AN ASSEMENT ON THE EFFECT OF BRAND PERFORMANCE ON COMPETITIVENESS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MERGER AND ACQUISITIONS

Changes in the economic structure of the world and technological developments have led firms to operate in intense competition where gaining competitive advantage has become one of the most important strategies. Firms can follow different methods to obtain competitive advantage. One of these methods can be named as merger and transaction. Thus, advanced production technologies, know how, brand image etc. can be transferred via these transactions which help firms benefit each other’s strengths in order to exist, differentiate and grow in an international competitive environment under the impact of globalization. On the other hand, businesses which want to be successful in the global market give importance to branding activities as well as producing high quality goods. Branding activities provide intangible advantages to firms by increasing their competitive advantage. Distinctive superiorities against competitors can be obtained via branding activities. New customers can be acquired, and market share can be increased by using brand image of the new firm that is established via merger and acquisitions. Measurement of branding activities has been an important issue for scholars and a brand performance concept has been suggested for measuring effectiveness of branding activities. Furthermore, it is possible to say that brand performance is an important consequence of branding strategies and activities of firms and it refers to the power of brand in markets. In summary, brand performance is a concept that reveals the effects of branding activities on reaching tangible targets such as sales volume, profitability etc. The importance of brand performance and competitiveness in the context of merger and acquisitions emerge as a remarkable research field. In this regard, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of brand performance on competitiveness in the scope of national and international mergers and acquisitions between 2010 and 2017. In the study, data was collected from 243 of 1208 firms which have conducted national and international mergers and acquisitions between 2010 and 2017. A general result of the analysis has revealed that brand performance has impact on competitiveness. This finding can be interpreted as a reason for conducting merger and acquisitions in order to increase the competitive advantage. We see that mergers and acquisitions have influence on reputations of firms, brand images and product reliability. The study reveals two dimensions of competitiveness: product competitiveness and operational competitiveness. Product