Understanding brand building processes in an emerging market context: The interplay between Turquality program and the Turkish jewellery companies

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, İşletme Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2014

Öğrenci: İLKİN YARAN

Danışman: EMİNEGÜL KARABABA

Özet:

This study aims to understand the interplay between TURQUALITY program and the Turkish companies in their brand building processes, taking the case of jewellery industry. Jewelleries are fashion and luxury consumption items and jewellery brands provide symbolic resources for consumers. Therefore, this study also focuses on TURQUALITY program's guidance in more complex brand management context which necessitates symbolic branding strategies. The study adopts qualitative research to understand how these jewellery companies have practiced branding and luxury brand building processes and how TURQUALITY program operates in these branding processes. The data are collected from four jewellery companies which are in TURQUALITY scheme. Observations, secondary data sources, and in-depth interviews are conducted and data are analyzed with thematic analysis. The findings of this study extends Schroeder (2005) and Schroeder and Salzer-Mörling's (2006) notions of brand culture which is defined as the interplay performed between art and business, production and consumption, images and stories, design and communication in branding process for creating brand culture by highlighting the role of state in the formation of brand culture. In an emerging economy where neoliberal economic policies are diffusing with high pace, intervention of Turkish government and its institutions in going global process of companies demonstrates how a hybrid mode of economic activity forms through marketing practices. In addition, the findings of the study show the supports of the program are not enough to create strong global jewellery brands which mostly focus on emotional investment and trust to create social esteem and emotional bond between the brand and consumer. For TURQUALITY program, the study suggests company based branding projects rather than a general one.