Antecedents and outcomes of brand management in small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in Malaysian context

• Main Author: Imelda Albert Gisip
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: HD2340.8-2346.5 Small and medium-sized businesses, artisans, handicrafts, trades
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/39306/1/24%20pages.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/39306/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/39306/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

The focus of this study is to understand the antecedents and outcomes of brand management in the Malaysians’ SME context from the view of Resource Based View (RBV) Theory and Knowledge Based View (KBV) Theory. Top management brand emphasis, corporate supportive resources and market orientation are identified as antecedents and critical for brand management success. Apart from that, this study reconceptualised the brand management concept which currently comprised of management related factors with the introduction of three marketing constructs namely marketing capabilities, innovation and brand orientation as new dimensions in brand management concept. This study is set as a cross sectional and quantitative study with sample size comprises 304 Malaysian SMEs from the food and beverage (F & B) manufacturing sector based on the list of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) directory 2012. Smart Partial Least Squared (PLS) version 2.0 software, a structural equation modelling technique was used to analyse data. Results of this study found that brand culture, marketing capabilities and innovation have a significant impact on brand performance in SMEs context. This means that in order to have an efficient brand management in place, firms should incorporate brand culture, marketing capabilities and innovation in their brand management activities. Apart from that, another important finding in this study is that market orientation will impact brand performance in Malaysia’s SME context if it is mediated by brand culture and brand orientation. These findings strengthen the Resource Based View (RBV) Theory and Knowledge Based View (KBV) Theory which holds that resources, capabilities and knowledge are critical to achieve superior performance and in this case brand performance. Lastly, this study provides useful information for the related government agencies to further understand the brand management practices among Malaysian SMEs and to formulate government support programs towards strengthening the brand-related knowledge and skills among the SMEs.