T Carnie Vega School of Brand Leadership 2018 An Exploration of Brand Perception and Brand Identity in Female Luxury Designer Fashion Tyler Carnie 17608111 RESM 8413 Word count: 14998 Supervisor: Althea Fordyce Bachelor of Arts Honours in Strategic Brand Communication Submitted in partial fulfilment of BA Honours in Strategic Brand Communication at Vega School, a brand of the Independent Institute of Education (IIE) on 17 September 2018. I T Carnie Vega School of Brand Leadership 2018 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the Research Report submitted for the Bachelor of Arts Honours in Strategic Brand Communication degree to The Independent Institute of Education is my own work and has not previously been submitted to another University or Higher Education Institution for degree purposes. Tyler Carnie 17608111 Signature 17 September 2018 II T Carnie Vega School of Brand Leadership 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................... II ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................VI KEYWORDS ..................................................................................................VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................VIII 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Context and Background .............................................................................. 1 1.2 Rationale ...................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Problem Statement ...................................................................................... 5 1.4 Research Goal and Questions ..................................................................... 5 1.4.1 Research Goal ...................................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Research Questions ............................................................................. 6 1.4.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................. 6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 7 2.1 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 7 2.1.1 Aaker’s Brand Identity Model ................................................................ 7 2.1.2 Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism ............................................................ 8 2.2 Review of Literature ..................................................................................... 9 2.3 Conceptualisation of Key Concepts ........................................................... 13 2.3.1 Brand Image ....................................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Brand Identity ...................................................................................... 14 2.3.3 Consumer Perception ......................................................................... 14 2.3.4 Victoria Secret ..................................................................................... 15 2.3.5 Diversity .............................................................................................. 15 2.3.6 Buying Behaviour ................................................................................ 16 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 17 3.1 Research Paradigm ................................................................................... 17 III T Carnie Vega School of Brand Leadership 2018 3.1.1 Interpretivist Paradigm ........................................................................ 17 3.2 Methodological Approach ........................................................................... 19 3.3 Population and Sampling ........................................................................... 21 3.3.1 Population ........................................................................................... 21 3.3.2 Sampling ............................................................................................. 21 3.4 Data Collection Methods ............................................................................ 23 3.5 Procedure of Data Collection ..................................................................... 24 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .................................................................. 26 4.1 Introduction to the Data Analysis Methods ................................................. 26 4.2 Participants ................................................................................................ 27 4.3 Themes ...................................................................................................... 27 4.3.1 Brand Association ............................................................................... 27 4.3.2 Brand Culture ...................................................................................... 29 4.3.3 Diversity .............................................................................................. 30 4.3.4 Beauty Standards ............................................................................... 32 4.3.5 Self-image ........................................................................................... 33 4.3.6 Sexualisation ....................................................................................... 34 4.3.7 Buying Behaviour ................................................................................ 36 4.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 37 5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 38 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 38 5.2 Findings ..................................................................................................... 38 5.2.1 Overreaching Research Question ....................................................... 39 5.2.2 Secondary Research Questions ......................................................... 41 5.3 Implications of Study .................................................................................. 43 5.4 Trustworthiness .......................................................................................... 43 5.5 Recommendations ..................................................................................... 43 IV T Carnie Vega School of Brand Leadership 2018 5.6 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................... 44 5.6.1 Participant Considerations .................................................................. 44 5.6.2 Researcher Considerations................................................................. 44 5.6.3 Brand Considerations ......................................................................... 45 5.7 LIMITATIONS............................................................................................. 45 5.8 DELIMATATIONS ...................................................................................... 45 6. REFERENCE LIST ........................................................................................... 46 LIST OF FIGURES: Figure 1: Aaker's Brand Identity Model ................................................................ 60 Figure 2: Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism ............................................................ 61 LIST OF ANNEXURES: Annexure 1: Interview Outline .............................................................................. 62 Annexure 2: Visual Imagery in the Interview ...................................................... 66 Annexure 3: Interview Consent Form .................................................................. 67 Annexure 4: Participant Transcripts .................................................................... 71 Annexure 5: Letter of Ethical Clearance ............................................................ 128 Annexure 6: Final Research Report Document ................................................ 129 V T Carnie Vega School of Brand Leadership 2018 ABSTRACT The fashion industry has witnessed significant changes in the past few years. The industry has opened its doors up diverse groups of women that do not conform to the fashion world’s definition of ‘female beauty’ (Givan, 2017). Society has started to voice profound situations of thoughtlessness and cavalier culture appropriation, in order for the fashion world to start embracing diversity (Givan, 2017). Therefore, the aim of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the opinions and views that women in South Africa had toward Victoria Secret, in order to determine if their perceptions aligned with the brands identity. This study was based on an axiological position of interpretivism. The primary research findings were collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The nine participants that took part in the study were; female consumers between the ages of 18 to 25 that reside in the East of Pretoria, South Africa. Participants had either come into contact with, or purchased the Victoria Secret brand previously. The semi-structured interviews contained the following; eighteen in-depth questions, two Victoria’s