CONTENTS

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ——————————————- 1
1.0 Introduction—————————————————-2
1.1 Reason of the Research—————————————- 4
1.2 Research Focus—————————————- 5
1.3 Research Questions —————————————— 6
1.4 Research Objectives ——————————————- 7
1.5 Research Recipients—————————————– 8
1.6 Background and Suitability———————————- 8
1.7 Learning style————————————— 9
1.8 Time tabling and Cost issues———————-9
Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW———————————-10
2.1 Introduction—————————————————- 11
2.2 Branding ——————————-11
2.2.1 Brand preference—————————- 12
2.3 Brand———————————————————13
2.3.1 Theoretical Background of Brand———————-13
2.3.2Factors influence consumer perceptions of a brand—-14
2.3.3Brand equity————————15
2.3.4 Brand Awareness——————————16
2.4 Brand Loyalty———————————–17
2.4.1 Levels of Brand Loyalty—————————— 18
2.4.2 Maintaining and Enhancing Brand Loyalty————-20
2.4.3Types of brand loyal consumers————-22
2.4.4 Factors of brand loyalty———————-23
2.4.5 Brand Loyalty model————26
2.5 Brandquality————————-27
2.6 Brand association————–27
2.7 Consumer Behavior—————————————-29
2.7.1 Factors influencing consumer behaviour————–29
2.7.2 The buying decision process——————-32
2.8 Soft drink industry in Ireland————-34
Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction—————————————————-37
3.1.1 Definition of Research Methodology———-37
3.2 Research objectives———————————————38
3.3 Research Philosophy—————————————-39
3.3.1 Research onion——————————————— 40
3.4 Research Approach——————————————–41
3.5 Research strategy——————————42
3.6 Research Hypothesis————————————– 43
3.7 Data collection and sampling—————-44
3.7.1 Research questionnaire————–45
3.8 Time Horizon——————————— 47
3.9 Data collection methods——————47
3.9.1 Secondary data collection methods—————47
3.9.2 Primary Data Collection————————————-48
3.10 Data analysis tool——————-49
3.11 Ethical issues and limitations————–49
Chapter 4 DATA ANALYSIS ——————–50
4.1 Introduction—————————————————– 51
4.2 Quantitative analysis——————————————–51
Chapter 5 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS——————–73
Introduction——————————————————74
Findings and Conclusions of Research———————–77
Chapter 6 SELF REFLECTIONS————————————–78
6.1 Introduction——————————————————-79
6.2 Reflection on Learning—————————————–79
6.3 Self-assessment and Learning & Skill Development——–82
6.4 Challenges encountered—————————————–84
6.5 Conclusions——————————————————-84
BIBLIOGRAPHY———————————————-85
APPENDIX—————————————————-90