The Role of Advertising and Branding within the Laptop Industry - Dissertation Example

The combined role of advertising and branding appears to be more visible in the case of most of the products. Liu (2007) has found a positive relationship between branding and consumer purchasing decisions for laptops. A significant level of brand awareness for a specific brand will improve the purchasing behaviour for that laptop brand because it influences the consumer decision-making process especially on the information search stage of customers (Liu, 2007). The effectiveness of branding in the laptop industry is evident from the leading sales of branded laptops. The development of Dell in Malaysia had a positive influence on the brand image of Dell in Malaysia as its enhanced brand recognition, therefore; companies like Acer and HP also have a chance to compete with Dell by increasing their brand recognition (Ghajarzadeh, 2010).

Laptop manufacturers usually use informative advertising to make the consumer aware of the product specifications thereby, influencing the purchasing decision of consumers. PC companies adopt advertising media to influence high-income households and top companies are involved in higher than average advertising and generate higher than average revenues (Goeree, 2004). Akir and Othman (2010) found that decisions of consumers to purchase or not to purchase a laptop or personal computer are highly affected by advertisements published in magazines, catalogs, brochures and newspapers. There are many other factors brought by advertising and branding which influence consumer purchasing decisions. The commodification of the laptop market precipitates a deeper insight into what encourages a customer to purchase one brand over another (McClary, 2006).

Although the importance of advertising and branding has been proven by existing research studies for many products, however, very limited research has been done in the laptop industry. Moreover, existing relevant research studies have been more focusing on the importance of advertising and branding in the laptop industry rather than focusing on the influence of advertising and branding within this industry on purchasing decisions of consumers. Therefore, conducting a research study on the role of advertising and branding within the laptop industry and its effects on purchasing decisions of consumers in specific geography can provide more valuable results to be compared with existing studies. Since the behaviours of consumers belonging to different races and ethnicities vary, therefore, investigating the role of advertising and branding in specific industries and geography will be more useful.