Improving „Ryanair“ Brand Image In Europe

Introduction. 7 situation analysis. 9 general information about ryanair. Improving "Ryanair" brand image. Consumption experience. Social influences. . 51 Conclusions of empirical research. Improving "Ryanair" brand image. List of figures Figure 1. Comparison of easyJet and Ryanair in terms of brand health. Improving "Ryanair" brand image. List of tables Table 1. Recent performance. 10 Table 2. 2014 Quarter 1 results. 10 Table 3. Top 10 airlines Ranked by Traffic.

To evaluate Ryanair’s current brand image by analyzing external and internal environments. 


To identify factors that contribute to Ryanair brand image by conducting empirical research. 


To suggest recommendations for Ryanair brand image improvements by applying results from situation analysis and empirical research. 
Research method: A quantitative research method was applied. 817 respondents from 


Results: The results of empirical research revealed that poor perception of the brand arises from negative consumption experience and word-of-mouth communication. The last part of the thesis provides managerial solutions of how to improve Ryanair brand image, with references to academic literature, situation analysis and empirical study results.

Keywords: brand image, no-frills service, corporate culture, consumption experience, social influences.

Brand image is often defined as a set of values and associations which are formed in customers mind by company’s marketing communication and other factors of consumer contact with company. Everything constitutes to brand image: prices that company sets, promotions it does, leadership styles, even employees’ attitude, as it forms the overall opinion about the company. The strong brand image is a powerful asset, as it can result in a sustainable competitive advantage and lead to increases in market share (Park, Jaworski, & MacInnis, 1986). Besides, a favorable image of the brand results in brand equity and customer loyalty (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993).

Interestingly, the low-cost airline Ryanair managed to compete successfully in the marketplace even with a poor brand image. It was recently rated as the worst short-haul airline in Europe and the worst brand in terms of customer service, and yet it is still the largest budget carrier in Europe (Smith, 2012; Sayid 2013; Inetrnational Air Transport Association, 2012). Company admits that they are not a tender airline caring about goodwill, as it believes the major value for customer is the low price (O’Leary, 2011). However, last quarter’s figures, where company issued unexpected profits warning, made Ryanair reconsider their view on what customers value (see Table 2). Company admitted that one of the reasons of poor recent performance is negative image of Ryanair brand and low customer care (Humphries, 2013). Therefore company publicly expressed their wish to change the abrupt culture and improve the image of Ryanair, in order to remain competitive in the marketplace (BBC, 2013).

As the result, the research problem of the thesis is: how to improve the brand image of Ryanair in Europe?

To evaluate Ryanair’s current brand image by analyzing external and internal company’s environments. 


To suggest recommendations for Ryanair brand image improvements by applying results from situation analysis and empirical research. 
Practical value of the thesis. After conducting the empirical research, Ryanair should 


Logical sequence of thesis. The paper is structured in the following way: first part of the thesis will present the current situation analysis. It will discuss marketing mix, corporate culture and leadership as well as provide customer and competitor analyses. Secondly, the theoretical foundations related to brand image conceptions will be provided in order to design the research instrument. Further, the data collection and sampling methods will be provided. Afterwards, the results obtained from empirical research will be discussed. The last part of the thesis will provide