Understanding the effects of explicit association between two brands on consumer’s brand knowledge

: Vichy Dercos case-study

Abstract

Dercos is the market leader in the Portuguese pharmacy hair care market, with a market share of 25% in 2015. However, Dercos is faced with two major challenges: first, to remain relevant in its increasingly competitive channel and second, to increase the pharmacy channel size, by reaching other channel’s customers. To achieve this, L’Oréal considers deepening Dercos’ relationship with a successful beauty brand – Vichy – which could on one hand increase its visibility, but on the other, dilute customer trust in the clinical and efficacy-driven image of the brand. Through the analysis of Vichy’s branding dilemma, this thesis provides an outlook on the Portuguese Hair Care market in the pharmacy circuit. In the Literature Review Section it provides an overview on the topics of brand equity, brand knowledge, brand extensions, brand elements and consumer behavior regarding cosmetic products. The dilemma is then presented in a Case Study and Teaching Note, and complemented by a Market Research study including two Focus Groups and an Online Survey, aimed at presenting closure to the dilemma. The study done found that a deeper association between Vichy and Dercos is beneficial as it would result in broader attribute associations and willingness to buy or try for Vichy Dercos, when compared with the original Dercos concept.

Date of Award	17 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)