Since the IMF crisis in 1998, due to the liberalization of apartment sales price policies, developers have launched a new strategy of selling quality apartments at higher price levels. This is because the new trend shows that consumers in the apartmen...
Since the IMF crisis in 1998, due to the liberalization of apartment sales price policies, developers have launched a new strategy of selling quality apartments at higher price levels. This is because the new trend shows that consumers in the apartment market tend to choose the supplier rather than the supplier choosing the consumer. In an effort to be the supplier selected by consumers, construction companies develop brands with a high quality image. These are, accordingly, reflected in apartment prices. As a favorable image tends to encourage consumers to buy when property sale begin, those companies do everything they can to enhance their brand value in consumers' eyes.
As brand value is associated with buying a house, watching a commercial does not directly contribute to the consumer's purchasing decisions. Furthermore, once purchased, a housing property is for a long-term use. Therefore, the average consumer does not reach a quick decision, the way he/she might when grocery shopping. Also, a consumer's decision-making process in the purchase is likely to be affected by many factors, including the surrounding environment, location, price, brand, economical efficiency, profitability, and so on. For these reasons, building industry participants work tirelessly to analyze consumers' buying factors. Several rival companies' marketing activities are formulated in great detail so as to form a brand marketing plan, checking every detail from the beginning to the completion of a construction project, hoping to satisfy their customers. This study has analyzed consumer behavior regarding resident satisfaction and brand, aiming to examine the impact of both on buying factors. Summarizing the theory of purchase intention, where the demonstrative analysis was conducted for the hypothesis of the sensitive & practical images of a brand, and re-purchase & recommendation intention for residents' satisfaction, the results were found to be as per the following:
Firstly, the awareness of a sensitive image toward an apartment depended on the size of the residence, while that of the practical image revealed significant differences according to monthly income and residential size. This may be interpreted as indicating that those living in a larger sized residence tend to have comparatively stronger awareness levels of brand image.
Secondly, as to resident satisfaction, in terms of housing, satisfaction with the apartment complex, satisfaction with the neighborhood, satisfaction with the building management services, and satisfaction with economical efficiency were affected by residence size. In general, the bigger the residential size, the higher the satisfaction level of each factor becomes.
Furthermore, the satisfaction level in terms of the housing and the apartment complex were found to be influenced by monthly income, with those in higher income groups tending to display higher satisfaction levels with their housing and their apartment complex.
Thirdly, when the impact of brand image on apartment satisfaction levels was examined, both sensitive and practical images as brand image factors were found to be simultaneously significant, which reflected the satisfaction levels with the housing, the apartment complex, and with economical efficiency. Meanwhile, in terms of satisfaction with the neighborhood and the management services, only the practical image as a brand image proved to be a positive influence. The general consensus is that those with stronger apartment brand image tended to exhibit higher resident satisfaction.
Fourthly, when examining the relationship between resident satisfaction and re-purchase intention & recommendation to others intention as purchasing factors, it might be suggested that the higher the resident satisfaction, the stronger the re-purchase intention & recommendation to others intention become.
Fifth, regarding the relationship between apartment resident satisfaction andre-purchase intention, when the effect of adjusting the brand image was analyzed, apartment brand image proved to have a positive effect on satisfaction with economical efficiency. However, regarding the relationship between apartment resident satisfaction and recommendation to others intention, when the effect of adjusting the brand image was analyzed, apartment brand image proved to have positive effects on certain parts of housing satisfaction, the apartment complex, and economical efficiency.
Sixth, in terms of the influence of the apartment brand image on the consumer's buying decision, the stronger the apartment brand image is, the more likely is a buying decision.
By and large, the brand image of an apartment exercises an effect on the resident's satisfaction levels, providing favorable effects on the re-purchase decision or recommendation likelihood. In conclusion, although apartment quality is an important factor affecting consumer in their purchasing decisions and sense of satisfaction, an awareness of brand image also plays a significant role.
Therefore, the small-quantity and multi-product system that supplies differentiated brand apartment sand services is likely to prove most suitable for the market in the future. Apart from functional quality, apartments that improve the residential value of the consumer tend to be valued above everything else in terms of strengthening apartment brand. Any marketing strategy in the industry is required to enhance each individual brand, as well as the corporate brand at the same time.