Consumer perception of high-tech brands and related products

Purpose: The paper examines the opinions and attitudes of young adults as the target audience towards a high-tech brand on several specific levels. The goal of research is to investigate and explore the perception of both Apple product users and non-users related to the Apple brand, brand loyalty, purchase intention, recommendation intention, and other aspects. Methodology: The research instrument was created for the purpose of this research and was partially based on several prior studies with different standpoints. The online questionnaire consists of 22 items and was carried out in 2019. Parametric and nonparametric statistical tests were used for testing the difference between sample segments. Results: The results indicate that the Apple brand has a generally positive image among the respondents. The majority of the respondents use or have used at least one Apple product. Apple users are generally loyal to the brand and willing to recommend Apple products to their friends and family. Users primarily recall Apple as a top-of-mind (first-mention) high-quality smartphone brand. In contrast, non-consumers tend to recall different brand names when thinking about high-end smartphones but also suggest that a brand name is an important factor in the consumer decision-making process. Conclusion: Collected data and related analysis provide insight into (non)consumer perception of the Apple brand and Apple products in the Croatian market accentuating the main consumer attitudes and brand perception related to a high-tech brand.