned popularity and market share regarding the degree of brand popularity.3. On principal part of the brand building of agricultural products. Brand building of agricultural products in general sense includes two principal parts. One is the principal part of narrowed brand building of agricultural products and another is the main bodies participating in the brand building, i.e., governments, organizations in agricultural industry and farmers. Principal parts of narrowed brand building of agricultural products refer to the agricultural enterprises directly participating in the brand building. The main functions of agricultural enterprises in the brand building are to determine brand positioning, to apply for registration, to control the quality, to apply for the quality mark, to price and adjust the price, to build the brand culture, to shape the image and to popularize the brand of agricultural products; the main functions of governments in the brand building are to formulate quality standards of brands of agricultural products, to advocate and supervise the brand building, to provide service and support to the brand building, to manage the application for and registration of agricultural products brands and quality marks and to accelerate the internationalization of agricultural products brands; the main functions of organizations in agricultural industry in the brand building are to implement the application and registration of collective brands, to support the brand building in agricultural industry, to assist the agricultural enterprises in market developing and to emphasize the self-disciplined protection of the benefits of corporate operating in brand agricultural products; the main functions of farmers in the brand building are to provide primary agricultural products and ensure their quality. The relationship between the agricultural enterprises, governments, organizations in agricultural industries and farmers is competition-cooperation relationship.4. On the procedures of the brand building of agricultural products. It covers four stages and seventeen main themes of work. Four stages are: the stage of brand planning, the stage of brand establishing, the stage of brand cultivating and the stage of brand expanding. The main work in brand planning stage includes: selection of brand products, environment analysis of brand operation, goal establishment of brand building, market determination of the brand goal and brand positioning and planning; the main work in brand establishing stage include: design of the identification system of the brand and brand registration, brand products listing, brand cultural connotation determining; the main work in brand cultivating stage is to cultivate the "four essential factors" and "thirteen indicators" of brand agricultural products, as stated above, to consolidate and enhance comprehensively the brand level; the main work in brand expanding stage include: brand protection, extension, chain-operation and internationalization. Essential factors and procedures of agricultural products brand building combine organically to form a two-dimensional model of agricultural products brand building, which systematically specifies the vertical and horizontal building content of agricultural products brands.5. On the practices in brand building of agricultural products. Currently, although great achievements have been made in the brand building of agricultural products, many problems remain to be solved. Many problems are revealed through the following examples: the awareness to product quality possessed by agri-enterprise managers is inferior to that of consumers; brand positioning is unclear; brand building level of agricultural enterprises is low; enterprises generally have not established price adjusting system in line with the psychological needs of consumers in front of severe price competition; brand building level and brand credibility are generally low; primary processing develops slower than deep processing of agricultural products; quality management agencies of agricultural product brands are not perfect and are short of human resources. Consequently, important approaches to accelerating the brand building of agricultural products are to place emphasis on the application for quality mark and collective mark of agricultural products, to strengthen the quality regulation in processing agricultural products, to establish scientific pricing and price adjustment mechanism, to enhance the reputation of agricultural products through brand culture, to define brand position specifically to establish brand credibility and good image of entrepreneurs, to formulate and implement proper advertisement strategy, and to expand brand popularity of agricultural products.6. On brand building practices by governments, organizations in agricultural industries and farmers. In the process of brand building, governments have such problems as lag behind in establishing quality standards for agricultural products, not providing enough support for brand building, low public credibility of certification results and not giving enough protection for agricultural products. Therefore, governments should strengthen the establishment of agricultural products quality standards, perfect brand service system, increase financial budget in the brand building, add more support to the agricultural enterprises, make clear the management system of agricultural products brands, enhance the credibility of certification of brands and do well the protection work of agricultural products. In the process of brand building, associations in agricultural industries have such problems as low self-discipline about the quality of agricultural products, not investing enough service and coordination in the brand building, and showing improper protection and management of collective brands. Therefore, associations in agricultural industries should strengthen their functions and do work well in those aspects mentioned above. Farmers'problems appear when they provide the primary products of low quality. Hence, governments should strengthen the propagation and training in order to increase farmers' quality-safety awareness as well as capacity of agricultural products, enhance the degree of organization of them, perfect the production-supply system, improve supervision regulations, enhance supervision effects, strengthen law enforcement and increase the cost of breaking the law.7. On the case study of agricultural product brands. After investigating the building process of "Liaoyuan" brand and assessing its building level, we discovered some problems existing in the building process and we proposed our countermeasures. Through this case study, we not only have further applied and confirmed agricultural products building theories, but also obtained more concrete cognition of the building practices of agricultural products, realizing the unity of theory and practice from one side.