The rapid growth of SMEs in Malaysia has contributed to the increase in market competition which negatively affects the business in the long term. A creative branding strategy is imperative to ensure SMEs can stand out and influence their consumer. This research aimed to determine the factors that influence visual identity, brand equity, collaboration, corporate social responsibility, customer experience, social media presence, brand personality, and brand value on the consumer buying behaviour of SMEs in Malaysia. The results show that all independent variables have a significant impact on consumer buying behaviour.

 

Based on the analysis, SMEs should stress the importance of branding materials such as packaging, promotional products, and display and establish a good brand image and communicate through their packaging and marketing to give a positive perception to their customers. Besides, SMEs should establish collaboration to create brand awareness, engage in philanthropic activities such as volunteering and donation events, and deliver exceptional products experience for their customers. Apart from that, SMEs should have a social media presence to help customers identify and differentiate them from other businesses, create a distinct brand personality to make the customer understand the brand message, and offers beneficial brand value such as functional, emotional, and consumer benefits to influence the consumer buying behaviour. This paper hopes to provide new insights to SME entrepreneurs and relevant researchers in the industries.