Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

Name Reg. No Title Supervisors
Faraji Anduku Yatundu MBA/003/12 Effect Of Branding Strategy On Performance Of Public Sugar Manufacturing Firms In Western Kenya
  1. Dr. Kennedy NtaboOtiso
  2. Dr. Wanyama Kadian Wanyonyi

ABSTRACT

Many organizations in the global market have realized that branding is an important initiative that they can put in place to ensure survival in the market. The sugar industry especially in Kenya has increasingly become saturated, attracting new and retaining old customers has not only become difficult but also costly in terms of marketing costs. In order for the sugar firms to retain their current customers and increase their market share depends on the branding strategy applied. The study will focus on effect of branding strategy on performance of public sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. The following objectives will be addressed by this study: To assess the effect of brand name on performance of public sugar manufacturing firms in western Kenya, to establish the effect of the brand image on performance of public sugar manufacturing firms in western Kenya, to determine the effect of brand awareness on performance of public sugar manufacturing firms in western Kenya, to examine the effect of brand personality on performance of public sugar manufacturing firms in western Kenya and to assess the effect of brand identity on performance of public sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. This study will be guided by branding theory which was advanced by Marquardt. The study will adopt the descriptive survey and exploratory research designs. The descriptive survey design will be appropriate in this study since the data to be collected will be both qualitative and quantitative and an exploratory research will be suitable when one has to find out what is happening, to seek new insights and to understand phenomenon. The target population of the study will be 1922 members of the four public sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. The public sugar firms that will be used in the study are Muhoroni, Nzoia, South Nyanza and Chemilil sugar companies. Purposive sampling technique will be used to select the 12 managers and simple random sampling will be used to select the 56 supervisors and 132 clerks. The study will use a questionnaire to gather the information. Cronbach alpha will be used to test the validity of the study instruments. Further the data will be analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive and inferential statistics and Regression analysis will be used in testing the relationship of variables. The study will be of importance to the sugar firms more particularly when designing their branding strategies to achieve competitive edge.