Browsing by Author "Weerasiri, Sudath"

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Factors Affecting on Willingness to Pay Premium Price for Organic Foods
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2021) Welagedara, M. P.; Weerasiri, Sudath
At present, Sri Lankan organic food market is at a nascent stage, but organic food is accelerating. Identifying organic food consumers' behaviors is vital since consumers pay a premium price even worldwide. Hence, this study aims to determine factors that impact consumers' willingness to pay a premium price for organic food in the Sri Lankan context. This research study is descriptive, and data has been collected from 141 respondents using snowball sampling, a non- probability sampling technique. Secondary data were collected through a rigorous literature review. Primary data were collected through an online consumer survey conducted in the Colombo district using a structured questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed using mean analysis, frequency measures, and regression. The study was conducted in Colombo District. It was found that consumer characteristics like employment & income and consumer perceptions like concern for the environment, perceived health benefits positively impact willingness to pay a premium price. No significant impact was found between social image, perceived quality, and willingness to pay a premium price. This study provides recommendations and insights for strategies that would be useful for organic food manufacturers according to their business situation to maximize benefits and design reasonable pricing and communication strategies accordingly. It is hoped that the study will contribute to the field of organic foods. Moreover, the factors considered under this study on consumers' willingness to pay the premium price are unique and have not been considered under one conceptual framework in previous studies.
Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Personality: Examining the Mediating Effect of Brand Attitude of Green Cosmetics and Beauty Care Products
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2021) Dissanayake, D. M. A. S.; Weerasiri, Sudath
The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of celebrity endorsement on brand personality: examining the mediated effect of the brand attitude of green cosmetics and beauty care products. To investigate this, the researcher used the TEARS model. This study can be categorized as descriptive research and engaged in hypothesis testing to explain the impact of each dimension of celebrity endorsement (CE) towards brand personality (BP) and the mediating effect of brand attitude (BA). This study is conducted in a natural environment with minimum interference by the researchers with the normal flow of procedures related to the research environment. Data has been collected through a questionnaire from 167 respondents to identify the impact. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software. The study's findings are, independent variables of CE, expertise, attractiveness, and similarity have a significant impact on BP. However, trustworthiness and respect have not shown a significant impact on the dependent variable. Brand attitude as a mediating variable between CE and BP, it has a significant positive relationship` between DV and IV. Most of the products in the green cosmetics industry used different kinds of celebrities for their advertisement. Nevertheless, this study shows that celebrities' expertise, attractiveness, and similarity are the most impactful factors in brand personality. Therefore, the firms can adopt this study's result when finding a suitable celebrity in promoting their brands.
Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Recall: with Special Reference to Toothpaste Brands in Sri Lanka
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2021) Senavirathna, M. K. K. C.; Weerasiri, Sudath
The toothpaste product market is a growing industry in Sri Lanka with high competition. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of celebrity endorsement on brand recall of toothpaste brands in Sri Lanka. The researcher used Ohanian's celebrity endorsement dimensions as the basis of the research. Trustworthiness, Expertise, and Attractiveness as dimensions of the independent variable. This investigates how these factors impact brand recall. The researcher developed four hypotheses to test. This is quantitative research, and the primary data are collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The sample size is 200 to represent the total population using non-probability sampling methods from the western province of Sri Lanka. The researcher used analysis techniques of descriptive analysis, regression, and hypotheses testing where SPSS is used as analytical software. The finding can be used to select the most effective celebrity in celebrity endorsement advertising to get the brand on top of the customer's mind.
Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Purchase Intention of FMCG Industry in Sri Lanka
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2021) Udayanga, G. L.; Weerasiri, Sudath
In this study, the researcher wanted to determine the relationship between celebrity endorsement and the FMCG industry's consumer purchase intention in Sri Lanka. Because most of the companies are spending huge sum of money for their advertisement. They think that advertisements can change their consumers' purchase intention. Therefore, the researcher conducted this study to find out the validity of this thinking. The researcher selected the variables which match the meaning transfer of the celebrity. After developing the hypotheses for the study, the questionnaire was developed focusing on the celebrity's characteristics. Data were analyzed using SPSS and the multiple regression techniques used as a statistical tool. This study's findings revealed that most of the respondents believed that celebrity's attractiveness was the most important factor for brand recall. However, it does not directly impact of purchase intention of consumers. Furthermost, respondents believe that attractive celebrity' credibility is very low. Therefore, it does not directly impact purchase intention. Accordingly, the organization should think celebrity's credibility before they use in their advertisements. However, the study found that an Attractive celebrity can create a positive image to the advertisement.
The Impact of Store Atmosphere on Buyer Behaviour: with Special Reference to Supermarket
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2021) Soyza, T. A. S.; Weerasiri, Sudath
Buyer Behaviour is a requirement in the supermarket industry. Hence, identifying the impact of store atmosphere on buyer behaviour enables getting critical decisions related to providing delighted retail customer service. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of store atmospherics on buyer behavior in supermarket customers. This study was quantitative in nature and followed the descriptive approach to implement. Primary data of the research was collected through a well-structured questionnaire. Secondary data was collected through websites, articles, and journals. The research was carried out by using multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses. A total of 150 western province respondents were selected as a sample to carry out the research. The convenience sampling method that comes under non-probability sampling was used and SPSS software was used to analyze it. The findings from this study indicate that store atmospheric factors (store exterior, general interior, interior display, and human variable) have a significant positive effect on buyer behaviour. The study found that the human variable has strong power to impact buyer behaviour. As future research suggests, the researcher proposes researching different geographical areas, retail stores, and other store atmospheric factors. The study will help attain sound knowledge about buyer behaviour and store atmospherics, and decision- makers can absorb the value of this study to create marketing strategies.
Impact of the Physical Environment on Consumer Price Decision of Restaurant Industry in Sri Lanka
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2021) Livera, I. A.; Weerasiri, Sudath
This research aims to examine the relationships among three components of the physical environment (i.e., décor and artifacts, spatial layout, and ambient conditions) and price decisions in the Sri Lankan restaurant industry. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect primary data from 150 young restaurant visitors using the convenient sampling method. The population of the study will be confined to Gampaha and Colombo districts. Descriptive statistics and statistical tools such as correlation coefficient and regression analysis were employed to analyze the data. The study reveals that all of the above variables have a positive relationship with pricing decisions. According to the Pearson correlation method, ambient conditions and décor, artifacts, and color have the highest relationship with price decisions. The research outcome would help marketing professionals in the restaurant industry, and domestic marketers create their marketing plan and activities. This will also be important to the customers who visit the restaurant to logically evaluate their purchase decisions and identify why they charge a different price. Maintaining favorable physical surroundings helps to create a reasonable price decision in the mindset of customers. Therefore, management should adopt a proper physical environment to make guests more comfortable and increase revenue generation. Today, restaurants have become fashionable, and customers expect a great environment when they visit the restaurant. Thus, the restaurant should use a combination of physical environment factors to impress customers on first sight and change consumer minds positively for price decision.