Brand Auditing and Brand Salience Management

Type and design of research

If viewed from its use (purpose of study), this research was included as quantitative descriptive research with the aim of obtaining an overview of the effects of antecedents of marketing activities, namely product activity, promotion, placement, and pricing (4P) on consumer perceptions and experiences, brand equity, and brand salience, and the moderating variables that influence them. This research also included developmental research with a causal approach, which is an experimental approach that tries to identify causal relationships.

This study attempted to understand how the causal relationship of marketing activities and their moderating variables influenced the formation of brand salience. This study also aimed to explain the causes and impacts of the relationship. In terms of the type of investigation, this study also aimed to obtain an overview of the positive results of the 4P activities on the brand salience at Universitas Terbuka. Descriptive research is research that aims to describe or explain something. The research design used was a single cross-sectional study, which is a type of research design in the form of collecting data from one respondent in a period of time.

Research design

This study was a development research. The research implementation method used the action research method. Development research is a type of research in which the researcher has a conceptual model obtained from the theories and results of previous research. Then, to obtain the reliability of the model, the conceptual model was developed into an operational model after obtaining validation from several experts. The research used a 4D approach, namely define, design, develop, and disseminate. The research was preceded by exploring the current conditions of the Statistics Study Program in terms of marketing strategy and management.

Then a salience brand management development model was designed, followed by testing and standardizing the model. After that, dissemination was carried out to the UT Statistics Study Program.

Location The location of this research was conducted via online, which targeted prospective students from various regions in Indonesia.

Data and source of data The data in this study were qualitative data and quantitative data derived from primary data in the form of survey results and secondary data observations from a literature study and documentation. The sources of data were the subjects and respondents from which data could be obtained. To make it easier to identify the data sources, the researchers classified the data sources used in this study into 3 parts: people, namely the competent parties related to the required data; papers, namely literary references and related documents; and places, namely the research location that was online as well as the UT Statistics Study Program.

Data gathering technique Data were collected using survey methods, experiments, and discussions. The qualitative data from these sources were reduced and then made into categories. Then themes were created before interpreting each of the previously compiled themes. The quantitative data were tabulated to suit the research framework.

Participants, informants, and respondents The terms "participants" and "informants" are usually used in collecting qualitative data. The researcher (identification official) and the resource person here have the same position, and the resource person does not just respond to what is asked by the identification official, but the individual can choose the direction and manner in presenting the information one has. The informants in this identification included the manager of the Statistics Study Program, instructors, and prospective students. The respondents of this research were samples that represented the population of the prospective students.

Research subjects In this research, there were several research subjects (variables) that were explored and described in depth in relation to the application of this brand salience. These subjects included (Table 1):

Table 1 Variables and operational definitions

Variable	Operational definition	Dimension	Indicator
Consumer attitude	The level of a respondent's ability to identify a brand	Expressive value function Utilitarian function Ego defensive function Knowledge function	Expressive value function Utilitarian function Ego defensive function Knowledge function
Consumer perception	The respondent's viewpoint of a product that is seen from the price, quality, and type of service	Price Quality Product/service	Price Quality Product/service
Consumer experience	The respondent's experience related with Universitas Terbuka	Physical environment human Interactions	Lecture model Relationships
Brand awareness	The level of the respondent's knowledge, memory, and understanding	Know Familiar Recognition	Know Familiar Recognition
Brand salience	The level of importance of a brand for the respondent	Famous Memorable Recall Top of mind Notice	Famous Memorable Recall Top of mind Notice
Buying intention	The intention of the respondent to study at Universitas Terbuka	Positive toward Desire Idea	Positive toward Desire Idea

Analysis technique The analysis technique used the goodness of fit model quantitatively by paying attention to the aspects of its application accuracy. A before–after analysis was also used to see the impact of the application of this model both on the university management and performance.