| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄第一科技大學 === 行銷與流通管理所 === 91 === Since liberalization of foreign cigarettes import to Taiwan in 1987, the market share of domestic-made cigarettes has been continuously declining in this country. This trend has posed a serious threat to the exclusive cigarette manufacturer in Taiwan -- the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. The reasons and impact of this trend , however, have not been sufficiently researched. The purposes of this study are to understand how consumers’ individual traits and product perception will influence their brand preference, and how consumers’ brand preference will influence cigarette firms’ intangible assets of customer equity.
In this study, the individual traits construct includes three sub-constructs: self-monitoring, conspicuous consumption, and variety-seeking ; the product perception construct includes price perception, quality perception, and value perception ; and the customer equity construct includes value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity as suggested by Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon（2001）.
This study used questionnaire as survey instrument and successfully interviewed 1,423 cigarette consumers. Results of analyses reveal that consumers with higher degree of self monitoring, conspicuous consumption inclination , and variety-seeking, and with lower price perception, higher quality perception, and higher value perception tend to prefer imported cigarettes; and that cigarette firms attaining higher degree of consumers’ brand preference will hold higher customer equity.
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