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A Bland New Way To Imitate? A Qualitative Study Exploring the Phenomena of Blands Through Consumers' Perceptions

Hoff, Oskar LU and Röken, Hugo LU (2022) BUSN39 20221
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Thesis Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the phenomenon of blands – A rise of brands that potentially adhere to a similar blueprint while claiming to be disruptive, unique and extraordinary. Moreover, this thesis aims to create an understanding of how consumers perceive blands as well as well as how value is created.

Methodology: The methodology takes a social constructivist standpoint with a multiple case study design where qualitative data is collected through focus group interviews. Three cases of blands were selected in Hedvig, Quip and Estrid.

Theoretical Perspective: Due to limited academic literature on the phenomenon of blands, a theoretical framework was created constituting a combination of grey literature... (More)
Thesis Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the phenomenon of blands – A rise of brands that potentially adhere to a similar blueprint while claiming to be disruptive, unique and extraordinary. Moreover, this thesis aims to create an understanding of how consumers perceive blands as well as well as how value is created.

Methodology: The methodology takes a social constructivist standpoint with a multiple case study design where qualitative data is collected through focus group interviews. Three cases of blands were selected in Hedvig, Quip and Estrid.

Theoretical Perspective: Due to limited academic literature on the phenomenon of blands, a theoretical framework was created constituting a combination of grey literature as well as theories from brand imitation, customer-based brand equity and consumer value creation.

Empirical Material: Two focus groups were conducted with six participants in each. Participants were millennial consumers aged 25-30. The data was presented as four different themes which all represent similarities in perception about each case and also how they differ to their respective competition.

Conclusions: Blands are perceived as adhering to four different themes which unite them and create point-of-differences towards their in-category competition: Innovativeness, Social Awareness, Anthropomorphization and Modern Display. By creating these points-of-differences, blands are perceived to hold epistemic, functional and emotional values (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hoff, Oskar LU and Röken, Hugo LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN39 20221
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Blands, bland blueprint, customer-based brand equity, imitation strategy, me-too brands, consumer value creation
language
English
id
9094300
date added to LUP
2022-06-29 11:32:56
date last changed
2022-06-29 11:32:56
@misc{9094300,
  abstract     = {{Thesis Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the phenomenon of blands – A rise of brands that potentially adhere to a similar blueprint while claiming to be disruptive, unique and extraordinary. Moreover, this thesis aims to create an understanding of how consumers perceive blands as well as well as how value is created. 

Methodology: The methodology takes a social constructivist standpoint with a multiple case study design where qualitative data is collected through focus group interviews. Three cases of blands were selected in Hedvig, Quip and Estrid. 

Theoretical Perspective: Due to limited academic literature on the phenomenon of blands, a theoretical framework was created constituting a combination of grey literature as well as theories from brand imitation, customer-based brand equity and consumer value creation. 

Empirical Material: Two focus groups were conducted with six participants in each. Participants were millennial consumers aged 25-30. The data was presented as four different themes which all represent similarities in perception about each case and also how they differ to their respective competition. 

Conclusions: Blands are perceived as adhering to four different themes which unite them and create point-of-differences towards their in-category competition: Innovativeness, Social Awareness, Anthropomorphization and Modern Display. By creating these points-of-differences, blands are perceived to hold epistemic, functional and emotional values}},
  author       = {{Hoff, Oskar and Röken, Hugo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Bland New Way To Imitate? A Qualitative Study Exploring the Phenomena of Blands Through Consumers' Perceptions}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}