BRANDING IN REAL ESTATE

Abstract

In the business world, numerous of researches have been conducted, establishing that branding has an influence on products which consumers buy and an impact on the operational and finance performance of organisations. The growing significance of branding in consumers’ purchasing decision has induced the researcher to find out if buyers behave similarly in their real estate purchase. The researcher’s objective is to discover if real estate buyers are concerned with the branding of residential developers of condominium developments and whether sales performance of residential developers is affected by their reputation. In this study, the factors affecting buyers’ purchase in real estate is determined and surveyed with prospective homebuyers to understand the importance of branding of developers among the other factors. Profiles of respondents are analyzed to facilitate in determining which categories of respondents are most sensitive to branding. The findings of the survey revealed that the young, the higher educated population, those holding professional/managerial positions and inexperience homebuyers are most sensitive to branding of developers. Next, developers were ranked in accordance to their brand awareness and image based on the responses of the respondents. The results allow the researcher to understand the reputation status of various residential developers in Singapore. A case study of two developers was conducted to examine if the reputation status affects the sales performance of their developments. The results showed that reputation is not significant in their sales performance. However, as buyers are becoming more education and affluent, developers should continue to uphold their reputation, as it may be imperative factor for future buyers in years to come.