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Section 15. Economics
Valishvili Tea, Associate Professor, Akaki Tsereteli State University E-mail: tea.valishvili@atsu.edu.ge Genelidze Lia, Visiting Teacher, Akaki Tsereteli State University E-mail: lia.genelidze@atsu.edu.ge
ATTITUDE OF GEORGIAN CONSUMERS TOWARDS BRANDS
Abstract. Strong brand creates a base for creating positive and profitable relationships with customers. In order to study attitudes towards the brands of Georgian consumers, a survey was conducted involving more than 600 respondents. During the research process they following key questions were revealed: what the brands for the respondents meant, what characteristics of the brand they prefered, which brands they were familiar with, how they expressed preference, what they expected from the brand or what could make them change, did they pay attention to advertising, which Georgian product was the brand for them and etc. Taking into consideration all of this, we present the attitude of Georgian consumers to brands. We believe that introduction of users' attitudes to Georgian producers will help them reinforce the image and achieve loyalty to consumers.
Keywords: Brand, consumer, brand value, Georgian products.
Brands have become a major player in modern society. Establishment of Georgian production in the internation-
They invaded us in any sphere of our life: economic, social, al market is associated with a lot of obstacles. First of all, this is cultural, sporting and even religion. Because of this, they have related to the problems of intensification of competition and come into undergrowing criticism. Since the brands are major awareness on the world market. However, it should be noted symbols of our economics and postmodern societies, they can that in many countries Georgia is well known for the Georgian and should be analysed through a number of perspectives: brands, such as "Borjomi", "Sarajishvili", "AVTANDIL", "Kh-macroeconomics, microeconomics, sociology, psychology, vanchkhara" and so on. We can't stop mentioning the fact, that anthropology, history, semiotics, philosophy and so on [1]. Georgia is mainly associated with wine and wine traditon for
The big brand's equity gives the company a lot ofadvantages. the rest of the world. While "the ancient Georgian traditional Strong brand is based on high awareness and customer loyalty. Qvevri wine-making method" is in the UNESCO Intangible The fact that customers are hoping to see their brand on shelves Cultural Heritage List [3; 4].
at the store, gives the company a great advantage in trading with To find out what kind of attitude the Georgian consum-
resellers, because the name ofbrand has high durability, the com- ers have towards brands, we have conducted a survey, which pany can easily expand the product series and brand [2]. was meant to study public attitudes towards brands and in
Together with this, a strong brand creates a base for creat- particular, Georgian brands. ing positive and profitable relationships with customers. Thus, We conducted a survey in electronic form, as well as face-
the fundamental asset, that emphasizes the value of the brand to-face interview. In this survey over 600 respondents took is the user's equity - the value of customers relationship that part. Among them, 70.4% were female. forms the brand. Strong brand is important, but in fact, it is a The questionnaire included both closed and open ques-
combination of loyal customers. The main focus of marketing tions, where the respondents had the opportunity to express is the creation of user's equty, in which brand management is their own opinions or different views. questionnaire included one of the main tools. such questions as: what do the brands for the respondents
Section 15. Economics
mean, what characteristics of the brand do they prefer, which brands you are familiar with, how do they express preference, what do they expect from the brand or what can cause them to change, do they pay attention to advertising, which Georgian product is the brand for them and etc. Taking into consideration all of this, we present the attitude of Georgian consumers to brands.
The question on which characteristics of the brand is important for them, most of the respondents - 56.3% have noted that the high quality of the product is the most important, which isn't surprise, because the brand is perceived as a high quality product. Besides the quality, users pay much attention to the characteristics of the brand, such as adjusting the individual brand. 31.7% of respondents answered this question, and a small part of the respondents focus on social responsibility of the brand, the important application made by the brand, the recommendation of friends or relatives and etc. The following question was about how the user express preference to the desired brand, where the two answers were revealed that a large part - 42.1% says that they express their preference to the brand by buying it, while 34% says that they are talking about the desired brand with others, which is a clear example of difference between brand goods and other goods, and what is its advantage compared to other similar poducts, because a customer who can't buy it still thinks about the brand and will buy it immediately within the first opportunity. Also with a small percentage, but there are still some answers like this: we become loyal to the brand (12.2%), following on social media (10.7%) and buying online (1%).
The next question was to understand what the respondents are expecting from the brand they are using. Half of the respondents - 50%, expect to emphasize their individuality by the help of the desired brand, while 24% wants to know the brand that they are using. For 18% it is important to reach success by chosen brand, while remaining 8% says that different features, such as comfort, quality and so on are more important.
As research shows, the reason of changing the prefered brand can be the economic, psychological, innovative, mental and other circumstances. The survey shows that first of all, the rej ection of the liked brand can be caused by the financial positon (38%), it is followed by the appearance of the more pure brand (36%), also the appearance of a more prestigious brand in the market (25%), which is followed by breaking the brand image (20%) and increase price on products (19%), it should be noted that not a large number of respondents will change the brand because of the change in price, which indicates that if a person has an income, he will not lose money, even if it is a bit too expensive. Quite a small number of respondents think that beloved brands will be replaced by the recommendation of family members or friends (9%), while 8% will refuse a
favor brand for suggested promotions or advertising by the competitor brand.
Advertisments is a quite important in selecting products for 59.6% of consumers, that should be interesting and considerable for any product manufacturers, especially for branded goods, because good advertising is a half way to the success. This confirms that 22.7% of respondents give a definitive value to advertisements and buys some goods because of good advertising. Only 17.7% does not pay attention to advertisements and viewing or hearing advertising has no definitive influence on them.
Our interest was also to understand which sources were used by users when they wanted to buy a new product. Most of the respondents - 87 say that they are asking friends and acquaintances; following- 80 persons, who try to find information on different brands on websites; also people who are looking for information on different blogs and forums (53 votes). According to a small part (31 votes) they go to specialized stores and get consultations there about new production. TV advertisements have received the least number of votes (21), which means that the user no longer waits for an advertisement for a new product on television, but tries to find information about the goods needed for him/her, and for that s/he is using modern technologies such as the Internet, also advice from acquaintances and friends.
Finally, the most interesting question for us was: Do you use Georgian products and why? This question was interesting in terms of understanding how Georgian customers are concerned about national products.
From the answers it appeared that Georgian products are not only acceptable for 34.8%, but „made in Georgia" is one of the key factors in the selection of the product. 24.7% trust the goods produced inside the country, while 19.2% periodically consumes Georgian products, because it is available. Overall, we can say that nearly 80% of respondents positively evaluate Georgian products and are ready to buy it. Only 10.6% of respondents refuse to use it, in order to buy better, while 9.4% thinks that Georgian product has low quality and do not trust it.
The results of the survey once again convinced us that today there is a customer in the center of everything, so the direct interest of the company should be focused on better understanding its own customer. That's why companies should understand current and potential customers needs and wants, that will help the company in developing new products and planning marketing activites.
Depending on the above mentioned, we can conclude that consumers perceives the brands and branded products as high quality products, and at the same time they emphasize not only the quality but also the ability to satisfy their
needs and desires. The advantage of the brand is that it is tailored to the individual, it must satisfy the taste of the buyer and make him feel comfortable. The brand is characterized by always being in the center of attention and even if consumer can not buy a branded item, s/he shares his/her preference, likeness and emotions to others, because s/he is so fascinated by this product. The desired product is always in the buyer's subconscious, and as soon as he/she is able to buy it he/she will purchase it without thinking. It should
be noted that even increase of the price of the brand can not cause a catastrophic decline in sales, because people are willing to pay more for their needs and desires, than pay less in the same product, but with undesirable names.
From the survey it clearly appeared that Georgian consumers are ready to buy local products, and they trust the quality of Georgian products, so it is important to have more effort as it was possible for many Georgian brands, such as Barambo, Natakhtari, Nikora and so on.
References:
1. Kapferer Jean-Noël. New strategic brand management: creating and sustaining brand equity long term / Jean Noël Kap-ferer.- 4th ed. 2008.
2. Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, Principles of Marketing, published by Pearson Education. 17th edition. 2018.
3. Gamtenadze K. Georgian brands on the international market. URL: https://www.allnews.ge
4. Chigogidze Kh. Ten ancient Georgian Brand. URL: http://www.bpn.ge
