HOW TO BUILD THE BRAND IMAGE OF GREEN CAR, THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH OR PRICE FAIRNESS?

Abstract

Green car is a new segment in the automotive industry. So, it needs brand image development to increase its sales. Brand image development can be done by optimizing the marketing mix program, such as communicating the green car through word of mouth, or offering the car at a fair and affordable price. This study aims to discuss how big the impacts of word of mouth and price fairness are in building the brand image of green car in Indonesia. Research data were collected using a questionnaire distributed to green car buyers in Jakarta (Indonesia) dealers. Further, the data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Lisrel. The results of this study indicate that word of mouth and price fairness have impacts on brand image. However, the contribution of word of mouth is less than price fairness. This condition is due to the less-active involvement of dealers in communicating the fuel consumption of the green car.