A test of the effects of competition on consumer brand selection processes

Abstract

This paper addresses and tests the influence of competition on attitude formation and intention formation within the consumers' choice set. The results of an empirical study confirm that the consumer's attitude toward a brand is not only a function of his/her cognitive evaluations of that particular brand, but also a function of his/her perceptions of the competing brands within the choice set. Similarly, purchase intention formation is found to be determined by attitudes toward both the focal brand and toward the close competitors of the focal brand within the consumer's choice set. The best structural equation model is found to be the model that incorporates both of these competitive effects.