A Study of Qualia Factors in Product Affecting Brand Image

• Main Authors: Yen, Hui-Yun, 顏惠芸
• Other Authors: Lin, Po-Hsien
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/39656237304343007301

博士 === 國立臺灣藝術大學 === 創意產業設計研究所 === 103 === In recent years, production technologies used in the manufacturing industry have been maturing, or the competition has become increasingly intense, resulting in the fact that a product needs to have not only the essential requirements, including functionality and the provision of engineering functions, but also the addition of intangible emotional attributes, such as aesthetics and symbolic attributes. In addition, as people in modern days are rich in terms of materials, the products that they use daily not only need to offer practical functions, but also need to be relatively unique, integrated with cultural characteristics, and expressive of beauty. These kinds of products would be more favored by the consumers. Among these products, those that contain cultural meanings and highlight the personal style, taste, and attitude to life of individuals are better at capturing consumer attention. Such phenomenon shows that the era of aesthetic economy for the global market has arrived. When consumers face unfamiliar products, they will use their brand awareness to assist them in buying decisions. In contrast, a product is a specific symbol that represents its brand. A brand is abstract, spiritual, and the sum of the feelings that consumers have toward the products. A brand reflects their emotions, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. This also shows that a product needs to not only provide the functions demanded by the consumer, but also consider the state of mind of the consumers using the product, as well as their inner emotional requirements. By using the emotional values of a product to confirm consumer needs, brand image can be enhanced, thereby allowing the identification of product advantages. Therefore, the purposes of this study include: 1. using the theoretical product qualia factors to discuss products, and basing the designs and applications on the theory; 2. analyzing the influential factors of products on brand imaging, and providing references for the industry; 3. establishing an evaluation model of the impact of product qualia factors on brand image, and providing the industry with application references. In terms of research methods, prior to the development of research tools, we used qualitative research methods. Through the use of theories, we performed discussions on the development of the research structure; for example, we conducted literature reviews and case studies to confirm our research topics. After studying the related theories and performing investigations, we confirmed that the aim of this study relates to discussions on the sentimental level. Based on the theories, we designed the research tools and performed reliability and validity tests. We used structural equation modeling （SEM） to perform the verification analysis to evaluate the feasibility of the SEM, which assesses how the product quality impacts the brand image. Study results have found that an interactive relationship exists among product qualia factors, brand emotion, and brand image. The results have mainly showed the following: 1. product qualia factors positively affect brand emotion; 2. brand emotion provides a mediating effect between product qualia factors and product image; 3. through the use of strategies on enhancing brand emotion, the effect of product qualia factors on brand image can be enhanced. In other words, through brand emotion, consumers can develop positive emotions toward the brand. During the process of establishing brand image, product design can enhance brand image through brand emotion. Lastly, the conclusions have shown that consumers use all aspects of the product to assess product functionalities, style, and appearance, before starting to pay attention to their experiences with the aspect of beauty. At this stage, designers should spend efforts in enhancing the inner quality of the product, or the so-called taste. Once a consumer who appreciates taste and style comes across such a product, the consumer would progress from “I want this” to “I must have this.” Brand royalty and brand emotion are thus formed. This shows that the era of Brand emotion has arrived. In addition to performing actual communications with the customers through products to achieve customer satisfaction, enhance brand image, and improve product advantage, brand owners would also need to combine the product advantages. Through various marketing activities, brand owners would need to show how they are different from other brands, as well as how unique they are. They need to keep focusing on the feelings of the consumers, and continue to satisfy their needs to establish good relationships with the consumers, so that the brand can have not only a place in the market, but also a place in the consumers’ minds. In this study, we established an evaluation model for the impact of product qualia factors on brand image. This model can provide different industries with the ability to evaluate the impact of product qualia factors on the brand image of typical brands in all industries. This model can also provide references for related industries in their applications or evaluations of product designs, or in their estimations of brand launching strategies. The evaluation standards used in this model can strengthen industries in Taiwan, and ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of the industry. The model will thus provide practical assistance and useful contributions.