How can SMEs that follow a circular business model use branding to influence customers to buy their products?
Author
Radu, Iuliana
Term
4. Term
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-09-06
Pages
47
Abstract
This thesis investigates how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating with circular business models can use branding to influence B2B customers to buy circular products. Motivated by growing attention to the circular economy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the study combines a systematic literature review with a qualitative case study. The review compares circular and linear business models and clarifies B2B branding and buying behavior, forming a conceptual framework—the circular brand equity model—with four aspects for building a strong circular brand. The framework then informs three semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in branding at Tier1 Asset, a Danish company in the IT hardware sector, to explore how these branding elements play out in practice. Given the limited prior research at the intersection of circular economy and B2B branding, the review focuses on Western European sources from 2008–2018, and the contribution is exploratory and qualitative. The main outcome is the proposed circular brand equity model and its application to the Tier1 Asset case; the specific dimensions and detailed effects are elaborated in the thesis. The study opens pathways for refining B2B branding strategies that can encourage adoption of circular products and highlights directions for further, including quantitative, research.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan små og mellemstore virksomheder (SMV’er), der arbejder med cirkulære forretningsmodeller, kan bruge branding til at påvirke B2B-kunder til at købe cirkulære produkter. Motiveret af den stigende opmærksomhed på cirkulær økonomi og FN’s Verdensmål kombinerer studiet en systematisk litteraturgennemgang med et kvalitativt casestudie. Litteraturgennemgangen sammenligner cirkulære og lineære forretningsmodeller samt afklarer B2B-branding og købsadfærd og danner grundlag for et konceptuelt rammeværk — circular brand equity model — med fire aspekter til at opbygge et stærkt cirkulært brand. Rammeværket anvendes derefter i tre semistrukturerede interviews med personer involveret i branding hos Tier1 Asset, en dansk virksomhed i IT-hardwaresektoren, for at undersøge, hvordan disse brandingelementer udfolder sig i praksis. Da litteraturen i krydsfeltet mellem cirkulær økonomi og B2B-branding er begrænset, fokuserer gennemgangen primært på vesteuropæiske kilder fra 2008–2018, og bidraget er derfor indledende og kvalitativt. Hovedresultatet er det foreslåede circular brand equity model og dets anvendelse i Tier1 Asset-casen; de konkrete dimensioner og detaljerede effekter uddybes i afhandlingen. Studiet åbner for forbedrede B2B-brandingstrategier, der kan fremme efterspørgslen efter cirkulære produkter, og peger på behovet for videre, herunder kvantitativ, forskning.
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