A View from the Top: The Impact of Market Share Dominance on Competitive Position

A brand management framework is routinely advocated in gaining market share leadership within a product market, with consequent advantages accruing to the leading brand. The specifics of such a marketing-mix-based approach often fail to explain the absolute market dominance of a leader over all other brands, particularly in international markets. This study presents such a case from Thailand's very large imported Scotch whisky market, and attempts to provide behavioural loyalty-based explanations for the increasing share gap between the leader and its challenger, with suggestions for managerial action.