Managing a successful brand that is differentiated and consumer oriented can provide a comprehensive competitive advantage. The goal of this research is to identify drivers that influence the brand and to determine which drivers influence the brand more, in order to develop a more effective business strategy. The main question is how the drivers in a proposed model contribute to brand success. An abductive theory approach is adopted and food managers from Italy and Sweden were questioned. The paper explores the enriched-food brands in the Italian and Swedish markets. The measurement scales were constructed using theory combined with suggestions from industry. The authors modeled the eight constructs as nine correlated first-order factors. The model includes seven independent variables (consumer orientation, brand differentiation, brand knowledge, new brand development, values, organization and strategy) and the dependent variable brand success. All variables contain four to six items. The variance-based structural equation modeling approach, using PLS algorithm, have been applied. This study provides insight and empirical evidence on the development and enhancement of brand success. The findings can be employed as more effective brand strategies in a sector that has been under-investigated in academic literature and practice. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Partially funded by the PRIN 2006 of MIUR (Italian University & Research Ministry), Grant 2006072800_003.