Degree

Master of Business Administration Executive

Faculty / School

School of Business Studies (SBS)

Year of Award

2025

Advisor/Supervisor

Dr. Adnan Ahmed, Scholar in Residence, Department of Marketing

Project Type

MBA Executive Research Project

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

Brand Equity, Consumer Perception, Customer Loyalty, Refrigerator Market Pakistan, Competitive Analysis, Urban Middle-Class Households, Market Positioning

Executive Summary

Pak Elektron Limited (PEL), a national icon in Pakistan's home appliance industry, is confronting a critical strategic inflection point. This project, titled "Enhancing Brand Equity and Market Position: A Strategic Analysis of Consumer Perception and Loyalty for PEL Refrigerators in Urban Middle-Class Households (Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad)" was undertaken to diagnose the root causes of PEL's declining market share in its core refrigerator segment and to provide a data driven roadmap for revival. Employing a sequential mixed methods research design, the study first conducted 15 in depth, semi structured interviews with PEL dealers (exclusive and multi brand) and non PEL retailers across Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. This qualitative phase uncovered the underlying narrative of brand erosion. Subsequently, a quantitative survey (n=400) of urban middleclass consumers in the same cities was deployed to measure and validate the prevalence of these perceptions and their link to loyalty. The analysis reveals a major dissonance between PEL's historical brand equity and its current market reality. The brand's formidable legacy of "durability" and the powerful "Made in Pakistan" association remain key strengths, particularly with older generations and institutional buyers. However, these assets are being severely undermined by three critical failures identified as the "Crisis Triad":

1. The After Sales Service Collapse: Universally cited as the brand's single greatest weakness, poor service responsiveness, overburdened centers, and parts unavailability have destroyed consumer trust and dealer confidence, directly deterring sales.

2. The Innovation and Design Deficit: PEL's product portfolio is perceived as technologically outdated, lacking modern features (inverter compressors, digital interfaces) and contemporary aesthetics. This has ceded the premium and aspirational segments to Haier and Dawlance.

3. The Perceived Value Erosion: Stuck in a strategic "no man's land," PEL is seen as neither cheap enough to win the price sensitive entry level segment nor feature rich enough to justify its price in the mid to high range, weakening its value proposition. Quantitative findings confirm these gaps. PEL scores significantly lower than Haier and Dawlance on attributes of Modern Design, Energy Efficiency, and After Sales Service. The calculated Brand Loyalty Index for PEL is markedly low, driven primarily by negative word of mouth and low repurchase intention. Comparative analysis shows a clear pattern between positive consumer perceptions (especially of service and modern features) and loyalty, and a subsequent parallel trend between declining loyalty and PEL's financial performance metrics from 2020-2024. The study concludes that PEL's market share decline is a direct outcome of eroding customer-based brand equity. To reverse this trend, a dual split, timebound strategic action plan is recommended. In the short term (0-6 months), PEL must launch an aggressive "Service Revolution" with a digital tracking system and empowered service centers, coupled with a tactical marketing campaign leveraging its "Made in Pakistan" heritage while honestly addressing improvement efforts. In the medium term (1-2 years), the imperative is a complete product portfolio revitalization under a potential sub brand (e.g., "PEL Nova"), featuring inverter technology, modern designs, and a clear communication break from the past. Concurrently, dealer networks must be strengthened through enhanced training, margins, and cooperative advertising. This research provides PEL's management with an evidence-based diagnostic and a clear strategic mandate. The path to recovery lies not in resting on past laurels but in urgently bridging the clear gaps in service, innovation, and perceived value to rebuild the trust of a new generation of Pakistani consumers.

Pages

xii, 69

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