Abstract:
In Kenya store brands are gaining popularity with supermarket chains now packaging and branding
their own products more aggressively as competition forces firms to come up with more innovative ways to lock
in consumers and increase earnings. To achieve competitive advantage therefore firms will have to ensure that
consumers’ perception of their stores image and price are favourable since these factors will likely have an
effect on brand equity of the store. Studies conducted so far have been in other contexts. Investigated in this
study is the effect of store image and price on brand equity in the Kenyan supermarket industry. The association
between store image and price with brand loyalty, perceived brand quality and brand awareness/association is
examined. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design with shoppers as the target population. A
representative sample of 180 respondents was determined using both proportional and random sampling
techniques. Chi square test was used to determine the relationship between store image and price with store
brand equity. Study findings show store image and price image to have an association with store brand equity.
There also exists a significant relationship between store image and perceived brand quality, brand loyalty and
brand awareness and between price image and perceived brand quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness.
Findings should contribute empirically to brand equity concepts and help improve on supermarket’s store brand
positioning.
