THE PERCEIVED VALUE OF BRAND BUILDING: DO SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN SOUTH AFRICA RECOGNISE ITS VALUE?

Abstract

Branding is a crucial resource for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim was to explore SME owners’ perceptions of branding, and to determine whether these perceptions had an impact on the marketing focus of the enterprise. Theoretical framework: The theoretical discussion in the first place in the covers SMEs in the South African setting. Secondly it addresses the value and importance of branding. The latter was used in modeling the effect of perceived value of brand on the enterprise marketing orientation. This study uses a quantitative approach with data sources derived from the distribution of self-administered questionnaires which were hand-delivered to SMEs. A total of 265 useful responses were received back, the data was analyzed using SPSS version 28. Findings: SME owners are aware of the value of branding and opine that marketing efforts are geared to establish a branded enterprise. The findings revealed that SME owners’ perceptions of branding had no statistically significant effect on the marketing focus of the establishment, yet a positive correlation was identified amongst their perceptions of branding constructs and their marketing focus. It appears that South African SME’s owners and managers lacked the skills and knowledge to establish a branded enterprise. SME owners and managers are schooled in branding strategies and that business schools develop tutorial matter in this regard as part of their social corporate responsibility initiatives. Original/value: The study provides some solutions and recommendation for SME’s in terms of brand building. Furthermore, it contributes to the conceptualization of branding theory in a SME setting.

Keywords

• branding
• marketing activities
• marketing focus
• perception
• smes
• south africa