Automotive Brand in Sultanate of Oman: Customers Perspective

Abstract

The customer experience contributes significantly in shaping automotive brand name and it plays a wider role in capturing competitive market share. This article is an attempt to analyze the concept of automotive branding and apply the concept to selected company in the Sultanate of Oman. The concept of automotive branding is drawn upon existing theories, models, and practices across fields of marketing, human resource management and organizational behavior. The recent literature on corporate branding emphasizes the importance of brand values: a brand is seen to encapsulate the additional values that are inherent or associated with the corporation and its products and services. Various literatures from marketing, organizational behavior and human resource management were analyzed to build the conceptual framework for an automotive company Renault to illustrate adoption of automotive branding in the Sultanate of Oman. The analysis shows that customers of Renault are sensitive to the brand and customers closely watch branding initiatives. It also makes clear that the attitude and behavior of customers is a significant determinant of brand value.