Indian Consumers Response Towards Online Branding

In the present study, we define product branding as the willingness of the average consumer to rely on the ability of the brand to perform its stated function (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). Both Doney and Cannon (1997) and Moorman et al. (1992) also stress that the notion of branding is only relevant in situations of uncertainty. Specifically, e-trust reduces the uncertainty in an environment in which consumers feel vulnerable because they know that they can rely on the trusted brand (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). The development and maintenance of Consumer’s trust on the brand on the Web is at the heart of companies’ marketing plans, especially in the face of highly competitive markets with increasing unpredictability and decreasing product differentiation (Fournier and Yao, 1997). At a basic level, brand trust is simply the trust a consumer has in that specific brand. Branding recognizes that brand value can be created and developed with management of some aspects that go beyond consumer’s satisfaction with functional performance of the product and its attributes (Aaker, 1996; Lasser et al., 1995)