CHANGING PRODUCT PERCEPTION FOR COLA BRANDS ACROSS CONSUMPTION SCENARIOS

The cumulative value of the Top 100 most valuable global brands in 2018 stands at a staggering $4.4 trillion. Brands are very powerful influencers and have a significant impact on the decision-making of consumers when purchasing goods and services, to the extent that consumers oftentimes would prefer the product of a specific brand from amongst a selection of almost identical products. Taking into consideration the value of marketing and brand perceptions especially in a competitive consumer goods industry, this thesis attempted to evaluate the influence of brands on product preferences for colas. An experiment was conducted with 29 participants using 3 brands of colas; Coca-Cola, Pepsi and AH Cola; the experiment consisted of three sections, memory recollection survey method, blind taste testing and revealed taste testing. The thesis also conducted additional tests on willingness to switch and elements of advertisements influencing sales. This thesis concluded that the ratings consumers gave to the different elements of taste did not significantly change over the three consumption scenarios, i.e. perceptive, blind taste test and revealed taste tests. This shows that taste does not seem to be the key driver in influencing perceptions and preferences of consumers with availability & convenience and branding taking first and second place respectively for the main drivers as seen from this test. This paper also rejected the “Pepsi Paradox” along with claims that Cola brands have successfully built a highly positive perception of the experience of consuming cola regardless of brand using convincing marketing strategies and campaigns.