INFLUENCE OF BRAND ASSOCIATION TOWARD BRAND LOYALTY OF WEIDENMANN

Abstract \nIn today's business world, every company must be able to deliver a brand with a good brand association. The company will be difficult to survive if it does not have a positive association in their consumer’s mind. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between brand association and brand loyalty of a brand. Consumers will be more loyal to a brand that delivers a product that suits their needs and desires. This study want to check the effect of brand association components which are brand attributes, brand benefits, and brand attitudes to the brand loyalty. Brand that chosen for this study are Weidenmann which is an Indonesia local footwear brand from Bandung that manufactured by PT. Sugih Jaya. Weidenmann has a problem to maintain and compete in Indonesia market especially with international brand that make Weidenmann loses their consumer’s loyalty. To reach the research objectives, this paper use three methods in collecting the data which are questionnaire, interview, and observations. There were 100 respondents which are consumers of Weidenmann in Bandung involved in this research. Data analysis process was analyze using multiple regression analysis performed in SPSS. According to the results, brand attribute, brand benefit, and brand attitude positively influence brand loyalty of Weidenmann with brand attribute as the most influential factor. This study provides insightful understanding of consumer’s brand loyalty toward the brand of Weidenmann and create new idea for Weidenmann brand association to compete in the market. As a result of the analysis, the author recommend Weidenmann to develop the brand attribute of the shoes and improve the durability and comfort of the shoes which is the strength of Weidenmann based on consumer opinion. \nKeywords: brand association, brand loyalty, local brand, small and medium enterprise