Branding and Consumer Purchase Decision of Fast–Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Branding has become a very important strategic marketing tool for manufacturers to differentiate their products in the highly competitive markets. Despite the importance of branding to help consumers’ identify and differentiate manufacturers’ products from its competitors as well as foster long-term relationship and loyal customers, some brands cannot compete in the market because of poor branding image. This study is based on the theories of brand equity and self-congruity that explain the relationship between branding and consumer purchase decision. It adopts a positivist research approach, focusing on objective measuring the relationship between branding and consumer purchase decision. This study focused on three dimensions of branding-brand name, brand mark, and trade name as independent variables and consumer purchase decision as dependent variable. The survey research design was used to gather the primary data from the respondents. Data for the study were obtained through a questionnaire administered to 240 respondents selected using a convenience sampling technique. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson Moment Correlation at 0.05 level of significance with p<0.05 indicating statistical significance. Data analyses were enhanced using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version, 23). The findings of the study revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between branding-brand name, trade name, and consumer purchase decision of fast-moving consumer goods in Akwa Ibom State. The findings also revealed that brand mark has no significant relationship with consumer purchase decision of fast-moving consumer goods in Akwa Ibom State. It was concluded that branding plays an important role in influencing consumer purchase decision of goods in Akwa Ibom State. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that manufacturers of goods should maintain the quality of their brands to continuously create positive purchase attitude in the mind of consumers.