Abstract:

This study was conducted to determine if the brand is made by the customer or the brand itself,
where in a qualitative study was conducted using a narrative analysis. Around 25 random
respondents were interviewed using a scheduled interview consisting of 25 questions which were
drilled down to know their emotions. Researcher’s expectations were that the brand identifies
itself, but the outcome of the study was customer’s perception and perceived value determines the
brand.

Introduction:
Brand is something that represent a particular product or a company or a person. Branding is
important because not only is it what makes a memorable impression on consumers but it allows
your customers and clients to know what to expect from your company. It is a way of
distinguishing yourself from the competitors. There are many areas that are used to develop a brand
including advertising, Customer service, promotional merchandise, reputation and logo.

The importance of branding are, Branding Gets Recognition, Branding Increases Business Value,
Creates Trust Within, The Marketplace etc. We chose to do our research in this area, on reviewing
around 30 journal article, we as team were keen on performing a research under the research title
“ ” this was chosen to determine if the brand is recognizes itself or does customers involvement
plays a major role in it.

We chose Westside store, as a brand in order to understand how customer perceived value impacts
the brand and also Westside being a subsidiary company of the TATA group which has good brand
name and trust among people. Also Westside is retail chain operated by Trent that is the retail arm
of TATA group. Also Westside saw a 19 percent year on year increase in revenue, with a net profit
of 87 Crores. Westside’s sales have been growing steadily for the last five years. Westside’s stores
have own brands and other brands as well at a ratio of 3:7. Westside competes with stores like
H&M and forever 21.

We under took a qualitative approach which would help us understand the emotional view of the
customer towards the brand and also how it plays a major role in the buying/purchasing pattern of
the customer. The mode of gathering data was through scheduled interview method where in a
interview must be conducted with the respondents for duration of 20 – 30 minutes, the respondents
were asked around 25 question related to the brand, customer perception and other parameters.
These questions were drilled down by asking questions such as why and how? In order to
understand the emotional aspect of the respondents.

A narrative analysis was done using the data, where in transcripts were created from the data
gathered from the respondents (Note: these transcripts are respondents specific). On completion
on the transcripts keywords from it was gathered and analyzed.