The Effects of Social Marketing Practices and Brand Communication on Brand Trust and Willingness to Pay More: A Research on the Head & Shoulders Brand

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of social marketing practices and brand communication on brand trust and the willingness to pay more. For this purpose, a study related to shampoo sector was carried out in Ankara. A qualitative research based on the shampoo brands the consumers use, the manufacturers of the brands and the social responsibility projects of the companies has been carried out with a focus group consisting of 10 academicians. As a result of the research; Head & Shoulders known for its sponsorships in World, Europe and Turkey Basketball League has come to the fore. The data collected from 384 consumers using this brand between June 1st and July 30th, 2017 was analyzed with convenience sampling method. The construct validity of the data set was tested by confirmatory factor analysis, its reliability was tested by cronbach alpha coefficients. Structural equation modeling has been used for research hypotheses. As a result of the research; it has been determined that social marketing practices and brand communication affect brand trust directly and brand trust affects willingness to pay more directly while social marketing practices and brand communication affect willingness to pay more indirectly over brand trust. The rate of explanation of brand trust was 59% and the rate of explanation of willingness to pay more was 62%.