Brand heritage, perceived value and loyalty: An exploration of Woolworths Holdings Limited

Abstract

In both marketing and branding research and in practice, the study of brand heritage and brands with a heritage has gained growing interest (Hudson, 2015). Brand heritage has also been acknowledged as being one of the future priorities in marketing and branding research (Hakala, Lätti, & Sandberg, 2011). Due to the use of brand heritage as a vital component of a brand’s marketing strategy, it is important for firms and brand managers to understand the ways in which brand heritage relates to consumers’ perceived value, loyalty, attitudes and purchase intentions towards a brand and its offerings. To this end, the researcher aimed to determine and describe the relationship that exists between brand heritage, perceived value and loyalty, and determine what influence this relationship has on consumer’s overall attitudes and purchase intentions towards a brand. This study made use of a 21-item quantitative self-administered questionnaire for the purpose of collecting objective data that reflected respondents’ perceived value and loyalty towards Woolworths Holdings Limited’s private label offerings as a result of their brand heritage. The quantitative data collection method utilised, was deemed appropriate for this study as the data collected could be analysed through the use of descriptive statistics (Maree, 2019). This ultimately enabled the researcher to describe the relationship that exists between the respective concepts under study. The study revealed that a positive and significant relationship exists between the affective dimension of consumer engagement and purchase intention. Subsequently, it was also discovered that a positive and significant relationship exists between perceived value and loyalty. This study expands on the existing research surrounding brand heritage and its effect on perceived value and loyalty, by investigating and describing the relationship between brand heritage, perceived value and loyalty in the context of a South African brand, Woolworths Holdings Limited.