Exploring the Role of South African Citizens’ Brand Loyalty Towards their Nation Brand.

Abstract

South Africa’s nation brand is in an unfortunate position in the eyes of its citizens (Moeng, 2019) as South African citizens believe that the country is in a “downward spiral” (Kock, 2015). South Africa’s brand perception is experiencing a regression, showing that South African citizens’ loyalty is simultaneously reaching a decline (Njobeni, 2015). Correspondingly, there is a strong sense of cynicism regarding governance in South Africa (Kock, 2017), and as South Africans perceive the Government to be exceptionally poor when it comes to competency and honesty (Kock, 2017), it has a vast reflection on South Africans’ loyalty towards the nation. South Africa’s nation brand and how it is perceived has enormous impacts on how decisions are put into place, and how the nation will be treated by citizens and neighbouring countries according to its perceived reputation (Kock, 2017). Active citizenship is the result of a relationship built on trust between a nation and its citizens, and therefore, according to Aaker (1996), a brand needs to portray reason for its consumers (citizens) to be loyal. Therefore, this study revolves around nation branding in South Africa, and the extent to which South African citizens are loyal towards their national brand, as loyalty and active citizenship are vital elements in the development of a country’s nation brand (Kock, 2015). This study aligns itself with a qualitative approach in order to understand the phenomena from a human-centric point of view.