Cultural Affiliation, Brand, Sustainability in Business Development: A Case Study of Rite Foods Limited, Owners of Bigi Brand in South West Nigeria

Abstract

This study critically investigates the regional disruptive nature of the brand Bigi in South West Nigeria, in comparison to the other five geographical regions where its presence is limited. The other geographical regions are South South, South East, North West, North East, and North Central.
The research aims to study how cultural affiliation, cultural identity, and tribalism influence the expansion and market penetration of the Bigi brand across six regions of Nigeria.
The study examined the influence of cultural affiliation, cultural identity, and tribalism in the penetration of Bigi to other regions, given that the owners of Bigi, Rite Foods, are indigenous to South West Nigeria.
The study adopted the use of survey questionnaires, including a random survey of consumers and a direct survey of soft drink distributors nationwide. The data collated was subjected to quantitative analysis using Mean, Standard Deviation, Descriptive Statistics, Correlation Analysis, and Diagnostic Analysis.
The findings show that the South regions are open to markets, various brands, cross-regional brands, and distribution. In contrast, the North regions’ acceptance of cross-regional brands is comparatively lower than the South, although they remain largely consumers of foreign brands. The North exhibited higher brand tribalism and affiliation, while the South showed lower cultural affiliation and tribalism towards the brand.
The distributors showed good communication and willingness to promote and build market expansion without cultural or tribal affiliation, as profits, sales, and high turnover were the priority.
The findings also showed that although Nigeria is ethnically diverse and culturally rich, it is not a dominant factor in consumer behaviour preference for soft drinks. The study observed a weak correlation between brand preference and cultural affiliation, as consumers buy soft drinks based on taste, quality, price, and liquid content, not cultural affiliation or influence.
The variation in Bigi’s performance is not cultural or tribal. Rite Foods needs to develop a sustainable strategic business plan to penetrate other regions, including building more bottling plants in strategic locations with access to road networks and an efficient logistics and distribution network for the movement of goods to distributors and retailers.
This study contributes to business strategy literature by demonstrating that regional brand performance in emerging markets such as Nigeria is influenced more by logistics efficiency, distribution infrastructure, and market accessibility than by cultural affiliation or tribal identity.