Original Research

Consumer perspectives on the relationship between iconic branding and entrepreneurial orientation

Karen A. Gantsho, Jurie van Vuuren, Inger Fabris-Rotelli
The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management | Vol 16, No 1 | a716 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajesbm.v16i1.716 | © 2024 Karen A. Gantsho, Jurie van Vuuren, Inger Fabris-Rotelli | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 20 February 2023 | Published: 06 June 2024

About the author(s)

Karen A. Gantsho, Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Jurie van Vuuren, Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria,, South Africa
Inger Fabris-Rotelli, Department of Statistics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Background: This article presents the outcomes of research testing, from a consumer perspective, for a relationship between iconic branding (IB) and the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) driving that brand. Reviewed literature on IB and EO posits that internal stakeholders, such as brand owners, managers and employees, do perceive the relationship but the consumer’s view as the external stakeholder is understudied.

Aim: This study aimed to discover whether consumers, as external stakeholders, perceive a relationship between IB and EO.

Setting: This study investigated the relationship between the IB and EO of an iconic brand food retail chain store in South Africa from the perspective of the brand’s consumers.

Methods: The study followed a quantitative case study research design. Data were collected using an online questionnaire randomly administered to probable consumers of the brand of interest. Analysis of variance, Fisher’s exact test and multivariate analysis of variance were some statistical techniques applied to test the hypothesised relationships.

Results: The study found that contrary to suggestions in the extant literature, consumers largely perceive a statistically significant difference between the brand of interest’s IB and its EO attributes, and they did not perceive a relationship between the IB construct and EO variables. Furthermore, males and females did not perceive IB or EO in the same way.

Conclusion: Brand managers seeking to foster consumer awareness of the relationship between IB and EO must aim to include more entrepreneurial-orientated branding into the IB and adopt differentiated strategies based on gender.

Contribution: The findings narrowed the gap in the literature by adding a consumer perspective on the relationship between IB and EO.


Keywords

iconic branding; entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial orientation; consumer perspectives; innovativeness; risk-taking; proactiveness.

JEL Codes

M10: General; M21: Business Economics; M31: Marketing

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Metrics

Total abstract views: 901
Total article views: 738

 

Crossref Citations

1. Organisational configurations explaining the entrepreneurial orientation–performance–environment relationship: a focus on bricolage capability, organisational identity and absorptive capacity
Boris Urban, Fikile Kanguwe
Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship  vol: 13  issue: 1  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1186/s13731-024-00413-4