Some marketers feel that the image of the particular channel in which they sell

Question

Some marketers feel that the image of the particular channel in which they sell their products does not matter—all that matters is that the right customers shop there and the product is displayed in the right way. Others maintain that channel images—such as a retail store—can be critical and must be consistent with the image of the product.

Take a position: Channel images do not really affect the brand images of the products they sell that much versus channel images must be consistent with the brand image. Please identify at least two products during your response.

Explanation / Answer

In my opinion, channel image have a great influence on the brand image and the purchasing behavior of the customers. Even though the products are arranged neatly, if the channel has a bad image in front of the public or the image not consistent with the brand image, the customers will not prefer to purchase from such stores. Customers may purchase only if there are no alternatives left for them. When the channel image is not consistent with the brand image, the customers may have doubts on the integrity of the product. The perception on the quality of the product is mostly affected by the channel. For example, consider the case of iPhones. No other brand can replace Apple and the customers have high trust on the brand. Hence the channel also should have good image to sell the phone to the potential customers. If you sell iPhone through a local mobile store no one would prefer to buy iPhone paying the high amount from you due to the chances of getting duplicate product. Another example can be the food products. We would prefer buying food items from the distributor with good image because we never want to compromise on quality of the food products. Though the branded food items are neatly arranged in local stores we may not prefer to experiment with our health. From these examples we can identify how the quality perception as well as brand image is affected by the channel image.

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